Ubisoft has officially released Title Update 1.0.2 for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, introducing a range of technical, quality-of-life, and gameplay refinements across all supported platforms. The update, which went live on April 8 at 2 PM UTC, significantly addresses early feedback from players and aims to enhance overall game performance, user interface functionality, and character responsiveness.
The patch delivers a selection of welcome upgrades, including the return of the horse auto-follow system, now allowing players to navigate Japan’s open world with greater ease by enabling automatic pathfinding along roads. In tandem, horse speed within urban environments has been increased to reduce travel delays. A new feature to reset Mastery Nodes has also been introduced, enabling players to re-spec the skill trees of both protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, to experiment with different playstyles. Other enhancements include the ability to mass-sell or dismantle items, direct access to the Investigation Board via shortcut, and visual improvements for PlayStation 5 Pro users, such as PSSR support and raytraced specular lighting in Balanced mode. The patch also uncaps the frame rate in the Hideout on Performance mode and delivers better boss fight balancing and various AI tweaks.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Update 1.0.2 Patch Notes
Patch Sizes by Platform:
- Xbox Series X|S: 19.5 GB
- PlayStation 5: 11.59 GB
- PC: 16.05 GB
- Steam: 11 GB
- Mac: 9 GB
Key Features and Improvements
- Horse Auto-Follow & City Speed Boost: Horseback travel has been improved with automatic road-following and increased horse speeds in cities.
- Mastery Nodes Reset: Players can now reset skill trees for both protagonists, allowing flexible playstyle adjustments.
- Mass Selling & Dismantling: Items can now be tagged and sold or dismantled in bulk to streamline inventory management.
- Investigation Board Shortcut: Holding the OPTION button brings up the Investigation Board, enhancing navigation between menus.
- PS5 Pro Enhancements: Added PSSR support and improved visuals in Balanced mode with raytraced specular lighting.
Additional Gameplay and Technical Enhancements
- Uncapped frame rate for the Hideout in Performance mode.
- Improved balancing across boss fights.
- Enhanced responsiveness of double assassinations and Naoe’s movement.
- Improved AI behavior, including NPC reactions to distractions and weapon handling.
- Visual and performance improvements, particularly in cutscenes and combat animations.
- Various fixes for save issues, UI responsiveness, and quest progression blockers.
Bug Fixes and Detailed Adjustments
Quests and Narrative
- Multiple quest bugs have been resolved, including issues with unresponsive NPCs, incorrect objective triggers, and combat encounters not progressing.
- Critical progression blockers in quests such as “The Wheel Unmasked”, “Brothers in Arms”, and “Shinobi Warfare” have been addressed.
- Fixes applied to key boss fights, including transitions and attack behaviors in encounters with Momochi Sandayu, Usami Yoshiko, and Kimura Kei.
Stealth Mechanics
- Improvements to stealth mechanics include more reliable double assassinations and bug fixes tied to assassination animations.
- Naoe can no longer perform stealth moves like Double Assassination without unlocking them properly.
- Distraction tools like the Shinobi Bell now behave more consistently in drawing NPC attention.
Combat and AI Behavior
- Boss fights and combat AI have received tuning for fairness and challenge.
- Yasuke’s combat abilities such as Power Dash, Falcon’s Eye, and Dark Burst were rebalanced to prevent overpowering.
- Weapon handling, reaction timing, and AI attack variety have been corrected.
Equipment and Gear
- Transmog visuals and gear saving issues have been corrected.
- Store-purchased outfits now correctly appear for both characters across saves.
- Fixes made to weapon and item rarities, including horse saddles.
Save System and World Issues
- Manual save errors and autosave gaps during mission starts have been fixed.
- Environmental bugs, such as missing snow and inaccessible areas, have been addressed.
- Adjustments made to sync points, chest rewards, and pathfinding errors.
World Activities and Hideout
- Various sumi-e painting and kofun activity bugs were resolved.
- Fast travel and hideout building issues corrected, including graphical instability in build mode.
- Experience bonuses now apply properly for both characters when upgrading Hideout features.
Progression and Perks
- Skill tree and perk-related glitches, such as perk stacking and affliction miscalculations, have been fixed.
- Mastery Point limitations and improper XP scaling have been corrected.
Visuals and Graphics
- Fixes include clipping issues, environmental floating objects, inconsistent lighting, and texture pop-ins.
- Animation adjustments for character interactions and cinematics have been applied to ensure better immersion.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available now for PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC.
