Nobutsuna's Students: A Journey of Honor and Dueling in Assassin's Creed Shadows
In Assassin's Creed Shadows, Yasuke faces a unique and challenging questline known as "Nobutsuna's Students." This objective board tasks players with locating and dueling the former pupils of Yasuke's teacher, Nobutsuna Sensei. Scattered across Japan, these students must be confronted to restore honor to their sword school. This article delves into the intricacies of this quest, providing insights into the characters, locations, combat strategies, and rewards associated with it.
Unlocking the Quest
To embark on this journey, players must first complete "An Education," a main story quest for Yasuke. Once this is accomplished, a visit to Nobutsuna at his home in Azuchi, located in the Omi region, is necessary. Speaking with Nobutsuna will unlock the Nobutsuna's Students objective board, setting the stage for a series of intense duels.
The Nature of the Duels
The duels against Nobutsuna's Students are unique in that they are weapon-locked. At the start of each duel, Yasuke automatically equips the same weapon as his opponent, and cannot switch weapons until the duel concludes. This mechanic forces players to adapt their combat style and master various weapon types. While some duels may end in death, most conclude honorably without fatalities. These encounters can only be fought as Yasuke when you find the targets on the map.
The Students and Their Locations
Nobutsuna's Students are scattered throughout Japan, each possessing unique skills and combat styles. Depending on where you are in Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ main story, Nobutsuna’s students occupy a range of levels, but the highest is 37. Here's a breakdown of some of the key students and their locations:
Asari Nobutane: Located in the southern region of Kii, specifically in Negoroji. To pinpoint his exact location, players can speak to the Teppo Merchant south of the town, near the bridge across the river. Asari specializes in the Teppo, leading to a guerilla warfare-style battle.
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Nagao Saemon: Found in the northern province of Wakasa, near the port city of Tsuruga. He can be located at Sotomo Cove, on the peninsula that goes out into the sea. Nagao is a master archer, engaging in a sniper duel with Yasuke.
Yagyu Munetoshi: Situated on Mount Miwa in Yamato province, just north of Takatori on the map. Yagyu wields a long katana and employs a defensive fighting style.
Yuki no Kata: Located at Ishinohoden Shrine, northwest of Kakogawa Estuary in Harima. She is a Naginata specialist, known for her powerful combo attacks.
Sanada Masatoyo: To find Sanada, you need to ride north from Azuchi towards Nagahama, then about half way up on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, you find your target. The Sanada Estate is just to the northwest of where you see Suzuka Foothills on the map. Sanada utilizes bleed-based attacks and unblockable strikes, posing a significant threat.
Duel Strategies and Tips
Each duel in the Nobutsuna's Students quest requires a unique approach, tailored to the opponent's weapon and fighting style. Here are some strategies and tips for overcoming these challenges:
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Asari Nobutane: This is one of the hardest duels in this quest. Asari Nobutane’s weapon of choice is the Teppo, so you’ll be caught in a guerilla warfare battle with him. Be sure to dodge when he uses his smoke bomb as he’ll throw something at you as he disappears to reposition. Turn his trick against him and make sure to shoot the red jars at his feet rather than him while you can. The best way I found to tackle this fight is to constantly sprint around at medium range, that way he seemed reluctant to reach for the ridiculous grenades and missed most of his shots. Then, when you get in close, he seems to get baited into trying to grab you. As he follows you run towards the red jars and shoot them out from under his feet.
Nagao Saemon: Like the teppo fight, you’ll need to spend a lot of time dodging ranged attacks. It can be hard to apply afflictions on him due to how quickly he repositions. So long as you dodge, aim after he repositions, and shoot his head, you should be able to easily find and defeat him. When he teleports close in to you, don’t bother with a kick, he completely tanks it.
Yagyu Munetoshi: While this is a relatively straightforward fight, he’s still a formidable opponent. All of his attacks are red unblockables, reflecting his exemplary technique.
Yuki no Kata: She uses the most blue combo attacks, so as long as you’re good at parrying this should be an easy fight. To whittle down her life bar, spam your own abilities and build up adrenaline where possible, but this fight is more a question of stamina than difficulty.
Sanada Masatoyo: Sanada’s bleed-based attacks with powerful unblockable strikes are strong, but easy enough to avoid.
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General Tips
- Upgrade Your Armor: This one should go without saying, but it’s easy to forget to upgrade your armor. If you want to keep up with the best of the best, I recommend unlocking Knowledge Rank 6 so you have access to the entirety of your mastery trees. Get the Protector’s Helmet and Protector’s Armor from Hanazono Castle and Nijo Palace respectively. The Protector’s Armor engraving in particular is very important as you’ll be able to parry all the red unblockable attacks.
- Master Weapon Abilities: Each opponent listed above uses a specific weapon and you’ll use the same weapon in the duels. This will allow you to keep up with your opponent as you’ll have access to the weapon’s abilities and keep up with them. I would recommend the following active abilities for each weapon. Power Dash is on-demand vulnerability on your target, allowing you to deal significant damage with three light attacks followed by a light or heavy posture attack. Impale is great to prevent movement while making the target vulnerable.
- Utilize Abilities: In the teppo duel, you’re going to have a hard time closing the gap due to how quickly he repositions. These to abilities should help provide some extra damage at a distance. Use Retreating Shot when Nagano Saemon is close, and Clear Mind when he’s far away.
- On-Demand Invulnerability: I cannot stress enough how great this ability is during this quest. On-demand invulnerability and counters is too good to pass up. Given how fast the students attack, it’d be dumb not to take this ability.
Rewards
Defeating Nobutsuna's Students yields various rewards, including unique amulets and engravings. For example, defeating Yagyu Munetoshi rewards the Rat Tail Finisher Amulet, which grants +1% adrenaline gain for each point in Naginata, along with its unique engraving.
Concluding the Quest
Once all the students are defeated, returning to Nobutsuna's house in Azuchi triggers a plot development that leads to a final confrontation with Sanada Masatoyo. Defeating Sanada concludes the questline, providing a sense of accomplishment and closure to Yasuke's journey of honor and self-improvement.
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