Oddleif

**Oddleif** is a skilled archer and the empathetic lover of Skogr's Chieftain. She has a good leadership sense.

## Background

The chieftain of Skogr was considered one of the luckier men in town when he wooed the beautiful daughter of a well-known fighter. These days most people consider him a lucky man for marrying someone who knows how to run a town. Oddleif is the classic example of the woman in power running the show behind the scenes.

#### Active Ability: Rain of Arrows

The Skystriker secretly selects an unoccupied tile in a 1-5 tile-range and then fires arrows in the air. If any enemy passes through the trapped tile they are hit by the falling arrows doing normal strength damage and stopping them in their tracks, ending their turn. The falling arrows have 100% chance-to-hit and the damage works together with Puncture, provided that the Skystriker set the trap before she moved.
**Rank 1:** fires 1 arrow (minimum 1 strength damage)
**Rank 2:** fires 2 arrows, + 1 strength to the 2nd (minimum 3 strength damage)
**Rank 3:** fires 3 arrows, + 2 strength to the 3rd (minimum 6 strength damage)
Rain of Arrows can be used offensively or defensively, protecting allies and/or forcing the opponent to second-guess his or her actions.
Smart use of the ability can potentially lock down an entire team.

#### Second Active Ability: Choice

In the second part of *The Banner Saga*, when Oddleif reaches Rank 6, she can choose a second active ability between:
* Slag and Burn (Siege Archer), like Yrsa
* Bird of Prey (Bowmaster), like Nid

### Passive Ability: Puncture

By standing still, the Archer is able to line up a shot that takes advantage of an enemies missing armor, doing bonus damage.
For every 2 points of armor her target has lost, the Archer gains 1 additional strength to her attack, as long as she didn't move beforehand.
This makes her especially deadly near the end of a fight, or against tough opponents who have lost a lot of armor.
## Joining the Party

Oddleif will always join in Chapter 2, at Skogr, and remain with the caravan throughout the series.

## Possible Death or Departure

There is no known event that leads to Oddleif's death or permanent departure from the caravan in the first two games. However, if Onef has joined your caravan, she will become temporarily unavailable for a brief period in Chapter 6.

If the baby dredge was rescued and protected in the first game, she will try to use it as a peace offering to the dredge in Banner Saga 3. If she is allowed to do so, she will take the spear to the chest meant for the protagonist, and will die unless you are playing as Alette and she has learnt mending.

## Playstyle

* Oddleif is a robust archer with high Strength and Armor. As with most units, maxing out her Break should be your first priority.
* *Rain of Arrows* can be used to protect allies that are exposed to enemy attacks. The game's AI ignores the placement of such traps, meaning that enemy units will always walk into the trap (if it's in their path), never trying to circumvent it. A nice (and safe) 'bait' for this trap is Egil, using his *Stonewall* ability.
* *Rain of Arrows* works together with *Puncture*, in case the trap is placed before the Skystriker moves, that can dramatically increase the damage for units with broken Armor, especially for higher-ranks of the ability. However, be warned that it will also hit ally units, if they happen to be standing on the trapped tile when the Skystriker is killed or when her next turn is up.
* There are some interesting combos that involve *forcing* an enemy unit into a *Rain of Arrows* trap. Abilities that can do that are: *Battering Ram*, *Malice*, *Guts* and *Impale*. *Battering Ram* is probably the most efficient, as it also deals Armor damage thus boosting *Puncture*.

## Trivia

* The prefix in her name, "Odd-", refers to the point of a weapon, e.g. arrowhead. The suffix, "-leif", refers to being a descendant/heir and is mostly encountered in male names.
* Oddleif is the closest thing that Rook and Alette have to relatives.
* If Rook is alive in Banner 3 and the appropriate choices are made he and Oddleif enter into a relationship.