Assassin’s Creed Shadows' Director shared the game’s new combat and progression mechanics. Read to learn more about the new features of the game and its unlockable achievements.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Features New Combat and Progression Mechanics
Unlocking New Skills And Abilities With Mastery and Knowledge Systems
Assassin’s Creed Shadows (AC Shadows) revealed new combat and progression mechanics suited to the game's setting in feudal Japan. AC Shadows Creative Director Charles Benoit shared during IGN Fan Fest 2025 how these new mechanics function.
The game will introduce players to the Mastery and Knowledge systems, where they can unlock new skills and abilities. Benoit explained, "You can compare the mastery and the knowledge a bit to the philosophy of body and mind, [...] so each time you accomplish something —leveling up, killing high-level targets, and stuff like that, you will gain those Mastery point(s). Those point(s) can be spent in the Mastery menu to acquire new skill and abilities that you can map. The Knowledge it’s something different. You need to do activities in the world, such as doing meditation or exploring temples to find lost pages and you will gain those knowledge point that will make you rank up and then unlock new things that you can purchase using your mastery point."
Players can also reallocate their points at any time so that they can customize their play style on the fly. Benoit elaborated, "We want to be more generous and the fact that we have the different trees split for different weapons. It’s kind of cool just to try a weapon and how we can max up all the skills and abilities."
Making Naoe and Yasuke Feel Different From Each Other
With all the options players have for creating their preferred playstyle for their characters, Ubisoft still wanted to show the difference between Naoe and Yasuke’s combat mechanics. Despite having multiple ways to make them stronger, the two protagonists still stick to their prowess: Naoe being more of an assassin-stealth type and Yasuke more of a samurai-bruiser type.
Benoit clarified, "That’s the hard part with balancing this game because we always want Naoe and Yasuke feel different from each other. [...] Yes Naoe will be pretty strong in combat if you try to map all the best abilities and have the gear that boost different type of stat that is useful for fight(s) but she will never cross a point that she’s better than Yasuke. Yasuke as default have more adrenaline bar, more health, more armor, so he will always feel a lot stronger in combat."
Steam Achievements Available on Day One
Ubisoft posted a blog on Steam on February 27, 2025 which detailed the different achievements players can do in the game. According to the post, players will have access to these achievements on the day of AC Shadows’ release.
Furthermore, the post read, "These Steam achievements (which are the same as the Xbox achievements and PlayStation trophies) can all be earned in a single playthrough, meaning no achievement can be missed regardless of what story choices you make." This means that regardless of which protagonist you choose, all the achievements will be available so players are not required to swap out characters or do another playthrough.
Ubisoft continued, "And don’t worry – your Leap of Fail will look just as spectacular whether you’re playing on story mode or on expert level, as all achievements are unlockable regardless of difficulty level," which could elude to the hidden achievement Leap of Fail related to a character (most likely Yasuke due to his build) not being able to do the iconic Leap of Faith correctly. The full list of visible and hidden achievements is available on Steam’s AC Shadows events page.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to be released on March 20, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. To stay up to date with the latest information on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, check out our article below!
Source:
Assassin’s Creed Shadows IGN Fan Fest 2025
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Steam Achievements blog
