The Black Tides is the final quest in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, added for free with Title Update 1.1.11 on June 16, 2026, and it’s the toughest mission in the entire game. Naoe and Yasuke go up against two elite Templars of the Black Cross: Sir Eamon Hathaway and the lethal assassin Nirmala. If you want to know how to survive every phase of the AC Shadows Black Tides Nirmala boss fight without losing your mind in the process, this walkthrough covers the whole thing from start to finish.

Before you can start, there are prerequisites. You need to have finished the main story and completed two earlier post-launch quests: A Critical Encounter and A Puzzlement. If those are done, the quest opens in the KII region near Yuasa. Once you’re there, commit fully. The adventure ahead is long, difficult, and genuinely surprising in ways that even experienced players won’t see coming.

Meeting Eamon Hathaway and the Black Tides Mission Board

When you arrive at the marked location in KII, the scene you find is surprisingly calm. A bearded man is telling stories to a group of children. This is Sir Eamon Hathaway, a high-ranking member of the Black Cross, the Templar Order’s most elite unit. He knows exactly who Naoe and Yasuke are, and he makes very clear that he has no intention of letting them interfere with his mission.

After the introduction, check the quest board. Two objectives appear: Eamon Hathaway at the top and an unnamed enemy below. That unknown figure is Nirmala, though you won’t learn her name until later. Your first task is to find the Drunken Captain. I’ve marked his location for you on the map, and you’ll find him inside a nearby building.

The Drinking Game With Captain Yang and How to Beat Him

Captain Yang is drinking heavily when you find him, and Yasuke agrees to sit down for a guessing game. The joke is that if you answer wrong, Yasuke has to take a drink, and it looks very much like Yasuke is deliberately trying to lose. For reference, I picked the top answer twice, both wrong, and the correct answer was at the bottom on the third try. Naoe watches from behind with a look of complete skepticism.

By the time the conversation wraps up, Yasuke has had quite a lot to drink. To get the information Naoe needs, you’ll have to fight Captain Yang. This fight is easy by the standards of everything that comes after it. Yang can land some hard hits occasionally, but a well-chosen build and a bit of patience will finish this quickly. Think of it as a warm-up, because the real challenge of Black Tides hasn’t started yet.

Tracking Nirmala’s Blood Trail Through the KII Region

Just as Captain Yang is about to reveal what the Templar Order is looking for, he’s shot in the head by an arrow from a masked figure. Naoe manages to wound the attacker with a kunai throw, but the stranger escapes, leaving a trail of blood. Your next task is to follow that trail.

Use the Investigate skill to see the blue markers that show you the route. In some places it’s not just blood on the ground, either. The fugitive has left bodies behind along the escape route, which tells you a great deal about how dangerous this person really is. Guards along the way will try to stop you, but ignore them and keep moving. The chase ends in a yard where a frightened child is standing near a hostage, the child’s father. After a brief exchange, the attacker moves against him, and you and Yasuke step in to end the chase and protect both of them.

Investigate the Wreck: Finding Eamon Hathaway’s Documents

Your next mission is called Investigate the Wreckage, and it’s located on the east coast. I’ve marked the spot on the map. When you get there, a small group of bandits is on the shore. Take them out, they’re weak, then find the key they leave behind. It opens a chest containing Eamon Hathaway’s documents.

Since Naoe is the most agile member of the group and the one who can dive, she handles the underwater exploration. There’s a chest on the upper deck with a good amount of coins. Open that first. The rest of the chests are underwater, and the Investigate skill will show you the blue markers for each one. Most contain only resources, but the critical chest is hidden behind underwater rocks and requires a deep dive to reach. That’s the one with the documents you need.

Meanwhile, on shore, Yasuke finds a document covered in strange glyphs. And that’s the moment Nirmala reappears. This is where the AC Shadows Black Tides Nirmala boss fight happens for the first time, and it’s genuinely brutal. If you want to understand how Eamon Hathaway fits into the larger picture before you face him here, our AC Shadows Shipbreaker Domain walkthrough and Eamon Hathaway boss guide covers the first major encounter with him and explains the Tidal Wave build that becomes essential later in Black Tides.

How to Beat Nirmala With Yasuke: First Boss Fight

I’ll be honest with you: this fight is really, really tough. Nirmala is incredibly fast and dodges almost every attack Yasuke throws at her. I normally use the naginata for Yasuke, but in this encounter the naginata is too slow. For this fight I switched to the Exotic Katana of Venom, which has a poison bonus and makes the Power Dash ability much more useful. Power Dash lets you close distance quickly while dealing damage, and the poison builds up each time you connect.

Here’s the key detail with Power Dash: don’t max the ability out. I know that sounds strange, but when you max it you get two dashes, and one of them is almost certain to miss Nirmala as she moves. Keep it at a single dash. That way you hit, land one or two basic attacks while she’s weakened from the poison, replenish your adrenaline chunk, and Power Dash again. I also wear gear that restores one adrenaline chunk every time I use a food item, which means I can use Power Dash far more frequently. Small details like that make a big difference here.

The single most important thing to understand about Nirmala in this fight: every one of her attacks is unblockable. They all show red. You cannot block a single hit. You can only dodge. This is a mechanic that favors Naoe’s playstyle far more than Yasuke’s, which is exactly what makes this encounter so punishing. Land one or two katana strikes, then retreat immediately. Keep poisoning her, keep moving, and stay patient.

When Nirmala reaches around 30% health, a cutscene triggers. Yasuke successfully parries one of her attacks and lifts her off the ground, and for a moment it genuinely looks like the fight is over. Then Eamon Hathaway walks in. Nirmala’s health bar fully refills. Now Yasuke is fighting both of them simultaneously, already drained of health items from the fight you just barely survived. I’ll be upfront: there is no winning this phase. No matter what you try, Eamon parries everything, and the hits that do land seem to deal almost no damage. This is a scripted defeat. Let it happen and watch what comes next.

Black Tides Shadow Yasuke Fight: How to Survive With No Items

The defeat cutscene is genuinely difficult to watch. But before Yasuke dies, Nirmala talks Eamon Hathaway out of delivering the final blow, arguing that Yasuke’s injuries are fatal anyway and that Naoe will abandon her search to help him. Eamon agrees, and that’s exactly what happens.

What follows is a vision sequence where Yasuke relives key moments of his life: his mother’s death, his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga who made him a samurai, and the new family he found in Naoe and Jinjiro. It’s one of the more emotionally powerful sequences in the game. And then you have to fight Shadow Yasuke, a mirrored version of your character with identical abilities.

The fight itself is not actually that hard by the standards of this quest. The catch is that you enter it with exactly the gear and supplies you had at the end of the dual boss phase. If you spent everything fighting Nirmala and Eamon, you have nothing here. That’s why this fight can feel brutal. It’s a resource problem, not a skill problem. I went in completely unprepared, barely scraped through, and won moments before my own defeat. Don’t overthink it. Focus, dodge well, and you’ll get there. After the fight, Yasuke and his shadow settle one important thing: someday Yasuke will die in battle, but not today.

Cave Puzzle Walkthrough: Glyph Platforms and Parkour Traps

After the vision sequence, Naoe follows Eamon Hathaway and Nirmala to a cave covered in mysterious Isu glyphs. If you completed the Isu Door Puzzle before starting Black Tides, the aesthetic here will feel very familiar. The two characters Naoe previously met at that location are the ones who told the Templars where to find this cave. For more context on those Isu mechanics and how the portal challenges connect to this storyline, our AC Shadows Horizon Rift walkthrough covers the earlier challenges in that same thread.

Inside the cave, Naoe and Rufino must stand on glyph-marked platforms together to unlock barriers and open the path forward. This is why the quest requires two characters. The first few barriers ask you to find the correct platform on the left side of the room. The yellow highlights on climbable surfaces will always show you where to go, and none of this section is especially difficult. It’s a test of agility, not combat.

After the first stage, you’ll see Nirmala ahead of you. From this point on, the glyph tiles on the floor become traps, not switches. Do not step on them. Chase Nirmala through a series of parkour obstacles. She keeps moving further away every time you get close, but the path is clear and the prompts are reliable. Eventually you’ll step onto a transparent yellow bridge that vanishes under your feet and you’ll fall into the lower section of the cave. From there it’s a short, linear path to the arena where the next fight begins. There’s a supply crate at the entrance before you go in. Restock your food and throwing items here. Don’t skip this moment.

AC Shadows Black Tides Nirmala Boss Fight: Naoe’s Encounter

The second AC Shadows Black Tides Nirmala boss fight is harder than the first one. My early attempts were completely hopeless. Then I noticed that when the game reloads the checkpoint, Nirmala doesn’t react to Naoe immediately. That opening gives you a free kunai throw, and landing it takes roughly half her health in a single hit. Two or three more throws and the real fight begins.

Once she’s aware of you, smoke bombs are your best tool. Two or three in a row will stop Nirmala in place, and you can deal massive uncontested damage while she’s caught in the smoke. This approach works far better than trying to trade hits directly. When her health drops to about one third, phase two starts and Eamon Hathaway enters the fight, just as he did against Yasuke. Nirmala’s health bar fully refills again, but her attacks become noticeably less aggressive in this phase.

Against Eamon in this fight, the Tidal Wave ability is your primary tool. After Tidal Wave connects, you have a few seconds to land regular strikes before he recovers. That’s your damage window, so use it every time. Be very careful though. Nirmala is always somewhere nearby and will keep attacking you throughout the fight. If you see her closing in, break off immediately and create distance. Eamon also throws kunai frequently, so never stand still for long. A quick note on Tidal Wave against Nirmala: if you don’t see a yellow glow around her when the ability hits, Tidal Wave is not effective and she won’t be stunned. Dodge the moment it ends, because she will counter immediately.

The arena has two supply crates available once each. One refills your food, the other your throwing items. Before the battle, make sure you have the passive ability that refills both types of supplies at the same time when you restock. You will need this. The glyph traps on the floor also work in your favor if you use them correctly. If you accidentally step on one, jump sideways immediately. But if you can lure an opponent onto a trap, it stops them briefly and gives you a clean window for Tidal Wave against the other one. Getting Eamon and Nirmala separated is the ideal scenario throughout this fight.

I’ll also admit something: I completely forgot about smoke grenades until deep into my winning run. A double smoke bomb shuts down both opponents at once and gives you several seconds of free damage. Use them early and often. Don’t repeat my mistake. As for Rufino, he’ll seem to have vanished entirely during this fight. That’s intentional. He’ll arrive at exactly the right moment.

Eamon Hathaway Final Boss Fight: Yasuke and Naoe Together

Just as Naoe is about to fall, Yasuke arrives, still in his hospital gown but very much armed. He throws Eamon Hathaway across the arena with a single powerful strike. Rufino finally appears on the battlefield and fires a well-aimed shot that stops Nirmala from finishing Naoe. While Nirmala turns her attention to threatening Rufino, Naoe seizes the moment and ends it with a hidden blade strike to the neck. Nirmala is dead. Eamon Hathaway, furious and disbelieving, puts on his helmet and prepares for what he clearly didn’t expect to be a fair fight.

You play as Yasuke in this final phase, with Naoe fighting alongside you as an active partner. The dynamic has completely reversed. Naoe will frequently knock Eamon off his feet or hold him in place, and those are your windows to close the gap and land heavy hits. A grounded enemy takes significant damage from a powerful strike, so watch for those moments and capitalize on every one. Eamon barely gets a clean chance to fight back against you, and the battle ends quickly. Everything before this moment was building to exactly this feeling. For context on how far this series of fights stretches back, our AC Shadows Red Moon Domain walkthrough and Naoe build guide covers the previous Eamon encounter and the build that carried through to the Black Tides finale.

Black Tides Ending and Rewards

After Eamon Hathaway goes down, there’s a substantial cutscene in which Naoe and Yasuke find a mysterious cube deep in the cave. I’ve chosen not to spoil what happens next. If you’ve survived the AC Shadows Black Tides Nirmala boss fight and everything that followed it, you deserve to experience the ending without any forewarning. What I will say is that the ending leaves a lot open to interpretation, and the future of both characters depends entirely on how you read the final scenes.

For completing Black Tides, both protagonists receive legendary gear. Naoe gets the Queen Cobra katana along with Nirmala’s Headwrap and Nirmala’s Robes. Yasuke receives the Hathaway Family Sword, the Crusader Helm, and the Crusader Tunic. Both characters also unlock trinkets and seven new engravings. It’s a satisfying reward for the hardest content in the game.

This is the end of Naoe and Yasuke’s main story in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and it’s a genuinely strong finish. Black Tides is harder, more emotional, and more surprising than almost anything else in the game. If you made it through, you’ve earned it. There’s still plenty more to explore beyond the main storyline, but the core journey is complete, and these two characters went out at their best.