How Domains Work in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

This guide will tell you how to unlock Domains, what you can do inside, tips to complete the challenges, and the available rewards.

What’s a Domain and where to find them?

Domains are an endgame activity introduced in the most recent (and final) update of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

In this Animus activity, you will encounter 5 different simulations (maps) across 10 challenging levels.

The in-game explanation is that an Assassin hacker known as “MOD” created these trials to help the Assassin League improve their combat and survival skills.

You can find MOD on Hidden River, in Yamato.

The simulations are all inspired by themes of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Although the enemies you encounter are just from Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The objective is always the same: defeat the 4 Domain Daisho, and then head to the arena for a boss fight. Similar to how castles work, but instead of looting a Legendary Chest, you get to fight a powerful boss.

While the goal is simple, you’ll notice that the Domain’s difficulty increases with each level. To make things worse, enemies get increased damage and health, while MOD also adds one or two random modifiers depending on the challenge level.

Modifiers are conditions that completely change the way you have to approach the Domain. Some Modifiers are beneficial while others do the exact opposite. Here’s an example of the modifiers I got for a Challenge Level 6.

Requirements and difficulty levels

To unlock Domains, all you need to do is reach Level 30. However, that is just for the first level. Difficulty goes all the way to Nightmare, while the enemies’ level goes up to 100.

You must start from the beginning to unlock the following difficulty level, regardless of your character’s current level. The following table shows the differences between each difficulty level.

Aside from defeating all the Shinbakufu, I would also suggest that you complete the Claws of Awaji storyline, catch up to the Black Tides quest, and maybe even play a new playthrough on NewGame+ if you want to hit Level 100.

Tips to complete Domains

Domains can be quite tricky to do, especially when you’re doing them for the first time. Here’s a list of tips to help you when taking on these challenges.

Swap characters

Depending on your build, it can be quite the challenge to take on the boss fights with Naoe. In my case, she’s perfectly suited for stealth and assassinations but sucks at taking on enemies, especially if there are more than two.

On the other hand, Yasuke is great at taking on whole armies, but navigating through some of these simulations with him is a pain in the butt.

So, what I did for a few of them was simply kill the four Corrupted Daisho with Naoe and switch to Yasuke for the final boss fight.

Don’t worry, you won’t lose any progress if/when you exit the domain. To exit the Domain, simply press the key that opens the Map, then click “Exit Domain” at the bottom.

Improve your gear

These challenges are no joke. The boss fights are already difficult by themselves, and that’s without even the modifiers that can take it to a whole new level. I highly suggest that you upgrade your gear to the highest level available for you.

Adding an engraving to each piece of gear creates powerful synergies between items and abilities. For me, this is what made the difference.

Fight smarter, not harder

Smashing buttons to kill enemies is something that works fairly well in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, even in castles or boss fights. You’ll quickly notice that it’s not the case for Domains.

If you have developed a bad habit (like I did) after finishing the main story and defeating the toughest bosses to faceroll everything, the Domains will punish you out of this lethargy.

To progress, you must be as efficient as possible with every tool, ability, and attack while also being conscious about the enemy’s attacks.

Adapt and keep trying

Players will likely get stuck in a Domain, either because of the difficulty settings or the random modifiers. If there’s one thing about your build/playstyle that isn’t working, consider changing it.

One of the fun things about this activity is that it forces you to adjust what’s not working. Maybe it’s a weapon, a combination of engravings, or a specific ability that’s keeping you from completing a Domain. Don’t be afraid to make some tweaks or even experiment with something new.

Generate a new Domain

If you don’t like the modifiers that are generated for a Domain, simply generate a new one. I recommend this for players who are too used to a specific playstyle and don’t want to learn new weapons/combos just for Domains.

Just keep in mind that generating a new Domain costs 5 Tokens. Tokens are acquired by eliminating Anomalies.

Rewards

Completing each Domain grants you experience and Modcoins. These rewards scale with each difficulty. The following table shows how much you get from each Challenge Level.

Modcoins can be used in Mod’s Shop or the Exploit Tree. Mod’s Shop sells Legendary Gear and Engravings that can’t be obtained anywhere else. Each Legendary piece of gear costs between 3000 and 5000 Modcoins, while Legendary Engravings cost 1500.

The Exploit Tree provides bonuses for the Domains. These bonuses are shared between Naoe and Yasuke. The prices for these augments go from 750 up to 4000 Modcoins.

Additionally, you receive unique pieces of gear the first time you defeat certain Challenge Levels.

The following images show the rewards for completing Challenge Levels 2 and 4, respectively. Naoe’s headgear is inspired by Evie Frye from Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, while Yasuke’s helmet is based on Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.

Completing Levels 6, 8, and 10 will grant you these weapons, which are also inspired by different Assassin’s Creed games.