Do Castles Remain Empty When you Defeat the Samurai Daisho in Assassin's Creed Shadows

As you travel in the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll encounter major Temples and Castles scattered throughout each region. These locations are major points of interest on the map, but to clear them, you’ll need to eliminate a number of Samurai Daisho in order to loot the big chest.

While these locations vary in size as you play, the format is pretty much the same for each.

• Scout out the location, normally via the Sync Point
• Use your Obervation Mode and Eagle Sense (Naoe only) to spot enemies and location
• Here you will be able to spot the Samurai Daisho in the location by the marker on their head (shown below)
• Then, go and find them all and take them out. If you wait, they can all be taken out silently
• Once all of them are dead, head to the castle keep or main tower and look for the locked chest
• The chest is usually at the top levels
• Note, that castles will also have at least one Scout Resource Chest for you to loot, usually on the lower floors behind a locked door

Pro tip: Stealth is king in castle fights. Naoe is able to stealth kill most of them without being spotted and provided you are close to their level; she will one-shot them. Yasuke is fine, but will have much more fighting on his hands.

Once you Clear a Castle, do the Samurai Daisho Respawn?

No, the Smuari Daisho are a one-and-done. They are your way to unlock the Daisho chest, which will require you to kill them all. Once you have, they won't return when you come back. Instead, you might find a few extra "big guys" in their place, but nothing on the same level.

Do Other Enemies and Resources Respawn

Unlike the Samuari Daisho, other enemies and resources will all respawn. This includes the "gold" crates, and the Hideout Resources that you need to use two scouts for. These resets will happen each time the season changes in-game. While this is great if you want them to respawn, it is annoying when you want to use the Castles and Strongholds as a way to fast travel. We noted in our Review that it was one of our major paint points in the game.

FAQ

How to Find All the Samurai Daisho in a Castle?

The best way to find the Samurai Daisho is to head to the largest spot in each section of the Stronghold. You will find each one guarding a section of the Stronghold, so head to each section and look for them. If you play as Naoe, using your Eagles Vision, you will see them as white spots, so make sure to use Observation Mode to spot them.

Do you Have to Clear the Entire Castle?

No, you only need to take out the Samurai Daisho to complete the Strongholds and unlock the chest.

How do you Trigger a Respawn at a Castle

To make Castles and Strongholds respawn, you can do so by changing the season. This can be done in three ways. Fast travel will often trigger it, especially if you travel a large distance. Certain major story quests will also cause the season to shift. Lastly, you can do it yourself from the main menu. Once the season has reached the midway point, you can trigger the change early.