Everything you need to know about the Tournament in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, including how to unlock it, helpful tips and strategies and rewards.
Table of contents
What is the Tournament
The Tournament is a side quest in Assassin’s Creed Shadows that involves defeating multiple enemies in a 1v1 duel. All of them have different weapons, you will have to adjust your strategy for each one depending on your own gear, playstyle, and character.
Here are all five enemies, the weapons they use, and what you can exploit to defeat them.
| Enemy | Weapons Used | Weak Points |
| Lady Masago | Naginata | Easy to dodge |
| Lord suguru | Katana/Bow | Vulnerable when using bow |
| Lord Hokuto | Kanabo | Very slow |
| Lady O-Sen | Katana/Poison | Deadly Kunai but easy to dodge |
| Lord Unkai | Naginata | No armor |
After you complete the quest, it becomes a repeatable weekly for the Projects system in Assassin’s Cred Shadows. When this weekly is available, it tasks you with completing the tournament by defeating three challenges.
How to unlock The Tournament quest
This quest is unlocked after defeating nine out of the twelve Shinbakufu, which are part of the main story. Once you do this, talk to Gyoji who is a couple hundred meters away from your Hideout. You will see it pop up on your map.
He will then send you to the arena where the Tournament takes place. It is on the southeastern side of Yamato, in Ominesanji Temple. Talk to him when you get there.
Preparations
There are a few things that I highly recommend before participating in The Tournament. You are not required to do any of them to ensure your success, but they will almost certainly make things a lot easier.
Upgrade your Rations and Ammo
The enemies you will face have different weapons, strengths, and weaknesses but one thing they have in common is that all of them deal a lot of damage. Maxing out your rations and improved tools/ammo available can be the difference between completing the quest or being desynchronized.
Upgrade your gear
Having gear that matches your current level will help a lot. I usually never upgrade gear before getting to the highest level but for this one, it was more than worth it.
Assuming you have been doing a decent amount of side quests, you should have more than enough resources in your inventory to upgrade armor sets and weapons for both Naoe and Yasuke.
Use the right gear
Engravings are a fundamental part of your character’s strengths and playstyle. Because you must beat five opponents in a 1v1 duel armor pieces and hoods with assassination engravings become useless.
For Yasuke this is no issue at all, but for Naoe it isn’t that easy to find the right gear. Search your inventory to see what the best option could be. If you aren’t sure, the following segment mentions the build I used to maximize single-target damage.
Playing as Naoe
The only important Mastery Path for this quest is the Katana one. You only need Knowledge Rank 4 to use the following abilities:
- Momentum Builder: Increase damage with consecutive hits by 6%.
- No Mercy: Successful Dodge Attacks make the target Vulnerable.
- Second Wave: Tidal Wave can now be chained 2 times in a row.
- Swift Step: Counter Attack can now be performed on flurry attacks.
- Melee Expert: Increase damage with Melee Weapons by 9%.
For Naoe I used the Sekiryu Katana, Hood, and Armor combined with the Dragonfly’s Cunning Legendary Trinket. No secondary weapon.
The Claw of the Dragon Katana has +35% damage when facing a single enemy, this is enhanced by the Dragonfly’s Cunning which increases your damage by 15% when only using a Katana.
The Hood of the Dragon lets you heal 33% on Weakpoint Attacks. You will deal a ton of damage but Naoe is still very squishy. With this, you have increased survivability and don’t need to rely on rations solely.
Please note that the Sekiryu armor and weapons for both Yasuke and Naoe are items from the deluxe edition but you can also acquire them through the exchange system.
Playing as Yasuke
When playing Yasuke I wear the Protector Set. This Legendary Armor allows you to parry unblockable attacks while the helmet deals 50% damage to the attacker on Parry.
For the main weapon, I picked the Claw of the Dragon Long Katana because just like with Naoe, it also increases your damage by 35% when facing a single enemy.
This is an extremely useful combination given the fact that you will fight multiple boss-like fights. Forget about having to dodge those powerful attacks and just focus on parrying.
In terms of abilities, I recommend these specifically:
- Combat Expert: Increase damage with Melee Weapons by 9%.
- Energizing Defense: Maxed out, this ability restores 5% Health after doing a Riposte. It also increases the Riposte damage by 40%.
- Unstoppable: Payback can no longer be blocked or parried. Increased Payback damage by 60%.
- Melee Weapon Armor Damage: Increase Armor Damage with Melee Weapons by 18%.
- Armor Avoidance: Power Dash now has 100% Armor Piercing. Increased Power Dash damage by 40%.
All of them are from the Long Katana Mastery Path. Keep in mind that to use all these abilities you need to unlock Knowledge Rank 4.
Rewards
After defeating each enemy you will receive multiple rewards. The most tangible are your enemies’ weapons. However, only Lord Unkai drops a legendary weapon. The Vengeful Foe Legendary Naginata.
Stats Boost
+ Weapon DPS
+ Posture DPS
+ Ability Damage
+ Bleed Buildup
Engraving
+35% Bleed Buildup on successful Parry
Yasuke and Naoe also unlock the Constant Pressure upgrade for Forward Momentum (Yasuke) and Triple Threat upgrade for Naoe’s Shuriken. Last but not least, the 
Test Your Might Achievement.
If you want to learn how to unlock all Achievements in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we have a complete guide that will show you exactly what you need to do, where and how.
