‘The Tournament’ walkthrough in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
“The Tournament” is a tricky Assassin’s Creed Shadows quest that is ostensibly straightforward but doesn’t appear in your map through obvious means. In this Assassin’s Creed Shadows guide, we’ll tell you how we got “The Tournament” quest to appear in our own game, tell you where to find the titular tournament once you’ve spoken to […]
“The Tournament” is a tricky Assassin’s Creed Shadows quest that is ostensibly straightforward but doesn’t appear in your map through obvious means.
In this Assassin’s Creed Shadows guide, we’ll tell you how we got “The Tournament” quest to appear in our own game, tell you where to find the titular tournament once you’ve spoken to Gyoji, and list out each combatant in the tournament itself.
How to start ‘The Tournament’ quest in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
“The Tournament” is a big side quest that takes place in the second half of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ main story. It’s very rewarding, and will get you new weapons, XP, Anomaly completions for the Animus, an achievement, and a mastery unlock for Yasuke’s Kanabo and Naoe’s Tool tree:
- Constant Pressure upgrade for Forward Momentum (Yasuke)
- Triple Threat upgrade for Shuriken (Naoe)
The problem is that nobody seems to be sure what triggers “The Tournament” quest to start. We went hunting for it specifically after reading up on several theories, and found none of them to exactly fit our experience. That being said, we can tell you exactly what we did to eventually make it trigger, and theoretically you should have it appear if you do the same.
First, the thing you’re looking for with “The Tournament” is a quest marker that appears just outside of the Hideout, on the road after you load out of your base and into the main map. Gyoji will be waiting for you, and if you talk to him he’ll tell you his story. Basically, he wants you to enter his tournament and will give you an invitation that starts the quest.
Here’s what we did in the hours and moments before seeing “The Tournament” quest marker appear, which we think had a link to Gyoji finally showing up:
- Defeated our eighth member of The Shinbakufu (The Fox) — The Mourner, The Horseman, The Two-Faced (Akechi Mitsuhide), and The Noble were our only ones left standing when the quest started
- Returned to the Hideout (and checked The Shinbakufu board in the main house)
- Reached level 35
It seems that this quest is tied to either your progress through The Shinbakufu main quest or your level. However, it’s worth mentioning that we checked the map directly after killing The Fox and turning level 35 and the quest didn’t appear. It only appeared after we’d completed both of those other things and then loaded into the Hideout.
This quest is very finicky, and it’s likely people will be trying to determine the exact triggers for quite some time. In the meantime, however, use our trial-and-error method above to tick as many boxes as you can and — hopefully — spawn the quest for yourself.
Where to find ‘The Tournament’ in Yamato
Once you have the invitation, you’ll get the usual clues on how to find the quest. The tournament is in the Yamato province, in southeastern Yoshino. If you don’t mind using a scout, place the cursor on the mountain range southeast of the word “Yoshino” on your map. If you’d like to save a scout, you can check out the map above for the indicator.
Fast travel to your nearest point and make the long trek to the hill where “The Tournament” takes place. Eventually, you’ll find Ominesanji Temple — which has its own Viewpoint — where you’ll encounter the tournament.
Now it’s time to prepare to fight. While this is not a Yasuke-only quest, it’s all about fighting, so he has a big advantage here. We recommend you play as Yasuke even if you usually opt for Naoe. Upgrade the gear and skills of whoever you want to battle as before you do anything else.
When you’re ready to fight, swap to the character you’d like to compete as and speak to Gyoji, who is sitting and watching two people fight, Shang Tsung-style.
All rewards in ‘The Tournament’
After a brief cutscene, you’ll be able to enter the tournament yourself. All you need to do is ring the bell that sits on the opposite side of the arena from Gyoji. You’ll then battle a series of champions — although you’ll need to ring the bell between them, so it’s not one right after the other.
Below, we’ve created a table listing the main combatants in the tournament and the type of fighter they are. All combatants will match your level.
Fighter number Fighter name Fighter weapon style Fight reward 1 Lady Masago Naginata Exotic Naginata of Wonders (epic naginata) 2 Lord Suguru Katana and bow Onimaru's Katana of Aspiration (rare long katana) and Barraging Bow of Service (rare bow) 3 Lord Hokuto Kanabo Stunning Kanabo of Bewilderment (epic kanabo) 4 Lady O-Sen Dual katanas Warrior's Katana of the Brute (epic katana) 5 Lord Unkai Naginata Vengeful Foe (legendary naginata)
When you’ve killed all five combatants in the tournament, speak to Gyoji to complete the quest and earn 5,000 XP in addition to your other winnings.
If you have the “Arena Oscillation” Anomaly quest from The Legacy, you can ring the bell again to fight more combatants. Just be warned that these warriors will also be the same level as you and, potentially, have allies in the ring with them.
For more Assassin’s Creed Shadows guides, see our running lists of Lost Pages, Kuji-kiri, and armor locations. Or see our full Assassin’s Creed Shadows walkthrough, and our guides on how to get all companions and romance options.
