You can recruit six people in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies: Karolina (KINDRED), Ramses (RADIAN), HOLOCENE, PSEUDOPOD, Yana and KALEIDOSCOPE. Three of them go with Hershel into the final operation, Zero Out the Grand Lich, one for each squad role: the Cupbearer, the Astronomist and the Fool. Each role has two candidates, so the real choice is which one of each pair you bring.
Steam’s official achievement list confirms the six, with one achievement per recruit. Below we cover the roles and pairs first, spoiler-light, then each recruitment in more detail behind a clear warning.
The Three Roles and Who Can Fill Them
Every recruit fills one fixed role, and each role has two candidates:
| Role | Recruit | Achievement | Steam players who have it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cupbearer | Yana | YANA | 19.4% |
| Cupbearer | KALEIDOSCOPE | KALEIDOSCOPE | 10.3% |
| Astronomist | Karolina | KINDRED | 31.0% |
| Astronomist | HOLOCENE | HOLOCENE | 25.4% |
| Fool | Ramses | RADIAN | 21.6% |
| Fool | PSEUDOPOD | PSEUDOPOD | 28.6% |
Percentages are Steam’s global achievement stats as of November 2, 2026, and they show how easy it is to miss a recruit on a first run.
Three rules to know before you start:
- Yana and KALEIDOSCOPE rule each other out. Both depend on one decision in the same quest, so you can only ever recruit one of them per playthrough. Our guide on how to save Yana covers that choice.
- The other pairs do not. Karolina and HOLOCENE, and Ramses and PSEUDOPOD, are recruited through separate tasks, so you can recruit both halves of a pair in the same run. You still take only one per role into the operation.
- Recruits wait at the Fogged Mirror. Once someone agrees to join, they move to the bar, which only opens in the late afternoon and evening. ZA/UM’s May 29 patch added opening times to the Map menu, and our guide on how to pass time helps if you arrive too early.
There is no deadline on any of this. As our guide to whether Zero Parades has a time limit explains, the story only moves to the finale when you make the call that starts it.
When Recruitment Opens
Most recruitments open after two main tasks, Contact the Secret Prisoner and The Unassigned Assignment. Until then, you can meet some of your old crew, but they will not commit to a new operation. A few early steps pay off later:
- Fix the fax machine at Foto 24 with a Technoflex check. It is how HOLOCENE’s trail starts.
- Ask Dr. Hugo about his daughter. He points you to Karolina.
- Keep some Sol and spare items. Several recruitments run through the King of Trade at the Animal Zone, who swaps items rather than selling them. Our guide on how to get money covers the cash side.
Spoiler warning: the sections below describe each recruitment, including late-game characters and choices.
Cupbearer: Yana or KALEIDOSCOPE
Both come out of “Make a Deal with Transnational Capital,” where Yana is hiding the pop star Ultra Violeta. Help Ultra Violeta escape Portofiro and Yana joins you. Trade Ultra Violeta to KALEIDOSCOPE, an EMTERR operant you meet upstairs at the Fogged Mirror, and Yana leaves the story while KALEIDOSCOPE takes the role. The trade is part of the route to the best grade from Melita, which our Z rank guide explains, so decide which ending you want before this quest.
Astronomist: Karolina or HOLOCENE
Karolina is the youngest member of the old crew. ZA/UM describes her as last seen “undercover in a highly experimental Dream Study,” and her father, Dr. Hugo, sends you to the old cinema at the Quisach Roundabout. You have to get past her boyfriend, Septimus, unplug her from a dream machine and help her face what the Weeping Eye did to her. ZA/UM’s June 4 patch notes name the questline “Convince Karolina to Get Some Sleep” and mention the cosmonaut figurine she asks for, which the King of Trade has.
HOLOCENE, your old second-in-command, has been hiding in the rocket silo at Pitol Tract. A fax at Foto 24 sends you there, and reaching him takes a cipher and a delicate operation with a Coordination check. Failing that check kills him, so save first.
Fool: Ramses or PSEUDOPOD
Ramses lives on a houseboat on the beach south of the Quisach Roundabout, and he needs seizure medication he cannot get legally. The task is “Help Ramses Anchor Himself,” which ZA/UM’s patch notes name, and it ends with a night-time deal that goes sideways.
PSEUDOPOD is your partner, found unresponsive at Foto 24 when the game begins. No medicine wakes him: the fix is a Luzian imprinting device you get later in the story, followed by a chase across the city before he agrees to join.
Who You Cannot Recruit
Eszti, cryptonym ESTOC, is the one old crew member players keep trying for. The Journal’s crew card says “Eszti would fill this role if you can ever manage to get along,” but she never joins the squad: she is not one of the six recruits, and no recruit achievement is hers. Tempo and Vespar, the rest of the old Whole Sick Crew, are not recruitable either.
If you are still building Hershel, our best starting skills guide shows which skills these recruitments lean on, and our endings guide explains how your squad shapes the finale. Every other guide is on our Zero Parades hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people can you recruit in Zero Parades? Six: Karolina, Ramses, HOLOCENE, PSEUDOPOD, Yana and KALEIDOSCOPE. Steam’s achievement list has one achievement for each.
How many squadmates can you take into the final operation? Three, one for each role: Cupbearer, Astronomist and Fool.
Can you recruit everyone in one playthrough? No. Yana and KALEIDOSCOPE depend on the same decision, so one of them is always lost. The other four are recruited through separate tasks, so you can recruit all of them in a single run.
Where do recruited crew members go? To the Fogged Mirror bar, which opens in the late afternoon and evening.
Can you recruit Eszti? No. The crew card mentions her, but she is not one of the six recruits, and Steam’s achievement list has no recruit achievement for her.