Assassin's Creed Shadows Black Tides walkthrough and rewards

The last update for Assassin's Creed Shadows introduces tons of new content to the game, including a new story mission that wraps up Naoe and Yasuke's story while linking it to Edward Kenway's Caribbean adventures in Assassin's Creed Black Flag resync.

As with some of the other post-launch content too Assassin's Creed ShadowsTitle Update 1.1.11 is completely free, meaning anyone who owns the base game can check out Black Tides without spending a dime. However, before you can start the free story DLC, you must first meet some basic requirements.

How to start Assassin's Creed Shadows Free Story DLC

To trigger the Black Tides story quest, you must first do so complete the main story as well as the first two missions after launch. “A Critical Encounter” can be triggered by talking to an NPC named Rufino at the hideout, while “A Puzzlement” can be started by talking to Kinu and Kane near Kajii Monzeki Temple Kuji-kiri, which is near the border between Wakasa and Omi. You don't need to reforge the Blade of Yumminess (and you'll still be able to after completing Black Tides), but you do need to find all 13 Isu Glyphs and open the Glyph Door. Provided that all these requirements have been met, you will be able to start Black Tides by going to the quest marker in the small settlement on Kii's southwest coast. The mission will automatically trigger when you get close to it.

1. Complete all Assassin's Creed Shadows main mission.

2. Complete the Critical Encounter questline.

3. Complete the quest line A Puzzlement.

4. Go to the mission marker in Kii (see images above).

How to Complete Assassin's Creed Shadows Black Tides (Walkthrough)

Black tides

Black Tides begins with a cutscene where you will be introduced to Sir Eamon Hathaway, an ancestor of Simon Hathaway, who first appeared in the 2016 novel, Assassin's Creed: Heresy. Eamon is a member of an elite Templar unit known as the Black Cross and is in the process of questioning some local children when Naoe and Yasuke arrive.

After watching the cutscene, you have to do it track down the drunk captain as Eamon mentioned. Luckily, he's nearby, so head southeast to the location shown in the image above. Upon your arrival, you will play a drinking game to gather information, but the choices you make are immaterialbecause Yasuke will have to drink anyway. The last question technically has a correct answer (The Templars are looking for a place), but whatever you choose, you will have to fight Yang.

Once Yang is silenced, examine the blood trailand follow the blue markers around the surrounding area. They take you through some restricted areas, but as long as you stay hidden this shouldn't slow you down too much. The bloodstains will eventually lead you to the masked assassin, Nirmala, who is also a member of the Black Cross. However, she is not as honorable as Eamon and injures a civilian so she can escape.

Double crossed

The Double-Crossed objective requires you to examine the shipwreck in eastern Kiiso go to the location shown on the map above. Once there, you'll have to take care of some scavengers, after which you're free to search the area. There are some notes lying around, but in order to move on, you have to do it pick up the key on the barrel. This key opens three underwater chests nearby. Of course, the information you need is at the furthest point in the chest, so swim out past the bow of the ship and dive down towards the marker.

While Naoe searches for the crew's logs, Yasuke is confronted by Nirmala. After fighting her one-on-one, you must take on Nirmala and Eamon together. Even though it's Eamon's name on the health bar, you can end the fight by targeting Nirmala if you find her easier to deal with. When the encounter is over, watch the cutscene navigate the darkness by walking towards the lighted scenes. There are three of them in total, after which you must hit Shadow Yasukewhich thankfully is pretty easy to defeat.

Buried secrets

With Yasuke out of commission, you'll team up with someone new for the next episode. You won't be able to control him, but you will have to help Rufino go through the chambers by standing on the glowing platforms. Navigate through the first few sections with parkour until you reach a large chamber and a showdown with Nirmala. You can lure her to the glyphs to trigger traps if you want, but I found it easier to just take her out with normal attacks. If you need them, there are two ration refill baskets nearby.

When you lower Nirmala's health a bit, Eamon appears, and the difficulty is turned up to eleven. This is a bit like the optional Hanzo fight from earlier in the game, only with two enemies instead of one. You have to be quick with your parries and dodgesand also persistent, as they will block many of the attacks you throw at them. As before, you can try using the traps, but I found it easier to target Nirmala while keeping my distance from Eamon. However, Eamon will periodically throw kunai, so you must be ready to dodge these if necessary.

Eventually, Yasuke shows up to help even the odds, and a pretty cool cutscene plays. Once that's over, you'll fight Eamon with Yasuke, though this is thankfully much easier than the previous encounter. Eamon goes down pretty quicklyespecially if you choose a brute force strategy with well-timed parries. After he falls, there is another cutscene and the story after the launch DLC for Assassin's Creed Shadows finally comes to an end. As you might expect, there are plenty of rewards.

All Assassin's Creed Shadows Black Tides Quest Rewards

After completing the Black Tides DLC quest, you'll be rewarded with new weapons, armor, and trinkets for both Naoe and Yasuke. Yasuke gets Eamon's armor and weapons, while Naoe gets Nirmala's. Both characters are given trinkets based on the wood carvings Eamon showed the children in the opening sequence, as well as a trinket based on the lighthouse Yasuke broke in the final one. You will also get seven new engravings and the End of Order Trophy / Achievement.