In the expansive world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, scouts play a pivotal role in aiding your journey. They assist in pinpointing quest objectives, smuggling resources back to your hideout, and even reducing your wanted status. Effectively managing and expanding your scout network can significantly enhance your gameplay experience. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to increase and refill scouts in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Scouts are invaluable assets in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They perform several crucial functions:
- Locating Quest Objectives: Instead of wandering aimlessly, scouts can narrow down the exact location of your targets, saving you time and effort.
- Resource Smuggling: Throughout your adventures, you’ll come across resource stockpiles that are too cumbersome to carry. Scouts can be assigned to smuggle these resources back to your hideout, ensuring you have the materials needed for upgrades and crafting.
- Clearing Wanted Status: As you engage in various activities, you might attract unwanted attention, leading to a heightened wanted status. Scouts can help in reducing this status, allowing you to operate more freely.
Increasing Your Scout Capacity
At the game’s onset, you’re equipped with a limited number of scouts. To enhance your scouting capabilities, consider the following strategies:
- Construct and Upgrade the Study: Within your hideout, building the Study is paramount. This facility serves as the intelligence hub, expanding your scout network. Initially, constructing the Study grants you an additional scout. Further upgrades can be pursued to increase your scout capacity:
- Level 1: Establishes the Study, providing +1 scout and reducing quest search zones by 25%.
- Level 2: Adds another scout, enhancing your network.
- Level 3: Grants an additional scout and further reduces quest search zones by 60%, making objective tracking more efficient.
- Complete the ‘Finding New Allies’ Quest: After progressing in the main storyline and returning to Tomiko’s Homestead, a side quest titled “Finding New Allies” becomes available. Completing this quest rewards you with two additional scouts, bolstering your scouting team.
- Upgrade the Stables: While upgrading the Stables doesn’t directly increase the number of scouts, it reduces the number required for resource smuggling missions. This efficiency means you can allocate scouts to other tasks, effectively maximizing their utility.
Refilling Your Scout Pool
Scouts aren’t infinite; their availability can dwindle as you assign them tasks. To ensure you always have scouts ready for deployment, consider these methods to replenish them:
- Utilize Kakurega Safehouses: Scattered across the game world are Kakurega safehouses. Within these sanctuaries, you can interact with specific areas (often marked by colorful bags on the wall) to refill your scouts. Each scout replenishment costs 200 Mon. If you’ve constructed a Nando in your hideout, this cost is reduced to 140 Mon, offering a more economical refilling option.
- Assist Local NPCs: While exploring, you’ll encounter civilians in distress or needing assistance. By aiding them, you’re often presented with a choice between gaining World Rumors or Scout Intel. Opting for Scout Intel will immediately replenish one scout in your network.
- Seasonal Changes: The game operates on a seasonal cycle, with each season lasting approximately 60 real-world minutes. At the onset of a new season, all scouts automatically return to your service, fully replenished. You can manually trigger a seasonal change through the world map, but this option isn’t always available and depends on your progression in the main campaign.
Strategic Scout Management Tips
To make the most of your scouts, keep these strategies in mind:
- Prioritize Upgrades: Focus on building and upgrading the Study early in the game to expand your scout capacity swiftly. Simultaneously, enhancing the Stables can make your scouts’ tasks more efficient, allowing you to accomplish more with fewer resources.
- Monitor Scout Usage: Assign scouts judiciously. For instance, if you’re confident in locating a quest objective based on clues, you might conserve your scouts for resource smuggling or reducing your wanted status.
- Engage with the Community: Helping NPCs not only enriches your gaming experience but also provides tangible benefits like scout replenishment. These interactions can lead to unexpected rewards and storylines.
- Plan Around Seasons: Be mindful of the in-game seasonal cycle. If a season change is imminent, you might choose to wait for your scouts to replenish naturally rather than spending Mon at a Kakurega.
By understanding the integral role of scouts and implementing these strategies, you’ll navigate the challenges of Assassin’s Creed Shadows with greater ease and efficiency. Building a robust scout network not only streamlines your quests but also enriches your overall gaming experience.
