How to refill and use Scouts in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin's Creed Shadows features a unique quest system that doesn't tell you the exact location of your targeted location. At the start of quests, you won't have a simple quest marker to follow on the map that tells you exactly where to go. Instead, you'll receive directions to your target, which you need to figure out for yourself. Fortunately, this doesn't have to be the case, as you can use Scouts to hone in on your quest target in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Scouts are used to pinpoint where you need to go for quests but they can also be utilized to smuggle resources from enemy encampments. They're quite a valuable resource, but how you acquire them and refill them after use can be a little confusing. To clear things up, keep reading the guide below.

Scouts are first introduced to you a couple of hours after the narrative events take place at the start of the game. When you first construct your Hideout in Assassin's Creed Shadows, you're given your first Scout for free. Then, the game explains how Scouts work with searching for objectives on the world map.

Once you have your first Scout, you might not think you need any additional ones. However, after you use a Scout to find a quest objective or smuggle resources from an enemy camp, they become unavailable for a set amount of time. If you happen to need the Scout again during that time, you'll be wishing you had more to spare.

Fortunately, you're able to find Scouts just by wandering around Japan. If you see a diamond icon with an exclamation point in it on your map or HUD, this could lead to some NPCs who can become Scouts for your Hideout. It's important to speak to any NPC that has an icon associated with them, as helping them or simply speaking to them can result in recruiting them as a Scout.

When you recruit a Scout, the game lets you know and you can even find them roaming your Hideout after you recruit them. You can also see how many Scouts you have available by looking on your world map.

Now that you have some additional Scouts to operate with, how do you go about using them? The first way to use Scouts is by letting them find quest objectives for you.

This is done by opening your world map and following the quest directions laid out in the top-left corner of the screen. Once you think you know the right area, move there on the world map and then press the "Dispatch Scout" button followed by the "Dispatch" (F on PC then spacebar by default). This pulses the map and if you were right about the quest's general area, the Scout will mark a quest objective on the map for you to follow. If you weren't right about the area, the Scout won't do anything and you need to try and find the location again.

The other way to use Scouts is by allowing them to smuggle resources. This is done by going to an enemy camp and finding their stash of resources, which is usually inside a locked room. When you find some resources that can be smuggled, you can interact with it and use a Scout to come steal those resources for your Hideout.

Smuggling resources uses up one Scout and if you have no Scouts to spare, you can't smuggle the resources at that time.

Finally, if you need some Scouts to find an objective or smuggle resources but you don't have any available, you can refill them and immediately gain access to a new set of Scouts.

This is done by constructing the Forge at your Hideout. Inside the Forge, you can visit one of the hallways to find a multi-colored set of spheres hanging from a string. This allows you to refill your Scouts immediately.

The other way to refill Scouts is to simply let some time pass in Assassin's Creed Shadows, as your existing ones will eventually be available to use again after completing their mission.

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