Assassin’s Creed Shadowstakes the series in a new direction with the option to play as two different protagonists whenever you like, each with unique skills and weapons to master. For those who prefer a more heads-on approach to combat, the imposing Samurai Yasuke can use massive weapons and his raw strength to take on multiple enemies with devastating power.
To do this more effectively, Yasuke has access to five of the major weapon types inAssassin’s Creed Shadows:the Long Katana, Naginata, Kanabo, Bow, and Teppo. Just like his Shinobi partner Naoe, Yasuke can find legendary weapons for each of these, which come with powerful effects and the opportunity to add strong engravings. Yasuke may be too big to sneak around in the shadows, but with his size andpowerful legendary weapons, he can take down whole castles by himself.
S-Tier Weapons For Yasuke
The Most Powerful Effects Of Yasuke’s Weapons
Some of the strongest legendary weapons inAssassin’s Creed Shadowshavesynergy with affliction effects such as poison and bleed.GreatShadowsbuilds for Naoeand Yasuke both can utilize such effects, and finding alegendary version that makes afflictions stronger will give you a serious boost in combat. For Yasuke, the Crimson’s Edge long Katana will instant-kill an enemy if they are below two health segments and bleeding, while the Vengeful Foe Naginata will give him +35% bleed buildup on a successful parry.
Powerful Build-Defining Effect
Building around bleed and poison effects is very strong, but Yasuke can also be unstoppable with more general effects on the S-tier weapons, like the Boulder Fall Kanobo. This is my favorite of Yasuke’s weapons becausehis attacks cannot be interrupted, so he can keep on swatting enemies away, providing he has enough health.
Yasuke has askill inAC Shadowsthat lets him swap weapons while attacking. Use this with a Long Katana and Kanobo for some strong animation interruptions and high damage output.
Similarly, the Venom Pillar Kanobo and Turquoise Zephyr Katana have strong bonuses from alternating attacks and successful parries, respectively, which are things you want to be doing as often as possible anyway.
A-Tier Weapons For Yasuke
Weapons With Great All-Round Effects
TheBows and Teppos inAssassin’s Creed Shadowsare worse than the melee weapons, mainly because they are clunky and slow to use, and not very effective up-close, which is what Yasuke wants to be doing. You can still use them to lower an enemy group’s numbers before you run into the fight, and there are a few ranged weapons that have very powerful effects.
The Last Breath Bow is the best to get, as getting a headshot will cause the special ammo you’re using to instantly trigger. The Dark Burst Teppo will shoot multiple bullets in a single shot to almost guarantee a kill, while the Death’s Bloom will reduce the Teppo’s painful reload time significantly.
Strong Overall Effect
There are lots of generically good legendary melee weapons for Yasuke to find as well. Like Naoe,Yasuke’s Long Katana is his best weapon overall, thanks to its versatility and impressive mastery tree. The Whispers of Muramasa will make enemies vulnerable when riposted, and the Lethal Lotus petal gives a 50% chance to kill an enemy below two health segments with Poison. For those poison builds, the Ornate Bone Naginata will restore 8% health when hitting a poisoned enemy if you want to turn combat into a battle of attrition.
B-Tier Weapons For Yasuke
Solid Melee Weapons & The Best Ranged Weapons
You’ll notice an improvement from Yasuke’snon-legendary quality weaponswhen using these. A lot of them will have certainsituations where the effect won’t apply or is outclassed by something in the higher tiers. The Flowing Peace Long Katana is one of Yasuke’s weakest Katanas, as removing one health segment when breaking an opponent’s armor is useless against non-armored opponents, who usually have higher health anyway, so the effect isn’t as strong.
Strong In Most Situations
I’ve put the Celestial Blade Naginata here because its effect will let you automatically parry incoming regular attacks when blocking, which is great unless the enemy you’re facing doesn’t use a lot of regular attacks. That’s the general theme with these B-tier weapons, so don’t get used to their effects happening all the time, asbeing caught out when they don’t work can be fatal.
C-Tier Weapons For Yasuke
Effects That Are Harder To Benefit From
These weapons haveeffects that are powerful but have more of a niche or specific circumstances when they’re good, that don’t come up as often as being a reliable build-around. The Claw of the Dragon Long Katana, for example, gives a +35% damage boost when facing a single enemy, but whileplaying as Yasuke inAC Shadowsyou want to be taking on large groups of enemies and using his powerful skills to take them down in one go, so it’s not as useful as other effects.
Weak In Most Situations
The Kaen Kanabo will give Yasuke a +1 Adrenaline Chunk per enemy alerted by a Brutal Assassination, which is fun to do, buta lot of the time it’s better to take out multiple enemies with a ranged weapon firstor just charge in to do a big AoE attack. The Blood Rain Bow and Hatou Teppo are the ranged legendary weapons for Yasuke that preserve ammunition, with the Bow giving a 100% chance of looting arrows from dead bodies, which are great options if you always want a ranged weapon available.
D-Tier Weapons For Yasuke
Can Be Effective, But Look To Upgrade When Possible
By no means are these legendary weapons bad, asthey have unique effects and can be engraved at a forge with other effects, but they’re outclassed by many of the other legendary weapons Yasuke can use. Many of these are Bows and Teppos because the range weapons aren’t the best things to use when playing as Yasuke, and their effects aren’t powerful enough to make them worth running over a Katana, Naginata, or Kanabo.
Weak Overall Effect
The Cerulean Nexus is the worst Naginata, as its effect will increase the impact when he uses the Shoulder Tackle ability.The Cerulean Glitch Long Katana is the same as Naoe’s Cerulean Arc Katana, which grants you a full Adrenaline Chunk when you use a ration, but you don’t gain any health from that ration - an effect I still don’t see as a positive one.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Naoe Legendary Weapons Tier List
Naoe has access to over thirty legendary weapons in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, each with a different special effect that can be extremely powerful.
Yasuke has over 40 legendary weapons to get his hands on, and any you do find will be an upgrade over the non-legendary weapons you can loot or buy throughoutAssassin’s Creed Shadows.He may be an armor-clad giant, but Yasuke’s large skill trees and variety of weapons give him a lot of depth in combat, so whatever weapons you do choose will give you a different playstyle. Just be sure to swap back to Naoe for when things call for a more subtle approach.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Set during Japan’s Sengoku period, two distinct protagonists—Naoe, a shinobi, and Yasuke, a historical African samurai—must navigate political intrigue and violent clashes between the Assassins and Templars. Players can switch between stealthy, shadow-based gameplay with Naoe and Yasuke’s direct combat approach, exploring the duality of their missions in a beautifully rendered open world.
