New Assassin’s Creed Shadows Update Makes Big Improvement to Key Mechanic

A new update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows has today released and has made some big improvements to one of the game’s key gameplay mechanics. Since its launch near the start of 2025, Ubisoft has continued to release new updates for AC Shadows at a steady cadence. Many of these past patches have added entirely new features to the game, while others have been focused on fixing existing problems. As for today’s update, it does a little bit of both.

Downloadable now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, Assassin’s Creed Shadows update version 1.1.4 notably looks to improve the game’s parkour mechanics. Ubisoft has added a new “Advanced Parkour” option in the settings menu, which gives players more freedom and control than ever when it comes to navigating across buildings and environments. In addition, new “Corrupted Castles” have been added and allow players to revisit castles that are now more difficult than before. All of this plus dozens of bug fixes associated with quests, visuals, and performance have come about with this title update.

Beyond this new update, Ubisoft also recently announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be coming to Nintendo Switch 2. This release will transpire right before the end of 2025 on December 2nd. The Switch 2 version of AC Shadows is said to be identical to those on other platforms, but it will feature some new additions that are specific to the Nintendo hardware.

To see everything that this new Assassin’s Creed Shadows update today has done, you can find the full patch notes attached as follows.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Update 1.1.4 Patch Notes

Corrupted Castles

Corrupted Castles are a new Animus themed activity allowing you to revisit castles in a whole new way. Previously completed castles may now become corrupted. They will now be filled with Animus anomalies such as Corrupted Samurai Daisho that patrol with heightened aggression and altered patterns. Kill them all to unlock a Corrupted Castle’s chest that awards Gear and Gold, making each assault a meaningful experience.

Starting at level 30 and after completing at least 3 castles, up to five corrupted castles will appear on the map each season, giving you plenty of opportunities to re-engage the castles at higher levels for greater rewards.

New Parkour Update

Following our first Parkour update, we’ve listened to your feedback and we’re coming back with more! The team has made some tweaks and improvements to enhance your experience traversing Feudal Japan. 

Advanced Parkour Feature

We are adding a new toggle option named “Advanced Parkour” that gives players more freedom of expression. When toggled through the gameplay menu, it removes all parkour barriers, meaning you can perform side and back ejects from any height. *Time to risk life and limb for those death-defying parkour runs!

Advanced Parkour: Side & Back Ejects

The Advanced Parkour option also brings refined control for side and back ejects. Pressing Parkour Up while jumping to the side or back will still give you the height to reach your landing spot. This has not changed since the previous parkour update.

However, if a decent landing spot is not available, you will now launch sideways or behind as far as possible, without any height restriction. 

Advanced Parkour: Side Eject Down

Performing a side eject with parkour down will send you downward at a sharp angle, generally closer to your starting point, meaning you will never gain any height.

The Advance Parkour option enables subtle changes that we hope the parkour aficionados out there will enjoy!

General Parkour Improvements

Let’s now look at our overall parkour improvements (the ones that will work whether you toggle the Advanced Parkour option on/off).

Vertical Ledge Grab (Non-Standing Objects)

We are extending the Vertical Ledge Grab ability to now include Non-Standing Objects such as beams, lanterns and more. Another small, but impactful parkour tweak!

Manual Jump (Non-Standing Objects)

From the same Non-Standing Objects, we are introducing a new Manual Jump option. This enables you to refine the parkour experience, by making creative shortcuts when running along rooftops or beams.

This is not a full manual jump. This only works from Non-Standing Objects.

Directional Catch Ledge

And finally, we are re-introducing a highly requested feature called the Directional Catch Ledge. Simply press towards the nearest ledge and tap the Parkour Up button to catch that ledge and prevent your character from falling.

This works from any height, and it is particularly useful when combined with the Advanced Parkour option, or when you overestimate your grapple hook dismounts!

Gold Weapons

While the Gold Katana and Long Katana introduced in TU 1.1.2 are still bound to New Game +, we’ve added NEW Gold weapons that can be earned by completing the following challenges.

• Tanto -Complete all Legendary Sumi-e
• Bow – Complete all Horse Archery
• Kusarigama – Complete all Meditation
• Naginata – Complete all Kata
• Kanabo – Reach level 100
• Teppo – Reach Hideout level 13

Additional Highlights

Anomalies

Since the last July update, we have increased the number of available weekly Anomalies so Projects can be progressed faster. To rebalance this change,on October 28^th, we will be reducing the amount of Keys available in the Infinite Reward tier from 400 to 100 Keys.

We strongly encourage you to activate a different Project once all main rewards have been claimed, as this is a great way to unlock new content and get more Keys.

• In the Projects menu, the Anomalies tab will now be accessible from the rewards page instead of the menu’s landing page.
• With the release of Corrupted Castles, a related Anomaly will be available in every weekly rotation to award Data Fragments for completing this new activity.

List of Bug Fixes

**SPOILER WARNING**

General

• The Sakura Fox mount is no longer having an identity crisis and no longer uses horse sound effects.
• Addressed an issue where the Pathfinder navigation would end abruptly in New Game+ when heading to Mount Sen.
• Tomiko no longer mentions that Katsuhime has left the hideout even though she was still there. Awkward…
• Fixed an issue where the “Olive Black Cat” collectible pet was missing for players who did not own the Claws of Awaji DLC.
• Increased XP given to players from Animus Anomalies by 100%.
• Increased the chance to get gold from a stockpile with a Stable level 4 to 30%.
• Lowered the cost to purchase Gold at Itinerant Vendor by 50%.

Stability

• The game no longer crashes when speaking to Hanzo during the ‘Snake in the Shrine’ quest.
• The game no longer crashes during ‘The Final Assault’ quest when destroying the barricade.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where the codex entry ‘Board Games’ could not be unlocked.
• ‘Slash Of Sprecher Naginata’ can now be correctly upgraded at the forge.
• Resolved an issue where collected keys did not appear in the inventory. If only it were this simple in real life…
• Yagoro no longer appears as an enemy after being recruited as an ally.
• Addressed an issue where players were forced into the Nagano Saemon fight after talking with Nobutsuna.
• The ‘Heightened Reflexes’ ability no longer triggers random Mon burst effects.
• Fixed an issue where a large crate could be moved outside of its rails in Shimosato Kofun.
• The Master Samurai trophy now unlocks correctly when using the ‘Reflect Projectiles‘ engraving.
• Fixed an issue where players received duplicate legendary items in New Game+ after completing quests or opening legendary chests.
• Players now correctly spawn inside of the Hongu Kakurega after fast traveling.
• Fixed an issue where NPC ally chat bubbles would disappear when approached in the hideout. They must have been shy.
• Contracts will now refresh in Awaji if a season passes while in Japan and vice versa.
• Fixed and issue with already discovered opportunities for locations and vendors, in Awaji not appearing as completed.
• Demolishing hideout buildings will now refund the cost of all levels.
• Fixed an issue where players kept the perks of demolished hideout buildings.  
• Fixed an issue where The Stray Dog pet, from ‘Thrown to the Dogs‘ Story quest, was not available in your hideout. All doggos are welcome here!
• Added workaround for players who successfully performed Kata or Kujikiri and not appearing as completed.
  •  Performing the Kata or Kujikiri again will now show as completed.
• Fixed issue where the ‘Shuriken explode in a radius of 2 meters’ and ‘Kunai explode in a radius of 2 meters’ perks were applying weapon affliction buildup on top of tool affliction buildup.
• Addressed an issue where the ‘+15% damage per non-Legendary Gear equipped’ worked with Artifact gear equipped.
• Fixed issue where the ‘Slash of Sprecher Naginata’ Naginata and the ‘Crowd Pleaser’ Kanabo couldn’t be upgraded past level 60.
• Fixed  an issue where the ‘+6% Affliction Buildup when hitting multiple enemies’ perk wasn’t awarded upon killing Fujichika Nakayama.

Visuals & Graphics

• Addressed an issue where a staircase was floating in Miyazu Bay. Mind your head…
• Fixed an issue where a crack appeared incorrectly in the water pool near Yakami Watch Tower Viewpoint.
• Teppo will no longer appear on the characters’ backs during cutscenes.
• Resolved an issue where Naoe’s flips became inverted mid-air. That’s impressive, even for Naoe!
• Overly dark shadows no longer appear on the Gobo Elder’s door.
• Fixed an issue where a tree was floating near the river northwest of Koriyama. Mind your head… again.
• Fixed an issue where ground textures were floating north of Kamaguchi Village.
• Naoe’s eyes no longer remain wide open during cutscenes. You okay, Naoe?
• Fixed the wooden beam covering a painting in the hideout when using the Dragon Skin.
• Fixed an issue where Naoe’s ‘Flying Leaf’ Katana sheath remained permanently stuck on the character model in New Game+.
• Fixed an issue where floating logs appeared in Omizo after fast traveling to the Omiko Kakurega.
• The Enhance feature at the forge will now display improvements correctly on the perks for enhanced items level 5 and 9.
• Fixed an issue where the “Head Piece of Ashes” and “Dragon’s Roar Light Armor” stats were not properly increased when enhanced at the forge.
• Addressed some armor damage perks that did not showcase the correct values, this is a text-only change.

Localization

• Corrected the German localization for ‘Turning the Tables’.
• Corrected a word that was missing in the ‘Salt Production’ codex entry.
• Corrected the German localization of the Naoe quest ‘Kii Assassin Outpost’.

Photo Mode

• Resolved an issue where cloth continued to move while Photo Mode was active.
• Fixed an issue where the Ink Filter appeared distorted and did not display blood as red in Photo Mode.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

Quests

• Addressed an issue where the guests ‘Takeshima Kata’, ‘Osaka Kuji Kiri’, and ‘Itto Ittosai I Kata‘ would not complete.
• ‘Chained’: Players are no longer stuck in the Rift World after completing the Rift.
• ‘Defend Local Pilgrims’: Fixed an issue where the Buddhist monk disappeared during the quest in Winter Raiders Hayate.
• ‘Out of the Shadows’: Addressed an issue where players couldn’t leave the room after speaking to Tomiko. She only wanted some company…
• ‘Tea Bowls For Rikyu’: The game no longer skips to the end of the ‘Pilgrimage’ quest after completion.
• ‘Topple The Traitor’: Addressed an issue where players were desynchronized during the fight.
• ‘The Wheel Unmasked’: players are now able to progress at the ‘Peeking Through the Door’ step.
• ‘Thrown to the Dogs’: Resolved progression and/or reward issues within the quest.
• ‘Mayu’s Offerings’: Fixed an issue where the quest completed automatically in New Game+.
• ‘Rolling Glen Kuji-Kiri’: The quest now correctly registers completion.