Oakwood in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a crafting material for upgrading gear at the Forge, and the dependable ways to get it are dismantling Yasuke’s bows and Teppo rifles, looting common chests, completing Assassinate Leader contracts and buying it from port merchants. Smuggling can add more once your Hideout is far enough along. Below we cover each source, what Ubisoft’s economy patches changed since launch, and the order that gets you the most Oakwood for the least time.
What Oakwood Is For
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has two separate economies. Hideout resources (wood, minerals and crops, per Ubisoft’s Hideout deep dive) pay for buildings. Crafting materials pay for gear: per Ubisoft’s help pages, you upgrade weapons and armor at the Forge by talking to the Blacksmith, choosing See Shop, then the Upgrade tab, which costs crafting materials plus mon. The Forge unlocks after the quest “Way of the Blacksmith”.
Oakwood sits in the second group. Community guides consistently tie it to Yasuke’s gear, especially his ranged weapons, which is why it tends to run short for anyone leaning on the Yumi Bow or Teppo. You can check your stock any time under Inventory, on the Bag tile.
Upgrades got pricier over time. Title Update 1.0.7 slightly increased the crafting materials needed per upgrade, and Title Update 1.1.1 added Mythic and Artifact tiers at Forge level 6, each with eight more upgrade levels. Endgame builds eat far more material than they did in spring 2025.
Dismantle Yasuke’s Ranged Weapons
This is the most controllable source. The Forge lets you break unwanted weapons and armor down into raw materials, and community guides agree that bows and Teppo rifles are the ones that return Oakwood. Title Update 1.0.7 also increased the resources gained from dismantling across the board, and since Title Update 1.0.2 you can tag several items and dismantle them in one go at the Forge instead of one by one.
The practical habit: stop selling duplicate Yumi Bows and Teppos. If Oakwood is your bottleneck, every spare ranged weapon is worth more at the Forge than at a merchant.
Assassinate Leader Contracts
Contracts come from the regional contract boards at your Kakurega safehouses. Several community guides report that Assassinate Leader contracts list Oakwood among their rewards, alongside other Yasuke materials. We have not found this in Ubisoft’s own notes, so treat it as a player-reported source rather than a guaranteed drop, but it is worth checking the reward line on a board before you pick contracts.
Contracts also got better in general: Title Update 1.0.5 raised the mon they pay, which feeds straight into buying Oakwood when you are short. Since Title Update 1.1.4, contracts also refresh on Awaji when a season passes in Japan, and the reverse.
Chests, Merchants and Smuggling
- Common chests. Player reports say common chests in camps and outposts drop Oakwood often enough that clearing a location nets some without detours.
- End-of-season rewards. Title Update 1.0.7 rebalanced the end-of-season chest and increased the crafting materials and Hideout resources it gives, so a season turn now pays out more of both.
- Port merchants. Merchants on the coast sell crafting materials directly. Be aware that Title Update 1.0.5 deliberately raised merchant prices on crafting materials and lowered how much each merchant stocks per season, to push players toward earning materials in the world. Buying still works for closing a small gap, just not as a main supply.
- Smuggling. Tagging stockpiles is mainly a Hideout resource system, but community guides say that at higher Hideout levels (level 10 is the figure most cite) smuggled wood stockpiles can also return Oakwood. Treat that threshold as unconfirmed by Ubisoft. What is confirmed: since Title Update 1.1.4, a Stable at level 4 gives a 30% chance of Gold, another crafting material, from each stockpile.
Tips Most Players Miss
- Dismantle before you sell. Spare bows and Teppos are your cheapest Oakwood.
- Read contract rewards first. Pick contracts whose rewards match your bottleneck.
- Buy only the last stretch. After 1.0.5, merchants are a top-up, not a farm.
- Upgrade the gear you keep. With Mythic and Artifact tiers in the game, spreading Oakwood across weapons you will replace is the fastest way to run out.
Smuggling spends scouts, so how scouts work and how to raise your cap sets your real throughput, and changing seasons is when smuggled goods and season rewards arrive. For the wider economy, see our resources guide, and our full Assassin’s Creed Shadows guides cover the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Oakwood used for in AC Shadows? It is a crafting material spent at the Forge, with mon, to upgrade gear. Community guides tie it mainly to Yasuke’s equipment.
What is the fastest way to get Oakwood? Dismantle spare Yumi Bows and Teppo rifles at the Forge, then top up from chests, contracts and port merchants.
Which contracts give Oakwood? Player reports point to Assassinate Leader contracts from Kakurega contract boards; check the reward line before accepting.
Can you still buy Oakwood from merchants? Yes, but Title Update 1.0.5 raised merchant prices on crafting materials and cut how much each merchant stocks per season.
Does smuggling give Oakwood? Community guides say it can once your Hideout level is high enough, but Ubisoft has not confirmed the threshold. Smuggling mainly returns Hideout resources.