Top Skills to Prioritize for Naoe in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

In *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*, Naoe's skillset allows for versatile approaches to eliminating targets, with a focus on stealth and assassination. While she excels in the shadows, she can also handle direct confrontations with the right strategy. For players looking to maximize Naoe's potential, here are the best initial skills to prioritize, up to Knowledge Rank 3, which you can achieve swiftly by engaging in the game's early open-world activities.

Best Skills to Get First for Naoe in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Katana

• Dodge Attack – Katana Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1 Mastery Point): Enhances your defensive capabilities, allowing you to punish aggressive enemies effectively.
• Melee Expert – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Boosts your melee damage, making you a formidable force in close combat.
• Counter Attack – Katana Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Turns your defensive moves into offensive opportunities, capitalizing on enemy aggression.
• Eviscerate – Katana Ability (Knowledge Rank 3, 5 Mastery Points): A powerful finisher that maximizes your damage output against foes.

With these skills, Naoe becomes a defensive powerhouse, ready to exploit any enemy's mistake with devastating counters and finishing moves.

Kusarigama

• Entanglement – Kusarigama Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1 Mastery Point): Ideal for controlling and afflicting enemies, enhancing your crowd control capabilities.
• Affliction Builder – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Increases the effectiveness of your affliction builds, making your attacks more potent.
• Big Catch – Kusarigama Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 2 Mastery Points): Allows you to manipulate larger enemies, adding versatility to your combat strategy.
• Multi-Target Expert – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 3, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Enhances your ability to handle multiple foes simultaneously.
• Cyclone Blast – Kusarigama Ability (Knowledge Rank 3, 7 Mastery Points): A devastating area-of-effect attack that can clear groups of enemies.

These skills turn Naoe into a versatile combatant, capable of managing both single targets and groups with ease and efficiency.

Tanto

• Shadow Piercer – Tanto Ability (Knowledge Rank 1, 5 Mastery Points): Amplifies your damage output, especially against vulnerable targets.
• Gap Seeker – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Enhances your ability to exploit enemy weaknesses, increasing your overall damage.
• Backstab – Tanto Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Increases damage when attacking from behind, perfect for stealth kills.
• Backstabber – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Further enhances your backstab damage, making you a deadly assassin.
• Back Breaker – Tanto Passive (Knowledge Rank 3, 3 Mastery Points): Allows you to deal significant damage to armored enemies, ensuring no target is safe.

These skills make Naoe a lethal assassin, capable of dealing massive damage to unsuspecting foes and even armored enemies.

Tools

• Smoke Bomb – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1 Mastery Point): Essential for escaping or setting up assassinations.
• Larger Tool Bag I – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 2 Mastery Points): Increases your tool capacity, allowing for more strategic options.
• Shinobi Bell – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 1 Mastery Point): Useful for luring enemies away from your path.
• Enduring Haze – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 2 Mastery Points): Extends the duration of your Smoke Bomb, providing more time to maneuver.
• Kunai Assassination Damage I – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Boosts the damage of your kunai, ideal for ranged kills.
• Shuriken – Tools Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 2 Mastery Points): Allows you to disable alarms and trigger explosives from a distance.

These tools enhance Naoe's ability to manipulate the battlefield, making her a master of distraction and stealth.

Shinobi

• Ascension Boost – Shinobi Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 2 Mastery Points): Speeds up your climbing, essential for quick navigation.
• Vault – Shinobi Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 1 Mastery Point): Reduces fall damage, increasing your survivability.
• Igan Roll – Shinobi Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 1 Mastery Point): Enhances your mobility, crucial for evading detection.
• Heighten Senses – Shinobi Ability (Knowledge Rank 3, 5 Mastery Points): Slows down time, allowing for more precise movements in crowded areas.

These skills ensure Naoe remains undetected and agile, navigating the world with ease and precision.

Assassin

• Executioner – Global Passive (Knowledge Rank 1, 1/2/3 Mastery Points): Increases your assassination damage, making your strikes more lethal.
• Improved Ground Assassinate – Assassin Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Enhances your ground assassinations, perfect for silent takedowns.
• Double Assassinate – Assassin Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Allows you to take out two targets simultaneously, increasing efficiency.
• Assassination Damage I – Assassin Passive (Knowledge Rank 2, 3 Mastery Points): Further boosts your assassination damage, ensuring quick kills.
• Reinforced Blade – Assassin Passive (Knowledge Rank 3, 4 Mastery Points): Strengthens your Hidden Blade, allowing you to tackle tougher enemies.

These skills make Naoe an expert assassin, capable of swift and silent eliminations, even against formidable foes.

By focusing on these skills, you can transform Naoe into the ultimate shinobi assassin in *Assassin’s Creed Shadows*. For more tips and guides, be sure to check out The Escapist.