Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe Katana Skill Tree Mastery Guide: Knowledge Level, Passive, and Active Abilities

Naoe has her own Katana Skill Tree in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In this article, we will take an in-depth look at it.

The Mastery System in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the latest addition to the series. It is a new way for the players to customize Naoe and Yasuke in the game and build a playstyle to their liking. Both of our main leads have a total of six different skill trees, and each of them is dedicated to a certain weapon or technique.

However, today, we will be only discussing one of Naoe’s six trees. She is the Shinobi in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, so naturally, she can equip a Katana. This weapon has its own separate skill tree with both active and passive abilities. In this article, we will explore Naoe’s Katana Mastery Tree in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and tell you everything about it.

Naoe’s Katana Skill Tree in Assassin’s Creed Shadows Explained

As we discussed earlier Naoe has six different mastery trees, three for her weapons and three for her shinobi tools, techniques, and assassination abilities. Furthermore, the developers decided to dedicate one of these skill trees to the Katana in the game. It has six different tiers with a mix of active and passive abilities. Players will have to reach a specific number of knowledge points to unlock each tier.

The Katana in Naoe’s hand is a balanced and efficient weapon. It is quick, has good reach, and does moderate damage. So, if you want to build a Katana-focused combat style in the game, this is the one mastery tree you will need to invest in. However, there is an option to reset each of your mastery trees, so if you have a change of heart, you can alter your build anytime.

Naoe’s knowledge Rank 1 Skill for The Katana

The first rank or tier in Naoe’s Katana Mastery Tree has a total of three different abilities that you can unlock. They are related to damage, counter-attack, and a special move respectively. We will provide a list of these abilities and their costs and functions below:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type
Melee Expert	Increases Damage with Melee Weapons by 2%	Three Stages	Global Passive
Dodge Attack	Perform a light attack after a dodge to launch a fast counter-attack and quickly get back to the enemy	Only one stage	Katana Passive
Tidal Wave	An extremely fast strike dealing 25% ability damage and making the enemy Vulnerable	Only one stage	Katana Active

Naoe’s Knowledge Rank 2 for The Katana

Naoe Katana Mastery Tree’s second rank has three abilities. These are Affliction Effectiveness, Generator, and the Counter Attack. We will take a more comprehensive look at these skills in the following list:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type	Branches From
Affliction Effectiveness	Increases damage on Afflicted Enemes by 2%. An enemy is Afflicted when suffering from Bleeding, Poison, or Daze.	Three Stages	Global Passive	Melee Expert in Rank 1
Generator	Dodge Attacks generate 25% of an Adreline Chunk on hit.	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Dodge Attack in Rank 1
Counter Attack	Press Q at the last moment to turn your Deflect into a counter-attack	Only one stage	Katana Passive	No previous branches

Naoe’s Knowledge Rank 3 for the Katana

Now, we are entering the halfway mark of Naoe’s Katana Mastery Tree, so naturally, you will notice that the costs are higher and the abilities are more potent than the previous ones. Rank 3 in the Katana three also only has two abilities, so let’s take a look:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type	Branches From
Second Wave	Tidal Wave can be chained two times in a row.	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Tidal Wave in Rank 1
Eviscerate	Strike an enemy, dealing 75% ability damage and pushing them away. Half as effective on large enemies.	Only one stage	Katana Active	No previous branches

Naoe’s Knowledge Rank 4 for the Katana

The fourth tier in Naoe’s Katana Tree features five different abilities and is the densest rank in this mastery tree. Here are all of the five skills:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type	Branches From
Momentum Builder	Increases Damage with consecutive hits by 1%	Three Stages	Global Passive	No previous branches
No Mercy	Successful Dodge Attacks make the target Vulnerable	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Generator in Rank 2
Guard Breaker	Unleash 9 Strikes, each dealing 10% ability damage and breaking armor. Half as effective on large enemies.	Only one stage	Katana Active	No previous branches
Outclass	Eviscerate gains its full effect on large enemies.	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Branches from Eviscerate in Rank 3
Swift Step	Counter Attack can now be performed on flurry attacks.	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Branches from Counter Attack in Rank 2

Naoe’s Knowledge Rank 5 for the Katana

Rank 5 is the second highest tier in Naoe’s Katana Mastery Tree and has only two abilities in it. The list below provides a detailed overview of the mentioned skills:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type	Branches From
No Quarter	Guard Breaker gains its full effect on large enemies	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Guard Breaker in Rank 4
Smokescreen	Gain the ability to drop a smoke bomb after the push	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Outclass in Rank 4

Naoe’s Knowledge Rank 6 for the Katana

The sixth rank in Naoe’s Katana Tree is the highest and the final tier. It has three abilities in total. We will explore them in detail in the following list:

Ability Name	Function	Stages	Type	Branches From
Unstoppable	Guard Breaker can no longer be blocked or parried	Two Stages	Katana Passive	No Quarter in Rank 5
Third Wave	Tidal Wave can now be chained three times in a row	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Second Wave in Rank 3
Hardened	Counter Attack can now be performed on unstoppable attacks	Two Stages	Katana Passive	Swift Step in Rank 4

We have discussed every single ability in Naoe’s Katana Skill Tree in Assassin’s Creed Shadows in this guide. So we hope that this article was helpful to you and wish you luck in your journey to liberate Japan.

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows Naoe Katana Skill Tree Mastery Guide: Knowledge Level, Passive, and Active Abilities

Naoe’s Katana Skill Tree in Assassin’s Creed Shadows Explained