How to smuggle resources in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Here's how to gather a plethora of resources with your Scouts in AC Shadows
How do you smuggle resources in Assassin's Creed Shadows? In order to improve and upgrade your Hideout, you need resources. These resources come in the form of crops, wood, and minerals, each of which can be found as collectible bundles in the world. But even better than bundles are the far larger resource stockpiles. These heavy deposits will yield far more resources than bundles, but they're too large for you to collect yourself.
Instead, you will need to rely on your Scouts to smuggle these for you. This quick guide will explain how you can use Scouts to smuggle stockpile resources for you, and how you can improve smuggling to obtain even more resources.
How to smuggle resources in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Stockpiles of resources are large square containers of resources indicated by a small white barrel icon. They're found mainly behind the locked doors inside castles, so you'll need to brave these hostile areas and loot the key from one particular enemy soldier in order to reach them.
When you approach a resource stockpile, a prompt will appear to "smuggle resources", along with an icon for the Scouts and a number to indicate how many Scouts you need. To begin with, you'll need two free Scouts to smuggle a stockpile.
When the prompt comes up, hold Y to tag the stockpile for your Scouts to smuggle. You cannot do this if enemies are alerted to your presence or you're in the middle of combat. Since stockpiles are often found in enemy territory, make sure you're not detected or that you've cleared the area of enemies first.
Unfortunately, you won't get these smuggled resources right away. Instead, you have to wait until the end of a season for your Scouts to smuggle these resources back to your Hideout. You must also ensure you have enough Scouts to do the smuggling. You can either pay to refill them when you're at a Kakurega safehouse or wait for the season to end.
How to smuggle more resources
If you want to improve the number of resources you gain from smuggling, you can upgrade the Stables at your Hideout. Once the Stable is at Rank 2, for example, you only need a single Scout to smuggle a stockpile, so if you encounter multiple stockpiles you can smuggle more of them in a single season.
Here's the breakdown of Stable upgrades which allow you to smuggle more resources:
| Upgrade | Effect | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Stables Rank 1 | Stockpiles can be tagged at the cost of 2 Scouts, providing resources at the end of the season. | Free |
| Stables Rank 2 | Stockpiles can be tagged at the cost of 1 Scout, providing resources at the end of the season. | 70x Crops 50x Wood 20x Minerals |
| Stables Rank 3 | Scouts smuggle 20% more resources from stockpiles. | 350x Crops 260x Wood 90x Minerals |
Aside from stockpiles, as you add more to your Hideout and improve the overall Hideout level, you'll also get new bonuses. So when the Hideout level is at 4, any available Scouts can also bring back Hideout resources at the end of a season.
And that's all for this Assassin's Creed Shadows guide to smuggling resources. Be sure to check out our guide on all Hideout buildings, as well as how to change characters, the differences between Naoe and Yasuke, and how to parry and deflect. If you're interested in leveling up your shinobi prowess, get started with our guide on Naoe's best Mastery skills.