All Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and how to unlock them

Similar to other weapons, there are a few Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows that you can unlock and invest in to make this armament more powerful. The traditional Japanese shortblade is one of many tools in Naoe's arsenal that you can use to take down powerful enemies. However, certain skills for the Tanto are locked behind the Knowledge Rank system in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

This article goes over all available Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows and how to unlock them.

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All available Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows

The Tanto skill tree (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // Ubisoft)

Knowledge Rank 1

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Gap Seeker	Increase Armor Piercing by 3%	Three	Global Passive
Leap Strike	While holding R1/RB, press B/Circle toward the enemy to leap forward and strike.	One	Tanto Passive
Shadow Piercer	Throw the Tanto, then dash forward to stab the target and make them Vulnerable, dealing 40% ability damage with each strike.	One	Tanto Active

You will get access to a total of three Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows at Knowledge Rank 1.

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Knowledge Rank 2

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Backstabber	Increase damage from behind by 2%.	Three	Global Passive
Escape Strike	While holding RB/R1, press B/Circle to perform a strike and backward dodge.	Two	Tanto Passive
Shadow Barrage	Naoe will automatically perform a quick evade before getting hit, lasting 20 seconds and up to 7 hits. Does not work on Grab attacks.	One	Tanto Active
Backstab	Light Posture Attacks that hit an enemy’s back trigger Weak Point Attacks.	One	Tanto Passive

Knowledge Rank 2 will grant you access to a few more skills, including some passives that can be unlocked to make your Tanto attacks more powerful.

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Knowledge Rank 3

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Blood Rush	Leap Strike and Escape Strike generate 25% of an Adrenaline Chunk on hit.	Two	Tanto Passive
Invigorating Kill	Shadow Piercer generates 80% of an Adrenaline Chunk on Kill.	Two	Tanto Passive
Back Breaker	Posture attacks performed behind an enemy now have 100% armor-piercing.	One	Tanto Passive

The aforementioned skills in Assassin's Creed Shadows will be unlocked once you hit Knowledge Rank 3. Invest your mastery points to make these abilities more powerful.

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Knowledge Rank 4

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Hidden Hand	Sheath your Tanto and extend the Hidden Blade in its classic form to perform an Assassination while in combat.	One	Tanto Active
Shadow Reach	Increase Shadow Piercer throw distance by 10 meters.	Two	Tanto Passive
Endless Barrage	Each kill while Shadow Barrage is active increases all damage by 5%.	Two	Tanto Passive

Knowledge Rank 4 will add 3 more skills to your arsenal in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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Knowledge Rank 5

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Critical Thinker	Increase critical chance by 1%.	Three	Global Passive
Hidden Onslaught	+1 Health Segment removed when used against unaware enemies.	Two	Tanto Passive
Contemplation	Increases Shadow Barrage duration by 10 seconds or up to 3 additional hits.	Two	Tanto Passive

The aforementioned skills will be unlocked when you reach Knowledge Rank 5 in the game.

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Knowledge Rank 6

Ability Name	Function	Nodes	Type
Broken Spirit	Hidden Hand cannot be blocked or parried.	Two	Tanto Passive
Healthy Sting	Weakpoint Attacks triggered from behind an enemy restore 5% of health.	One	Tanto Passive

Reaching Knowledge Rank 6 will unlock the remaining Tanto Skills for Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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How to unlock skills in Assassin's Creed Shadows

Unlike older games in the franchise, skills in Assassin's Creed Shadows depend on your Knowledge Rank level before they can be unlocked. You can upgrade your KR level via activities such as Temple, Shrine, Kofun, Kuji-kiri, Hidden Path, and Kata, alongside completing the main and side quests.

Once you have hit the required Knowledge Rank, you must invest Mastery Points to unlock various abilities for both of the game's protagonists. These can be earned by completing various objectives and gaining experience.

Note that at times, you will need more than one Mastery Point to max out a skill node in the game.

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Check out our other Assassin's Creed Shadows guides:

• How to play Assassin's Creed Shadows early
• What are Canon and Immersive modes in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
• How to get Assassin's Creed Shadows Twitch Drops? Rewards and more
• All you need to know about Assassin’s Creed Shadows map