Some things are synonymous with RPGs. Farming XP,skill trees, gathering loot and managing your gear; Assassin’s Creed: Shadows has all this and more.
The player starts out as a wounded, naïve shinobi in training, but even if you aren’t the biggest and baddest warmonger in the land, you still have plenty of Assassination techniques at your disposal. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be hungry for more.
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You can acquire more by engaging with the Mastery skill tree, but you need to acquire Mastery Points to unlock each skill on this tree. You’ll earn a handful through natural play, but if we know you, we would bet that you want to get your hands on loads of Mastery Points as fast as possible.
So, to help you do just that, here is a list of the best ways to earn Mastery Points, allowing you to become the best Shinobi you can be.
A lot of these methods fall under the remit of ‘level up your character’ as this is how you earn Mastery Points, but we will be offering specific means of farming XP.
9Give Offerings At Shrines
Praying For XP
As you explore the vast world of AC Shadows, you’ll come across a number of shrines. Some of these will allow you to play and will offer a temporary buff to your adrenaline, whereas others will allow you to make a one-time offering, and in turn, you will receive a small amount of XP for doing so.
The upside to this method is that there is no risk involved, and it’s super quick and easy to do as you explore. But the downside is that there aren’t all that many of these shrines dotted around, and you only get 50XP per shrine. So, while it’s worth doing if you’re nearby, there are better options.
8Fight Enemies
Do What Assassins Do Best
If you want to level up your character, one tip I would offer to you is to fight everyone you see, provided they aren’t at a much higher level than you are. Whether you take them down quietly or with brute force, you will receive anywhere from 5XP to 15XP for killing basic enemies.
It doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider just how many skirmishes you will get into, and how many fodder enemies you will take down throughout your journey, you’ll soon realize that all those kills really start to add up.
Plus, you’ll find that some side quests will reward you for killing certain types of enemies, too, so if you may be mindful about what fights you engage in, you can rack up loads of XP fast.
7Check Out Undiscovered Locations
Sate Your Wanderlust
While killing people is the aim of the game, not everything you do to farm XP has to involve bloodshed. In fact, you would be surprised just how much XP you can gain by just hopping up on your trusty steed and riding across the land.
The player will gain XP for discovering new regions, sub-regions, and major landmarks, and all you need to do is simply exist in that portion of the map to reap the rewards.
This is a way of getting some easy experiencewhile seeing the exquisite scenery on show in AC Shadows. Plus, if you equip the Pathfinder, you’ll avoid getting stuck in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.
This is a great way to reveal the map and get your bearings, and before you know it, you’ll have a few Mastery Points to spend, rewarding you for your wanderlust.
6Discover Viewpoints
I Can See My House From Here
Speaking of revealing the map, you have the classic Ubisoft mechanic of climbing to the top of tall structures and mapping out the land from a vantage point.
These areas act as fast travel points, which make them very worthwhile to seek out, and they allow you to see points of interest in the distance, which makes checking off each map marker less of a ‘needle in a haystack’ scenario.
Plus, the player gains 50XP for every viewpoint they unlock. It’s not a huge amount, but considering the other benefits that come with unlocking each viewpoint, it’s a pretty nifty little package that makes clambering up each one worth the time and effort. Plus, you usually get to swanton bomb into some hay, which is always a bonus.
5Sketch Animals & Scenery
Just A Quick Scribble
While you may be a more adept assassin than you are an artist, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some downtime between kills to hone your craft.
As you explore the world, you may come across a wildlife scene that is just begging for you to immortalise it on paper. So, provided you can sneak up on the animal in question for a better look, you can do just that.
This not only earns you a cosmetic item that you can use to decorate your hideout, but it also earns you a lot of XP. Players will earn a whopping 1000XP just for sketching these drawings.
It’s easy to do and very quick, but they are also quite hard to find, meaning you can’t rely on them. However, if the opportunity presents itself, channel your inner Bob Ross.
4Complete Contracts
Get Those Hideout Supplies
These quests may have you retrieve precious cargo, or take out specific targets. So, in truth, it’s not all that different from the main and side quests. However, the key difference here is that the rewards tend to give players lots of materials that can be used to expand their Hideout.
Plus, on top of all those materials you gain, you’ll also get your hands on 1000XP for every contract you complete, which can be a real boon in the early game as you attempt to rack up Mastery Points.
3Build a Tera
A Passive XP Builder
While I would wager that players will have to grind for quite some time to get the necessary materials to build one, unless you’re down with nefarious microtransactions, if you do have the materials, a Tera can be a huge boon.
This is a building that you’re able to plop right into your hideout, and as soon as you do, everything you do in the game that would usually see you gain XP will grant you an additional 10% extra.
You’ll need to go and complete a few contracts. Otherwise, you simply won’t be able to get the materials required, but when you do, these buildings can make leveling up fast a whole lot easier.
2Complete Quests
Seek Revenge, Get XP
While it may sound like the most obvious thing in the world, it’s still worth saying. Doing quests will ensure that players receive huge chunks of XP for every completed quest.
So, if the player simply sticks to the main story quest and chips away at the game’s core content, you’ll earn a steady stream of XP, and the Mastery Points that come with that.
That said, there are some quests that will be more lucrative than others. Quests in the early game tend to offer anywhere from 500- 1000XP as standard. But you will find that some quests reward players significantly more.
So I would suggest prioritizing quests that fall into that sweet spot where they offer lots of XP as a reward but require minimal effort and time commitment on the player’s part.
1Defeat Daisho Samurai
One Mastery Point Per Kill
If you’re looking to farm Mastery Points in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, there is no faster way to go about that than taking on Daisho Samurai.
These are elite enemies that are often found patrolling Castles and Strongholds, and if the player manages to kill all the Daisho Samurai in the area, they will gain a key that will open a locked area containing some rare loot. This would be reason enough to hunt down these beefy enemies, but there’s even more in it for you.
You see, every time you kill one of these enemy variants, you will receive one mastery point for your efforts, and considering there are usually 3-5 of these Samurai per castle, this allows you to rack up Mastery Points faster than leveling up your character ever could.
So, if you find yourself in a castle exploring and a prompt to kill Daisho Samurai pops up on screen, count yourself lucky and let the bloodletting begin.
