Building relationships is a significant part of most action/adventure games, especially the open-world epics we're accustomed to now. However, takes relationship building to an entirely new level. You won't just form bonds with people. Instead, you'll form bonds with people, land regions, an🌄d Japan's warring political factions.

Bonds are everything in Rise Of The Ronin. They're your key to learning new skꦛills and gaining exclusive items. Furthermore, the bonds you choose to build will significantly impact the course of the story. So, what are the va꧟rious types of bonds in Rise Of The Ronin, and how can you raise them? We broke it all down for you.

What Are Bonds?

Bonds are the relationships you form with communities, people, and factions. Deepening bonds imparts blessings that impact gameplay. These blessings include sto♔re discounts, exclusive items, combat styles, and more.

What Are Ronin Bonds?

All of your bonds contribute to a stat called Ronin Bonds. Ronin Bonds measures your influence and directly impacts the story. Every new Ronin 🦹Bond level rewards special items, status titles, and gestures.

Since Ronin Bond𝓡s depend on area, personal, and faction bo꧙nds, it's imperative to learn how to raise these three specific bond types.

How Can I View My Bonds?

You can view your bonds via the Bond menu. Follow the steps below.

1. Press the Options button to open the game menu.
2. Press L1 or R1 to shift to the Bond tab.
3. The Bond menu has three pages, which you can switch between with L2 or R2.
   1. Page 1 lists your Ronin and Faction Bonds.
   2. Page 2 details your Personal Bonds.
   3. Page 3 lists your Area Bonds

What Are Area Bonds?

Area Bonds are bonds formed within the community of a specific region. As your Area Bond with a region increases, vital locations will reveal themselves on your map. These locations include where to find Treasure Chests, Veiled Edge Banners, Fugitives, and more. Area Bonds r🍒epresent your knowledge of and relationship with a specif🐽ic area.

Another boon of raising your Area Bond is the store discounts you'll receive throughout the area's shops. These discounts are essentia♈l, especially when stocking up for a difficult mission.

How To Raise Area Bonds

You'll raise your Area Bond wit🌞h a region by performing services for the community. The following actions will significantly inc🏅rease this bond:

• Completing Chance Encounters. These are spontaneous mini missions you'll happen upon within the community.
• Restoring order in Unruly Areas by eliminating the bandits controlling them.
• Defeating Fugitives. Fugitives are often bandit leaders in Unruly Areas, but not always.
• Praying at Shrines.

What Are Personal Bonds?

Personal Bonds are the bonds you form with Rise Of The Ronin's cast of characters. Raising these bonds will reward you Bond Bonuses and allow you to recruit certain characters on missions. Raising a bond with a playable character will also allow you to learn their Combat Style.

The game's story is another factor influenced by Personal Bonds. You can unlock conversations with characters that reveal new information. Plus, building a Personal Bond with one character can directly affect your bond with another (this is known as an Influential Bond).

There are four Personal Bond Levels:

Some characters you'll interact with may find Favour in you. Favour is a level of romantic bond that can lead to an intimate relationship initiated by a Veiled Vow.

How To Raise Personal Bonds

You can raise your Personal Bond with another character by investing in th♐eir personal lives and interests. Here are some examples:

• Complete Story Missions with this character as an ally.
• Complete Bond Missions associated with this character.
• Agree with this character in conversation.
  • You can initiate conversations by talking to the character at their home base or inviting them to your longhouse.

• Give this character a gift aligned with their interests.
  • Gifts the character will like are marked with a heart icon in the gift-giving menu.

What Are Faction Bonds?

One of the driving conflicts in Rise Of The Ronin is the clashing interests of loyalists to the shogunate and its adoption of Western imperialism (pro-shogunate) and rebels who wish to see a Japan that more accurately represents its people (anti-shogunate).

Faction Bonds are the relationships you'll form with either pro or anti-shogunate factions. Your first encounter with factionꦯs will occur after Ryoma introduces you to Genzui, Kogoro, and Shinsaku. This meeting 🦹will prompt a decision to join one of two dueling missions: assassinate or protect an American diplomat.

Raising Faction Bonds has two significant outcomes. First, increasing your bond with either faction will grant you discounts at markets controlled by that faction. Second, and more importantly, the Faction Bonds you build directly impact Rise Of The Ronin's story.

How To Raise Faction Bonds

You'll raise Faction Bonds by completing missions for the anti-shogunate or pro-shogunate faction. Anti-shogunate missions are marked green on your map, while pro-shogunate missions are marked purple.

You can also raise Faction Bonds by raising your Personal Bonds with characters in the same faction. For instance, raising your Personal Bond with K✱ogoro will increase your anti-shogunate Faction Bond, and raising your Personal Bond with Taka will increase your pro-shogunate Faction Bond.