Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun: Complete Guide

A guide to Mimimi's stealth tactics classic: what each of the five specialists does, how to read view cones, how to use Shadow Mode for synchronized takedowns, how badges work, and where Aiko's Choice fits in.

Researched September 2026. Current as of the final PC build and the standalone Aiko's Choice expansion (December 6, 2021). The game is complete and no longer updated. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Status in 2026

• Release: December 6, 2016, by Mimimi Games (Daedalic Entertainment). Real-time tactics set in Edo-period Japan.
• Aiko's Choice (December 6, 2021): a standalone expansion with three main missions and three shorter interludes, focused on Aiko and her former sensei, the spymaster Lady Chiyo.
• Mimimi's follow-ups: Desperados III and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (August 2023). The genre's recent torch-bearer is Sumerian Six (2024, by Artificer).

Quick Start

1. Quicksave constantly. The game is built for it and even reminds you. Save before every risky move.
2. Read the view cone. Click an enemy to see their vision cone. In the solid part you're spotted outright. In the striped part a crouching character stays hidden.
3. Watch for footprints and noise. Snow and puddles leave tracks. Some actions make noise shown as a circle. Guards investigate both.
4. Hide bodies. A guard who finds a body raises the alarm. Carry bodies into bushes, wells or out of sight.
5. Use Shadow Mode. Queue one action for each character, then trigger them all at once to take out several guards in the same instant.
6. Samurai are special. They're much tougher than normal guards. Plan to deal with them using Mugen or a combination of characters.
7. Distractions beat kills. A thrown rock or a bottle of sake often moves a guard far enough away without leaving a body.
8. Badges add replay value. Each mission has optional challenges (speed, no-kill, special methods). Aim for them on a second run.

The Five Specialists

Character tips

• Hayato: his shuriken kills at range but must be picked up again. Retrieve it after each throw. His stones distract a guard to a chosen spot.
• Mugen: can defeat samurai one-on-one and hit multiple guards at once. He's slow and can't climb everywhere. Use his sake bottle to pull guards off their posts.
• Yuki: plays the flute to lure a guard onto a trap. Traps kill instantly, so she clears patrol routes efficiently. Pickpocket for the achievement "A thief's beginning."
• Aiko: puts on her disguise (achievement "Disguised") after finding a disguise outfit in the mission. She can then distract a guard with conversation and walk right through areas. Some enemy types may see through her, so read tooltips.
• Takuma: a stationary sniper. Rifle shots are loud (they create noise), so plan them for when noise doesn't matter or the target is alone. Kuma the tanuki draws attention ("Tanuki Time": run 500 meters with Kuma).

Core Stealth Mechanics

View cones

• Solid zone: seen immediately.
• Striped zone: seen if standing. Safe if crouching.
• Alert: a filling indicator shows a guard noticing you. Leave the cone before it fills.

Enemy types

Noise, tracks and bodies

• Running, some attacks and gunfire create noise circles. Guards inside them investigate.
• Tracks in snow lead guards to you. Cross snow carefully or pick other paths.
• Hide bodies in bushes, wells or out of view. Some characters can carry bodies faster than others (Mugen can carry more).
• Knocking out vs killing: knocked-out guards eventually wake up unless tied up or hidden. Kills are permanent but leave evidence. "Merciful" requires knocking out 250 guards or samurai.

Shadow Mode

• Enter Shadow Mode, give each character a queued action (a kill, throw or shot), then execute. Everyone acts at once.
• This is how you take out a group of guards watching each other.
• "Five Shadows" requires a plan with actions for all 5 characters.

Missions Overview

The main campaign is a series of large, open-ended missions across Japan. Places named in the achievements include Mount Tsuru, the Nakasendō road, Imai Town and the Myōgi Pass.

Tips for achievement-linked missions:

• Rollin' and Still Rollin': hide in the wagon in Imai Town, and again on the way up the Myōgi Pass.
• Happy little accidents: cause 3 accidents on the Nakasendō road. Look for environmental kills (falling objects, dropping loads).
• Gear up: on your second visit to Mount Tsuru, get back all your equipment.
• Warzone: shoot an enemy inside a warzone or on a shooting range. Takuma's sniping is ideal.

A Standard Room-Clearing Routine

Most areas in Shadow Tactics can be broken down with the same routine:

1. Survey. Before moving anyone, click each guard and look at the cone, the patrol path and who watches whom. Mark the guard who covers everyone else. That's usually your first target.
2. Find the blind spot. Look for a bush, rooftop or corner outside every cone, and move your team there crouched.
3. Break the chain. Take out or distract the guard whose cone covers the others, then hide the body immediately.
4. Isolate the rest. Use lures (Yuki's flute, Mugen's sake, Hayato's stones) to pull single guards into your kill zone one at a time.
5. Synchronize the leftovers. Guards standing in mutually watching pairs or trios are Shadow Mode targets.
6. Clean up and save. Hide every body, check for returning patrols, quicksave, move on.

Badges and Achievements

Every mission has badges (optional challenges) such as finishing under a time limit, completing it on Hardcore, never being spotted, not killing, or using specific methods. Complete Mastery requires collecting all badges.

Cumulative achievements:

Many other achievements are hidden and tied to specific missions. Replay missions from the menu to pick them up. Badges are listed on the mission screen, so read them before you start.

Aiko's Choice (Standalone Expansion)

• Content: 3 main missions plus 3 shorter interludes, new environments, and an orchestral soundtrack by Filippo Beck Peccoz.
• Story: set during the main campaign's timeline. Aiko's former sensei Lady Chiyo returns, and the team goes after Aiko's past.
• For whom: players who finished the main game. It assumes you know all five characters and their tools.
• Standalone: installs and launches separately, but spoils the main story, so play it after.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not quicksaving. One mistake can cost 20 minutes of careful play.
• Leaving bodies in view. A discovered body can trigger alarms and reinforcements.
• Taking on samurai alone with the wrong character. Use Mugen or a combined plan.
• Forgetting footprints in snow. Guards follow tracks to you.
• Loud kills near groups. Takuma's rifle and some attacks make noise. Check the noise circle first.
• Ignoring civilians. They report you, so treat them as spotters.
• Using Aiko's disguise without checking who can see through it. Read enemy tooltips.

Advanced Tips

• Shadow Mode chains: queue one action per character to take out a whole group in one move, then quicksave.
• Lure and trap: Yuki's flute plus her trap is the most efficient patrol-clearing tool in the game.
• Distract, then strike: Hayato's stone turns a guard's back, and anyone else can kill them in that window.
• Environmental kills: look for hanging loads, rockfalls and other set pieces. They count as accidents and often avoid alarms.
• Badge-run planning: do a first blind run for the story, then replay each mission targeting a couple of badges at a time.
• Hardcore difficulty: enemies react faster and alarms punish you more. Save even more often and prefer non-contact routes.

FAQ

How many playable characters are there? Five: Hayato, Mugen, Yuki, Aiko and Takuma.

What is Shadow Mode? A planning mode where you queue one action per character, then execute them all at once for synchronized takedowns.

Is Aiko's Choice required? No. It's a standalone expansion (3 main missions, 3 interludes) best played after the main campaign.

Can I play non-lethally? Largely yes. Knockouts, distractions and avoidance let you minimize kills, and several badges reward it.

Who is the villain? The story revolves around a mysterious figure called Kage-sama. Play it blind if you can, since the reveal matters.

What should I play next? Desperados III and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew from Mimimi, or Sumerian Six.

Sources

• Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun on Steam
• Shadow Tactics Steam achievements
• Shadow Tactics on Wikipedia
• Steam news: Aiko's Choice release date, FAQ and launch announcements