Thops's Barrier

Type

Ashes of War

Default affinity

Magic

FP cost

0 FP

Skill

Thops's Barrier

About this Ash of War

This Ash of War grants an armament the Magic affinity and the following skill:

"Thops's Barrier: Erect a magical forcefield while swinging the shield to deflect sorceries and incantations. Can also be used in the same way as a regular parry."

Usable on small and medium shields.

Church of Irith scarab after helping Thops

Liurnia of the Lakes

Starting Site of Grace: Lake-Facing Cliffs

Before you go

• Obtain and give Thops the spare Academy Glintstone Key.

1. Meet Thops at Church of Irith, southwest of Lake-Facing Cliffs, and hear his request. Keep him alive if you want the scarab to appear after the handover.
2. Collect your own Academy Glintstone Key from the corpse behind Smarag on the rocky island north of Temple Quarter. You can take it without defeating the dragon, then use it at South Raya Lucaria Gate to enter.
3. First use the lake-island key to enter Raya Lucaria. From Main Academy Gate, take the nearby lift, climb the entrance stairs past the sorcerers and enter Church of the Cuckoo. Activate the grace through its side doorway.
4. Continue through the graveyard, cross the narrow bridge and follow the rising path on the far side. Watch for enemies that grab and drain FP.
5. At the far end, pass through the building and ride an ascending platform on the large waterwheel. Step off at the top and enter the building on the left for Schoolhouse Classroom grace.
6. Follow the indoor corridor through the scholar rooms, past the large Living Jar and up the stairs to Red Wolf of Radagon. Defeat it and activate Debate Parlor grace.
7. Leave Debate Parlor into the courtyard. Turn left, climb the rubble and stairs, then jump the left railing onto the next staircase. Go up those steps and jump the next left railing to the roofs.
8. Follow the roof south past the Marionettes and climb the ladder on the building to the right. At the top, cross the elevated path carefully while dealing with the sorcerer and flying enemies.
9. Go around the right side of the building at the far end and drop to the roof behind it. Descend the roofs to the north, then turn west toward the round Church of the Cuckoo roof.
10. Use the narrow roof and ledge below the Marionette to reach the church roof. Circle to the open window and enter onto the wooden rafters. Do not drop straight to the ground floor.
11. Line up the chandelier with the glowing corpse below and drop onto it from the beam. Loot the spare Academy Glintstone Key. The other roof items and the boss beyond the courtyard are not required for this pickup.
12. Return to Church of Irith southwest of Lake-Facing Cliffs. Give the spare key to Thops if you want to continue his quest, and finish his dialogue to receive Erudition.
13. Rest or reload after Thops leaves Church of Irith. Return inside the church and kill the newly appeared scarab for Ash of War: Thops's Barrier.
14. Thops's later body beside Schoolhouse Classroom holds the separate sorcery. That corpse is not the pickup for this shield Ash of War.

Notes

• Costs no FP. A timed shield sweep can deflect suitable sorceries and incantations, as well as parry eligible melee attacks.
• It can deflect several spells during one successful sweep. It does not convert them into the three offensive glintblades created by Carian Retaliation.
• Deflected spells can still be dangerous after changing direction. Move clear rather than standing in a redirected projectile's path.
• This is a brief shield action, not the continuously maintained barrier of the sorcery with the same name. It uses no staff, Intelligence requirement or memory slot, but you still need the shield's attributes.
• Area effects, grabs and some unusual projectiles cannot be answered just by activating it. The spell-parry timing and the physical-parry timing are different parts of the sweep.
• Can use this Ash of War on compatible small and medium shields. A fixed-skill shield or a greatshield cannot use it.
• While the shield is held normally in your left hand, its skill takes priority over the right-hand weapon's skill. Two-hand that weapon if you want its skill instead.
• A successful physical parry creates an opening only when that enemy's parry requirement is met. Some bosses need several parries before you can move close and perform the critical attack.
• A mistimed parry is less dependable than an ordinary guard and can cost both HP and stamina. Grabs and other unparryable attacks need a different response.
• Its default affinity is Magic. Supports Standard, Heavy, Keen, Quality, Magic and Cold with the required whetblades; the shield's Intelligence scaling does not improve its ability to deflect.
• Requires Thops's spare-key handover. He will not take the first key you need for your own academy entrance, and killing him before that handover prevents this normal scarab reward.