Assassin's Creed Shadows has a diverse arsenal of weapons available to its two protagonists, and each weapon type has several legendary-tier items that can be found in castles and hidden chests. These items are legendary because they come with their own unique skill or ability buff, and are usually the best weapons in the game that should be consistently upgraded as you level up.

Naoe has access to three of the eight major weapon types in Shadows: the Katana, the Tanto, and the Kusarigama. Each of Naoe's weapons has a very distinct style, and some are better in certain situations than others. Naoe's skills benefit a stealth-focused game plan more than anything, but with the right weapons, she can more than hold her own in all-out melee combat, especially with some of the strongest legendary weapons she can use.

S-Tier Weapons For Naoe

The Best Effects Of Naoe's Weapons

The best legendary weapons Naoe can use in Assassin's Creed Shadows are ones that have effects you want to build around. The Snakebite Katana is a must-have for tool-focused builds, as it will charge posture attacks after using one. For Affliction enjoyers, the Bloodshade Katana effect will mean your affliction buildup isn't lost over time, so enemies will bleed to death faster.

The Bloodletter Kusarigama goes well with the Bloodshade, as it will cause bleeding when you entangle enemies. The Kusarigama is a great weapon when keeping your distance from an enemy, and the Ocean's Grip legendary lends itself to that playstyle, increasing damage to enemies over three meters away.

The Tanto is my favorite weapon type for Naoe, and the best effect comes from Yukimitsu's Revenge, which causes afflicted enemies to always be vulnerable. Afflicting enemies with bleeding or poison is a really powerful way to get the edge in combat, so these legendary weapons that reward or make affliction easier to apply are the best ones to seek out and build around.

A-Tier Weapons For Naoe

Powerful Weapons For Any Playstyle

If you're not building around a specific weapon or playstyle, then you'll want to have a weapon that has an effect that you'll benefit from all the time. The Yami no Kage, Masked Death, and Eye of the Dragon Katanas all have effects that you will benefit from regularly in combat, whether facing multiple or single enemies. The Katana is also Naoe's best weapon in Assassin's Creed Shadows, thanks to its combination of speed and power, so it ranks higher overall compared to the Tanto and Kusarigama.

If you enjoy using the Tanto and Kusarigama more, you're not at a loss for powerful legendaries either. The Artist's Tear Tanto is very strong in particular, as it does more damage with consecutive hits, which is what you want to be doing with a Tanto anyway. Likewise, the Featherstorm Kusarigama will charge posture attacks when hitting multiple enemies, which is the weapon's strength.

B-Tier Weapons For Naoe

Solid Weapons That Can Be Upgraded Later

These weapons have good effects, but are either not as powerful as the legendary weapons above or have effects that don't work well in some situations. The Dragon's Edge Katana, for example, will create an area of effect on a hit with a dodge attack. This is good, but if you're not dodge attacking a lot or there aren't multiple enemies close together, then it isn't a useful effect.

It's the same as the Shinobi's Fury Tanto, which gets less powerful on enemies that die quickly due to weak point attacks or can't be put into a vulnerable state more than once. The Death Whisperer Kusarigama will cause extra damage on enemy collisions, but that isn't great if there aren't enemies to smash together. It's the same with the Eikyo Kusarigama​​​​​​, as the quick strike after dodging won't be much use against enemies that you want to block against.

You should keep the Tanto equipped as much as possible to allow you to perform the double assassinations.

C-Tier Weapons For Naoe

Effects That Have More Of A Niche

These weapons have some confusing effects, that when they work are powerful, but they don't happen very often and are either not powerful or reliable enough to build around. The Carved Bone Katana is a perfect example. It gives you a plus 100 percent critical chance after not attacking for 5 seconds, which is great when you can take your time in a fight, but you rarely want to be standing still and not dealing damage.

The Kaen Kusurigama will give you increased damage when surrounded by enemies, but again, Naoe rarely wants to be surrounded by enemies, and forcing yourself into that position will make things harder. The Masamune's Thorn Tanto will give you +2 health segments on a double assassination opportunity, but you'll rarely be attempting a double assassination on those kinds of targets, so you'd be better off using a Tanto with a stronger overall combat effect and just leveling up the Assassin skill tree.

D-Tier Weapons For Naoe

Usable, But You Should Try Out Other Options

These legendary weapons are still usable, have an effect that you can't get anywhere else, and can be engraved at the forge for extra bonuses. Their problem is they usually have an extra condition that makes the payoff of using them harder to obtain, or change the regular combat loop in a negative way.

The Cerulean Arc Katana is the weapon I'm most confused about, as it gives you a full Adrenaline Chunk when you use a ration, but you don't gain any health from that ration. I'd much rather just gain adrenaline from attacking and have the healing when I need it.

Other questionable effects are the smoke bomb being used after a weak point attack from the Hatou Tanto, which can make combat messy, and the Winds of War Kurasigama requires your enemy to be dazed before you hit them with a posture attack, which will then break their armor. These weapons just have too many hoops to jump through compared to the others.

Whether you choose to build around one of the stronger legendary weapons or use something that's a jack-of-all-trades, the legendary weapons for Naoe will make combat much easier when she can't stick to the shadows. Finding the right legendary weapons is just one part of making Naoe more deadly. You'll also need to invest in the right skills and find the best armor for her in Assassin's Creed Shadows to help her take out all the Shinbakufu.