As you roam Japan’s massive world in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll run into many strange NPCs and face different situations. Villagers can ask for help, travelers in trouble might need a helping hand to deal with bandits or guards, or strangers looking for advice. If you help them out, they will offer a reward, and you will get a choice to pick between World Rumor or Scout Intel. The game never tells you what these actually do, and early on, it’s easy to choose blindly. Here’s what these options mean, how they affect exploration and progression, and which one is better to go with.
What Happens If You Choose World Rumor?
Choosing World Rumor gives you information about the surrounding region and drops a new point of interest onto your map. World Rumors can reveal hidden Kakurega hideouts, shrines and statues for upgrades, side activities, minor quest locations, and rare landmarks like kofun tombs or legendary chests. Rather than telling you about the spot, the game will mark it as a black-and-white icon. You’ll still have to travel there and investigate, but you now know it exists—something that normally requires wandering through fog-covered maps or sync viewpoints.
In AC Shadows, the world map stays vague until you explore it. You won’t see icons from a distance until you get too close, and many locations remain invisible until you’re standing on them. World Rumors shortcuts that process and points you toward the landmark you might otherwise miss completely. If you like to uncover the map naturally from the start, fill in fogged regions, or chase down secrets without relying on guides, World Rumor is a better choice for you, as it does a lot of heavy lifting.
What Happens If You Choose Scout Intel?
Scout Intel restores one used scout to your available pool. Scouts are important to narrow down vague quest locations and smuggle resources out of forts and castles. In many main or side quests, you will find that there’s no pinpoint quest marker. Instead, you’ll get clues like “north of Osaka” or “west of Sakai.” Then, you have to send scouts into that region to tighten the search area and receive the exact location info from their end. Without them, you will be left manually sweeping large zones with Eagle Vision.
But the number of scouts you can have is limited. Once you use them, they remain unavailable until the season changes, you pay mon at a Kakurega or your hideout, or you earn Scout Intel from encounters. The option doesn’t increase your maximum scout count. It simply refills one slot you have already spent. Early in a season, or when you’re aggressively looting castles for hideout upgrades, scout shortages can become very troublesome. In these situations, Scout Intel can save you time and money.
Should You Choose Scout Intel or World Rumor in AC Shadows?
In most situations, World Rumor is the recommended choice and provides more long-term value. Scouts can be earned in multiple ways because Mon is easy to get, Kakurega are spread generously across the map, and seasonal resets happen regularly. Exploration details, on the other hand, you can only uncover by finding them or when being told about them.
World Rumors mostly lead to gear you wouldn’t find otherwise, much needed upgrade locations, and optional content that never becomes a main objective. They also help when you enter a new region. Getting a handful of rumors early can quickly give you fast travel options, upgrade paths, and side content without needing to comb every road yourself. If your scouts are already full, the game won’t even let you waste the choice—it automatically converts your reward into a World Rumor, and the same happens in the opposite case.
