Are you running out of scouts too quickly in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Learn how to get more scouts, replenish scouts, and get temporary scouts.
Table of contents
What are scouts and how to use them
Scouts are a limited utility that can be used to track down objectives and collect resources. When you’re looking for a quest objective, you’ll typically get clues as to where you should look.
You can look for yourself or send scouts to give you a general area of where the objective is. Though using scouts this way can compete with scouts you want for gathering resources.
You can also use Scouts to smuggle Hideout resources by marking stockpiles found in forts, castles, camps, and other high security areas.
It’ll require two scouts to smuggle a stockpile of resources and they’ll be turned in at the end of the season. Upgrade the Stables in your Hideout to lower the number of required Scouts to 1.
The first time you use a scout to show you a location or gather any information for you, you will unlock the Scouting Mission achievement. Scouting is not possible if you use Guided Exploration Mode. Learn how to unlock all achievements in Assassin’s Creed Shadows from our guide.
How to recruit Scouts
There are several ways to get more scouts to join your crew. You can recruit new scouts that will join your scout team permanently. You can also build and expand your Hideout to increase the number of available Scouts.
Recruit Monta and Shinobu
At the start of the game, you’ll begin with one scout. After you complete the tutorial quests and start your hunt for The Shinbakufu, walk out of your Hideout.
You’ll run into two Igans from Naoe’s village, Monta and Shinobu. They will meet you at the entrance of the Hideout zone. Talk to them to recruit them both as scouts, increasing your total to three (if those are the first scouts you recruit).
Build the Kakurega
Kakurega is a connectible room you can build to improve your scouts and the effects and benefits of unlocking other kakurega in the open world.
These safe houses are very convenient to travel to and from. Building the Kakurega at the Hideout, will add a scout to your team.
Build and Upgrade the Study
You can increase your scout capacity by building and upgrading the Study at your hideout. It isn’t too expensive and it’s a great thing to invest in early on.
It’ll help you track down objectives and better pinpoint where you need to go with the reduced search zone. It’ll cost 60 crops, 40 wood, and 10 minerals to construct.
A level 2 Study will give an additional scout and clear your wanted status in a region through scouts. It’ll cost two scouts to clear your wanted status in a region. A level 3 study will grant a scout and reduce the search zone for quests by 60%.
With a fully upgraded study, you’ll have a grand total of 6 scouts at your disposal. Now the real trick is using your scouts wisely and knowing how to refill them before the end of the season.
| Tiers | Perks |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | An additional scout joins the league. Reduce search zone for quests by 25%. | 60 | 40 | 10 |
 | An Additional scout joins the league. | 350 | 260 | 90 |
 | An additional scout joins the league. Reduce search zone for quests by 60% | 810 | 610 | 200 |
Tea Bowls for Rikyu quest
After assassinating The Golden Teppo of the Shinbakufu, you can start a quest for Sen no Rikyu where you have to gather 7 tea bowl sets. Once you gathered all the sets, invite your friends for a tea ceremony to unlock Sen no Rikyu as a scout.
Duel and defeat Yagyu Munetoshi
As part of the Nobutsuna’s Students quest, you’ll get the chance to duel Yagyu Munetoshi on Mount Miwa in Yamato. Defeating him will have him join your league as a scout.
The Fox and The Pirate Alliance quests
After assassinating The Fox of the Shinbakufu and completing the Pirate Alliance quest, you can recruit Shido as a scout.
How to refill empty scout slots
There are three ways you can refill your scouts. Your first and longest option is to wait until the start of the new season. With each new season, all of your depleted scouts will be refilled to full.
If you’re in a rush, you can go to the Hideout or a kakurega and look for a group of hanging sacks on the wall. You can spend 200 mon to regain 1 scout for this season.
When you build the Nando building in your Hideout, it will lower the cost of refilling scout slots from 200 mon to 140 mon. You can easily earn mon through various activities, and you should always make sure you have at least a one or two scouts available.
You can also recruit temporary scouts if you ran out. Sometimes you’ll find a peasant being bossed around by a brute, chased by bandits, or harassed by someone. Help them out of their situation and they’ll ask to pay you in return.
You can have them provide a world rumor to learn the location of a temple, shrine, or other activity. Alternatively, you can ask them to scout for you and this will refill an empty scout slot. This latter option will not be available if you have all scouts available.
These “random” events are offering scout refills, not unlocking a new scout slot.
How to use scouts efficiently
Having a lot of scouts available won’t add up too much if you’re not using them efficiently. There are several ways to go about this to reduce the number of scouts you need for tasks.
First off, you can look for objectives yourself. There’s nothing wrong with scouting things the old-fashioned way, but if you’re looking for help you can check out our quest walkthroughs where we point out objective locations.
The second thing you can do is to upgrade your Stables. At level two, stockpiles can be picked up by one scout instead of two. At level three, you’ll gain 20% more resources from stockpiles.
Third, build a Nando themed room at your Hideout. This reduces the refresh cost of scouts by 30%. Instead of costing 200 mon to refresh them at a kakurega, it’ll instead cost 140 mon.
| Tiers | Perks | | | |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Replenishing scouts in a Kakurega costs 30% less resources. | 440 | 330 | 110 | 1,160 |
Last is to take precautions before raiding a heavily fortified area such as a castle. Be sure to destroy any alarm bells as you infiltrate a castle. If you don’t, someone can ring them, and you’ll gain the wanted status in that region until the next season.
You can clear a Wanted status at the price of 2 scouts. This is a measure of last resort. If you are wanted on one of your characters, you can switch to the other to avoid everyone and everything attacking and chasing you the moment they spot you.
