Key takeaways
- Finish the Toyotama Mythic Tales first. Kojiro's Kensei Armor and Gosaku's set are both in this region and both are still available. Act 3 assumes a stronger loadout.
- Expect a difficulty step. The act's closing chapters put more armoured and disciplined units in play than its opening ones.
OverviewSpoilers
The title is the game's thesis question, and Act 2 is where it stops being rhetorical.
One of the closing chapters of Act 2, The Fate of Tsushima brings the Toyotama campaign to its decisive point. Everything Jin has built — the Yarikawa alliance, the reputation, the tools he was never supposed to use — is committed here.
It sits immediately before From the Darkness, which closes the act and awards the Ghost Armor.
In the game’s own framing: The Straw Hats are routed, Ryuzo has escaped and Taka is dead. Check on Yuna, then join Lord Shimura for the battle at Castle Shimura.
What to bring
The stances are a counter-table, not a preference: each one is the answer to a specific enemy, and this tale fields the ones below.
- RequiredComplete "A Reckoning in Blood"This tale does not appear until then.
- RecommendedStone StanceStone breaks swordsmen, who make up most of every Mongol group.
- RecommendedMoon StanceMoon staggers Brutes; nothing else in the melee kit reliably does.
Objectives
- Travel to Lord Shimura’s camp
- Speak with your allies
- Find Yuna
- Find Lord Oga
- Ride to the tower
- Meet Lord Shimura
- Fight in the courtyard
- Breach the first gate
- Fight at the second gate
- Assault the third gate
- Scout ahead
- Survive the hwacha barrage
- Clear the watchtower archers
- Man the hwacha
- Rejoin your allies
- Fight on the bridge
- Climb the gatehouse
- Fire on the charging riders
Full walkthroughSpoilers
- 01Travel to Lord Shimura’s camp
A cutscene plays as the samurai reinforcements arrive.
- 02Speak with your allies
Optional. Kenji is by the battering ram, Norio meditating with the monks in the stable, Masako at the swordsmen’s training yard, Ishikawa drilling archers. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit. Stone Stance handles the swordsmen; its heavy attacks do extra stagger damage and break their guard.
TipStone breaks swordsmen, who make up most of every Mongol group.
- 03Find Yuna
In the house next to the Trapper merchant.
- 04Find Lord Oga
At the front entrance to the camp.
- 05Ride to the tower
On horseback with Lord Oga. Whistle the horse rather than walking back to it, and remember a charge is itself an opening move against a loose group.
- 06Meet Lord Shimura
Climb the watchtower ladder to your uncle.
- 07Fight in the courtyard
Kill the archers on the battlements first — arrows, and the explosive barrels where they are available. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit. Shoot the powder before the group spreads out. Once they scatter, the barrel is worth one kill instead of four.
- 08Breach the first gate
The battering ram takes it in a cutscene.
- 09Fight at the second gate
Again, archers before ground troops. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit.
- 10Assault the third gate
The largest force. Run for the back and clear the fire archers on the raised platforms, either by bow or by climbing the ladder. Ghost Stance handles the ground troops. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit.
- 11Scout ahead
Ladder left of the gate, loot the ammunition in the room, then through for a cutscene.
- 12Survive the hwacha barrage
White circles mark incoming fire. Dodge those while fighting Brutes, then climb the boxes to move on. Switch to Moon Stance for the Brutes: they shrug off ordinary damage and Moon's heavy overheads are what actually stagger them. Their big swings are unblockable, so dodge rather than block and answer in the gap afterwards. The white circles on the ground are where the volley lands. Keep moving through them rather than stopping to fight, and heal between salvos.
TipMoon staggers Brutes; nothing else in the melee kit reliably does.
- 13Clear the watchtower archers
Turn left, up the ladder, two archers. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit.
- 14Man the hwacha
Clear the courtyard below, sweep left into the next one, then hit the bridge where they mass. The white circles on the ground are where the volley lands. Keep moving through them rather than stopping to fight, and heal between salvos.
- 15Rejoin your allies
Climb down and run for the bridge.
- 16Fight on the bridge
Swordsmen, Brutes and archers. Spend the Ghost Stance charges you have built on the Brutes. Switch to Moon Stance for the Brutes: they shrug off ordinary damage and Moon's heavy overheads are what actually stagger them. Their big swings are unblockable, so dodge rather than block and answer in the gap afterwards. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit. Stone Stance handles the swordsmen; its heavy attacks do extra stagger damage and break their guard.
TipStone breaks swordsmen, who make up most of every Mongol group.
- 17Climb the gatehouse
The ladder at the bridge gatehouse, for a cutscene.
- 18Fire on the charging riders
Arrows into the cavalry to end the tale.
Enemies in this tale, and how to fight them
Strengths
- Archers — Deal with them before you commit to the melee, because everything else in the fight becomes harder while arrows are landing. Take them with your own bow, drop them from stealth before the fight opens, or close the distance immediately — archers are poor at close range and fold quickly once you are on them. Where the tale gives you high ground, use it: an elevated position means only one side of the field can answer you.
- Brutes — Moon Stance. Brutes soak an enormous amount of ordinary damage, and Moon's heavy overhead strikes are what actually stagger them. Their big swings are usually unblockable — red marker — so dodge those rather than trying to block, and answer in the window afterwards rather than trading. Some carry explosives. If you have Resolve banked, a Brute is the right place to spend it.
- Swordsmen — Stone Stance, whose heavy attacks do extra stagger damage to sword-wielders and break their guard. Swordsmen are the backbone of nearly every Mongol group, so Stone is the stance you will spend the most time in. Parry timing matters more here than anywhere else: blue attacks can be parried, red ones cannot and have to be dodged.
- Straw Hats / ronin — Japanese swordsmen rather than Mongols, and they fight like it — faster and more technical than the invaders, with less armour. Stone Stance still applies. Standoffs work well against them, and against unarmoured ronin a won standoff often kills outright.
Rewards
- Major Legend IncreaseA large step toward the next Legend rank. Legend gates your Ghost Weapon unlocks and your health and Resolve upgrades, so main and Mythic Tales are the fastest way to raise it.
What this unlocks
Sources
- Ghost of Tsushima Walkthrough — PowerPyx
- Ghost of Tsushima Walkthrough — All Tales — PowerPyx
- Ghost of Tsushima: Act 2 — gamepressure.com