Black Tides is the final story quest for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, added with title update 1.1.11. It sends Naoe and Yasuke after the Black Cross, a pair of elite Templars who arrive in Japan to hunt them down. The catch is that the quest does not appear until you clear a short chain of earlier missions, so you cannot jump straight to it.
Quick answer: Finish both Naoe and Yasuke’s main stories plus the post-launch quests A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement (and the three side quests that follow A Puzzlement), then travel to Sazae Oni Shores in the Kii region to trigger the opening cutscene with Eamon Hathaway.
Black Tides prerequisites in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
The quest sits at the end of a three-chapter post-launch arc, so the game treats it as the true ending. You need to complete every entry below before the start marker shows up. Finishing the Claws of Awaji expansion is not required.
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Naoe and Yasuke’s main story | Both protagonists must finish their personal storylines in the hunt for the Shinbakufu. |
| A Critical Encounter | Post-launch quest. You meet Rufino, who is tracking a group killing civilians and replacing them with strangers. |
| A Puzzlement | Post-launch quest. A comedic side story that introduces the mysterious glyphs tied to ancient secrets. |
| Teach a Dog New Kicks | Becomes available after A Puzzlement. |
| Headucation | Becomes available after A Puzzlement. |
| Battle of the Bests | Becomes available after A Puzzlement. |
The order matters for the last three. Teach a Dog New Kicks, Headucation, and Battle of the Bests only open up once A Puzzlement is done, so clear that quest before you go looking for them.
How to start Black Tides
How to confirm Black Tides has unlocked
After the introduction cutscene, the Black Cross Objective Circle is added to your Objectives Menu. That is the confirmation that the quest is live and that your hunt for the elite Templars has begun.
If the A Disturbance in Kii event never shows on the objective board, a prerequisite is still incomplete. The most common cause is skipping the post-launch content, since A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement (along with the three quests that branch off A Puzzlement) are easy to miss if you only played the original campaign.
From here, the questline moves on to the Drunken Captain in western Kii and a chase after a Masked Killer, eventually leading into the follow-up mission Double-Crossed. Clear the prerequisites first, and the rest of the finale opens up in order.
