All Assassin's Creed Shadows difficulty settings explored

Assassin's Creed Shadows provides a wide range of difficulty settings that you can alter to better fit your preferences, keeping it a fun experience throughout. With the title offering some pretty robust combat and stealth mechanics, Ubisoft offers the choice to tone down or crank up those settings to make your adventure easier or more intense with both Naoe and Yasuke.

This article highlights all of the difficulty options in Assassin's Creed Shadows and their related details.

---

What are the difficulty settings in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

AC Shadows provides various difficulty options (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Ubisoft)

As you embark on your adventure in AC Shadows, you will first have the opportunity to select your preferred difficulty settings. Importantly, this can be adjusted even after the game has started. By navigating to the difficulty tuning section, you can individually select preferred options for both stealth and combat.

Here are the difficulty options that you can choose in AC Shadows:

Difficulty options

Story

This mode greatly focuses on a narrative experience as the enemies are not difficult to overcome. While it's recommended to maintain an appropriate gear level, the choice to optimize it is optional.

Naoe is harder to detect, more damage-resistant, and deadly in combat. She can fight against multiple enemies at the same time. On the other hand, Yasuke is very resistant and versatile, and being so powerful, he can easily overcome large encounters.

---

Forgiving

This mode provides a forgiving experience in AC Shadows. However, using the best gear available, and improving equipment and skills are required.

Naoe can easily infiltrate areas, take down unaware enemies, and fight small groups. Alternatively, Yasuke can handle large encounters and proficiently showcase his raw power.

---

Normal

This mode is the intended experience crafted around the dual protagonists. You must invest in prominent gear, weapons, and other progression elements to gain an advantage during battles.

Naoe should favor staying hidden and using her many skills to take down enemies stealthily. Meanwhile, Yasuke can face any encounter as long as the enemies match his current level.

---

Expert

If you want to face the toughest battles in your journey, choose this difficulty mode in Assassin's Creed Shadows. This mode requires you to maximize your equipment to its full potential, as the gear, weapons, and selected skills significantly impact the gameplay.

This mode provides enemies with a wider field of view, so Naoe must be careful when approaching them. On the other hand, Yasuke will face stronger enemies, so mastering all aspects of the combat system is essential for success.

---

What is the guided exploration mode in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

The Guided exploration mode lets you easily detect the target location (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Ubisoft)

There is an option known as the Guided Exploration in settings, which, when activated, facilitates the easy identification of targets during a mission. This enables you to effectively locate the blue marker on the map and navigate to the designated location. However, certain achievements will remain inaccessible if this setting is enabled.

If the option is not enabled, it is necessary to designate scouts according to the hints provided within the game to accurately determine a target's location on the map.

Additionally, the Guaranteed Assassination option found in the Difficulty Tuning settings allows for the instant death of an enemy after an assassination, regardless of whether they possess a substantial health bar.

---

Check out more Assassin's Creed Shadow guides below:

• How to get Mastery points and unlock skills in Assassin's Creed Shadows
• What are the Canon and Immersive modes in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
• Is AC Shadows Deluxe Edition worth buying?