Rise of the Rōnin Guide | How to Unlock Ernest Satow as Ally

Ernest Satow represents one of the final allies you can recruit and becomes available late in Rise of the Rōnin through his personal bond mission. His recruitment involves encountering him as both enemy and potential ally across different chapters before ultimately gaining access to his questline.

Satow offers aerial combat enhancement and Western military training techniques.

How to Unlock Ernest Satow

To unlock Ernest Satow as your ally, you must complete the "A Priceless Treasure" bond mission, which serves as his first bond mission. However, accessing this mission requires specific story progression and geographic transitions.

You first encounter Satow in Kyoto during the third chapter, where he appears as an enemy during story sequences. This initial encounter establishes his character and demonstrates his combat capabilities before any recruitment becomes possible.

Later in the game, when you return to Edo for the second time during story progression, Satow's bond missions become available. The return to Edo opens up new mission opportunities that were not accessible during your initial time in that region.

Upon returning to Edo, you can access two bond missions related to Ernest Satow. You must complete his first bond mission, "A Priceless Treasure," to recruit him as an ally. The second bond mission becomes available after recruitment if you choose to pursue additional story content with him.

Successfully completing all objectives within the "A Priceless Treasure" mission will make Satow available as a permanent ally for the remainder of your journey and any subsequent missions.

Combat Abilities and Equipment

Ernest Satow fights with a bayonet as his primary weapon, as demonstrated during your initial combat encounter with him in the third chapter. His bayonet proficiency provides stabbing and thrusting capabilities that prove effective in close-quarters combat situations.

His secondary weapon consists of sticky bombs, which provide area damage capabilities and tactical advantages during group combat encounters. The sticky bombs can be placed strategically to control enemy movement and create explosive traps.

His blessing ability is called "Soaring Pronunciation," which increases damage dealt by your aerial attacks. This blessing rewards players who incorporate jumping attacks, aerial combat techniques, and elevated positioning into their combat strategies.

The aerial attack improvement makes fighting styles that use hopping and moving vertically more effective. This gives players tactical benefits when fighting from higher up or using aerial moves.

Bond Level Rewards and Combat Training

When you reach maximum bond level with Ernest Satow, he provides specialized training in Western combat techniques. He teaches you the British training combat style for bayonet weapons, which comes from the Chi skill tree and offers attack patterns based on British military methods.

The British training combat style includes various offensive maneuvers and defensive techniques that emphasize the bayonet's stabbing capabilities and provide alternatives to traditional Japanese combat approaches. These techniques expand your tactical repertoire during battles.

At maximum bond level, Satow 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 that affect various gameplay systems.

Satow is useful for players who like dynamic combat styles that include moving up and down and using air and flying techniques, as well as those who want to learn different types of military training that go well with traditional Japanese martial arts. It has intelligence skill points, explosive tactical weapons, and improved aerial attacks.

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