How to recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows

Getting Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows on your side is quite easy, requiring you to choose three forgiveness-themed dialogue options. Given that she's all about peace and forgiveness in this time of great strife across Japan, it's no surprise that appealing to her kindness is what causes Yaya to join your Assassin's Creed Shadows club, and it's well worth getting her to join you for her combat capabilities. Remember, you can reload saves if you make any mistakes during the following choices, but here's a sure-fire way to recruit Yaya in AC Shadows.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya choices

To recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows there are three choices across two quests you need to respond to correctly to guarantee that she'll join you, as the wrong choices might lead to Yaya refusing to join the League, which means you won't unlock Yaya as one of your Assassin's Creed Shadows Allies. These choices all come after finding Mitsumune in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and here's what you need to do:

1. During the quest Heads Will Roll, you need to choose the "Killing them isn't justice" option to side with Yaya. This Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya or Mitsumune choice sees you deciding the fate of Wada Koretake's remaining loyal soldiers, so siding with her sets you up well for her recruitment quest.
2. Start Yaya's quest, The Stray Dogs. You need to find Yaya south-southwest of Osaka Castle where she'll be beating up some shrine raiders.
3. Choose the "We forgive him" option for the shrine raider decision.
4. Get the kanzashi off Tetsuo in the Church of Takatsuki. It's in northern Izumi Settsu, northeast of the Senri Hills area and north of Katano. Go inside the church and you should find Tetsuo, standing there, so talk to him to advance the quest.

5. Chase Tetsuo. He will eventually get tackled by Yaya, leading into the final choice.
6. Choose the "You need to forgive each other option". While the dialogue is exactly the same even if you tell Yaya to take responsibility, it's best to play the forgiveness card here.

Now that you've got to the recruitment opportunity for Yaya in AC Shadows, say "Let's work together" and she'll join the Kakushiba Ikka, heading to the hideout. That also wraps up her Ally questline as she isn't one of the four Assassin's Creed Shadows romance options, so there's nothing beyond this short quest.

Bear in mind that if you choose incorrectly for most of the above choices, Yaya will refuse to join when invited. If this happens, or you say "I wish you well", Naoe parts ways with Yaya and she is never seen again, which means Yaya is permanently locked out of becoming an Ally. Avoid this if you can as Yaya is one of the best Allies in the game. She's likely the first Ally you'll recruit too, which means she'll unlock the Dojo for you, which is one of the best Assassin's Creed Shadows Hideout rooms to build.

Need more help with challenges in Izumi Settsu? If you're stuck at the Assassin's Creed Shadows Nishinomiya Shrine, we've got a guide for all the lost pages, and you might want answers to any Assassin's Creed Shadows riddles from random NPC encounters.

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