Rise of the Rōnin Guide | How to Unlock Aritomo Yamagata as Ally

Aritomo Yamagata in Rise of the Rōnin becomes available alongside Hirobumi Ito during the second chapter of the game. His recruitment occurs automatically through main mission completion and represents one of the most strategically valuable allies due to his blessing that scales with low health situations.

Yamagata offers spear combat expertise and proves particularly effective during challenging boss encounters.

How to Unlock Aritomo Yamagata

First, you have to finish "The Fire Attack," the first task in the second part, in order to make Aritomo Yamagata your friend. After meeting all the standards and story goals for the first chapter, this task becomes open naturally as the story goes on.

"The Fire Attack" quest has a number of different battles and story events that set up the themes and fights of the second part. There are strategy battles in the task that require players to adjust to new enemy types and ground conditions.

During this task, you will face many obstacles that will test your fighting skills and your ability to plan ahead. The mission has both one-on-one fights and group fights that show how the violence is getting worse over the course of the story.

When you finish all of your task goals, Yamagata immediately becomes a member of your team. Unlike some other friends, getting him doesn't require any extra bond missions, conversation decisions, or jobs that aren't part of the main story goal.

His automatic recruitment, along with Ito's, shows that they are both involved in the political and military events that move the story forward in the second chapter.

Combat Abilities and Equipment

Aritomo Yamagata battles with a spear as his main weapon. He is an expert at the reach and thrust skills that make spears useful against different kinds of enemies. The spear's long range lets him attack enemies while staying safe and in charge of where they are on the battlefield.

As a second weapon, he has sake bottles that he can throw at foes to throw off their plans and give him more choices for long-range attacks during battle.

His blessing skill is one of the most useful in the game for strategy. It makes the damage you do to enemies stronger when your health drops. This is especially helpful during boss fights, where long-lasting fighting can quickly lower your health. This gift encourages players to be bold and take risks when facing tough enemies.

Bond Level Rewards and Combat Training

When you reach maximum bond level with Aritomo Yamagata, he provides specialized training in spear combat techniques. He teaches you the Hozoin Ryu combat style for your spear, which comes from the Chi skill tree. This combat style offers attack patterns and defensive maneuvers specifically designed for spear weapons.

The Hozoin Ryu style focuses on precise hits and defense positioning that make the most of the spear's long reach and deep penetration. These methods make it possible to handle the enemy well and give you choices for both attacking thrusts and defensive sweeps.

At maximum bond level, Yamagata grants you two intelligence skill points, which can be invested in the intelligence skill tree to unlock technical abilities, crafting improvements, and learning-based enhancements.

The low-health damage scaling, spear combat expertise, and intelligence skill points make Yamagata a handy character for players who like to fight aggressively and want to do the most damage during tough fights where managing health is important.

Also, check our Rise of the Rōnin Review and other guides below:

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