Assassin’s Creed Shadows: How to Finish the Buried Secrets Quest

Buried Secrets closes out the Black Tides storyline in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and serves as the game’s final mission. It puts you on the trail of the two Templars, Nirmala and Eamon, and most of the challenge comes from navigating the observatory at Mount Hei rather than the combat at the end.

Quick answer: Follow Nirmala through the observatory by activating ground glyphs to form yellow bridges, cross the glowing ledges while avoiding arrow-trap tiles, then defeat Nirmala and Eamon in the fight at the end to complete the quest.

How the Buried Secrets quest begins

The mission opens with a cutscene in which Yasuke is badly hurt. You can pick your playable character for the first step. Even though you save Yasuke, the Templars take the Kassandra keystone during the scramble.

You then travel to the observatory at Mount Hei alongside Rufino, only to discover that Nirmala and Eamon have already arrived. Rather than watching from a distance, you decide to chase them down. Rufino warns you about the risk but joins you anyway, which matters because several paths only open when two people stand on paired glyphs.

How the glyph bridges work

Throughout the observatory you’ll find glowing glyphs set into the floor. Standing on one creates a usable path that appears as a yellow bridge. Some doors and gaps need both you and Rufino on a glyph pair at the same time, so keep him moving with you whenever a passage refuses to open.

Not every glyph is helpful. Later in the route, certain glyph tiles are traps that rain arrows on you when you step on them. Watch your footing once you start crossing the fine ledges against the black walls.

Walkthrough: Reaching Nirmala through the observatory

Cross the first pair of glyphs to form the initial bridge, then take the ledges on the left. Move to the end of them and jump across to grab the next set of ledges on the opposite side.

Drop down, and you’ll find a door blocking Rufino. Look to the left side of the room for another glyph, grab the ledges there, and climb up to reach it. Stand on the glyph so Rufino can enter the room.

Drop back down to find a paired set of glyphs for you and Rufino. Stand on them together to clear the blockade, which brings you to the spot where Eamon and Nirmala are waiting.

Begin the chase after Nirmala. Rufino stays behind to cover you here, so you continue alone. Use the jumpable ledges or stairs to climb up to where the finer ledges glow against the black wall.

Move along the glowing ledges and jump to the opposite side each time you reach the end of one. In a couple of spots you’ll need to release your grip and catch a new ledge in mid-air. Keep off the trap glyph tiles as you go.

You’ll reach a hilly platform where the chase continues. If you lose the trail, open the mission tracker to pinpoint Nirmala’s position, then follow the marker forward until you spot her ahead.

Approach the pair of magical platforms. Jump onto the first platform, grab the ledge in front of you to hang, then swing across to the second platform and keep moving.

When you reach the area with grabbable ledges and a bridge on your left, take the ledge and climb up to a set of raised platforms or embankments. Time your jumps carefully to cross the gaps between them.

Cross to the very end of the platforms, then slide down. This is where you finally catch Nirmala and the chase ends.

The final fight with Nirmala and Eamon

Catching up to Nirmala triggers a fight against both her and Eamon. There’s no special trick or mechanic to exploit here, so rely on your usual combat approach to bring them down. The parkour stretch leading up to this point is the genuinely tough part of the mission, not the battle itself.

Once you defeat the two Templars, the quest resolves and the Black Tides storyline concludes. As this is the final mission in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the closing cutscene plays out from here.

If a path stalls partway through, the usual cause is leaving Rufino behind or stepping onto a trap glyph instead of a safe one. Keep him paired with you on the dual glyphs, avoid the tiles that fire arrows, and the route opens cleanly all the way to the Templars.