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Assassin's Creed Shadows quest list - main and side missions

The AC Shadows quests will take you across nine major Japanese regions as Naoe and Yasuke seek to rid them of the dastardly Shinbakufu.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows 

What are the Assassin's Creed Shadows quests? The latest installment in the iconic RPG series has plenty of content for you to sneak or slash through, and keeping track of every quest and side mission can quickly become overwhelming.

This is especially true seeing as best AC Shadows weapons. Luckily for you, we're here to help with our comprehensive by-chapter AC Shadows mission list, plus our side quest and ally quest lists.

Assassin's Creed Shadows quests: a group of masked people, one riding a horse

Assassin's Creed Shadows main quests

Assassin's Creed Shadows has you shift between dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. There are moments when you'll have to play as one-half of the pair to proceed, however. We've noted these quests in the list below.

Here are all the Assassin's Creed Shadows main quests:

Life in Iga

  • The Onryo Samurai
  • Fight of the Kakushiba Ikki
  • The Onryo Samurai

Pain and Promises

  • An Unpayable Debt
  • Wake Up Call
  • An Unpayable Debt Pt. 2
  • From Spark to Flame

Rebuilding

The Wounded

  • The Fatherless Monk
  • Stolen Faith
  • The Killing Field
  • Heads Will Roll

The Golden Teppo

  • Searching Sakai
  • The Perfect Gift
  • Dress for Success
  • The Tea Ceremony
  • Defensive Position

An Eye for an Eye

  • Friend of My Enemy
  • Belly of the Beast
  • Temple of the Horseman

The World Goes Blind

  • Lightning and Thunder
  • Mibuno Showdown

A New League

The Fool

  • A Bad Brother
  • Missing Missive
  • The Rising Tide
  • Inside Help
  • Lost Honor

The Naginata

  • Lady of Whispers (Yasuke)
  • An Evening in Otsu
  • Against the Koga-ryu
  • Showdown in Sakamoto
  • Requiem for Rokkaku

The Hunt Continues

The Mourner

  • An Education (Yasuke)
  • A Talk With a Lady (Yasuke)
  • Nagahama Black Powder
  • The Price of Rice
  • A Prayer For Omi (Yasuke)
  • The Wheel Unmasked

The Noble

  • Lady of Whispers (Yasuke)
  • The Rengakai
  • The Scent of War
  • Losing Hand
  • A Peculiar Guest
  • Spring and Fall

The Ox

  • A Voice in Anger
  • Astray
  • Brothers in Arms
  • Of My Enemy
  • Broken Horn

Fall of the Shinbakufu

The Fox

  • Lords of Azuchi (Yasuke)
  • Red Walls
  • Chef Hong
  • Smuggler's Gambit
  • Revenge
  • The Music
  • The Performer

The Wise

  • A Chance Encounter
  • The Lost Envoys
  • Restless Spirits
  • Temple Stories
  • Darkness Falls

Tailing the Traitor

The Two-Faced

  • The Peasant Who Would Be King
  • Topple the Traitor

The Horseman

  • The Man Behind the Mask

Unfinished Business

  • Story of a Samurai (Yasuke)
  • Story of a Young Boy
  • Story of a Shinobi (Naoe)

Wounds That Remain

  • Out of the Shadows

Assassin's Creed Shadows quests: a young shinobi surveying a gorgeous, green land

Assassin's Creed Shadows side quests

In true open-world RPG fashion, side quests are found while travelling around Japan, given by NPCs in towns, or started accidentally after stumbling upon a quest item. Below we've noted the NPCs tied to certain quests, plus any dependencies spotted during our playthrough. Some questlines won't offer up the next step until the seasons change, so be wary of that.

Izumi Settsu

  • Finding New Allies
  • Way of the Blacksmith (Tomiko)
  • Smuggler's Run (Tomiko)
  • Before the Fall (Naoe)
  • The Butterfly Collector (Gamemaker)
  • Thrown to the Dogs (Stray Dog)

The Kabukimono (Shin'nyo)

  • Grave Dancer
  • Ember
  • Big Sueki
  • Chief Cuckoo
  • Ghost General
  • the kabukimono
  • Corrupt Blade (Kill first five and complete ' the kabukimono')
  • Peacock (Kill first five and complete ' the kabukimono')
  • Laughing Man (Kill first five and complete ' the kabukimono')
  • Out to Pasture

The Iron Hand Guild (Katano Oil Trading Letter)(Imai Sokkun)

  • Merchant Tamao
  • Merchant Kanta
  • Merchant Ginroku
  • Merchant Kin-no-suke
  • Secrets of the Blade (Complete 'Wolves and Foxes')
  • The Wheel Turns (Lady Oichi)
  • The Tournament (Clear nine of the 12 Shinbakufu)(Gyoji)

Yamashiro

  • Tea Bowls for Rikyu (Sen no Rikyu)
  • Art Collector
  • Chaos or Order
  • The Yokai
  • Wolves and Foxes (Complete 'Lords of Azuchi')(Naoe)
  • A Collection of Crests
  • The Path He Walks (Complete 'My Name is Yasuke')(Yasuke)

Omi

The Corrupt Daikan (Kuma)

  • The Soiled Merchant
  • The Connoisseur
  • The Hedonist
  • The Hoarder
  • The Sword Hunter (Complete 'The Price of Rice')
  • The Concubine (Complete 'The Price of Rice)
  • Nobutsuna's Students (Nobutsuna Sensei)

The Godai Shinobi (Shotei)

  • The Godai of Fire
  • The Godai of Water
  • The Godai of Void
  • The Godai of Wind
  • The Godai of Earth
  • The Betrayers
  • Restoring Order
  • Cloud Gazing
  • Omi Assassin Outpost (Complete 'Secrets of the Blade')(Naoe)

Harima

  • Guardian Spirit
  • The Kabukimono (Shin'nyo)
  • Fallen Soldiers (Complete 'Broken Horn')(Koshiro)

Iga

  • The Art of Kintsugi
  • From the Ashes
  • Elder Empathy
  • Iga Assassin Outpost (Complete 'Secrets of the Blade')(Naoe)

Wakasa

The Pirate Alliance (Shido the Biwa Master)

  • Kage
  • Lopo Cruz
  • Little Kappa
  • Sen
  • Sweet Lies
  • High Seas Haymakers
  • Feast For Thought (Complete 'The Performer')(Hong)
  • Valuable Reflections (Complete 'The Performer')(Niwa Nagahide)
  • Dark Waves, Black Ships (Complete 'The Performer')(Yasuke)
  • My Name is Yasuke (Complete 'Dark Waves, Black Ships') (Yasuke)

Yamato

  • Yamabushi Imposters
  • Stealing Samurai
  • Bandit Attack
  • Kurai Eikyou (Complete 'A Chance Encounter')
  • Yamato Assassin Outpost (Complete 'Secrets of the Blade')(Naoe)
  • The Meaning of the Blade (Complete 'The Man Behind the Mask')(Naoe)

Kii

  • The World Out There
  • Kii Assassin Outpost (Complete 'Secrets of the Blade')(Naoe)
  • Fighting for the Cause (Complete 'The Path He Walks')(Yasuke)
  • Winter Raiders (Read missive in Oda Ronin's house during 'Fighting for the Cause')(Yasuke)

Tamba

  • Accursed Arquebuses
  • The Silver Queen (Complete 'Fighting for the Cause')(Yasuke)
  • A Promise (Complete 'The Silver Queen')(Yasuke)
  • End of the Line (Complete 'A Promise')(Yasuke)

Assassin's Creed Shadows ally quests: Naoe sitting with Gennojo

Assassin's Creed Shadows ally quests

Many of the AC Shadows romance. Junjiro's quests are season-gated, meaning you won't be able to instantly start his next mission until the calendar's flipped – at least in our experience.

Junjiro

  • Raise a Cup
  • Eyes on the Future
  • A Different Kind of Samurai
  • Soup for Sorin
  • The Pilgrimage
  • Leaving a Mark

Yaya

  • The Stray Dogs

Gennojo

  • Sake and Swords
  • Honor Among Thieves
  • Stolen Hearts
  • The Godeless Harvest

Katsuhime

  • Letter From Katsuhime
  • The Tale of Genin
  • The Diary of Lady Rokkaku
  • The Jounin Pillow Book

Yagoro

  • A Blade in the Dark
  • Past and Present
  • Path and Purpose
  • A Blade in the Light

Ibuki

  • Ambush Interrupted
  • Homecoming
  • Putting Down Roots

Oni-yuri

  • Sweet Lies
  • Sweet Revenge

And that's our comprehensive Assassin's Creed Shadows quest list so far. We'll be back to fill in the gaps as we continue making progress, so check back when we've finished up. In the meantime, check out our full new PC games that have graced 2025.

Assassin's Creed Shadows. We suspect they’re actually three otters in a trench coat - their cool rock collection is a major piece of evidence - but have yet to confirm this hypothesis.