After ridding the city of Sakai from the evil influence of the nefarious group who killed her father in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Naoe’s association with the Imai family isn’t over yet.
When she finds an incriminating letter in the Money Changer District (or any other bandit-controlled hostile area in Settsu), it seems as if the Imais are trying to step into the void left by Nobunaga under the guise of the Iron Hand.
But when she speaks to Imai Sokun, Naoe learns that the Iron Hand Guild are imposters trying to use the Imai to gain influence, before Sokun asks her to interrogate merchants around Japan for information.
This gives you a slate of new targets ranging from the teens to level 35, only this time there’s a twist. Imai Sokun asks you to spare the merchants you interrogate, as they’re likely caught up in shady business they don’t fully understand, or have at least had the wool pulled over their eyes as to who they’re dealing with.
When Assassin’s Creed Shadows is so geared around combat, taking the non-leathal approach can be difficult and not very intuitive – even though it’s the right thing to do in this instance.
Here’s not only where to find the Iron Hand Guild targets, but spare them as well.
How to spare the Iron Hand Guild
While you’ve been asked to spare the merchants caught up with the Iron Hand Guild, it’s very easy to kill them.
Even if you unequip your weapons and defeat them with your fists, the target menu will still mark them as “killed”.
To avoid this and spare them, you need to isolate your target, sneak up behind them and press Triangle (or your controller’s equivalent) to “grab” them. Then quickly, before they have time to break free of your grab, hold Triangle again to perform a “knock out”.
This is the only non-leathal solution which is properly registered by the target objectives menu.
Iron Hand Guild locations
Merchant Tamao – Level 15 –
The first target, Tamao, is in Kyoto, where you’re given the following clues:
- He is in Yamashiro
- He runs a brewery in Kyoto
- It is west of Honpoji temple
Honpoji temple is a white diamond in the middle of Kyoto.
Immediately to the west (left on the map) you see some of Tamao’s workers lamenting their boss’s absence and that he’s locked himself in a warehouse.
To lure him out, Naoe suggests destroying some of his stock. The shining blue markers all around the yard indicate the stock to destroy. Crash around in the barrels and he’ll burst out, katana in hand.
If you hit Tamao even once, you immediately kill him – which isn’t your intention. If you want to “spare” them, you can’t even knock them out with your fists. You need to sneak up behind him and press Triangle to grab, then hold triangle to “knock out” – this is the only non-leathal solution.
To do this, make sure you run away before he spots you outside the warehouse or lose him when he does. After knocking him out, you get a lead on the Tamba Highlands, somewhere in the mountains, but need more to go on.
Since the rest of the locations are in the later game and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has just been released, we’ll update this page with the rest of the targets soon to avoid spoilers.
Until then there are plenty of other early game targets to track down including the Kabukimono, Twisted Tree and Origami Butterflies.