Key takeaways
- Do Ishikawa's Tale first. Tadayori's Armor improves the bow, so it is worth having the longbow and upgraded Concentration before you claim it.
- It rewards patience, not aggression. The set pushes you toward clearing camps from outside them — a genuinely different playstyle from Gosaku's melee build.
- The legend and the truth differ. Read the tale rather than skipping it; the reveal is the reason it exists.
Overview
Tadayori's ballad is about an archer so accurate the story stopped being about the man. The tale Jin uncovers puts the man back.
The trail follows the sites the song describes, and — as with most of the Mythic Tales — the version sung at settlements turns out to be tidier than what actually happened. The tension between the legend and the record is the recurring shape of these stories, and Tadayori's is one of the sadder ones.
The reward is Tadayori's Armor, the archery set: it improves bow damage and concentration duration, which makes it the natural pairing with Sensei Ishikawa's longbow. If you play the game as a marksman rather than a duellist, this is your armour.
In the game’s own framing: A musician in Azamo tells of Tadayori and armor that made its wearer close to invincible. The trail starts at a meditation site called the Violet Crown.
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 "The Tale of Lady Masako", "The Tale of Ryuzo" and "The Tale of Sensei Ishikawa", then find the start in the open worldThis tale does not appear until then.
- RecommendedWater StanceWater is the only efficient answer to a raised shield.
- RecommendedFlaming ArrowsThe steps use fire on grass, barrels or enemies.
Objectives
- Hear the legend
- Travel to northern Azamo
- Follow the flowers to the Violet Crown
- Investigate the peak
- Find the place on the map
- Enter Tadayori’s Rest
- Investigate the cemetery
- Defeat Kaede
- Speak with the guardian
- Travel to Azamo Bay
- Reach the peak above the bay
- Free the musician
- Collect Tadayori’s Armor
- Defend the musician
- Speak with Yamato
Full walkthrough
- 01Hear the legend
Sit with the musician Yamato for the tale of Tadayori and the Violet Crown in northern Azamo.
- 02Travel to northern Azamo
Follow the search zone. Violet chrysanthemums mean you are close.
- 03Follow the flowers to the Violet Crown
They lead up to a mountain peak where the waypoint appears.
- 04Investigate the peak
Examine the incense and take the map from the container to learn where Tadayori’s Rest is.
- 05Find the place on the map
Open the treasure map and ride north about two minutes to Houren’s Pasture. More violet chrysanthemums appear. At the mountain’s base near a lamp there is a gap in the wall — crawl through.
- 06Enter Tadayori’s Rest
Follow the violet flowers along the path, jumping the crevasses. There are dead Mongols along the way with maps of their own. Squeeze through the crack to continue.
- 07Investigate the cemetery
Examine two gravestones and the incense to trigger the encounter.
- 08Defeat Kaede
She fights fast combos with unblockables mixed in. Parry the opening hits and counter while she recovers — perfect parries do the most damage. When she sheathes for an unblockable, sidestep and counter. Her overhand unblockable at medium range also leaves an opening. Do not overextend your own combos. Blue-marked attacks can be parried; red-marked ones cannot and have to be dodged. Reading the colour matters more than reacting fast.
- 09Speak with the guardian
The armor is lost, but a scroll says Tadayori watches over Azamo Bay for eternity.
- 10Travel to Azamo Bay
The chrysanthemums mark the way.
- 11Reach the peak above the bay
Mongols are holding Yamato prisoner.
- 12Free the musician
If the skull icon appears, break off and defend him at once or the tale fails.
Watch outFailure condition — this step can end the tale, not just the fight.
- 13Collect Tadayori’s Armor
Move behind the memorial statue and push it.
- 14Defend the musician
They come for the armor immediately. Use what you are now wearing — arrow damage and Concentration, with a headshot bonus — and the unlimited arrows nearby. Archers first. When they stack up, double-tap dodge and reposition. The second wave brings fire arrows and sword-and-shield Mongols who charge; stay at range and only draw the katana when they are on you. Headshots refill Concentration and kill most of them outright.
TipWater is the only efficient answer to a raised shield.
- 15Speak with Yamato
Once they are all down.
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.
- Shield-bearers — Water Stance, and specifically its heavy attacks — that is what breaks a raised shield. Trying to chip through the front of a shield with light attacks wastes the fight. Stagger them first so the guard comes up and breaks, then go through the opening quickly before it closes.
Rewards
- Moderate Legend IncreaseBetween the two: the size a Mythic Tale awards.
- Tadayori’s ArmorA full armour set. Sets are builds rather than defence numbers — each one changes how you are meant to fight.
Sources
- Ghost of Tsushima Walkthrough — PowerPyx
- Written from model knowledge of Ghost of Tsushima (2020) — Unverified — pending editorial review