How to upgrade weapons and armor in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Understanding how to enhance your equipment’s capabilities represents a crucial progression system in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. While acquiring new gear through exploration provides immediate power spikes, strategic upgrading ensures your preferred equipment remains viable throughout your journey across feudal Japan.

Before accessing any enhancement options, you must complete the essential “Way of the Blacksmith” narrative mission. This questline introduces you to the crafting systems and unlocks the ability to construct the Forge facility at your central Hideout location.

Our comprehensive Assassin’s Creed Shadows enhancement guide provides detailed instructions for maximizing your combat effectiveness through systematic gear improvement.

During the establishment of your operational base at Tomiko’s Homestead, locating the blacksmith Heiji becomes a priority objective. After successfully constructing the Forge structure, Heiji becomes your primary resource for all weapon and armor enhancement services.

Enhancing your equipment demands both monetary resources (mon) and specific crafting materials gathered throughout your adventures. The upgrade interface provides flexibility—you can improve items incrementally or utilize the multi-level enhancement option for bulk upgrades, saving valuable time during late-game optimization.

A critical limitation governs all enhancement activities: your gear cannot exceed your current character level, nor can it surpass the maximum enhancement threshold determined by your Forge’s upgrade level. This creates a balanced progression system that prevents overpowered equipment from trivializing combat encounters.

When examining potential upgrades at the Forge interface, projected stat improvements display on the right panel. Unfortunately, the system lacks direct comparison functionality with your currently equipped items, creating potential decision-making challenges for players.

Navigating the upgrade system efficiently requires pre-planning to avoid frustrating menu backtracking. Since the interface doesn’t permit equipment comparison once you’ve entered the enhancement dialogue, carefully evaluate your gear choices before approaching the blacksmith. The workflow of exiting menus, swapping equipment, and re-initiating conversations creates significant inefficiencies that can disrupt your gameplay rhythm.

For optimal resource management, focus upgrades on equipment with superior inherent stats or special attributes that complement your playstyle. Weapons with critical hit bonuses or armor with specific resistance types often provide better long-term value than marginally higher base stat items.

Consider consulting our Weapons Unlock guide for principles that apply to equipment selection in multiple game systems, helping you identify which items deserve your limited upgrade resources.

Enhancing protective gear consumes both currency and specialized resources typically acquired from treasure containers or as completion rewards for contracts undertaken at hidden sanctuaries (kakurega). The dismantling mechanic at the Forge provides an alternative acquisition method, converting unused equipment into valuable crafting components.

Specific armor types demand particular material combinations for enhancement. For instance:

Understanding these material requirements early helps you prioritize which resources to stockpile. For broader progression strategies, our Complete Guide offers transferable principles about resource management in action games.

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