As the first of the two characters you get to play as, getting the right skills for Naoe can give you a real early advantage.
Of the two, Naoe is all about speed and agility. Her three main weapon types lean into this playstyle effortlessly. The Katana is her default starter weapon, and will likely be your main weapon for the duration of the game. The Kusarigama is her long-range AOE weapon, which basically acts as a ball on a chain. Lastly is the Tanto, a small knife that is used alongside her Hidden Blade to act as the ultimate speed weapon set.
In this guide, we'll examine where you should place your first few points in the talent tree. We'll also include how we would spend your first roughly 10 or so points in each category and highlight a few must-have talents and why at the end.
Best Skills to Unlock First as Naoe
Below are the skills we think are best to acquire "first." The Katana and Tool abilities should be acquired first; after that, do as you please. We've listed the abilities below, along with their cost, but the order isn't necessarily a priority.
| Skill Row | Ability (cost) | Description/reason |
| Katana | Tidal Wave (1) | A fast strike that deals 25% ability damage and leaves enemies vulnerable. - A great early ability that gives you not only a gap closer, but also a way to create space. |
| Tool | Kunai Assassination Damage I (3) | Removes an additional chunk of health from enemies hit with Naoe's kunai. This is a great way to pick off ranged enemies if you want to play Naoe like a stealth character. |
| Shinobi | Ascension Boost (2) | Naoe can climb much faster while using the Grappling Hook. - One of the best early abilities to pick up. Costing just two points, it will save you a lot of time when attacking castles. |
| Shinobi | Igan Roll (1) | While falling, players can now hold the dodge button before landing to break the fall. - Another useful ability for castles, this time for escaping them. |
| Assassin | Shoji Door Assassination (2) |
Allows Naoe to assassinate enemies through shoji panel doors with her katana. - This is a really good early talent to get and makes clearing castles a lot easier. |
| Assassin | Assassination Damage I (1) |
Assassinations remove 1 additional chunk of health - It's a pretty simple talent that does what it says. It will let you one-shot more enemies, mostly the guardian units. |
| Assassin | Double Assassinate (3) |
Naoe will be able to assassinate two enemies standing close together. - Like the above, it's just a really good ability to have. |
Best Early Katana Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Tidal Wave | A fast strike that deals 25% ability damage and leaves enemies vulnerable. |
| Dodge Attack | Quickly close the gap with a strike after dodging away from an enemy attack. |
| Counter Attack | Deflecting an enemy attack will automatically launch a counterattack. |
| Eviscerate | Strike an enemy, dealing 75% ability damage and pushing them away. |
Pro Tip: Tidal Wave is an ability you can get right away that makes the Katana a deadly early weapon. It also has an AOE element, which can be useful in some early fights.
Best Early Kusarigma Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Feral Outburst | Launch Naoe towards a single enemy and unleash a flurry of 4 strikes, dealing 20% ability damage each. |
| Exposed Wound | Feral Outburst's final strike makes the target Vulnerable. Another rank of this will make the attack do 40% more damage. |
| Cyclone Blast | Swing the Kusarigama in large circles around Naoe, dealing 8% ability damage per hit and pushing back struck enemies |
Pro Tip: Cyclone Blash is a great ability to pick up, and also allows the Kusarigama to unlock its full potential
Best Early Tanto Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Shadow Piercer | Launch Tanto at an enemy and quickly follow up with devastating strikes, dealing 40% ability damage. |
| Leap Strike | Hold the attack button and use directional dodge to leap in the direction of an enemy to strike them. |
| Backstab | Light Posture attacks that hit an enemy's back trigger Weak Point attacks. |
| Shadow Barrage | Naoe will enter a state of hyper-awareness, allowing her to automatically dodge all attacks and launch up to 7 hits on enemies for 20 seconds. |
Pro Tip: Leap Strike is the real winner here, allowing you to close the gap with the Tanto.
Best Early Tools Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Kunai | Hold Aim and press Attack to throw a Kunai that deals 400% damage. Headshots on unsuspecting enemies will remove 3 Health Segments. |
| Kunai Assassination Damage I | Removes an additional chunk of health from enemies hit with Naoe's kunai. |
|
Smoke Bomb |
Hold, Aim, and press Attack to throw a smoke bomb and break all lines of sight. |
| Larger Tool Bag 1 | Increase maximum capacity for all tools. +1 Kunai, +1 Shuriken, 1+ Smoke Bomb. +1 Shinobi Bell. |
| Shuriken | Hold Aim and press Attack to throw a Shuriken that deals 100% damage. Staggers enemies and can be used on the environment. |
Pro Tip: The Shuriken is a really cool tool to unlock, mostly because it saves you from using your Kunai for environmental damage.
Best Early Shinobi Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Grappling Hook (given for free) | Launch your Grabbling Hook to climb up a ledge or use it to swing to another location. |
| Grab (given for free) | Grab an enemy while undetected to grab an enemy. Once grabbed, you can knock out the enemy and move them around |
| Grab Assassinate | After grabbing an enemy, press the action button to assassinate them. |
| Vault | Press dodge quickly after deflecting an attack to jump over an enemy and make the target vulnerable |
| Ascension Boost | Naoe can climb much faster while using the Grappling Hook. |
| Igan Roll | While falling, players can now hold the dodge button before landing to break the fall. |
Pro tip: Upgrading the Grappling Hook speed (Ascension Boost) is a talent you shouldn't sleep on. It's really useful for speeding up gameplay with very little cost.
Best Early Assassin Talents for Naoe
| Ability | Description |
| Shoji Door Assassination | Allows Naoe to assassinate enemies through shoji panel doors with her katana. |
| Double Assassinate | Naoe will be able to assassinate two enemies standing close together. |
| Assassination Damage I | Assassinations remove 1 additional chunk of health. |
| Ground Assassinate | Press the assassinate button to Assassinate a regular enemy while they are on the ground. |
| Improved Ground Assassinate | Naoe removes 1 additional Health Segment with Ground Assassinate |
Pro tip: Double Assassinate is an amazing tool to have, and one that will make clearing castles much easier.
FAQ
Which is the Best Naoe Weapon to Focus on?
The Katana always feels like the best for 90% of situations, while the Tanto does suit Naoe's style of play. For us, the Katana is the key weapon.
Can you Reset Your Abilities?
You can reset all of the points in any Mastery tree at any time.
How to Get More Knowledge?
The best way to get Knowledge is to do the activities around the map with an orange icon. In our Tips and Tricks guide, we've highlighted several good options.
