As skilled as your character may be in Rise of the Ronin, there are some challenges you will want to bring in some backup for. After you’re thrust into the open world after the tutorial, however, you won’t find any clues as to how co-op works here, or if it even exists at all. While co-op certainly does exist in Rise of the Ronin, it isn’t accessible right away and may be more limited than you would hope for in a game like this. It’s time to draw your katanas as we prepare to cut through all the mystery surrounding how to play co-op.
How to play co-op
The first thing that needs to be made clear about co-op in Rise of the Ronin is that it can’t be used while exploring the open world. That means you can’t bring a friend along to explore, do the various activities on the map, or do any side missions.
The only times co-op does become available is when you do specific missions, the first of which is called “Curtain Falls, Curtain Rises.” Whenever you are about to start a mission that can be done in co-op, you will first be brought to a preparation screen where you can set your gear and various other settings before you begin. The game will typically provide one or two NPC characters to be your AI partner on these missions, but you can replace them with your friends or random players if you wish. To do so, select Cooperate and then decide if you want to have players join your game or join someone else’s.
Parties can be a maximum of three players, though you can limit it to two if you wish as well. You can either let anyone join, friends only, or set a password so that only those you give it to can join you. If you choose to join as backup, you will be added to any game with an open slot.
If you want to replay a mission for loot or fun, you can select any of these missions from your Longhouse resting point. Just select the Recruit option from the menu and you will be able to choose which mission you want to replay, and all the normal co-op options.
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