Assassin's Creed Shadows quests list and best order

Just how many quests are there in the Assassin's Creed Shadows story? Ubisoft's flagship series nowadays is known for offering gigantic, almost-too-big RPGs that can take hundreds of hours to wipe the map clean of markers. Assassin's Creed Shadows is another whopper, with a total of 87 main story quests to work through before you can unlock the epilogue.

As is often the case with these open-world stories, you can approach the main story in a non-linear fashion. Many times, you'll have the option of two or three main questlines and can choose which one to tackle first. But in some ways this can lead to a slightly less powerful storyline if you leave certain quests too long. So we're here to help you out both with tracking your progress through the game, and making sure the game tells the best story possible.

In the guide below, we've listed the full Assassin's Creed Shadows quests list and the best order in which to tackle them, so you can track exactly how far into the game you are at any given moment. You can use our smart table to check off the guides you've completed, and stay informed about which main quests are now available to you. And we'll also delve into the 14 chapters which break up the AC Shadows storyline further below.

Assassin's Creed Shadows - 10 Things to Do First

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Assassin's Creed Shadows main quest list

Below is the full exhaustive list of all 87 main quests in Assassin's Creed Shadows. At many points you'll find that you can complete quests in a different order than shown, but this is our recommended order both in terms of power scaling and providing the best possible story for your playthrough.

Here are all the main quests in AC Shadows:

What's cool about the above table is that you can check off the guides you've completed using the right-hand checkboxes, and the table will automatically highlight the main quests that you should now have unlocked after finishing that last quest.

So for example, once you tick the 8th main quest, "From Spark to Flame", you'll see that three new quests in the table are highlighted: "Before The Fall", "Searching Sakai", and "The Fatherless Monk". Using this highlighting system, you can easily keep track of the quests that you can now complete, and use the table to track your progress even if you complete main quests in a slightly different order than we've laid out above.

The table will also prevent you from checking off a quest until you've completed the prerequisites for that quest as well, to make sure the list stays accurate and sensible throughout your playthrough. The aim is for this list to be your companion throughout the game, helping you to gauge just how far into the story of Assassin's Creed Shadows you are, and how long you have left before the end credits roll.

Assassin's Creed Shadows chapter list

The 87 main quests in AC Shadows are divided into 14 chapters. These are the names that you see on your save files in-game when you load them.

Broadly speaking, these chapters don't matter much, and it's also possible to begin them from different missions; but the below list should give you a stronger idea of just how far through the main story of Assassin's Creed Shadows you really are.

Here's the full chapter list in AC Shadows:

1. Arrival at Honnoji: Begins from The Lord's Favor (1)
2. Making a Name: Begins from Spirit of a Warrior (2)
3. Life in Iga: Begins from Fight of the Kakushiba Ikki (4)
4. World at War: Begins from The Onryo Samurai (5)
5. Pain and Promises: Begins from Wake Up Call (6)
6. Rebuilding: Begins from Before The Fall (9)
7. An Eye for an Eye: Begins from Friend Of My Enemy (20)
8. The World Goes Blind: Begins from Lightning and Thunder (23)
9. A New League: Begins from The Bad Brother (25)
10. The Hunt Continues: Begins from A Talk with a Lady (38)
11. Fall of the Shinbakufu: Begins from A Chance Encounter (58)
12. Behind the Masks: Begins from The Man Behind The Mask (71)
13. Unfinished Business: Begins from Iga Assassin Outpost (72)
14. Wounds That Remain: Begins from Out Of The Shadows (87)

That wraps up our guide on all the main quests in Assassin's Creed Shadows. If you want to flesh out your playthrough with more optional side missions, you can check out our guides on all the Allies in AC Shadows, all the romance options, the various Kabukimono locations, and the Origami Butterfly locations. Or, if you want a closer look at what's probably my favourite main quest in the whole game, consult our walkthrough of The Tea Ceremony.