Rise of the Rōnin Guide | How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally

A guide on how to unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally in Rise of the Rōnin.

Game Guide by Groot on Aug 15, 2025

Rutherford Alcock in Rise of the Rōnin becomes available through a complex chain of bond missions that involves multiple characters and story prerequisites. His recruitment demonstrates the interconnected nature of character relationships and requires patience to complete the necessary mission sequence.

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

Alcock offers Western combat techniques and status effect enhancement capabilities that prove valuable during boss encounters.

How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock

To unlock Rutherford Alcock as your ally, you must complete the "A Prize Beyond Reach" bond mission for Robert Fortune, which serves as Robert's first bond mission. However, accessing this mission requires completing several prerequisite steps involving other characters.

The recruitment chain begins when Katsura asks you to help the hospital run again during story progression. During this sequence, you will encounter Ena, who requests your assistance in protecting the hospital from Anti-Shogunate attackers who threaten to burn the facility to the ground.

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

After helping Ena with the hospital situation, you gain access to her first bond mission. You must complete this initial bond mission for Ena before Robert Fortune's mission becomes available in your mission roster.

After successfully completing Ena's first Bond task, you can move on to Robert Fortune's "A Prize Beyond Reach" quest. This task has different goals and obstacles that are connected to Robert's character growth and story arc.

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

By successfully finishing all of the goals in the "A Prize Beyond Reach" quest, Alcock will become a lifelong friend, marking the end of this long recruitment chain.

Combat Abilities and Equipment

As his main tool, Rutherford Alcock uses a saber, and he specializes in Western sword fighting styles that are different from traditional Japanese martial arts. His skill with the saber gives him different ways to fight and attack.

His backup weapon is a pair of poison knives that he can throw at enemies to poison them and give him more options for how to fight. The poison knives complement his primary weapon by offering ranged attack capabilities.

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

Because it makes enemy status ailments last longer, his blessed ability is especially useful during boss fights. This improvement makes it easier to hurt enemies in a number of ways, such as by paralyzing, burning, poisoning, or otherwise making them unable to move.

When combined with items that deal lightning damage, fire damage, or other elemental effects, Alcock's blessing allows you to more easily make enemies immobile, burned, or otherwise incapacitated during challenging encounters.

Bond Level Rewards and Combat Training

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

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

The British training combat style includes different attacking and defensive moves that highlight the saber's cutting power and offer alternatives to the traditional Japanese ways of using a sword in battle. These skills give you more ways to fight in war.

At maximum bond level, Alcock 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.

Rise of the Rōnin, Rise of the Rōnin Guide, How to Unlock Rutherford Alcock as Ally, PS5, Gameplay, Screenshot, NoobFeed

The combination of status ailment enhancement, Western combat training, poison-based secondary weapons, and intelligence skill points makes Alcock particularly valuable for players who prefer tactical combat approaches that focus on debuffing enemies and utilizing status effects to gain advantages during challenging encounters while accessing diverse combat techniques.

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