In Assassin’s Creed Shadows you can gain allies to help you in combat, each offering something unique to the fight for peace. This guide will show you how to recruit each ally, how to train and upgrade them, and what each one offers.
Table of contents
What are Allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Allies are companions you can summon in and out of combat using the Ally Ability input. Some offer more offense while others provide more utility. If you build a Dojo in your Hideout, you can gain the ability to train allies and summon two at the same time.
Some allies you’ll encounter throughout the story while some must be found through side quests. It is possible to say things that would prevent allies from joining you, so this guide will tell you how to recruit them instead as they’re fun and useful!
Allies are not invincible, if they take too much damage they will leave the combat encounter to recover. Allies have a cooldown of around 6 minutes that begins when they leave the area with their smoke bombs.
Training your Allies
All allies start with one unique ability they can work in with their basic attacks. Training allies with a Dojo in your hideout will unlock up to two new passive abilities for them. Training them will also grant your allies new outfits, granting some level of customization to them.
| Tiers | Perks |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Allies can be trained up to Initiate rank. | 350 | 260 | 90 |
 | Two allies can assist you instead of one. | 470 | 350 | 120 |
 | Allies can be trained up to Veteran rank. | 700 | 520 | 170 |
To choose, train, and customize allies, you’ll need to use the Manage Allies board hanging on the wall in your hideout’s dojo or in any of your kakuregas.
Training you allies will get expensive as you’ll need 1,250 mon to train them to Initiate rank, and then another 2,850 mon to train them to Veteran rank. That’s 4,100 mon to fully upgrade one ally, or 24,600 mon to fully train all six allies. Fortunately for you, we have a guide on how to make mon.
Yaya
You’ll first encounter Yaya during the mission The Fatherless Monk when you’re hunting down The Wounded of the Shinbakufu. She’s a warrior monk values all life to the point that she never kills in combat, she merely knocks out her foes.
She’s great to have for harder combat scenarios as she’s more than capable of taking on a heavily armored soldier wielding a kanobo. Once she leaves, you’re free to loot anyone she has knocked out.
How to recruit Yaya
After successfully assassinating The Wounded, your decisions may affect her opinion about Naoe for better or for worse. To recruit her, you’ll need to get on her good side in the quest The Stray Dogs.
The Stray Dogs
You’ll need to find Yaya in southwestern Osaka and north of Sakai. Once you find her, help Yaya and help her deal with a thief. You can choose to forgive him or punish him, choose forgive him. This quest requires you to play as Naoe.
After some conversation, follow Yaya and retrieve the kanzashi from Tetsuo. The kanzashi is in northern Izumi Settsu and is in the Church of Takatsuki. You’ll find Tetsuo on the first floor of the northwestern building of the church.
Tetsuo will run away and you’ll need to chase Testsuo to get the kanzashi back. He’ll get floored by Yaya and a cutscene will start. You’ll be presented with another choice, tell her you need to forgive each other.
You’ll get one more choice, you can say “Lets work together” or “I wish you well“. Choose Let’s work together to recruit Yaya as an ally.
Yaya’s Abilities
Yaya’s method of combat is to use her overwhelming strength to knock back and knock out her foes. She’s a practitioner of Rikishi, the martial art used in sumo wrestling.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Rikishi | Yaya joins the fight and performs pushback attacks. | Novice |
 Oshitaoshi | When joining a fight, Yaya will knockdown an enemy. | Initiate |
 Inner Strength | Yaya uses a powerful kick to send enemies flying. | Veteran |
Yaya’s Outfits
You will unlock Yaya’s additional outfits as she’s increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Gennojo
You first encounter Gennojo during the quest Missing Missive when you are hunting down The Fool of the Shinbakufu. He seeks to steal from the rich to give back what they stole from the poor.
How to recruit Gennojo
To recruit Gennojo, you must assassinate The Fool of the Shinbakufu. Once you do, you’ll unlock his quest Sake and Swords.
Sake and Swords
Talk to Gennojo in a small village located in Ogura Pond, Yamashiro. You’ll find him drunk and trying to distribute swords he stole. Talk to him and unless you want to see the romance options, your dialogue choices don’t really matter here.
He’ll be confronted by the people he stole from and you’ll need to kill the enemies then talk to Gennojo once they’re dead. He’ll ask to meet you in Kyoto.
Honor Among Thieves
Meet up with Gennojo in northern Kyoto, Yamashiro. HJe wants you to collect a scroll that will help bring justice to others.
Retrieve the scroll in the Kubo Sama Old Residence. It’ll be in the northwest building next to a samurai writing on a scroll. Return to Gennojo to start the next quest. You can turn down his advances, your choices don’t matter yet.
Stolen Hearts
Meet up with Gennojo east of Kyoto, it’s heading towards Kiyomizudera Temple. You’ll find some blood on the floor. Help Gennojo in southwestern Hills of Meeting.
Assassinate the two soldiers guarding him then talk to Gennojo. A cutscene will start, he’ll hit on Naoe per usual only this time you can seal the deal by selecting “I’d like to embrace you”. Turning him down doesn’t affect your ability to recruit him.
The Godless Harvest
This is the last of Gennojo’s quests and where your dialogue choices actually matter. Talk to Gennojo who is currently south of Nijo Palace in Kyoto.
He needs your help finding a shipment of rice within Niki Palace. The rice is found in a storage room on the north area of the palace.
Examine the rice and a cutscene will start and you’ll learn some of Gennojo’s backstory. Once the cutscene is over, kill Tatsugoro while Gennojo handles the rice.
After the fight, Gennojo decides it’s a good time for an emotional crisis and is about to blow up the rice. Despite his efforts to aid the needy, he feels his efforts mean nothing as the cycle of power abuse goes on. When presented with the three choices, choose Soothe Gennojo.
After some more talking, you’ll get the options “We make a good team” and “I guess this is goodbye”. Choose We make a good team to recruit Gennojo as an ally.
Gennojo’s Abilities
Gennojo is a utility ally that you’ll use when sneaking around and are about to get caught. When summoned, he’ll throw some harmless fireworks to distract anyone nearby.
Over Here! will trigger automatically if you’re seen and start Gennojo’s cooldown. Charming Presence will work regardless of the cooldown.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Mischievous Sabotage | Gennojo throws a startling projectile. | Novice |
 Over Here! | Draws the attention of an enemy about to detect you. | Initiate |
 Charming Presence | Servants do not inform enemies of crimes they see. | Veteran |
Gennojo’s Outfits
You will unlock Gennojo’s additional outfits as he’s increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Katsuhime
You’ll encounter Katsuhime during the quest Against the Koga-ryu as you’re hunting The Naginata of the Shinbakufu. Despite her father’s wishes to take up the bow, she prefers the Teppo and is an excellent shot with it.
How to recruit Katsuhime
After assassinating The Naginata of the Shinbakufu, complete the quest Requiem for Rokakku. Once you’ve done that, you can start the quest Letter from Katsuhime.
Letter from Katsuhime
As Naoe, meet with Katsuhime in Koga, Omi. It’s close to the Koga Viewpoint. Talk to her and a cutscene will start. You’ll need to retrieve the sake to progress the quest. It’ll be in a cellar north of the Koga Kakurega. Return to Katsuhime to end the quest.
The Tale of Genin
Your next quest will have Naoe meet with Katsuhime in Kumagawa Juku. This village is located in east Wakasa. You’ll need to check on her teppo master’s family and you’ll need to find signs of struggle in the area.
These clues are very easy to find, and you’ll then need to kill the pirates northeast of your investigation location.
The Diary of Lady Rokkaku
This is the quest where you can recruit Katsuhime. Meet with Katsuhime in Omizo, Omi. Pick up the letter at the meeting spot and a cutscene will start. Long story short, don’t bring a teppo to a stealth mission.
Sneak into Omizo Castle and kill Isono Kazumasa. Once he’s dead, clear out the courtyard then carry Katsuhime to safety. Once rescued, a cutscene will start and she’ll ask if you want her, say “Yes join us” and you’ll have Katsuhime as an ally.
Katsuhime’s Abilities
Katsuhime a combat-based ally that will shoot targets with her Teppo and daze them. The dazed effect can cause affected targets to miss their attacks and unable to block yours.
As you increase her rank, she’ll get an explosive that dazes and her bullets will ricochet to daze other targets. She’s got daze for days!
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Teppodo | Katsuhime joins the fight and deals daze attacks. | Novice |
 Explosive Entrance | When joining the fight, Katsuhime throws a dazing bomb. | Initiate |
 Bullet Ricochet | Bullets hitting a dazed target ricochet to another target. | Veteran |
Katsuhime’s Outfits
You will unlock Katsuhime’s additional outfits as she’s increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Ibuki
Ibuki is encountered through a side-quest, so it can be easy to miss them if you’re primarily focused on the main story. They’re a ronin who refused to do their Lord’s bidding due to his corruption.
How to recruit Ibuki
Ibuki requires very careful decisions with some dialogue choices. If you make too many negative choices, they’ll outright refuse to join you. Follow the instructions ahead to successfully recruit Ibuki. You will need to play as Yasuke to start and complete Ibuki’s quests.
Ambush Interrupted
Ambush Interrupted is an optional side quest found at Kashiwara Village in Iga. Talk to Ibuki as Yasuke to start the quest. When the choice comes up during your conversation, choose “I have changed“.
The village will be ambushed by soldiers. Defeat them all then talk to Ibuki. A cutscene will start and you must choose to punish or forgive the one who summoned the soldiers.
Homecoming
Meet Ibuki at Hijiyama Fort in western Iga. Their friend is trapped in the fort and you’ll need to help Kyobei by raiding the castle and rescuing him. Once you find him, you’ll get a cutscene and a dialogue choice, choose “Fight with us Kyobei“.
If for some reason you haven’t been following instructions and chose the bad dialogue choices, now’s your only chance to redeem yourself. Ideally, you’ll want to end the fight before Kyobei is killed. If you chose the good options but Kyobei died, you can still recruit Ibuki.
After the battle, meet Ibuki at the river east of Kashiwara village. After some dialogue, you’ll get the option to recruit Ibuki by saying “You don’t have to be alone“. Assuming you followed the previous instructions and say this, you’ll recruit Ibuki.
Ibuki’s Abilities
Ibuki is a combat-based ally that deals impact damage. His swings are powerful which can throw opponents off balance, interrupting any heavy attacks or combos they’re performing. They’re great at fighting against armored opponents.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Petals in the Wind | Ibuki joins the fight and deals impact damage. | Novice |
 Strike of the Ronin | When joining the fight, Ibuki shatters the armor of nearby enemies. | Initiate |
 Blade of Fujin | Ibuki will often use Strike of the Ronin while fighting. | Veteran |
Ibuki’s Outfits
You will unlock Ibuki’s additional outfits as they’re increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Oni-yuri
Oni-yuri is found through an optional side quest located in Tsurugi, Wakasa. She has a unique past and can offer some good utility should you choose to recruit her. Don’t let her saccharine smile deceive you, she’s dangerous. She lives up to her name which means “Demon Lily”.
How to recruit Oni-yuri
Like Ibuki, it’s possible to make the wrong choices and lose the opportunity to recruit her. Follow the instructions ahead to successfully recruit Oni-yuri.
Sweet Lies
To start your path on recruiting Oni-yuri, go to Tsuruga in Wakasa. Talk to the girl wearing purple at the location seen below to start the quest Sweet Lies.
She’s been accused of poisoning two men, so you’ll need to investigate the area for any signs of malicious and poisonous acts. Examine the broth bowls, daikon radishes, stove, and the bowl of mysterious purple powder.
Return to Oni-yuri once your investigation is complete. This will complete the quest and start the quest Sweet Revenge.
Sweet Revenge
Return to Oni-yuri at her home in the Scorched Hamlet. If you’re going to bee-line it to there from Sweet Lies, you might want to grab a boat to cross the water more quickly.
She’ll ask you to retrieve her bag from Tsuruga Sea Port. It’ll be inside a small shed on the north side of the port. Return to Oni-yuri once you have her bag.
Your next objective is to talk to the pirate living in Amiko estate in Wakasa. This is found north of Lake Suigetsu, west of Mount Uchinakao, and southwest of Sotomo Gate.
When you reach the estate, defeat the samurai to start the cutscene that can allow you to recruit Oni-yuri. You’ll have the options “We cannot trust a liar” or “I will show you“. Select I will show you to recruit Oni-yuri and the quest will end.
If you choose We cannot trust a liar, Oni-yuri will poison Yasuke with a blowgun and run away. You’ll unlock the Pirate Alliance objective, Assassinate Oni-yuri. Don’t let her get a hit on you as she deals poison damage to you, but is otherwise not a huge threat if you know how to parry and dodge.
There’s no big reward to killing Oni-yuri. Any items she drops pale in comparison to how much of a useful asset she’d be as an ally.
Oni-yuri’s Abilities
Oni-yuri is a utility ally, so she won’t join in combat encounters. Instead she focuses on putting people to sleep with her poisons and delaying reinforcements if the alarm bell rings.
Her Increased Dosage ability is a funny one. If anyone inspects the body of someone she used a sleep dart on, they too will get knocked out due to a toxin cloud around the victim.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Sleep Dart | Oni-yuri puts someone to sleep. | Novice |
 Increased Dosage | Releases a toxin cloud that envenoms people. | Initiate |
 Poison the Rations | Reinforcements are delayed in the event of an alert. | Veteran |
Oni-yuri’s Outfits
You will unlock Oni-yuri’s additional outfits as she’s increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Yagoro
Yagoro wields an Assassin’s hidden blade and uses it to protect the defenseless by killing tyrants and thugs. How he came upon such a weapon is revealed in his questline.
How to recruit Yagoro
You’ll need to complete the quest Secrets of the Blade before you can recruit Yagoro. Once you do, you’ll unlock the side quest A Blade in the Dark. You’ll be going to Tamba during this questline, so you should be at least level 35 before attempting this.
A Blade in the Dark
You can find this quest at Maniden Hall in Engyoji, Harima. This is in the mountains north of Himeji. Examine the dead samurai at Maniden Hall to start the quest.
Track the killer who is likely to have gone north of Maniden Hall. He’ll be in Hideyoshi Camp which is a short walk away from your current position.
When you find the killer, chase the suspicious shinobi and a cutscene will start. Duel with the shinobi and help him to kill the lead samurai in Jyujin Courtyard. The lead samurai is in the large west building.
Past and Present
Return to Yagoro when you complete A Blade in the Dark. He’ll be at Ikuno village in southwest Tamba. After talking to him, you need to kill Akechi Mitsuhisa in Fukuchiyama Castle.
Path and Purpose
Return to Yagoro in Ikuno village. Follow Yogoro as he walks around the village and rescue Haru from the Ikuno Silver Mine.
A Blade in the Light
Find Yagoro at the Chasuriyama Kofun north of Takeda. Talk to them then Join Yagoro inside the kofun. Towards the end of the kofun you’ll find him next to a box with an Assassin’s Blade. Talk to him and he’ll join you as an ally, you don’t have a choice in the matter.
Yagoro’s Abilities
Yagoro is easily one of the most useful allies as he’ll assassinate targets with kunai. He doesn’t actually appear to fight and acts as on-demand ranged assassination.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Assassinate | Yagoro kills an enemy with 3 or fewer health chunks. | Novice |
 Chain Assassination | Yagoro kills an extra enemy. | Initiate |
 One with Death | Kill enemies with up to 5 health chunks. | Veteran |
Yagoro’s Outfits
You will unlock Yagoro’s additional outfits as he’s increased to Initiate and Veteran ranks.
Rufino
Rufino is an ally gained from the Critical Role crossover story pack. He’s a combat companion that will attack with a sword and pistol, dealing Bleed damage. While he can pack a punch, he can’t take one and will leave after taking two hits.
How to recruit Rufino
To recruit Rufino, you’ll need to complete the Critical Role story pack from Title Update 1.0.6. Once you meet the prerequisites, you can find Rufino hiding in a bush at the Hideout. Talk to him there to start the first quest, A Critical Encounter.
Rufino’s Abilities
Rufino’s attacks and abilities apply Bleed damage. He’s suited for aggressive encounters where you need to break the guard of enemies and inflict burst damage from bleeds.
| Ability | Description | Rank |
|---|---|---|
 Take Aim | Rufino joins the fight and deals bleed attacks. | Novice |
 Kidney Shot | Rufino shoots and fills the target’s Bleed meter. | Initiate |
 Destabilize | Rufino breaks the guard of blocking enemies. | Veteran |
Rufino’s Outfit
Unfortunately, Rufino only comes with one outfit. You will not unlock any new ones when training him. He makes up for his lack of outfits with his fantastic mustache.
Recommended Ally Combinations
With 6 allies at your disposal, you can have a total of 15 ally combinations. Here are some combinations you might find useful! Just be sure to not let the combat allies do all the work, help them out!
My First Stealth Game Duo – Yaya and Gennojo
If you’re having trouble sneaking around, Gennojo can distract anyone coming your way. If combat breaks out and you need backup, Yaya is great as she’ll knock around everyone and keep them away from you.
Combat Duo – Ibuki and Katsuhime
These two are best suited to act as combat support whether you’re playing as Yasuke or Naoe. Ibuki can shred the armor of tougher opponents while Katsuhime dazes everyone making them open to attack.
Infiltration Duo – Yagoro and Oni-yuri
This would work best with Naoe as having on-demand assassinations on faraway targets is always useful. Any stragglers can be put to sleep by Oni-yuri. This assumes you’re confident with your ability to avoid detection.
Crowd Control Duo – Yaya and Ibuki
These two can help ward off melee attackers in a chaotic fight. Yaya can kick people far away while Ibuki staggers opponents with his attacks.
Trickster Duo – Gennojo and Oni-yuri
If you like to work alone during your stealth missions, Gennojo and Oni-yuri are great utility allies. If you accidently get caught, Gennojo says “no you didn’t” by making a distraction. If worse comes to worse and you get exposed, Oni-yuri gets you some extra time to escape with the delayed reinforcements.
Firearm Duo – Katsuhime and Rufino
If you’re looking for some damage with crowd control, pick up these two for heavy combat situations. They work well with a tanky Yasuke build that can draw aggro. As you draw aggro, Katsuhime dazes targets that allows Rufino to build up bleed without retaliation.
Achievements
There are 8 achievements you can earn from your Allies. Six of them are for just meeting the characters, one is for recruiting at least one of them into The League, and the last achievement is for fully upgrading at least one of the allies.
| Icon | Achievement | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
 | The Thief | Meet Gennojo |
 | The Toxin Master | Meet Oni-yuri |
 | The Eager Assassin | Meet Yagoro |
 | The Ronin | Meet Ibuki |
 | The Warrior Monk | Meet Yaya |
 | The Sharpshooter | Meet Katsuhime |
 | Build Your League | Recruit your first ally |
 | Front of the Pack | Fully train an ally |
There is a total of 54 achievements in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and we tell you exactly what you need to do and how to unlock every single one of them. Check out the guide.
