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In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the Hideout is your base of operations, a hub where you build rooms to upgrade weapons and armor, scouts, stockpile smuggling, Kakurega safehouses, and allies but also improve the effects of praying, experience gains, and rations. It unlocks fairly on after you reach Izumi Settsu and plays a vital role throughout the story to help you take on the threat of the Onryo.
There’s a lot to process and the system can feel a little daunting at first, especially alongside Shadows’ extensive open world. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the basics to help you make the most of your Hideout in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Hideout buildings and upgrades
Hideout buildings are broken down into three categories – main rooms, themed rooms, and engawa. Main rooms act as hubs with specific functions. For example, the Forge lets you upgrade and dismantle gear, unlock visual customizations, and apply engravings. Themed rooms cover more passive effects, such as the efficiency of rations and the rate at which you gain experience. Lastly, engawa are essentially corridors designed to give construction options to those that want to spend time customizing the layout of their hideout.
Here is a list of all Hideout buildings, their function, and available upgrades. We’ve only included buildings with effects and not purely decorative options:
| Building | Function | Upgrades |
|---|---|---|
| Hiroma | Hub needed to construct new buildings and manage the Hideout | N/A |
| Stables | Upgrade Stockpile smuggling | – Level 1: stockpile tagging cost 2 scouts. – Level 2: stockpile tagging costs 1 scout. – Level 3: scout smuggle 20% more resources from stockpiles. |
| Kakurega | Upgrade Kakurega safehouses | – Level 1: +1 scout, unlocks fast travel, seasonal contracts, and supplies at Kakurega. – Level 2: Unlock seasonal provincial rumors that point to collectibles, unique treasures, and more. Scout can undertake Regional Alerts. – Level 3: extra Kakurega locations on the map and reduces unlock costs by 30%. |
| Study | Upgrade Scouts | – Level 1: +1 scout and reduce search zone by 25%. – Level 2: +1 scout. – Level 3: +1 scout and reduces search zone by 60%. |
| Forge | Dismantle and upgrade gear, apply engravings, and unlock visual customizations. | – Level 1: weapon and armor upgrades to level 20 + dismantling. – Level 2: weapon and armor upgrades to level 40 + unlocks non-legendary engravings. – Level 3: weapon and armor upgrades to level 60 + unlocks legendary engravings. |
| Dojo | Train Allies to higher ranks | – Level 1: allies can be trained up to Initiate rank. – Level 2: two allies can assist you instead of one. – Level 3: allies can be trained up to Veteran rank. |
| Tera | Passive 10% experience gain boost | N/A |
| Jinja | Improves the effects of praying at shrines by 20% | N/A |
| Nando | Reduces Scout refresh cost at Kakurega by 30% | N/A |
| Zashiki | Improves Ration efficiency by 20% | N/A |
| Team Room | Improves Ration efficiency by 20% | N/A |
Go to the Improve Hideout desk. Captured by VideoGamer
Select the building you want to upgrade. Captured by VideoGamer
Choose the Upgrade option. Captured by VideoGamer
Select the upgrade on the left and hold the Upgrade button prompt. Captured by VideoGamer
How to upgrade Hideout buildings in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
As we detailed above, upgrading Hideout buildings confers major benefits and unlocks new features, such as engravings at the Forge. To upgrade a Hideout building, visit the Improve Hideout desk in the Hiroma main building, then tap a building, and select Upgrade among the options that pop up.
On the next screen, you’ll see all the available upgrades for that specific building, along with the upgrade resource costs, which typically include crops, wood, minerals, and Mon. Tap the Upgrade button prompt to confirm the upgrade (X on PS5 and Space bar on PC).
Click on a building and select Customize. Captured by VideoGamer
Select from the various options on the left. Captured by VideoGamer
How to customize your Hideout
Aside from improving various abilities, tools, and gear, Hideout buildings can be fully customized to your liking with a range of cosmetic options. To customize a building, interact with the Improve Hideout desk in the Hiroma main building, select a building, then choose Customize. You’ll then reach the Customize menu. Depending on the building, you can change the roofs, walls, skins, station set, stations, and more. Select an option and tap X on PS5 or Spacebar on PC to confirm and make the change.
Bring up the Build menu. Captured by VideoGamer
Select the item you want to place. Captured by VideoGamer
Place the item, pet, or cosmetic. Captured by VideoGamer
Beyond the buildings themselves, you can also customize the grounds. To do this, visit the Improve Hideout Table, then select Build (square on PS5 or Space bar on PC). In the build menu, cycle through the tabs to reveal a range of customization options: ground type, statues, lights, rocks, set pieces, trees, and pets. Select the item then place it and confirm.
You can purchase new cosmetics and items for Ornament Vendors across Japan. Captured by VideoGamer
You can buy skins from the Store with Helix Credits. Captured by VideoGamer
How to get new visuals, items, cosmetics, and skins for your Hideout
You’ll unlock new visuals, cosmetics, and items to place in your Hideout by completing quests and activities across the map. You can also loot them from chests in heavily-guarded areas like castles and enemy camps. It’s also worth visiting Ornament Vendors in settlements as they sell a range of cosmetics, building components, flora, items, and more that you can use in your Hideout. Make sure to pet any dogs and cats you come across to see them added to your Hideout customization options. If you’re after building skins, we’ve got some bad news. These are mostly obtained via the in-game shop and cost Helix Credits.
Click on a building and select Move. Captured by VideoGamer
Place the building in a new location. Captured by VideoGamer
How to move Hideout buildings
If for whatever reason you’re not happy with the layout of your Hideout, you can move buildings as and when you want. To do this, interact with the Improve Hideout desk in the Hiroma, select a building, and choose the Move option. You can then reposition the building wherever you want within the Hideout grounds.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Hideout tips and tricks
Here are few quickfire tips and tricks we’ve picked up playing around with the Hideout:
- Collect Mon, resources, and materials from the Salvage Chest whenever the seasons change. These are collected from any available scouts automatically.
- Upgrade the Forge to level 2 as a priority to unlock weapon and armor engraving.
- Assign scouts to smuggle back stockpiles whenever you have the chance for a steady flow of incoming resources and materials to upgrade your buildings.
- Upgrade the Study to unlock more scouts and get more Intel for scoping out quest objectives.
- Talk to NPCs around the Hideout for bonus dialogue.
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