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How to recruit Yaya - Assassin's Creed Shadows

Loyal followers willing to help you in battles will be vital in Assassin's Creed Shadows. This is how to recruit Yaya to your cause.

Aidan O'Brien

March 28, 2025 12:19 PM

Ubisoft

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The first ally you will have a chance to recruit in Assassin's Creed Shadows will be Yaya. She is a powerhouse in combat, barreling through enemies and acting as an amazing distraction while you sneak around and take out prime targets. Yaya has a very set view of the world, however, and you'll need to speak to her forgiving spirit to get her on your side.

Best choices to recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows

There are three major moments where you will need to make a moral choice with Yaya offering her council. These will all occur after you take on Wada Koretaka's forces.

• During the "Heads Will Roll" quest, forgive the surviving enemies and pick the "Killing them is not justice" dialogue option. Mitsumune will make some pretty solid arguments for chopping off heads, but ignore him.
• During the "Stray Dogs" quest that you can do for Yaya on the Objectives screen, make sure you let the shrine thief go free at the end.
• When you exploring what happened at the Church of Takatsuki, make sure you recover the kanazashi from Tetsuo. You can find him in the church itself, which is located in Senri Hills in the south of Takatsuki. He will run, so follow him, and then Yaya will appear and intercept him. Tell them that they need to forgive each other. After that, tell Yaya that you should work together, and she will be recruited to your cause.

Yaya is a bit of a bully in fights, using her abilities to push enemies, knock them down, and kick them. She works very well with skills that allow you to do quick stabs for extra damage against downed enemies.

For more Assassin's Creed guides and news, be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows page.

Aidan O'Brien

Contributing Guides Editor

Hailing from Ireland, Aidan has been conditioned by local weather conditions to survive hours at his PC grinding through whatever game is offering the lowest possible drop rates for loot. He thinks the easiest way to figure out what fans of games want to read is to just be a fan of games. You can normally find him logged into Warframe, Destiny, or a gacha game. You can reach out to him on X @scannerbarkly.