Hello everyone!

Assassin's Creed Shadows drops February 14, 2025, and we're thrilled to start offering you deeper insight into its gameplay. Through a series of posts over the next few weeks, we'll bring you brand new details on combat, parkour, and exploration.

Let's kick this week off with a stealth overview. While we'll primarily focus on Naoe - one of Shadows' two protagonists, who seamlessly blends classic Assassin techniques with the quiet agility of a trained shinobi - some of these details apply to Yasuke, Shadows' Samurai, as well.

 We will be joined by Simon, Associate Game Director, to get additional insights.

All footage is from a work in progress build. Please note that some of the videos in this article may be compressed, which could affect their quality. Make sure to watch in 4K for the best quality.

A New Stealth Philosophy

"Stealth gameplay in Shadows has been ambitiously overhauled in a few key areas," says Simon. "First, the most obvious change for AC players will be the lack of a companion eagle allowing you to scout ahead and map out an entire location. In Shadows, players must rely on their main character's own senses and engage enemies in a more tactical moment-to-moment manner."

Observe

Both Naoe and Yasuke have access to the new Observe mechanic, which delivers a fast and easy way to toggle additional information on screen. Observe allows you to identify targets, tag and monitor enemies, and highlight lootable stashes, collectables, and quest objectives. While on a Synch Point, it also allows for close examination of nearby locations.

"The new Observe mechanic is at the core of the Assassin's Creed Shadows experience," says Simon. "When in doubt, take a pause, observe the world around you, and only then should you decide what your next move should be."

Eagle Vision

Naoe has access to the classic Assassin's Creed Eagle Vision, which allows her to highlight the position of enemies hidden behind walls and other objects and isolate any relevant sounds they make. Eagle Vision is a more dedicated stealth mechanic, encouraging Naoe to slow down and take a moment to better visualize her enemies and relevant gameplay objects - including hiding spots.

Both Observe and Eagle Vision work independently, revealing different sets of information - but Naoe can combine both concurrently to reveal, observe, and tag enemies through walls, a very useful habit to have if you don't want to blunder into a room full of Samurai waiting for you.

Shinobi Moves

Hiding in the Shadows

For the first time in the Assassin's Creed series, hiding in the shadows will make you invisible to enemies. During nighttime, any pocket of shadows becomes a dynamic hiding spot in which you can progress without being seen. This applies to both interiors and exteriors.

The ability to use shadows in this way invites you to carefully study your environment for hiding opportunities and routes... or create them yourself by destroying lanterns with a shuriken. "Naoe is a perfectly capable shinobi in broad day light," says Simon, "but the cover of darkness gives her a remarkable edge over her enemies - especially on higher difficulty settings."

Staying Low

While Naoe is fast, sprinting while you're attempting to be stealthy in a highly populated environment can be risky. The sound of footsteps will alert guards, who will spot you almost instantaneously. In general, standing up increases your "visibility," so this is where crouching comes into play. Naoe can move quite slowly while in a crouch, with the sound of her footsteps considerably reduced. 

Crouching is also particularly effective indoors, minimizing the sound of Nightingale Floors - specifically designed floors that creak whenever someone steps on them - for example, or reducing the chance of bumping into noisy objects. 

Going Prone

Naoe and Yasuke are the first protagonists able to go prone in the series. Going prone reduces your "visibility" to enemies even further, whether on the ground, on rooftops, or underwater.

For Naoe, going prone comes with its own set of movements. By pressing the dodge button when in prone, you can roll to the side, front or back; a useful maneuver to quickly employ when a guard approaches. Keep an eye under buildings too; you might just find an opening you can crawl under.

The Shinobi and Assassin Arsenal

Naoe doesn't have to rely on her stealthy moves alone. She has four primary tools at her disposal to help ensure a quick kill or getaway:

• Smoke bomb: A classic Assassin tool that creates a cloud of smoke, allowing you to escape or assassinate low-rank enemies without being seen.
• Shinobi Bells: The perfect tool to distract enemies. By throwing a bell, you can lure guards away from their posts or create an opportunity to sneak past them.
• Kunai: Kunai are extremely sharp throwing knives that deal a lot of damage and can result in one-shot kills when aimed with precision.
• Shuriken: Shuriken are sharp, star-shaped throwing weapons that momentarily stun enemies, and are even more useful when thrown into the environment to cause distractions.

Some enemies will not be easily tricked by your Smoke Bombs... More below.

New Ways to Hide & Kill

"Naoe is our smallest Assassin to date" says Simon. "And she uses that to her advantage: she can squeeze through tiny wall cracks, and she can hide inside small storage spaces and boxes in order to get the drop on her enemies."

Double Assassinations

We know that players are always looking for efficiency in their stealth runs, and this is why we are bringing back Double Assassinations in Assassin's Creed Shadows. By equipping the Tanto as one of your main weapons and unlocking the dedicated skill, you can eliminate two enemies standing next to each other at once with your Hidden Blade - whether on the ground or from the air.

Grabbing Enemies

While undetected, you can briefly grab and drag enemies in any direction to silently assassinate or take them down non-lethally. This grab mechanic removes some of the automation we've had in the series before. "In Shadows, if you want to assassinate someone from a stalking bush you have to manually grab them, pull them in, and only then can you dispatch them," says Simon.

And this is not all! While we cannot cover everything in this article, know that there will be more stealth opportunities to discover once you get your hands on the game! Including falling stalactites distracting guards in Winter, or swift assassinations through Shoji doors.

Enemy Tactics

While you have plenty of ways to hide and eliminate your targets, enemies will respond in ways that will make your life more difficult when you make mistakes. Servants, for example, are a new type of non-lethal enemy that will alert guards upon seeing you. While they can't fight, their ability to call for reinforcements and raise alarms make them just as threatening as enemies who can. Servants have their own patrol routes, so it's important to keep tabs on them. When using Eagle Vision, they will stand out by appearing in orange.

When infiltrating heavily guarded positions such as Castles and Fortresses, different districts each exist as their own individual arenas. This means that, should you get caught in one pocket, you can still recover, re-engage and keep your stealth run going without having an entire location bearing down on you.

Suspicion and Investigation

If you get detected and are able to disappear again, enemies will search for you in pairs (one watcher and one seeker) and will remain more suspicious going forward. That means that tactics such as whistling to lure them in will only increase their suspicion and thus their ability to spot you.

This can have an impact on your ability to assassinate from a hiding spot, as these suspicious guards will be more likely to get in the way if you're not cautious enough.

Unique Enemy Behaviours: Focus on the Samurai

Certain enemy archetypes will present unique challenges to your arsenal. For example, samurai cannot be assassinated when caught in a smoke bomb, as seen in our clip above; instead, they will quickly evade the smoky area. This contrasts with the Ashigaru soldiers or the servants, who can be assassinated in smoke. Samurai are also more prone to deny assassinations, and they can even slice bushes when searching for you, which removes options to hide.

"Samurai are fearsome enemies and cannot be taken lightly," says Simon. "Once alerted, they are hard to trick or lure, as they assume that any tricks you use are just that - a trick to lure them. This will force you to adapt and think harder about how to get the drop on them."

But every challenge brings new opportunities, and smoke bombs can become an effective tool to disperse samurai if you are looking for a quick escape.

Assassination Denied

Through Shadows' progression system, it's important you focus on developing your stealth skills and abilities. Enemies will have levels based on their archetype and region, so if you neglect Assassin Hidden Blade upgrades, you may find that stronger enemies can completely deny your assassination attempts.

When approaching a target, a white assassination prompt indicates an instant kill, yellow means you will deal some damage, and red signals that the enemy will completely deny your attempt. "When it comes to assassinations, progress and context work in hand," says Simon. "Invest in perks that increase your assassination damage and test things around: A strong enemy may survive a frontal assassination but may die from a sneaky air assassination."

Note that an option in the menu allows you to do insta-kills on all enemies.

Stealth and Yasuke

While Yasuke is very much built for direct, close-quarters combat, he can still be stealthy when equipped with his bow. Using this ranged weapon, you can engage enemies from a distance without ever needing to draw your katana.

If players are careful and deliberate, Yasuke can also slip behind foes and deliver a devastating assassination with his melee weapons, blending stealth with a more direct combat approach.

We'll have more on Yasuke's skills in our next combat deep dive.

We hope you've enjoyed this look at some of the stealth features you will be able to play around with in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Stay tuned for our next overview, where we will focus on combat!