Tracking down every Winter Raiders member inAssassin’s Creed Shadowscomes with an unusual challenge — true to the name, all of this group’s members can only be found in their designated places in winter. Fortunately, they’re also mostly located within the same region of the map, so you won’t have to riskchanging seasons through frequent fast travelto complete them efficiently.
The Winter Raiders quest can be acquired by talking to the elder in Gobo, which you can find on the southern coast of the Kii Region in the southeast corner ofAssassin’s Creed Shadows' map. At this point, you’ll receive some basic leads to start questing. If you’re not able to hit them immediately, make sure to remember and prioritize the task when the next winter season rolls around. Interestingly, there’s also a way to efficiently kill them all outside of winter, but it poses a lot more risk.
Winter Raider Sobei Location & Rewards
Epic Katana For Naoe
Winter Raider Sobei can be found in Gobo, making him easy to hit first if you start the quest by talking to the elder in the winter. Sobei patrols “Gobo’s poorer areas,” which can ultimately be found on the south end of town between the docks and Dojoji Temple. If you haven’t already been to Gobo, finding out about the raiders through other means, the town is in the southeast of Kii.
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Sobei hangs out with bodyguards, so if you’re approaching him as Naoe, you’ll want to take out your tanto and get a double assassination on him and one of the nearby guards. I found it easy to manage this with a drop assassination. Killing Sobei provides theSharpened Hail Epic Katana, 2,000 XP, and 2 Mastery Points.
Winter Raider Hayate Location & Rewards
Epic Teppo For Yasuke
The Winter RaiderHayate can be found in the northeast area of Kii. As Hayate has been ambushing travelers along the road, he isn’t hard to find as long as you know which road to take. Traveling north out of Kumano Hayatama Taisha and the nearby town of Shingu, you’ll cross a bridge and continue along a road that heads up toward a dead end at the edge of the map, just southeast of the Yamato region.
You’ll find Hayate along this road, so once you’ve passed the halfway point, you should abandon your horse and travel stealthily if you want to catch him by surprise. Hayate can be found in an elevated position to the side of the road, where you can use some shrubbery as cover to ambush him even in the winter. Upon killing Hayate, you’ll gain theEpic Teppo Kagutsuchi’s Deedalong with 2,000 XP and 2 Mastery Points.
Winter Raider Yasha Location & Rewards
Epic Naginata For Yasuke
Unlike the rest of the Winter Raiders, Yasha can be found in Yamato, not Kii. Your first lead is a contact in the shrine town of Kawakami, which can be found in the shrine town of Hongu by the river in northwestern Kumano Sanzan. Here, you’ll find a letter with some more information, which points you toward Kawakami as the place to find Yasha.
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Yasha is located near the bridge to the northeast of Kawakamiin northern Yoshino. You can save hunting down Yasha for last if you’d rather not jump back and forth too much, since everyone else is in Kii, but you’ll want to hit Kawakami if you’re looking to go through the full process of finding her rather than just making a beeline for her actual location. Killing Yasha will net you 2,000 XP, 2 Mastery Points, and anEpic Naginata called the Boreal Wind.
Winter Raider Akumu Location & Rewards
Legendary Bow For Yasuke
Akumu isn’t next to a major landmark like a river, making her slightly harder to track down than some others, but you can find hernear the center of the Nakehechi Route area. If you head to the Nakehechi Route name on your map, you’ll find a village called Takahara. Just northeast of the village, you’ll find a camp with Akumu and some bandits.
Takahara is home to a Kakurega location, so if you’ve already been there, you can just unlock the Kakurega and use fast travel to get close to Akumu.
Killing Akumu will net you theLegendary Bow A Thousand Cuts, a relativelyweak Yasuke legendary weaponthat can be fun in the right hands, and its associated Knock Down Shot engraving, along with the predictable 2,000 XP and 2 Mastery Points. You’ll want to get close before making a move on Akumu, as she uses a bow as her primary weapon, making her dangerous at range.
Winter Raider Jinbei Location & Rewards
Epic Kanabo For Yasuke
Jinbei is the leader of the Winter Raiders, and he can be found in acave on the southern end of Kii. I found the cave from the sea, and you’ll see it nestled inside an outcropping to the south of a town called Tanabe. If you take the same approach, you’ll want to grab a boat in town and row it into the cave. Jinbei can be found near the cave’s sea entrance, and the easiest way to finish the Winter Raiders is to assassinate him and dash. You’ll get theEpic Kanabo Pupil’s Promise, another 2,000 XP, and 2 Mastery Points.
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The cave has some other loot, so you’re free to explore it more thoroughly and stock up, but it also has plenty of other enemies to fight. If you want to hunt down the raiders in any season that isn’t winter, you’ll actually find the entire crew hiding out in the same cave as Jinbei throughout the warmer months. Killing them all here is the fastest way to complete the affair, but it’s also the riskiest, as handling multiple high-level targets and plenty of standard enemies in one location can be a recipe for disaster.
With all the Winter Raiders assassinated, you can return to the elder in Gobo. On top of all the rewards you earned throughout, the main reward for turning in the quest is another chunk of XP and a mastery point. You’ll also have the option to collect 200 mon from him, butyou can also refuse to take the rewardafter learning of the responsibility he bears for the existence of the winter raiders.
The amount of mon is negligible, so feel free to refuse the reward if you feel inclined, as you’ll still get the XP and Mastery Point. Either way, you’ll walk away with a series of prizes for the work you’ve done to make the Kii region safer inAssassin’s Creed Shadows.
