Best Build For Naoe In Assassin’s Creed Shadows

There is no shortage of options in terms of gear and skills in Assassin’s Creed Shadows for Naoe, and figuring out the best build takes a bit of work. You can and should experiment with all sorts of variations, from affliction-based builds that rely heavily on Poison, Bleed, and/or Daze, or weapon-specific builds that take advantage of one of the many excellent legendary items available in the game. If you’re looking for an all-purpose Naoe build that is versatile and has something for every occasion, the Kusarigama Assassin gets my vote for best Naoe build in AC Shadows.

The Kusarigama is hands-down the best weapon option for Naoe because it is the most versatile, dealing AoE with its heavy attacks, but it’s also an effective single-target damage dealer thanks to the Snake Bite ability. It also has the best assassination enhancement, Rush Assassinate, which lets you lock on to enemies from a distance and leap to them using the Kusarigama chain. This build assumes that the AC Shadows’ Guaranteed Assassination feature is disabled. If you play with it enabled, you will have a few extra points to invest elsewhere, but might want to consider alternate gear.

Best Gear For Naoe In AC Shadows

Best Weapons, Armor, Trinkets, & Engravings For Naoe

Naoe’s Assassin abilities are possibly some of the best in the Assassin’s Creed franchise and are quintessential for any true main Assassin’s Creed protagonist. For that reason, this build is based around an Assassin-focused Kusarigama setup, combining Naoe’s best practical skills with her best weapon, abilities, and enchantments. There are many legendary Kusarigama to choose from, but the most OP for the sake of this build is the Demon’s Tooth Kusarigama, looted from a legendary chest at Arima Onsen in Harima (see map location above).

The Demon Tooth Kusarigama is ideal because your primary assassination method will be Rush Assassinate. Your best-in-slot enchantment comes from the Ocean’s Grip Kusarigama, giving you +60% damage on enemies over 3 meters away, which will be the majority of your targets. The other core item in this build is the Fluttering Moth Trinket, which gives you +15% to stats with only a Kusarigama equipped. These sorts of trinkets exist for the other two weapons as well, but the Kusarigama is the most versatile of the three weapon options, making Fluttering Moth the best choice.

Related

All Legendary Weapons In Assassin’s Creed Shadows & How To Get Them

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has wide variety of legendary weapons found in each major region, earned from completing quests, hidden chests, and more.

For armor and headgear, the Master Assassin Gear is the clear choice for a general assassination buff, but earlier options are available. Go for the Mamushi Snake Robes for an awesome buff that causes dead bodies you leave behind to release poison clouds. Your best bet for headgear is the Yurei-Walker Hood with the engraving from the Peasant Hat (which gives you a guaranteed adrenaline chunk when you enter combat, allowing you to automatically use an ability).

Best Skills For A Naoe Build In AC Shadows

Invest Heavily Into The Kusarigama Tree

Once you have your gear in place, it’ll be worthless without the right AC Shadows skills activated. For weapons, you’ll want to dump most of your Mastery Points into the Kusarigama Tree, but will definitely want to take some of the Katana and Tanto global passives when you have the spare points. The main passives to snag while you level are the Katana’s Melee Expert passive, which can increase melee damage by up to 9%, and when you reach Knowledge Rank 5, go for the Critical Thinker passive for extra critical hit chance.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Best Early Abilities To Unlock For Yasuke & Naoe

There are many abilities to choose from in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but the some of the best are extremely useful to unlock early in the campaign.

More importantly, your best-in-slot abilities for Naoe are Cyclone Blast and Snake Bite. Cyclone Blast deals massive damage in this build thanks to the high critical hit chance and buff to damage against enemies over 3 meters away. When it’s fully ranked up, Cyclone Blast is absolutely devastating and is the defining feature of this build, alongside its incredible rush assassinate ability.

Entanglement and Snake Bite are your single-target damage-dealing options; Entanglement can wrap around an enemy’s neck and knock them off guard, and Snake Bite will knock them prone for you to perform a devastating ground attack. Critical Efficiency and Multi-Target Expert are excellent passives that take the build to another level; just be sure to balance these weapon skills with the Assassin skills you’ll need for stealth encounters.

Best Assassin, Shinobi & Tools Skills For Naoe

As important, if not more, is Naoe’s ability to take down enemies with assassinations. The Assassin tree has all the buffs to Health Segment removal you’ll need to stack with your armor buffs and enable assassinations on even the largest of enemies. You’ll want to rank up Naoe’s Assassination Damage skill slots as priorities, but this build does not really kick online until you reach Knowledge Rank 5 due to Rush Assassinate in the Assassin tree being locked. The Assassin tree also lets you increase the number of Adrenaline Chunks Naoe has, resulting in more opportunities to use her Snake Bite and/or Cyclone Blast.

Aside from the above Assassin skills, there are a handful of Shinobi and Tools skills you’ll want to grab to round out the build and give yourself some convenient items in case of emergency. For Shinobi skills, the Heighten Senses ability is recommended to increase options while playing stealthily. Vault is an easy and effective way to enhance any build, and I recommend taking the skill as well as its upgraded versions for a nice additional moveset. Tools are dealer’s choice and should be chosen based on playstyle. I prefer a good old-fashioned Kunai and Shuriken setup, but all Tools will come in handy.

How To Play Naoe’s Best Build

Kusarigama Assassin Is Good For Stealth & Melee Encounters

The Kusarigama Assassin build is designed for both stealth and melee encounters, and is dynamic in that you’ll be prepared for anything that comes your way. You will want to do your best to aim for Rush Assassinations in the shadows to ensure you eliminate a target covertly. If you happen to alert some guards or get spotted and swarmed, the Kusarigama deals incredible damage in a circle around you. Rush assassinations will lurch you forward to the enemy and possibly alert other guards, so watch out.

Overall, the Kusarigama Assassin is Naoe’s most versatile and dynamic build in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, thanks to the +15% bonus to stats from the Fluttering Moth trinket. If you’re looking for the most versatile, one-size-fits-all build that enables both stealth and melee combat, this is the one.

Systems

Released

March 20, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language