Continuing the series' recent RPG elements, Assassin's Creed Shadows has an in-depth loot and levelling system that'll see your gear regularly become redundant. There's an easy way around this though, trivialising the whole process. All you need to do is know how to upgrade weapons and armour.
You can do this almost right away in Shadows, though the process wasn't smooth sailing for me as the NPC didn't actually show up where they were supposed to. Feeling like I was scammed, I did some tinkering and managed to fix it. Chances are, you'll run into this issue at the start as well, so I'll explain how I solved it below.
How to upgrade weapons and armour in Assassin's Creed Shadows
You need to build the forge at your hideout to upgrade your weapons and armour. To do this, you'll have to complete the Way of the Blacksmith quest to find Heiji, but since it's one of the first quests you unlock once you gain access to the hideout, it won't take you long.
After you've built the forge, head inside and speak to Heiji the blacksmith to view his shop where you can upgrade, dismantle and engrave your gear. Annoyingly, you can't upgrade gear directly from your inventory like you could in some previous games, meaning you'll have to return to the hideout every so often as you progress.
This is where I ran into issues. When I first built the forge at my hideout, Heiji wasn't inside his shop and when I spoke to him around camp I couldn't access the upgrade menu. To fix this issue, I had to fast-travel away from the hideout and return–the good ol' turn it off and back on again trick.
Here's how each process at the blacksmith works:
How to upgrade gear
Upgrading your gear is as simple as it sounds. Select a weapon or armour piece and you can immediately boost it up to your current level. It's not free but it's so cheap that I didn't worry about my resources or Mon at all.
Naoe and Yasuke need different materials to upgrade their gear, though all are found in enemy camps, given as quest rewards, bought from vendors, or earned by dismantling gear.
The maximum level you can upgrade gear to is limited by your character level and the level of the forge:
- Forge level 1: Gear up to level 20 can be upgraded and dismantled
- Forge level 2: Gear up to level 40 can be upgraded and dismantled, and you can apply non-legendary engravings
- Forge level 3: Gear up to level 60 can be upgraded and dismantled, and you can apply Legendary engravings
How to engrave gear
Both weapons and armour can be engraved, which lets you add an additional perk to your gear for a small pouch of Mon. The common quality of engravings ranges from simple damage boosts to additional protection. Legendary engravings are much more fun, effectively letting you combine legendary gear. You could use one of the best weapons and steal a perk from another, for example.
Engravings are earned from assassinating key targets, opening gear chests, or purchasing them from gear vendors. The exception is legendary engravings, which are earned by collecting new legendary gear. You'll need a max-level forge before you can apply these though.
How to dismantle gear
You can dismantle unwanted weapons and armour in return for materials needed to upgrade gear of the same type. Break down one of Naoe's trinkets and you'll get silk to put towards upgrading your favourite trinket.
It sounds like a great deal, right? Well, it's not. You get barely any resources for breaking down gear and you'll already have tons after a few hours of exploring. You're much better off selling unwanted gear for Mon.
