One of the major themes of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is family, especially the value of found family. One way the game ties this theme into its gameplay is with recruitable allies found across Japan, all of which join Naoe and Yasuke’s Kakushiba ikki, their own mini league of assassins.
There are six allies that can be summoned in combat by Naoe, each with their own unique set of active and passive abilities. Players have to choose which to bring carefully, as they can only summon one, and later two, at a time. The best are those which complement Naoe’s strengths and make up for her weaknesses while in battle.
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6
Ibuki
A Plain But Effective Swordsman
Of the six possible allies, Ibuki is by far the most boring in terms of abilities, but they are undoubtedly useful. Ibuki is a traditional katana-wielding swordsman and fights in a traditional manner, as well.
His attacks inflict the standard form of damage, impact damage, and the amount of damage per hit is average, as well. His ability to armor break enemies near his summon is helpful on harder difficulties, but not more so than the other allies’ abilities. Nonetheless, having an extra attacker and distraction during combat is always useful, even if it isn’t particularly showy.
5
Katsuhime
Fun, Chaotic Melee Combatant
Though Katsuhime is introduced in her story as a ranged specialist, her role in combat is still as a close-quarters attacker. She joins combat with an explosion that inflicts the very useful daze state on enemies, meaning placing her summon is an important part of her effectiveness.
In combat, Katsuhime fires her teppo at close range, though in practice, she mainly spends her time kicking enemies away in order to reload. Her use in combat is comparable to Ibuki, and less than most other allies, but her ricocheting bullets do make fights more visually appealing.
4
Oni-yuri
A Powerful Cloud Of Sleep
Depending on different players’ play styles, the poisoner Oni-yuri could have different uses, but easily her best feature overall is her initial, active ability. She fires a cloud of purple sleep gas in whatever area players choose, with seemingly no limit on how many enemies within that area automatically fall asleep.
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If played right, players can run through a horde of enemies, pull them into a group, and by summoning Oni-yuri, instantly put all of them to sleep. From there, it is a simple matter of quickly but carefully, so as not to wake anyone, ground assassinate each enemy, one by one. In that way, Oni-Yuri can turn any location into a series of free kills.
3
Gennojo
A One-Man Utility Belt
Gennojo is the strangest of all of Naoe’s allies, in that his role is completely independent of combat, assuming it works correctly. Calling Gennojo essentially just adds passive improvements to Naoe’s stealth, keeping her from being detected and preventing combat altogether.
Gennojo’s one active ability players can control creates a dazzling projectile to reset enemy alertness. His passive abilities are his real utility, as they prevent enemies from detecting Naoe and prevent servants from alerting enemies of Naoe’s presence. Together, these abilities make Gennojo the best ally for maintaining stealth streaks.
2
Yaya
Endlessly Useful Knockback Power
Yaya is the first ally players will recruit and in many ways, remains the best ally throughout most of the game. She can be summoned in combat to knock down a targeted enemy, and she continues to do so with shoves and kicks throughout her time summoned.
A true one trick pony, Yaya does little damage and nothing besides her knock-down attacks, but that is all she needs to be an excellent ally. Any enemy knocked down is a free ground attack, meaning an almost certain kill. If players use Naoe’s nimbleness correctly, they can spend combat evading until Yaya knocks an enemy down, moving in for a ground strike, and repeating for an easy victory.
1
Yagoro
Overpowered Instant Kills
Yagoro may be the most difficult and time-consuming ally to recruit in Assassin’s Creed Shadows but he is worth it by a mile. His initial ability is to instantly assassinate an enemy with three or fewer health bars. Once upgraded, he can do the same to two enemies of five or fewer health bars each.
For the vast majority of the game, almost every enemy aside from story bosses has five or fewer health bars, meaning Yagoro’s ability is almost always two guaranteed kills, even on samurai, ronin, and large enemies. Combined with an assassination by Naoe, Yagoro can make easy work of three grouped enemies, a long-standing challenge in Assassin’s Creed stealth segments.
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