TalesupportingTale of TsushimaAct II — A Gathering Storm

Three Actions, Three Illusions

A Tale of Tsushima in Toyotama, norio tale 2 of 9 — part of a warrior monk arming the temples once prayer proves insufficient.

RoleNorio questline
Importancesupporting
  • TypeSide Tale (Norio Tale 2 of 9)
  • Act2
  • RegionToyotama
  • Quest giverNorio in Akashima Village
  • PrerequisiteComplete "The Last Warrior Monk"
  • RewardsMinor Legend Increase, Minor Defense Charm, +2 Silk
  • Steps9

Overview

A Tale of Tsushima in Toyotama, norio tale 2 of 9 — part of a warrior monk arming the temples once prayer proves insufficient.

Three Actions, Three Illusions belongs to Norio’s questline: a warrior monk arming the temples once prayer proves insufficient. It is norio tale 2 of 9, set in Toyotama.

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

In the game’s own framing: Norio has found where the Mongols took his temple’s senior healer, who is needed to keep training healers in Akashima.

This is tale 2 of 9 in Norio’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

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 Last Warrior Monk"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

  1. Meet Norio in Akashima Village
  2. Travel to the Mongol camp
  3. Ride toward the coast
  4. Defeat the lone Mongol
  5. Climb to the granary balcony
  6. Survey the camp
  7. Clear the first group
  8. Protect Hochi
  9. Speak with Hochi

Full walkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01
    Meet Norio in Akashima Village

    To begin.

  2. 02
    Travel to the Mongol camp

    Follow him out of the village, across the road and over a bridge toward a hut, then whistle your horse when he mounts. Whistle the horse rather than walking back to it, and remember a charge is itself an opening move against a loose group.

  3. 03
    Ride toward the coast

    Across the fields and the long wooden bridge.

  4. 04
    Defeat the lone Mongol

    A blue-armoured warrior in the way.

  5. 05
    Climb to the granary balcony

    Up the ladder into the structure ahead.

  6. 06
    Survey the camp

    Three things: Hochi, a signal cannon, and the meeting point. 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.

  7. 07
    Clear the first group

    About twelve Mongols including a couple of Brutes. Stealth or open combat. 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.

    TipMoon staggers Brutes; nothing else in the melee kit reliably does.

  8. 08
    Protect Hochi

    Around six more swordsmen arrive. 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.

  9. 09
    Speak with Hochi

    Under the shelter, to finish.

    Checkpoint

Enemies in this tale, and how to fight them

Strengths

  • 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.

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.
  • +2 Silk
    Upgrade material. Silk, linen and leather are what armourers and swordsmiths charge to improve your gear.

What this unlocks

Norio’s tales

Characters in this tale

Sources

Relationships