TalesupportingTale of TsushimaAct I — Rescue Lord Shimura

The Way of the Bow

A Tale of Tsushima in Izuhara, sensei ishikawa tale 4 of 9 — part of Ishikawa hunting Tomoe, the student who took his archery to the Mongols.

RoleSensei Ishikawa questline
Importancesupporting
  • TypeSide Tale (Ishikawa Tale 4 of 9)
  • Act1
  • RegionIzuhara
  • Quest giverIshikawa at Hiyoshi Springs
  • PrerequisiteComplete "The Past Never Passes"
  • RewardsMinor Legend Increase, Minor Defense Charm, Flaming Arrow
  • Steps9

Overview

A Tale of Tsushima in Izuhara, sensei ishikawa tale 4 of 9 — part of Ishikawa hunting Tomoe, the student who took his archery to the Mongols.

The Way of the Bow belongs to Sensei Ishikawa’s questline: Ishikawa hunting Tomoe, the student who took his archery to the Mongols. It is sensei ishikawa tale 4 of 9, set in Izuhara.

The ally questlines are the game’s best writing and they run in order, so this tale assumes the ones before it. Sensei Ishikawa’s arc rewards being followed as a sequence rather than picked at.

In the game’s own framing: Tomoe appears to be training Mongol archers for an attack on Hiyoshi Springs itself.

This is tale 4 of 9 in Ishikawa’s arc. The ally questlines run in order and assume the ones before them, so they reward being followed as a sequence rather than picked at.

What to bring

What this tale expects you to have on you.

  • RequiredComplete "The Past Never Passes"This tale does not appear until then.
  • RecommendedBlack Powder BombThe crowd answer this tale expects.
  • RecommendedFlaming ArrowsThe steps use fire on grass, barrels or enemies.

Objectives

  1. Speak with Ishikawa
  2. Defeat the Mongols
  3. Speak with Ishikawa
  4. Follow Ishikawa
  5. Speak with the peasants
  6. Follow Ishikawa
  7. Survey the battlefield
  8. Defeat the Mongols
  9. Speak with Ishikawa

Full walkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01
    Speak with Ishikawa

    He is at the cliff edge behind his dojo.

  2. 02
    Defeat the Mongols

    Waves charging up from below while archers on the hill shoot at you. 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.

  3. 03
    Speak with Ishikawa

    The assault was probably a diversion.

  4. 04
    Follow Ishikawa

    Toward the village, working out a defence as you go.

  5. 05
    Speak with the peasants

    Pass on his instruction to gather in the inn.

  6. 06
    Follow Ishikawa

    To the defensive position.

  7. 07
    Survey the battlefield

    Note the dried grass and the black powder barrels. Survey points are not decoration — each one you mark puts an objective or a hazard on your map, and skipping them means finding the same things the hard way. Shoot the powder before the group spreads out. Once they scatter, the barrel is worth one kill instead of four.

  8. 08
    Defeat the Mongols

    Flaming arrows into the grass and the barrels does most of it.

  9. 09
    Speak with Ishikawa

    Tomoe is not here. The Nagao banner says where to look next.

    Checkpoint

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.

Rewards

  • Minor Legend Increase
    A smaller step toward the next Legend rank — the size a side tale, a liberated settlement or a cleared encounter gives.
  • Minor Defense Charm
    A silver charm. Minor charms are weaker than major ones and go in the minor slots — you start with two major slots and unlock up to four minor ones by honouring Inari Shrines, for six equipped at once.
  • Flaming Arrow

What this unlocks

Ishikawa’s tales

Characters in this tale

Sources

Relationships