Assassin’s Creed Shadows Difficulty Settings – Which Mode Should You Choose?

Assassin’s Creed Shadows brings a fresh blend of stealth, combat, and open-world exploration, all set against the turbulent backdrop of feudal Japan. As you prepare to step into the roles of Yasuke and Naoe, one decision will shape your entire experience—which difficulty setting should you choose?

While this might seem like a minor choice, it actually defines how the world reacts to your decisions, how hard enemies hit, and how forgiving the shadows truly are.

This in-depth article breaks down every difficulty mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, helping you understand what each setting changes and which one suits your playstyle best.

What Are the Difficulty Settings in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?

Ubisoft offers a range of difficulty options in Shadows, catering to every kind of player, from story-focused explorers to hardcore samurai masters. As with previous titles in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Shadows separates difficulty into multiple layers: combat, stealth, and exploration. Here’s how it all works.

Combat Difficulty Modes

These settings control enemy damage, health, and aggression levels during open fights and boss encounters.

Easy Mode: Enemies are less aggressive, do less damage, and are easier to stagger or kill. Perfect for players who want to enjoy the story or focus on stealth without worrying about punishing combat.

Normal Mode: Balanced and intended as the standard experience. Enemies pose a moderate threat, and you’ll need to engage with the game’s mechanics to succeed.

Hard Mode: Enemies are smarter, more aggressive, and capable of overwhelming you quickly. Mistakes are punished harshly.

Master/Samurai Mode (if available): Reserved for veterans, this mode features extremely limited UI, minimal health regeneration, and brutal enemy behavior.

Stealth Difficulty

This governs how sharp enemies are during infiltration and whether shadows, sound, and disguises truly make a difference.

• On Easy Stealth, enemies take longer to detect you, are easily distracted, and have slower reaction times.
• Normal Stealth makes hiding in plain sight viable, but still requires precision.
• Hard Stealth forces players to be deliberate. Every noise counts, and enemies communicate more actively.
• In Realistic Stealth, light, sound, and visibility play an unforgiving role—ideal for Shinobi purists.

Exploration Settings

This layer adjusts how much the game helps you navigate the world. Ubisoft allows you to fine-tune guidance:

Guided Mode: Objective markers, mini-map icons, and quest trails are fully active. Good for players new to the franchise.

Minimal HUD: Some assistance remains, but you’re encouraged to pay attention to the environment.

Exploration Mode: No markers, minimal clues. You must rely on in-game dialogue, landmarks, and memory to track objectives.

How Difficulty Affects Gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Every aspect of gameplay shifts depending on your settings. Here's how that plays out in practice:

1. Combat Encounters Feel Completely Different

On lower difficulties, combat can feel cinematic—fluid strikes, satisfying parries, and manageable damage output. But as you climb to Hard or Master, the combat becomes more strategic and lethal. Yasuke’s brute force won’t carry you if you're careless. Timing, stance-switching, and reading enemy patterns become vital.

The shift isn’t just in damage dealt. Enemies in higher modes coordinate better, use counter-attacks, and even fake telegraphed moves to bait you into mistakes.

2. Stealth Is No Longer Optional—It’s Essential

While you can hack your way through guards on Easy or Normal, higher stealth settings turn each infiltration into a puzzle. Naoe’s shinobi toolkit—smoke bombs, grappling hooks, and water darts—becomes crucial. Shadows are your best ally, but even a faint footstep can betray you.

Noise propagation, guard patrol paths, and time of day all influence detection in harder modes. This adds a tense realism where each decision matters, especially when slipping past enemy strongholds or stalking a target from the rooftops.

3. Exploration Becomes Immersive—and Demanding

In Guided Mode, you can glide from marker to marker. But Exploration Mode transforms the open world. It strips away handholding and expects you to listen, observe, and piece things together. Clues may come from an NPC’s cryptic words, a distant pagoda silhouetted against the sun, or a blood trail that winds through the bamboo forest.

You’ll start to read the environment naturally, noticing subtle world-building cues that make the world feel alive and reactive.

Who Should Choose Each Difficulty Setting?

It’s not just about challenge—it's about what kind of experience you want. Here’s how to decide.

For Casual or First-Time Players: Easy Mode + Guided Exploration

If you’re more interested in story, characters, and the rich world of feudal Japan, Easy Mode ensures you won’t be frustrated. You’ll still get the thrill of assassination, but with generous margins for error. Guided Exploration keeps things smooth.

Best For: Fans of historical narratives, newcomers to the franchise, and players who want an immersive but accessible adventure.

For Balanced Players: Normal Mode Across the Board

Want a taste of everything without overcommitting to difficulty? Normal Mode gives you the default Assassin’s Creed Shadows experience. Stealth feels rewarding. Combat has bite. The world is just cryptic enough to be interesting, not overwhelming.

Best For: Series veterans who want a natural evolution of the AC formula with some challenge.

For Challenge Seekers: Hard or Master Combat + Realistic Stealth + Minimal HUD

This combination turns Assassin’s Creed Shadows into a deeply tactical experience. You’ll die more, but you’ll also savor every successful silent takedown or perfectly timed parry. You’ll stop running headfirst into outposts and start stalking the edges like a true predator.

Best For: Players who loved Ghost of Tsushima on lethal mode or craved immersion and risk in earlier AC games like Origins or Valhalla.

Can You Change Difficulty Later?

Yes. Ubisoft allows you to tweak most difficulty settings at any time through the options menu. That means you’re not locked into one experience. If stealth proves too punishing or you find yourself breezing through fights, adjust accordingly.

In fact, some players choose to increase the difficulty mid-game to keep things engaging as they grow stronger or more skilled. You can even customize stealth difficulty separately from combat—something very few open-world games offer.

Which Difficulty Mode Offers the “Most Authentic” Assassin’s Experience?

That depends on what Assassin’s Creed means to you. If your vision of an assassin is a ghost in the night, then high stealth difficulty with limited exploration help will feel most authentic. If your fantasy leans more toward Yasuke’s brutal warrior path, then combat-heavy difficulty paired with immersive exploration may be your sweet spot.

But one thing is certain: Assassin’s Creed Shadows was built to be flexible. It rewards stealth, exploration, and open combat equally. The ideal setup is the one that challenges you just enough to stay immersed without pulling you out of the experience through frustration.

Your chosen difficulty in Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t just about how tough the game is—it shapes your entire journey. From the shadows you stalk to the steel you wield, every mechanic feels different under different settings. And with the ability to fine-tune stealth, combat, and exploration separately, Ubisoft has created a system that respects your playstyle.

So take a moment before beginning your adventure. Consider what you want from the game. Do you want to feel like an unstoppable warrior, a whisper in the night, or something in between?

Because in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, difficulty isn’t just a slider—it’s part of your identity.