The allies system is pretty straightforward once you understand the basics. You'll encounter potential recruits during side missions and story moments, but watch those dialogue choices carefully since picking wrong options can lock you out of recruitment permanently. Once someone joins your league, youll get to call them into fights which is super helpful when things get intense. The dojo in your hideout is where all the magic happens, letting you summon one ally at first and eventually two after some upgrades.

Building up your team takes some work but its worth the effort. Each ally starts as a novice and gets better through training at the dojo, unlocking cooler abilities as they level up. Folks like yaya the warrior monk and gennojo the ronin bring different fighting styles to the table which really opens up your combat options. Good to know that if youre playing canon mode some potential allies like katsuhime wont be available for recruitment, so maybe consider turning that off if you want full control over who joins.

Recruiting usually involves completing specific quest chains and sometimes winning duels, like beating yagoro in harima before he'll consider joining up. Once theyre on your side though, you can call them in during fights using the aim button, but remember they dont stick around permanently its more of a tactical thing when you need the backup.