This guide takes a look at our picks for four of the best builds for Yasuke to take your gameplay to the next level.
Assassin's Creed Shadows features a wealth of weapons, armour, trinkets and talents for you to create a build for from which can focus on range combat, AOE, affliction build-up, or just raw damage. There are multiple ways to play.
We've put a fair bit of time into the game at this point, so we've put together a list of four builds that we think make Yasuke shine.
Pro tip: You can create loadouts for Yasuke and Naoe. This feature is unlocked once you unlock Yasuke and add the Gallery building to your hideout.
AoE Yasuke Build (Multi-Target)
This build focuses on Yasuke fighting multiple enemies at once, and optimising his ability to both dish out damage and stay alive. The build has a good mix of high damage items, while also giving you an alternative way of taking out enemies.
In the table below, we'll highlight each part of the build, including what they do, our suggested best engraving for each the item and why it works in the build.
| Item name | Slot | Effect | Best Engraving | Why's it good? |
| Vengeful Foe (Naginata) | Weapon Slot 1 | +35% bleed buildup on successful parry | Damage: +10% damage | Weirdly, the weapon in this build isn't the primary concern; it's the armour set. However, Vengful Foe is an amazing weapon that fits the build. |
| Dragon's Wrath (Bow) | Weapon Slot 2 | Instantly charge arrows | Fire multiple arrows in a single shot | It's probably the best bow to have as a backup weapon. The primary weapon is our focus for these builds, so feel free to swap it out. |
| Protector's Helmet | Helmet Slot | Deal 50% damage to the attacker on Parry | Perform a Weakpoint attack on parry | This build is about dealing with a crowd, so being able to deal damage while you parry is a great bonus. |
| Protector's Armor | Armor Slot | Can Parry Unblockable attacks | +12% damage with abilities | Given the damage on parry, being able to block unblockable attacks now makes it even better. |
| Kitsune's Trickery | Trinket | +1% Health per Mastery Point in Samurai | +10% to Stats on equipped weapon | Most trinkets are good, but this works well with the AOE style we are aiming for here |
Build Highlight
Protector's Set
As a key part of the build is our ability to fight multiple enemies with ease. As a result, our ability to parry any attack, plus the damage we do to any target we parry, makes these two bits of armor a key part of the build.
How to get the Protector's Set
Head to the Nijo Palace and open the Legendary Quest. The Palace is located in Kyoto.
Bleed Build for Yasuke
The second option is the bleed build, which can also be a poison build, for what it's worth. The build focuses on both building up affliction effects and spreading them to other enemies. For those that know, it's like playing an Unholy Death Knight in WoW. It's a fun build that has a unique style. It does require a little setup, and the gear below is very much required to make it work, but it's fun to do.
We've included all the gear below, plus some of the best engravings to get the best out of it.
| Item name | Slot | Effect | Best Engraving | Why's it good? |
| Crimson's Edge (Long Katana) | Weapon Slot 1 | Enemies with bleed effects die at 2 health segments | 1 Health Segment removed after Armor Break | At the end of the day, this is a bleed build and... getting people killed 2 health segments early is pretty good |
| Dragon's Wrath (Bow) | Weapon Slot 2 | Instantly charge arrows | Fire multiple arrows in a single shot | It's probably the best bow to have as a backup weapon. The primary weapon is our focus for these builds, so feel free to swap it out. |
| Helmet of the Legendary Samurai | Helmet Slot | Heal (ration use) increases Critical Chance by 15% for 5 seconds | Deal 50% damage to the attacker on Parry | A really interesting helmet option, which in our testing made this build really strong. |
| Outfit of the Legendary Ronin |
Armor Slot |
+50% damage while in combat after a Brutal Assassination | Can Parry Unblockable attacks | Works really well with the Helmet of the Legendary Samurai to allow us to land more attacks, deal more damage, and build up that bleed afflication. |
| Amaterasu's Blessing | Trinket | +10% damage per unused Ability slot | +10% to Stats on equipped weapon | We want to bleed enemies to death; for that, we need to land attacks. So, more damage for unused abilities, plus 10% stats on our weapons, makes this ideal |
Build Highlight
Crimson's Edge
This Long Katana is the weapon of choice for this build. We will say that the Vengeful Foe we mention in the AOE build also works, and is a much easier weapon to get.
How to get Crimson's Edge
You need to complete the Nobutsuna's Students side quest to get the weapon. This is unlocked once you have Yasuke and have progressed his story. This quest will see you meet up with your trainer once again and challenge his other students to a duel. On completion, you'll get the Crimson's Edge.
Ranger Build Yasuke
This build is a little different. It focuses on using Yasuke as an archer, picking off enemies from a distance before heading into melee to take out what's left. With the build, you can thin the ranks of the enemy camps, using the bow and fast reload speed alongside the high damage output.
Below you'll find the items required alongside the best engravings to make the build work best.
| Item name | Slot | Effect | Best Engraving | Why's it good? |
| Dragon's Wrath (Bow) | Weapon Slot 2 | Instantly charge arrows | Fire multiple arrows in a single shot | We've used it as the spare weapon in the other builds, but here it takes the main stage. Instantly charged arrows plus multiple arrows in a shot make this an unbelievable combo |
| Free slot | Weapon Slot 2 | N/A | See engraving guide | Pick any melee weapon you like here. A Long Katana is probably best, but it really doesn't matter for the sake of this build. |
| Master Archer Headband | Helmet Slot | Slow down time on Headshots every 8 seconds | +10% damage | An incredible effect that rounds out the build perfectly. The +10% damage engraving can be replaced with anything else. However, we've just got more +% multipliers |
| Master Archer Outfit | Armor Slot | +200% damage with Ranged Weapons while out of combat | Instantly charge arrows | An incredible item for an opening attack. Use it on the most powerful enemy to thin the herd. |
| Amaterasu's Blessing | Trinket | +10% damage per unused Ability slot | +10% to Stats on equipped weapon | Our focus is on how much damage our bow can do, so the more raw damage we can get out, the better. |
Build Highlight
Master Archer Set
Both engravings on these items are key to the build. Ironically, the bow doesn't matter as much. But getting this set is key.
How to get the Master Archer Set
Unlock the Legendary Chest at Tsuruga Castle in the Wakasa region.
Teppo Sniper Build Yasuke
| Item name | Slot | Effect | Best Engraving | Why's it good? |
|
Dynasty Ender (Teppo) |
Weapon 1 | Suppress firing noise | Reduce reload speed | We want to be a sniper, so we need to make our shots silent for that. The Dynasty Ender is the key here, and the reduced reload speed will help. You can also swap the engraving for the load two shots engraving if you prefer. |
| Free slot | Weapon Slot 2 | N/A | See engraving guide | Pick any melee weapon you like here. A Long Katana is probably best, but it really doesn't matter for the sake of this build. |
| Master Archer Headband | Helmet Slot | Slow down time on Headshots every 8 seconds | +10% damage | The +10% damage engraving can be replaced with anything else. However, we've just got more +% multipliers. The key here is the slow down time, which allows us to move from our first target quickly |
| Master Archer Outfit | Armor Slot | +200% damage with Ranged Weapons while out of combat |
+24% Armor Piercing with Ranged Weapon |
Amazing for landing a high damage first attack. Along with the armor piercing, it's a massive boost. |
| Amaterasu's Blessing | Trinket | +10% damage per unused Ability slot | +10% to Stats on equipped weapon | Our focus is on how much damage our bow can do, so the more raw damage we can get out, the better. |
Build Highlight
Dynasty Ender
Dynasty Ender is a key item for this build, well, the engraving it comes with is. The Suppress firing noise engraving is the most important part. You could place it on another weapon, but it's easier to just use it on the one you get. Plus, you don't need to upgrade the Forge this way.
How to get Dynasty Ender
Unlock the Legendary Chest at Genbao Fort, in the Wakasa region, North of Mount Uchinakao.
Best Mastery Builds
None of these builds strictly requires any specific talents to work so that you can use the builds regardless of level. However, we recommend some key Yasuke abilities. Obviously, for the Bow build, focus on talents there, for the bleed and AOE build, focus on the weapons used and Samurai talents there.
