Should you deliver the letter directly or give it to the informant in Rise of the Ronin?

Rise of the Ronin is all about forging the right alliances. Sometimes, it’s better to know what you’re gonna get out of it before you jump straight in. With that in mind, we’re going to sneak inside and answer: should you deliver the letter directly or give it to the informant in Rise of the Ronin?

Rise of the Ronin — Who should you deliver the letter to?

When it comes to whom you give the letter to in Rise of the Ronin, not much will change in the way of actual story moments. This sub-objective is more for you to earn stronger bonds with certain characters and further cement your decision to be Pro-Shogunate or Anti-Shogunate.

You have the option of giving the letter to Taka or Katsura. Giving it to Taka, aka the Pro-Shogunate side, will prompt a cutscene showing Naosuke Ii burning the letter, furthering his ideals of smothering the Anti-Shogunate forces. Choosing this option increases your bond with Taka, and solidifies your Pro-Shogunate stance.

On the other hand, if you decide to give the letter to Katsura, the Anti-Shogunate side, you’ll get a slightly different outcome. Katsura will notify you that without an official seal on the letter, he knows it’s fake. After your short interaction with him, you’ll be shown the same cutscene from the Pro-Shogunate choice. Since the letter you stole was a fake, the real one still made its way to the Red Demon. If this is your first time siding with the Anti-Shogunate, Katsura will form a Vow on Comradship with you.

Rise of the Ronin — How to get the letter

The third main mission of Rise of Ronin, Yokohama’s Shadow, tasks you with finding a letter. While there are technically two options, you only get each option by talking to their respective representatives. You only need to talk to one however in order to get the objective to find the letter. This will start the “Hidden Motives” part of the quest and you’ll need to meet up with the informant in Hodogaya.

He’ll tell you about an inn where the letter is being held, and it’s up to you to navigate a non-lethal or bloody path to said letter. Throughout the inn, you’ll find enemies a plenty before eventually coming up against the boss guarding the letter: Denzaemon Ose.

Dispatch the fearsome foe, and under his corpse will be the letter held inside a box. Now let’s just hope you’ve learned some good Speechcraft for when you talk to the informant.