As you dive into Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll soon discover that the game employs a dual protagonist system. Right from the prologue, you can control both Yasuke and Naoe. However, it will take several hours before their paths cross again, allowing you to switch between them freely.
In addition to these playable characters, you’ll encounter a variety of allies eager to support you in your fight against the oppressive Shinbakufu. One of these allies is Yaya, but to recruit her, you’ll need to make the right choices at key moments.
How to Begin the Recruitment of Yaya
You will encounter Yaya as your first ally while following the assassination mission for Wada Koretake. As you progress through this quest, you’ll assist a group of mercenaries at a temple, defeating some enemies along the way, and it’s during this interaction that Yaya makes her first appearance.
You’ll see her again when you break into Wada Koretake’s fortress to carry out the assassination. After eliminating your target and viewing a brief cutscene, you will prevent Mitsumune from dispatching one of Koretake’s soldiers. Yaya expresses her discontent with this method, looking to you for approval.
Here, you have your first significant decision regarding Yaya’s recruitment, so it’s crucial to choose wisely.
You can either choose to assassinate the soldier or spare him. Yaya will appreciate it if you select the option “Killing them isn’t justice.” Although Mitsumune will still proceed with the kill, you will unlock the opportunity to recruit Yaya.
The Stray Dogs Mission Guide
After making the right decision during the cutscene in Koretake’s fortress, a new ally quest will appear in your objectives that directs you to western Osaka to assist Yaya. This location will be clearly marked on your map, and you’ll need to defeat several enemies attacking her upon arriving in the area.
Once you’ve dispatched the foes, talk to Yaya. She will request your help in addressing an issue involving a monk before she can consider joining your group. During this conversation, an enemy who survived the skirmish will raise a question, and here the best response is “We forgive him.”
The next step in the quest involves finding Tetsuo to retrieve Yaya’s kanzashi from the Church of Takatsuki. You can locate this church northeast of Amagasaki castle at the northern tip of Izumi Settsu, just below Takatsuki Castle. When nearing the church, you can activate observe mode to easily mark the spot.
After speaking with Tetsuo, he’ll attempt to flee but Yaya will intercept him, ready to take action. At this point, you have one final choice where you can advise, “You need to forgive each other.” This leads to the opportunity for you to invite Yaya to join your cause once more, and she will agree.
Once Yaya is on your team, you can activate her abilities and have her join you in battles when her skills aren’t on cooldown.
Yaya’s Ability Overview
Once Yaya is part of your team, you can bring up your tools menu, and her portrait will be visible in the bottom right corner alongside a button. You can activate her ability while focusing on an enemy, as long as her skills aren’t on cooldown.
Upon activation, Yaya will appear nearby and assist you in battle, initially launching a pushback attack against your foes. Note that this can occasionally be glitchy; if she takes too long to reach the enemy in tight spaces, she may miss the attack entirely.
Yaya will continue to fight alongside you until the threat has been eliminated, after which she will vanish in a cloud of smoke.
You have the option to build a Dojo at your hideout and spend some Mon to enhance Yaya, granting her new passive abilities. The first upgrade allows her to knock down the first enemy she targets, enabling you to execute a ground attack. The second upgrade lets her launch the primary target into the air with a kick while using her ability.
To unlock the second upgrade for any ally or to utilize multiple allies simultaneously, you’ll need to level up the Dojo.
