Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a fun stealth strategy game for Windows comparable to older titles like Desperados and Commandos. This is a game in which you need to get stealthy to complete missions with your small teams of typically three or four characters. Shadow Tactics is tough to beat, even at its standard difficulty. I’ve completed that game, and these Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun tips will help you do the same.
Plan a Route First
Most missions in Shadow Tactics usually have multiple routes for reaching targets, and some also offer different methods for completing objectives. One route will probably be more straightforward than another. The first thing you should do at the beginning of each mission is to plan what route you’re going to take to fulfill an objective. Have a good look at a level’s landscape to see what potential alternative routes there are for fulfilling objectives before you set off.
Keep An Eye on Guards’ Fields of Views
You probably won’t get far in Shadow Tactics if you don’t check guards’ fields of view. Getting spotted is seldom something you can afford even if you escape detection, for it will mean more guards come out to search. So, checking guards’ fields of view is something you should do with regularity to ensure nobody sees you and sets off alarm bells. Look for blind spots in viewing fields that will enable you to get close enough to eliminate guards or at least sneak past them.
A guard’s filed of view
One thing to note about viewing fields is that you can remain unseen within their striped areas when crouching. So, don’t be afraid to walk into striped areas of viewing fields when you’re crouching. Doing so will enable you to bypass more guards without being seen. The bigger striped areas in viewing fields on night missions will give you even more leeway to crouch and move.
Lure Guards into Traps With Yuki’s Flute
Yuki is one of the most potent characters in Shadow Tactics thanks to her magic flute. Playing that flute enables you to draw enemies into areas where Yuki, or another character, can eliminate them without being spotted. Even though it doesn’t work for enemies with hats, you can still lure out many guards with that flute.
Yuki’s trap
Yuki’s flute is even more useful when utilized in combination with her killer traps. Lay down a trap in a bush or outside viewing fields where nobody will see a guard eliminated. Then play Yuki’s flute from where you placed the trap to lure a guard toward it, and quickly move somewhere the enemy won’t see you (preferably a bush). The guard will then probably walk into your trap when searching the area where Yuki played the flute. You can eliminate many guards by combining Yuki’s flute and trap abilities like that.
Kill Civilians
Shadow Tactics doesn’t penalize you for killing civilians who get in the way (other than potential achievements for only eliminating mission targets). Killing civilians won’t affect the game’s ending in any way. So, don’t be afraid to kill civilians who can give up your position by alerting guards. Most civilians in the game are of the red variety and will alert guards to your presence if they see you. Although you can knock out civilians, they’ll only stay down permanently when killed.
A red civilian
Use Footprints to Your Advantage
Shadow Tactics has some cold weather missions with lots of snow. Walking through the snow temporarily leaves footprints that guards will follow if seen. Use footprints to your advantage by intentionally leaving them for guards to follow you into areas where you can attack them without being seen by other enemies. Or better still, lay down a trap with Yuki along a footprint trail for a guard to walk into!
Footprints in the snow
Eliminate Multiple Enemies With Simultaneous Attacks
When you can’t eliminate one guard without one or two nearby ones noticing, a simultaneous attack could be the solution. Simultaneously attacking enemies with two or three characters enables you to kill multiple guards at about the same time, which will ensure none of them gets a chance to raise the alarm. To pull off a simultaneous attack, you’ll need to get your characters into positions close to guards (preferably behind them) where they can’t be seen and press the left Shift key to set the attacks.
Simultaneous attacks are a good way to eliminate groups of two or three guards who stay close to each other. You can pull off such attacks more easily when equipped with pistols. Or get Aiko dressed up so you can stop a group of moving guards and divert their view in a particular direction with her chatting ability. Then you can position a couple of characters just behind the guards from where they can attack simultaneously. With Aiko attacking as well, you can take out a group of three guards in such a way.
A simultaneous attack
Activate In-Game Cheats
Shadow Tactics has some in-game cheats you can activate, which will be invaluable if you ever get seriously stuck at a specific point on a mission. To activate those cheats, load your saved game, press Esc, and select Options in the in-game menu. Then enter “honorless” (without quote marks) within the options menu. You should see a cheater message about in-game badges being disabled after activating the cheats.
The cheater message
The only cheat you’ll need to get out of a tricky point is the one that kills guards. When you’ve activated the cheats, move your cursor over a guard and press the Del key. That will kill the guard, and no one who sees his body will raise an alarm. You can eliminate any number of guards on missions like that with cheats activated. These are the other cheats you can utilize:
- Press the F10 key to teleport a character to your cursor position.
- Make a selected character invisible by pressing the Pg Dn (Page Down) key. The Pg Up key restores a selected character’s visibility.
- Pressing the End key will make your selected character invincible. You can undo that cheat by pressing Pos1.
- Press the Insert + 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 key combinations to spawn Hayato, Yuki, Mugen, Aiko, or Takuma characters at a cursor position.
That last Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun tip will all but ensure game completion. However, don’t cheat unless you must do so. The other tips should be enough to get you through all Shadow Tactics’ missions without cheating. Now it’s time for you to bring down Kage-sama!
