Assassin’s Creed Shadows: All recruitable allies

How to call in support with allies in AC Shadows

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

How do you recruit allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Allies are an important force in Assassin’s Creed Shadows who will aid your cause to hunt down the Shinbakufu. There’s of course Tomiko, who first helps Naoe by giving her a hideout, and you’ll also have scouts to help you in your activities. But only recruitable allies can actually be called upon when you’re in combat.

Considering you’re often outnumbered, allies’ abilities can really help even the odds of an encounter. If you build and upgrade the Dojo for your Hideout, you’ll be able to call in up to two allies at a time.

While a number of these allies are encountered in the main story, actually getting them to join your league requires a few more steps and quests to follow. This guide will provide information on all the recruitable allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows .

Assassin’s Creed Shadows: All recruitable allies

Each ally has their own special strengths in combat, from firearms to toxins. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Not including characters like Junjiro, who cannot join you in battle, these are all the allies we have found who can be summoned.

All of these allies start at Novice rank. Once you build the Dojo in your Hideout , they can be upgraded to the Initiate and Veteran tiers, giving them extra abilities.

• Yaya : A Buddhist monk who joins you in melee combat and is able to knock back enemies for crowd control. When upgraded to Initiate, she will knock down a single foe as soon as she’s summoned, and when upgraded to Veteran, her kicks can send enemies flying away.
• Gennojo : A cocky thief who doesn’t physically join you in battle per se, but has tricks to distract enemies when you’re in a pinch. He can also be a potential romance for Naoe. Initially he will throw projectiles that distract enemies, but when upgraded to Initiate he can also distract enemies searching for you. When upgraded to Veteran he can make it so that you won’t get snitched on by servants if they spot you.
• Katsuhime : A shinobi whose weapon of choice is the Japanese firearm, the teppo. As such, she keeps her distance when summoned as an ally and uses her shots to daze enemies. When upgraded to Initiate, she will use a dazing bomb when joining the fight, and at Veteran rank, her bullets will ricochet after dazing her target. She is also a potential romance for Naoe.
• Ibuki : A non-binary ronin who prefers to be solitary but can be persuaded to join your cause. They are also a melee support who can deal impact atttacks. When upgraded to Initiate, they can shatter enemy armour when first summoned into battle, while at Veteran rank, they can do this multiple times in a fight.
• Oni-Yuri : Sly and knowledgeable with toxins, she specialises in putting enemies to sleep. When upgraded to Initiate, she can also release a toxin that poisons enemies, while at Veteran rank she poisons enemy rations, effectively delaying reinforcements if you have a Wanted status .
• Yagoro : He is an assassin-in-training who has yet to master the hidden blade, but even as a novice, he is capable of assassinating a weakened enemy for you when summoned. When upgraded to Initiate, he is capable of killing another enemy, and when upgraded to Veteran, he can kill an enemy with up to five chunks of health.

How to recruit Yaya

One of the first allies you meet, Yaya serves as a great assist in combat. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

You’ll first meet Yaya during the Shinbakufu questline to hunt the Wounded in the mission “The Fatherless Monk”. When you reach the end of the questline with the mission “Heads Will Roll”, you’ll reach a choice that will also warn you, “This will impact Yaya”. Make sure you choose the “Killing isn’t justice” choice, and you’ll stay on Yaya’s good side.

Once this questline ends, you will then unlock a side quest called “Find Yaya”. This quest will have a few dialogue choices you will need to correctly choose in order to recruit her. For the first dialogue option, select “We forgive him”, for the second, “You need to forgive each other”, and then finally “Let’s work together”.

How to recruit Gennojo

You’ll first hear about Gennojo as an oni in the forest. Far from an actual oni, he’s more of a wiley thief. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

You will first come upon Gennojo during the mission “Missing Missive”, which is part of the main Shinbakufu questline to hunt the Fool. While you will fight him initially, you can soon recruit him, and even romance him as Naoe. If you choose not to flirt with or romance him however, you will still be able to recruit him as an ally.

After your first meeting, you will encounter Gennojo again through his story quests, which you must play as Naoe to progress, starting with “Lost Honor”, followed by “Sake and Sword”, “Honor Among Thieves”, “Stolen Hearts”, and finally “The Godless Harvest”. In the final quest, you will need to stop Gennojo from using the explosives, and then afterwards, choose “We make a good team” from your dialogue choices and he will join you.

How to recruit Katsuhime

Katsuhime’s teppo skills are unparalled for dazing large opponents in a fight. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Katsuhime is first encountered in the mission “Showdown in Sakamoto”, part of the main Shinbakufu questline to hunt down the Naginata, which takes you to the region of Omi. After completing the mission “Requiem for Rokkaku”, her story quest “Letter from Katsuhime” will unlock. You must play as Naoe for these quests.

Follow Katsuhime’s quests all the way to “The Diary of Lady Rokkaku” where afterwards you have the chance to invite her to join the league. If you have chosen to romance her, there will also be an additional mission after this, but whatever your decision here, it won’t affect her being an ally to fight for you.

How to recruit Ibuki

Ibuki prefers solitude at first, but will gladly join the league and even be open to romance if you play your cards right. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Ibuki can be a potential romance for Yasuke , but declining to pursue this romance will not affect your ability to recruit them. You can find Ibuki near Kashiwara Village in Iga, which unlocks the mission “Ambush Interrupted”, followed by “Homecoming”.

To recruit Ibuki, make sure that you pick the following dialogue options: “I have changed” during “Ambush Interrupted”, and “Fight with us, Kyobei” during “Homecoming”, while making sure that Kyobei doesn’t die in the battle that ensues.

How to recruit Oni-Yuri

A toxin master with a tragic backstory, Oni-Yuri takes down enemies in subtle ways. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Oni-Yuri is quite a late game ally, as she is located in Wakasa, which is one of the points furthest north of the world map. Head to near Sotomo Gate near Tsuruga Castle and speak to her to begin her quest “Sweet Lies”, which is followed by “Sweet Revenge”. Once this is completed, you can invite Oni-Yuri to join you as an ally.

How to recruit Yagoro

Yagoro will be one of the later companions you can recruit after all members of the Onryo are dead. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Yagoro can be found in Harima, although his mission “A Blade in the Dark” doesn’t unlock until you’ve killed all of the members of the Shinbakufu. You’ll first need to track him down and then challenge him to a duel.

But it doesn’t stop there, as you will then need to kill a samurai hiding inside Mitsunodo Hall. Once this is done, you will have the opportunity to invite Yagoro to join the league before completing “A Blade in the Dark”.

That’s all for this guide on allies in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. There’s plenty of other guides if you’re also looking for the location of Cat Island , or how to get the epic Apprentice Assassin armour set for Naoe. We also have explainers on smuggling resources , changing seasons , and how to transmog gear .

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Mac , Nintendo Switch 2

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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