AC Shadows: Difficulty levels

The Assassin's Creed Shadows devs have introduced a wide range of difficulty level customization options. The game allows you to manually determine the difficulty level in terms of combat and stealth. On this guide page, we will explain to you what each setting affects and when you can change them.

• How to change the difficulty level?
• What does the difficulty level affect?
• What is guided exploration mode?

How to change the difficulty level?

You will be asked to set the default difficulty level when you start a new save in AC Shadows. However, you are allowed to change it in the settings later on as well. To do that though, you cannot be in the middle of a storyline sequence, in open combat, or a hostile area.

What does the difficulty level affect?

By entering the Difficulty Tuning option in the Gameplay tab, you can adjust several parameters. The first of these is the Combat Difficulty, which determines how challenging it will be to fight enemies. You can choose the following options:

1. Story - allows you to fight multiple enemies at once (even as Naoe). The damage inflicted by enemies is greatly limited, and the enemies themselves can be quickly defeated. Enemies are not too aggressive and leave long time windows for you to perform your attacks.
2. Forgiving - Naoe is more efficient when in hiding, but she is able to defeat a small group of enemies. Yasuke can handle even larger groups. Enemies are less aggressive than in normal mode.
3. Normal - default setting. It is crucial to utilize the strengths of the characters (Naoe for stealth combat, Yasuke for direct confrontations). One should pay attention to the level of experience of enemies and the gear they possess. Combat is basically a balanced challenge and requires mastering specific mechanics.
4. Expert - enemies deal very high damage and are aggressive. It is necessary to understand their behavior patterns. To survive, it will be necessary to acquire high-level equipment.

The second parameter that you can change is Stealth Difficulty.

1. Forgiving - at this level, infiltrating enemy facilities is easy. Enemies have a small field of vision, patrols are not too coordinated, and they react to suspicious signals with a clear delay.
2. Normal - default setting. The enemies' perceptiveness is average, but it will nevertheless force you to be more cautious when sneaking around.
3. Expert - enemies are cautious and sensitive to suspicious behavior. It is necessary to avoid their field of vision. They also do well in detecting Naoe when she's on the roof.

The last setting allows you to enable or disable Guaranteed Assassinations. Activating this feature causes the target attacked by surprise to always die, regardless of their health condition.

What is guided exploration mode?

Guided Exploration is another setting that affects the difficulty of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Turning it off means that the objectives of the currently selected quest do not immediately appear on the map. This forces the player to use hints in determining the correct location and to use mechanics such as scouts.

Turning the guided mode on causes a quest objective marker to immediately appear on your map. This allows you to skip the process of searching for the correct location.

See also:

1. All quests
2. How do scouts work?
3. Is there a hidden blade?

Assassin's Creed: Shadows

March 20, 2025

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