All allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and how to recruit them

Allies, which you might refer to as companions in any other game, will fight by your side in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, continuing a tradition you may remember from 15th-century Rome.

Receiving the help of these unique characters is not mandatory to progress in Shadows, what you will learn — just like Naoe and Yasuke do — is you can become stronger by working together with others. By using your allies, you actually increase the possibilities and angles when it comes to approaching your missions.

In this Assassin’s Creed Shadows guide, we’ll go over how allies work, plus include a list of all allies, with details about how to recruit them.

Update (March 24th): We’ve added additional allies to this guide.

How allies work in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows work less like traditional party members in RPGs (basically, accompanying you all the time) and more like abilities you can activate.

Keep in mind that not every character who joins your Hideout can be used as an ally. To recruit allies, you need to complete a specific quest chain which will eventually prompt an invitation so they can become a member of your League of the Hidden Blade.

When you recruit a companion, you can equip them by using the Manage Allies board in a kakurega. When opening your ranged abilities menu, you can also invoke your ally to fight against the enemies close to or targeted by you.

Once an ally is summoned, they’ll attack all enemies in proximity. When all of them are defeated — or when your companion has suffered considerable damage — they disappear. 

Building a Dojo in your hideout allows you to train your allies. There are three ranks — Novice, Initiate, and Veteran — and ranking allies up unlocks new abilities or changes how they behave depending on the situation. For example, depending on their rank, an ally uses a special attack when they appear. 

To make the most out of your allies, you should upgrade your Dojo to rank 2 to unlock an extra ally slot.

All Assassin’s Creed Shadows allies

Here’s a list of all recruitable allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows we’ve come across, based on a playthrough through the end of the main story:

• Yaya, a Buddhist monk. A specialist in close-quarters combat who’s trying to find the most ethical answer for violent and terrible situations.
• Gennojo, a thief whose charm is way less impactful than his tools and knives.
• Katsuhime, a shinobi trained not in the art of silent slaying but in the powdery violence of a teppo.
• Yagoro, an Assassin-in-training who doesn’t fully know how to use the hidden blade (yet).
• Ibuki, a ronin who can break the armor of those interfering with their plans to make the world a better place.
• Oni-Yuri, a witty girl whose most powerful weapon is her intelligence – and her bag of poisonous powder.

The requirements to recruit each of these companions aren’t complicated, but it might take a while before you can even find them. In general, you should focus on progressing through the main story missions first.

Below, you find more details about each one of these allies and how you’ll recruit each of them.

How to recruit Yaya

You first meet Yaya during the main quest “The Fatherless Monk,” which is one of the first missions you must complete while trying to find the location of the primary target, the Wounded. 

Yaya is a melee fighter, which means that she’ll join the fight and fight side by side with you. She has great control abilities, which you should take advantage of when surrounded by many enemies. 

To recruit her, you must get to the “Heads Will Roll” quest, in which your goal is to assassinate the Wounded. Once the final fight ends, you must choose the “Killing isn’t justice” dialogue option, getting you closer to her and unlocking your next quest.

Next, you need to complete the “Find Yaya” side mission. During your first interaction with her in this mission, pick the “We forgive him” dialogue option. Then, later, “You need to forgive each other.” To recruit her, you must choose “Let’s work together.”

Here are the abilities you unlock if you level Yaya up.

• Novice: When Yaya enters a fight, she uses pushback attacks.
• Initiate: At the beginning of the fight, she will knock down a foe.
• Veteran: At this rank, Yaya kicks enemies and sends them flying away.

How to recruit Gennojo

Your first interaction with Gennojo is during the quest “Missing Missive,” a quick mission you must complete as part of your investigation on one of your primary targets, the Fool. Gennojo is a thief who stole a letter and it’s your job to retrieve it.

Gennojo falls under the utility category when it comes to his abilities. While he won’t help you defeat your target, Gennojo is extremely useful in keeping you alive during invasions. 

To recruit Gennojo, you must finish his story quests which begin with the “Lost Honor” mission, a couple of quests after your first encounter with him. You meet him again in the “Sake and Sword,” “Honor Among Thieves,” and “Stolen Hearts” quests.

In the last of his quests, “The Godless Harvest,” you can finally recruit him. Stop Gennojo from using the explosives and then, later, choose the “We make a good team” dialogue option.

Keep in mind that Gennojo’s quests are the same ones you must complete to start a romantic relationship with him. In case you don’t want to, don’t worry. Declining to follow his romance route won’t affect your chances of recruiting him.

If you plan on ranking Gennojo up, here are the skills you can unlock:

• Novice: Gennojo throws a projectile to call enemies attention.
• Initiate: In this level, he can draw the attention of enemies who are about to find you.
• Veteran: Servants won’t tell other enemies about crimes they see.

How to recruit Katsuhime

Like Naoe, Katsuhime is a shinobi, but from a different clan. One of the very few who survived, alongside her father, Katsuhime looks for every opportunity to take the life of her targets. She is trained to use the teppo, a gun that takes practice and patience to be effective.

Katsuhime is among the companions a more damage-oriented type. Her abilities focus on creating openings to deal more damage and thanks to her teppo, she is great at dealing with enemies who are on higher ground. 

If you want to recruit Katsuhime, then first you must complete the “Showdown in Sakamoto” and “Requiem for Rokkaku” missions. Doing so unlocks the first of Katsuhime’s quests, “Letter from Katsuhime.”    

Complete her quests until you reach “The Diary of Lady Rokkaku” mission. You meet Katsuhime in Omi and talk to her. After a dangerous rescue that you perform, you have the chance to invite her to become part of the League. To do so, you must choose the “Yes. Join us.” dialogue option.

Just like Gennojo, Katsuhime is also a romanceable character and the romantic route involving her is tied to these same quests mentioned in this section. However, if you don’t plan on dating her, you can still recruit Katsuhime as a companion.

Interested in making Katsuhime stronger? Here are the skills she unlocks at each rank.

• Novice: Katsuhime deals daze attacks when she enters the fight.
• Initiate: At this rank, she will use a dazing bomb when joining a fight.
• Veteran: All bullets will ricochet when they hit a dazed target.

How to recruit Yagoro

As an idealist who believes in using his blade to keep the principles of the woman who saved him, Yagoro is a valuable ally that you can recruit. He is still learning the path of the Assassin and how to effectively use his hidden blade. Even so, Yagoro is more than capable of handling enemies by himself.

Unlike all the other companions mentioned so far, using Yagoro is the equivalent of using a one-hit kill ability. You can summon him to assassinate specific targets, assisting you in clearing the area faster.

If you’d like to recruit Yagoro, then you must first look for the “A Blade in the Dark” side mission in Harima. It appears on the map once you have hunted down all members of the Shinbafuku. 

During this mission, you need to track the assassin who is killing samurais and, when you finally find him, he challenges you to a duel. Defeating him is not enough to finally ask him to become part of the league. 

In the next part of the mission, you need to kill a samurai who is hidden inside Mitsunodo Hall. Doing so will show Yagoro your skills and prompt the invitation. Unlike the other companions, there aren’t specific dialogue options to choose when it comes to recruiting Yagoro. Just completing the quest is enough.

Once you recruit him, you can upgrade Yagoro, making him even stronger. Below, you find the skills he unlocks at each rank.

• Novice: At this lowest level, Yagoro can kill one enemy with three or fewer health chunks.
• Initiate: This rank makes Yagoro capable of killing one extra enemy when summoned.
• Veteran: At the top of his game, Yagoro can kill enemies with up to five health chunks.

How to recruit Ibuki

Although Ibuki is a ronin, they still believe in fighting for those in need and not abandoning their moral principles. They do look for a place to belong and the League might be exactly what they need.

With Ibuki at your side, you can use their abilities to break enemies’ armors, making combat way easier to handle. You definitely want to summon them when dealing with samurais, for example.

To recruit Ibuki as your ally, you need to start the quest “Ambush Interrupted.” You can find it in Iga, south of Hijiyama. Ibuki will only speak if you’re playing as Yasuke, so be sure to go meet them while playing as the correct character.

Complete this quest to unlock the next one, “Homecoming.” This is a longer one in which you need to invade the Hijiyama Fort and save Ibuki’s brother. It’s crucial to choose the “Fight with us, Kyobei” dialogue option during this quest. 

After the main battle is done and you can talk to Ibuki again, the option to recruit them will appear. Answer them by saying “You don’t have to be alone” to add Ibuki to your roster of allies. 

Ibuki is a powerful ally but you must spend some time — and money! — leveling them up. They unlock the following skills on each rank:

• Novice: Right when Ibuki joins the fight, they use impact attacks.
• Initiate: Summon Ibuki to destroy the armor of nearby enemies when they arrive.
• Veteran: In their strongest form, Ibuki will keep shattering enemies’ armor while they fight.

How to recruit Oni-Yuri

Not every battle is won by crashing katanas or slashing enemies with hidden blades. Oni-Yuri is a master of toxins and life has taught her that trickery is as powerful a weapon as a sword or a teppo.

Oni-Yuri has pretty unique abilities as a companion. Like some others, she can support you by inflicting negative effects on enemies, like sleep or poisoning. She can also assist you in not calling too much attention if your infiltration plan doesn’t go as planned. 

Recruit Oni-Yuri is possible once you start the “Sweet Lies” quest, which you find in Sotomo Gate, Wakasa. In all the conversations that take place during this quest, go with Naoe’s answers (“There is no evidence” and “There is still no evidence”). Completing this mission only requires a quick investigation, so there’s nothing to worry about here.

Oni-Yuri’s second quest, “Sweet Revenge,” makes you hunt the man who killed her father after retrieving her bag. Again, when the screen with dialogue options is prompted, choose Naoe’s option (“I understand”). In the final dialogue, you must answer with “I will show you” to recruit Oni-Yuri.

Now, if you want to use all the abilities and knowledge of this tricky girl, you must rank her up to unlock her full potential. These are the abilities she can use depending on her level.

• Novice: Call Oni-Yuri and she will shoot a dart with toxins that put enemies to sleep.
• Initiate: At this rank, she releases a venomous cloud which poisons enemies.
• Veteran: Oni-Yuri is capable of delaying reinforcements called by enemies during an alert if you get her to this rank.

For more Assassin’s Creed Shadows guides, see our running lists of Lost Pages, Kuji-kiri, and armor locations. Or see our full Assassin’s Creed Shadows walkthrough, and our guides on romance options.