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Similar to the Skill trees for the assassins, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate also gives us a set of three upgrade trees to upgrade our Gang. Whilst the upgrades don’t have much of an impact on the player characters per se, but they do have some notable impacts on the environment, Rooks and Blighters.

Players can spend their hard earned resources and money to purchase upgrades for the Gang which will unlock additional passive bonuses, useful new abilities for the Rooks, additional money and money-saving measures and some perks to make traversing the city a little less hostile. The three upgrade trees are Ringleader, Insider and Swindler and each has its own unique series of unlocks and bonuses.

The Gang Upgrade menu becomes available during Memory Sequence 03-02 during which you’ll need to purchase the ‘Medicine Market’ upgrade located in the Insider tree.

Below you’ll find a breakdown of the three skill trees, the skills that each contains and the cost of said upgrades.

Ringleader Upgrades

The Ringleader tree focuses on making your life easier in combat with gang members in tow. It centers on improving your Rooks to make them tougher, give them additional abilities and expand their archetype pool whilst also containing some upgrades that will sabotage Templar/Blighter equipment.

The following upgrades are for upgrading your Rooks and are included in the Ringleader tree:

Upgrade Cost Effect
Rook Training I 1,000£ + 50 Leather Rooks are now Level 5.
Allies in Arms 2,500£ + 50 Metal + 25 Chemical Rooks initiate fights with firearms.
Training Rooks II 10,000£ + 100 Metal + 50 Silk Rooks are now Level 7.
Enhanced Firepower 6,000£ + 100 Metal + 50 Silk Rook firearms are more effective.
Training Rooks III 16,000£ + 100 Metal + 50 Silk Rooks are now Level 9.
Rook Riders 1,500£ + 100 Metal + 50 Leather Rooks will now ride carriages.
Rook Riders II 3,000£ + 100 Metal + 50 Leather More Rook carriages riding about.
Rook Carriage 5,000£ + 100 Leather + 100 Silk Rook carriages have more health.
Cavalry Call 6,400£ + 150 Metal + 100 Leather Summon a carriage full of Rooks.

The following upgrades will expand the available Rook archetypes:

Upgrade Cost Effect
Rook Watchers 2,000£ + 50 Leather Rooks now include Lookouts.
Rook Brutes 5,000£ + 50 Leather Rooks now include Brutes.
Rook Enforcers 8,000£ + 100 Metal + 50 Silk Rooks now include Enforcers.

The following upgrades will negatively impact Blighters and Templars:

Upgrade Cost Effect
Carriage Sabotage 4,500£ + 50 Metal + 50 Chemical Blighter carriages have less health.
Poison the Well 4,000£ + 50 Chemical Reduce the health of all Blighters.
Dull Blades 2,800£ + 50 Leather + 25 Silk Take less damage from melee weapons.
Bad Powder I 3,200£ + 100 Metal + 50 Chemical Blighter firearms may misfire or explode.
Bad Powder II 4,800£ + 100 Metal + 80 Chemical Templar firearms may misfire or explode.

Insider Upgrades

The Insider tree focuses on manipulating the environment. This tree provides numerous upgrades such as reducing police and Blighter hostility, adding additional explosives/hanging barrels in the environment and increasing the prevalence of certain vehicle types on the roads.

The following upgrades are included in the Insider tree:

Upgrade Cost Effect
Police Bribes 5,000£ + 25 Silk Police will not be as aggressive.
Notoriety 7,500£ Blighters will not attack you in the street.
Little Rooks 1,500£ + 100 Metal + 50 Chemical Children will give you improved items.
Delivery Service 1,000£ + 50 Leather + 25 Silk More hanging barrels on the map.
Explosive Delivery 2,000£ + 50 Metal + 50 Chemical More explosive crates on the map.
Upgrade Cost Effect
Growler Boom 1,500£ + 25 Metal More Growler carriages on the map.
Dispatcher 1,500£ More fire trucks on the map.
Medicine Market 500£ + 10 Metal + 50 Chemical Purchase medicine from shops.
Mad Science 2,500£ + 50 Metal + 25 Chemical Schematic: Voltaic Bomb Upgrade II

Swindler Upgrades

The Swindler tree is centered around both increasing your passive income and saving you money. It includes upgrades to the Train Hideout safe to allow it to store more money, quicker and discounts at stores to reduce the cost of purchases.

The following upgrades are present in the Swindler tree and are useful for saving you money on purchases:

Upgrade Cost Effect
City-wide Craze 500£ + 50 Metal + 50 Chemical 50% discount on Hallucinogenic Darts.
Bomb Discount 4,500£ + 100 Metal + 25 Chemical 50% discound on bombs.
Black Market Affiliation 3,000£ + 50 Metal + 50 Chemical 25% discount on gun/knife ammo.
Black Market Ties 4,000£ + 50 Chemical 20% discount on weapons/gear.
City Takeover 10,000£ + 50 Chemical + 50 Silk Discount on Gang Upgrades.

The following upgrades will earn you additional money:

Upgrade Cost Effect
Ale Heist 1,500£ + 50 Chemical Additional Hijack/Escort tasks on the map.
Shell Company 5,000£ + 25 Chemical + 25 Silk Increases revenue from associate activities.
Rate of Income 8,000£ + 25 Chemical + 25 Silk Increase money deposited to train vault by 25%.
Pub Investor 6,000£ + 150 Leather + 50 Chemical Increase Safe capacity by 500£ and income by 500£/30 mins.
Pub Games 10,000£ + 100 Leather Increase Safe capacity by 500£ and income by 500£/30 mins.
Bookmaker 12,000£ + 100 Leather + 50 Silk Increase Safe capacity by 500£ and income by 500£/30 mins.
Tea Magnate 15,000£ + 50 Metal + 50 Silk Increase Safe capacity by 500£ and income by 500£/30 mins.
Shop Investor 20,000£ + 100 Metal + 100 Silk Increase Safe capacity by 1,000£ and income by 1,000£/30 mins.
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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Ubisoft
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, XB One
  • Genre
    Action Adventure
  • Guide Release
    14 December 2015
  • Last Updated
    11 February 2021
  • Guide Author

Share this free guide:

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate drops us into Victorian age London to liberate the city (and by extension the world) from Templar influence one dead body and borough at a time. The most modern Assassin’s Creed title yet sees numerous new features for the series including: revolvers, trains, horse drawn carriages, Batman-style rope launchers and gang warfare all of which lend Syndicate a fresh feel after years of similar, annual experiences. In our extensive Assassin’s Creed Syndicate guide, we’ll take you through the game from beginning to end, show you how to handle all those secondary memories and just about everything else the game has to offer!

Our guide includes:

  • Every story mission (and how to get FULL Synch for each one!).
  • All secondary memories covered (London Stories, The Dreadful Crimes, etc.).
  • All Secrets of London.
  • How to takeover and conquer every borough.
  • Hunting/Harpooning/Crafting - it’s all in here.
  • Associate Activities and miscellaneous side-tasks explained.
  • Complete achievement/trophy unlock guide.

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