Best Assassin’s Creed Shadows armor for Naoe and Yasuke

Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe in outfit — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

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Best Naoe armor
Best Yasuke armor

You’ll need the best armor in Assassin's Creed Shadows if you’re to survive the violence and strife of late-1500s Japan. There’s plenty of early-game legendary armor with massive stat boosts and excellent engravings that are well worth picking up in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and don’t forget that you can keep upgrading armor to meet your level, too! To help you get suited up, we’ve put together this guide to show you the best pieces of armor for both Yasuke and Naoe, as well as where you can find them, in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Best Assassin’s Creed armor for Naoe

Assassin's Creed Shadows best armor for Naoe Tools Master Gear — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Naoe is all about staying hidden, being stealthy and moving quickly, so it’s no surprise that her armor is on the lighter side. However, with the right sets, she can still mount a formidable defence against groups of enemies.

Best Armor - Tools Master Gear: When it comes to light armor, Naoe is spoiled for choice, but the Tools Master Gear is our favourite. This light armor allows Naoe to throw a kunai after an assassination, and even stacks with the double assassination skill, allowing for up to three assassinations at once.
- Where to find it: You can find the Tools Master Gear in the chest at Katano Castle, again in Izumi Settsu. As with the chest for the Peasant Hat, you’ll need to defeat the castle’s Samurai Daisho to get access, but it’s well worth it, and there are only two of them here.
Best Headgear - Peasant Hat: It may not sound glamorous, but the legendary Peasant Hat is a sensational bit of early-game gear for Naoe. Its buff is quite simple but excellent, giving you +100% of an adrenaline chunk upon entering combat. You’ll use adrenaline for special moves, so having as much of it as you can is the order of the day. That also means it pairs excellently with the Tanto and its Adrenaline-fueled moves which make it one of the best weapons in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
- Where to find it: You can find the Peasant Hat at Takatsuki Castle, Izumi Settsu. It’s in a chest a few floors down from the roof. To open the chest, you’ll need to defeat the three Samurai Daisho minibosses in the area.
Best Trinket - Otakemaru’s Battlecry: This is a great trinket that gives you +1% health for each mastery point spent in the Shinobi skill tree. This is fantastic for Naoe, as you’ll likely be dumping points into this skill tree and it goes some way to counteracting her fragility.
- Where to find it: This legendary trinket is in a chest in the basement of Koriyama Camp in Izumi Settsu.

While we reckon the above are excellent armor pieces for Naoe, she has access to plenty more great gear early on. For example, you could also scour Osaka Castle in Izumi Settsu for the Peasant’s Clothes armor. These clothes go with the Peasant Hat above and give a 3% chance to remove 1 health segment with each hit. This might not sound great, but when you’re in combat and there are flurries of blows flying around (particularly if you’re using the Tanto), that small chance becomes more and more likely.

Best Assassin’s Creed armor for Yasuke

Assassin's Creed Shadows best armor for Yasuke protector's helmet — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Compared to Naoe, Yasuke is geared around head-on combat. His armor is heavier than Naoe’s as a result, and you’ll want to look for stuff that supports his aggressive fighting style more than stealth and sneakiness. Here’s what we consider to be the best armor for the samurai:

Best Headgear - Protector’s Helmet: An amazing option, particularly when paired with the Protector’s Armor, this helmet deals 50% damage back to an enemy after a successful parry. If you’ve mastered parrying, this can make fights a lot quicker.
- Where to find it: In the Legendary Chest at Hanazono Castle in Yamashiro. You’ll need to defeat two Samurai Daisho to get access to it.
Best armor - Protector’s Armor: The best armor in the game for Yasuke, bar none, is the Protector’s Armor. This incredible legendary piece gives you the ability to parry unblockable attacks. If an enemy comes at you with a kick or a hard swing, you can now parry it – you can now parry anything!
- Where to find it: This armor can be found in Nijo Palace in Kyoto, Yamashiro. To open the chest, you’ll need to defeat the two Samurai Daisho in the palace.
Best Amulet - Kitsune’s Trickery: The counterpart to Naoe’s Otakemaru’s Battlecry, Kitsune’s Trickery is an amulet that gives Yasuke an additional 1% health per mastery point spent in the Samurai skill tree. Since this is a vital skill tree for Yasuke, this buff can add up significantly.
- Where to find it: Assassinate Takahashi Inoshichi as part of the Twisted Tree side quest, in Kyoto, Yamashiro.

If you’re looking for other great armor for Yasuke, we found the Elegant Samurai Hat to be a great option. It lets you take 5% less damage for each enemy you’re fighting. This means if you’re in a big group fight, which, as Yasuke, you often will be, you’re going to be taking significantly less damage. Plunder Yama Camp, at Takatori in Yamato to get this headgear.

Furthermore, if you’ve earned enough Keys, you can spend them on the Armor of the Undead and Dragon Tooth Amulet in the Exchange store, which are some other excellent options for Yasuke. The armor makes it so that each successful parry creates a poisonous cloud, while the amulet gives Yasuke +100% critical chance on the first attack after a finisher. This allows you to dole out tons of damage, but it’s relatively situational.

asuke and Naoe need the best Assassin's Creed Shadows skills too, and you can only get some by investigating Gansenji Temple in Assassin's Creed Shadows or Tennoji Temple in Assassin's Creed Shadows for Knowledge Points.