My favorite weapon in Assassin's Creed Shadows is also the most misunderstood

Getting my hands on my first kusarigama in Assassin's Creed Shadows was a baffling moment. I'd just killed my second Onryo target after leading a dramatic charge into Amagasaki Castle, but instead of looting a sleek new katana from Wada Koretake's crumpled corpse, I found a hook and giant metal ball on either side of a chain. It was the first time I'd heard of a kusarigama, let alone seen one in-game. But that excitement soon turned to stubborn curiosity when, after simply hacking at enemies with the pointy end for hours on end, I realized I probably wasn't using it correctly.

Assassin's Creed Shadows makes many notable changes to past RPG Creeds, but I feel that most acutely in the weapons system. By the time I unlocked the kusarigama, I'd only just sussed out the difference between weapon and posture attacks – tip: hold down the attack buttons for posture moves – and acquired my first tanto. Suddenly, I had to master a whole new moveset for a whole new weapon that worked entirely differently from the blades I'd grown so accustomed to. But all that trial and error was worth it to uncover what I consider the best AC Shadows weapon type of them all. So much so, I'm dreading swapping to Yasuke and losing access to it. All hail the kusarigama: AC Shadows' most quietly lethal powerhouse.

Sling your hook

The first thing you need to know about the kusarigama is that it is not a flail. This was my first mistake while using Wada's Death Whisperer the first few times, running straight up to foe after foe and simply whipping the thing about in a series of light attacks. While this makes for deliciously gory proceedings, garish spurts of red flung far and wide with each fleshy gouge, it's not exactly effective considering its actual purpose.

I know now that the kusarigama is meant to be a defensive tool, best suited to ranged combat over hand-to-hand. As a Naoe-exclusive weapon, that makes perfect sense – she's a stealthy shinobi, a glass cannon to oppose Yasuke's brawn, so keeping some distance between her and the enemy is a good idea. Hard as I tried to bear that in mind, though, the number of times I've forgotten my lack of katana and barrelled straight into three minutes of stabby hell is nothing short of shameful. It was clear I'd need a lot more practice, but since Shadows lacks a handy weapon tutorials system tailored to each one, I had to work this baby out for myself.

First, the kusarigama basics. The boulder end should be seen as a bowling ball, your enemies mere pins. I especially love sending them flying upon charging up a heavy posture attack, knocking out five bandits at once from the safety of my horse. Meanwhile, the light attack button controls the hook end of the weapon for rapid, close-quarters melee encounters. This is a fun double whammy to work with, something not seen in any other weapon I've encountered in Assassin's Creed Shadows so far – but the kusarigama truly comes alive with the help of the skill tree.

Tinkering

I mentioned earlier that Ubisoft Quebec does things a little differently in this RPG compared to the likes of Valhalla, Origins, and Odyssey. The weapon-specific Assassin's Creed Shadows skill trees are proof of that. Finding a new weapon type unlocks a requisite skill tree, and by investing Mastery Points into each one, you can turbo-charge your weapons-of-choice.

It's a clever way to give players a degree of flexibility, even with each character's fixed playstyles. No, you can't make Naoe a samurai or Yasuke a shinobi, but we can shape these archetypes to our own mechanical preferences. The catch is that each weapon's coolest tricks are pretty buried in those skill trees, with the more complex combos and combat maneuvers level-locked according to your AC Shadows Knowledge rank. Thankfully, the kusarigama has an incredibly useful passive available for just one Mastery point: Entanglement. After charging up a heavy attack, letting go, and holding the same button down right before the attack hits, Entanglement sees Naoe truss up an enemy and chuck it into neighboring ones. Remember the bowling ball comparison? Well, imagine turning a pin against its brethren and causing even greater carnage.

The timing can be hard to pin down, but with the help of the Death Whisperer's legendary perk that grants 200% more damage when throwing enemies, Entanglement makes the kusarigama incredibly powerful. It's been my saving grace in this late-early game stage, so if you're looking for a sneaky way to turn Naoe into a one-woman bowling club, here's your sign to bite the bullet and master the most finicky weapon in Assassin's Creed Shadows – and maybe the franchise in general.

Will Shadows become one of the best Assassin's Creed games ever?