Dynasty Warriors 3 FAQ/Walkthrough
Version 1.4
June 2, 2002
By Brian Nii (bnii@hawaii.edu)

Table of Contents

I.	Introduction
II.	Version History
III.	Differences Between Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3
IV.	Frequently Asked Questions
V.	Basic Strategy
VI.	Items Strategy
VII.	Character Strategy
VIII.	Fourth Weapon Locations
IX.	Red Item Locations
X.	Battle Walkthroughs
XI.	Character Quotes
XII.	Variable Character Cut Scenes
XIII.	Miscellaneous
XIV.	Corrected Gameshark Codes *NEW*
XV.	Acknowledgements

I. Introduction

This FAQ focuses on the various events and strategies for each of the 
epic battles in the game. This FAQ also assumes you know the basics of 
the game (controls, items, etc.) so it doesn't reiterate what the 
instruction manual already tells you.

II. Version History

Version 1.4 (6/2/02/) - Updated character quotes. Added corrected 
Gameshark codes. Added information on Huang Gai event at Chi Bi and the 
Wind Corridor at He Fei Castle.
Version 1.3 (4/19/02) - Fixed some errors and clarified some 
information. Added info on how to get Zhou Fang to defect at You Ting.
Version 1.2 (2/10/02) - Updated various sections of the FAQ. Updated 
character quotes.
Version 1.1 (1/30/02) - Revised the character strategies and updated 
some battle walkthroughs after some additional play testing. Added a 
new character quote section. Added more stuff to miscellaneous.
Version 1.0 (1/24/02) - Finished the battle walkthroughs. First 
completed version of this FAQ.
Version 0.5 (1/23/02) - Added walkthroughs of The Battle of Jie Ting as 
well as the Musou Mode exclusive battles. Added a FAQ section as well 
=). Added information on getting fourth weapons and red item locations 
in their respective sections as a convenient reference. 
Version 0.4 (1/22/02) - Added walkthroughs of battles up to The Nanman 
Campaign. Updated information for Chi Bi and He Fei. Added new sections 
for Variable Character Cut Scenes and Miscellaneous findings.
Version 0.3 (1/20/02) - Added walkthroughs of battles up to The Battle 
at He Fei. Updated and corrected information in the previous battles. I 
had been writing most of this from memory, but after some additional 
play testing there were a few details I was missing, as well as some 
new things I had discovered.
Version 0.2 (1/18/02) - Added walkthroughs of battles up to The Battle 
at Chi Bi.
Version 0.1 (1/17/02) - The first version of this FAQ. All sections 
completed except the battle walkthroughs.

III. Differences Between Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3

People who have played Dynasty Warriors 2 may notice several changes in 
Dynasty Warriors 3. First off is the difficulty. Being a veteran of 
Dynasty Warriors 2 I was quite surprised to see Cao Cao getting wiped 
out in the first five minutes of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. On easy 
difficulty. Sun Jian followed a short time later. It was then that I 
realized that the difficulty for Dynasty Warriors 3 was turned up quite 
a notch. Here's a list of noticeable changes from Dynasty Warriors 2:

General or officer bodyguards no longer always drop meat buns.

Horses are considerably slower than before. Trample damage from horses 
has also been drastically toned down. Horses have different 
characteristics instead of being generic. The range at which a 
character can move before a horse disappears seems to have increased as 
well.

Generals and officers no longer instantly recover life after a 
knockdown. Instead they charge up (as if charging for a Musou attack) 
and after a while they receive the life recovery. However, they still 
have a limited amount of life recovery items as before.

General bodyguards (in particular those guarding the leader) have been 
strengthened considerably. This is probably to buy the general more 
time to recover life. They have insane defense and life, and always 
seem to stun you regardless of your own defense.

Archers are now insanely powerful. Previously a minor nuisance, archers 
are now a serious threat. Their damage and rate of fire has been 
increased tenfold, and they tend to scatter in all directions if you 
try to attack them, making them pelt you with arrows from all sides.

Other enemies have been strengthened considerably. Gate captains can 
use Mosou attacks and even get in weapon locks with your character. 
Enemies often use third charge attacks to stun your character. Even 
privates are more aggressive this time around.

Power ups dropped by generals and officers are dependent on the 
difficulty level. Before Lu Bu would always drop an Attack +8 
regardless of difficulty. Now defeating him on easy gets you an Attack 
+2.

Life and Musou gages are now independent of each other. Also generals 
no longer drop life power ups. Life and Musou power ups are only found 
in pots in each stage.

All of the original stages from Dynasty Warriors 3 have been 
redesigned. In addition battles are now grouped into two categories: 
90-minute battles and 30-minute battles. There are two new 90-minute 
battles in Dynasty Warriors 3. The rest are 30-minute battles that 
represent the minor battles that took place in the three kingdoms era.

Personal bodyguards have been weakened somewhat. Their attributes also 
vary from character to character instead of being the same for each.

Unless you possess a specific item, no character begins a battle 
mounted on a horse.

IV. Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

Q: How do I get (insert name)'s fourth weapon?

A: I've included a section on fourth weapons below for convenience. 
Usually problems happen when people are unable to get some of the 
events to occur. Hopefully you can find the answer on how to get these 
events to happen in the walkthroughs I've written below. Make sure the 
game is set to hard difficulty. You'll be amazed at how many people 
neglect to do that. Also when it says "Defeat (insert name)." you must 
be the one that does the killing blow. If you don't get a cut scene (or 
your character's victory phrase) from the kill it won't fulfill the 
conditions. If someone else (even your own bodyguards) makes the kill 
it won't fulfill the conditions. When you fulfill the requirements on 
getting the weapon either a precious item will appear on the map or a 
supply captain. The precious item appears in a box and you'll need to 
find it (check the history option in the start menu) and smash it to 
get the fourth weapon inside. The supply captain is a bit harder to get 
since he'll start moving from his initial position in a predetermined 
route. He won't show up on any map so if he gets a head start you'll 
have to search the entire route for him. If he is defeated by your own 
troops you can kiss the fourth weapon goodbye. He will drop the fourth 
weapon only if you defeat him yourself.

Q: It's impossible to get (insert name)'s fourth weapon!

A: It is possible to get all the fourth weapons, but it will take quite 
a bit of time, effort, persistence, and most of all luck. In fact it 
took me longer to get all the fourth weapons than it did to complete 
Musou Mode with all the characters, unlock all the characters, get all 
the items, get all the third weapons, and max out all the characters 
attributes combined. Don't be surprised if one thing after another 
keeps going wrong, such as when the last character you're supposed to 
defeat ends up getting killed by your allies, or if your leader dies 
while you're engaged with the enemy leader after you've obtained the 
fourth weapon. Most of the conditions for the fourth weapons are 
designed to put you in a losing situation. Add this to the fact that 
you'll need to fulfill very certain conditions playing in hard 
difficulty (where things can go wrong in a heartbeat), need to get the 
weapon after those conditions are met, and kill the enemy leader to 
finish the stage, while simply surviving during all of this, and I 
don't blame you for thinking that it's impossible to get some of those 
fourth weapons. And unless you are a god of war, chances you will fail 
in your endeavors again and again, sometimes due to conditions beyond 
your control. While some of these fourth weapons are quite powerful, 
others are barely worth the effort to get, seemingly existing only for 
completion's sake. There is no silver bullet for getting these weapons, 
but I can offer you some general tips.

First, get your character's third weapon. If possible get one with high 
life, attack, or defense bonuses, or better yet all three. Second, max 
out your character's life, attack and defense. If they're not at 
maximum you won't have a prayer. Having a small Musou gage might be in 
your favor as you can fill it much faster and use it as an escape 
button if you're getting severely assaulted by the enemy. It won't do 
too much damage, but it can get you some breathing room. Third, equip 
the Peacock Urn, Tiger Amulet, and Tortoise Amulet. The higher values 
the better. If you need to get around quickly in the battle equip the 
Red Hare Saddle. Equip the Way of Musou as your final item. Real Musou 
attacks tend to have a wider effective range and knock more enemies 
back. If you're not using the Red Hare Saddle, the last choice of item 
is up to you, but the Elixir may be useful if you have it. Finally, 
bring along all 8 bodyguards. Don't bother with the Bodyguard Manual as 
your bodyguards will die in short order, and are only there as cannon 
fodder. If you're planning a defensive strategy, it might be a good 
idea to bring archers. It's a good idea to try a trial run fulfilling 
the conditions on the stage on easy or normal before you try it out for 
real, just to get a feel of the battle. Other than that, I can only 
wish you good luck!

Q: Where do I get (item name)?

A: I've included a section on obtaining special weapons below for 
convenience. They can be found either by defeating a certain general or 
fulfilling a certain condition. Either the enemy will drop the item or 
a precious item will appear. The item bag will glow red to indicate it 
contains a Red Item. Certain officers and generals drop item boxes 
containing Blue (attribute raising) Items. The type of item is 
determined randomly. Some Blue Items such as the Wind Scroll or Elixir 
are extremely rare and the odds of getting them are fairly low. As a 
general rule of thumb, the higher the difficulty and more powerful the 
officer or general, the better (higher in value) the item will be. 
Sometimes you can get powerful items on easy difficulty, but the odds 
of this happening are extremely low. It's still a subject of much 
debate as to whether or not certain generals or officers have a higher 
probability of dropping certain items. It's possible that luck may 
increase chances of getting good items, but the jury is still out on 
that one.

Q: What's this about second/third/fourth weapons?

A: Like items, certain officers or generals drop weapon boxes. Each 
character has four different weapons. The first weapon can do up to a 
four hit combo and starts with no bonuses initially. The second weapon 
can do up to a five hit combo, has a higher attack value, and has 
random bonuses. The third weapon can do up to a six hit combo, has a 
higher attack value than the second weapon, and has random bonuses. In 
addition it allows your character to do a special attack as their sixth 
charge attack. The fourth weapon is unique and can only be obtained by 
meeting certain conditions in a battle (see fourth weapon question 
above). It has the same base attack value as the third weapon and 
allows six hit combos, but has a fixed amount of bonuses (which are 
usually very high) and usually an elemental attack effect.

Q: What are these elemental effects on the fourth weapons?

A fourth weapon will usually (but not always) have one of three 
elemental effects on it. They are Red Element (fire icon), Blue Element 
(lightning icon), and Purple Element (check icon). These elemental 
effects are activated when the character equipped with the weapon uses 
certain charge attacks (such as their special sixth charge attack). Red 
Element sets the enemy of fire doing additional damage to them (like 
the Fire Arrow item). Blue Element electrocutes the enemy with 
lightning. When such an enemy hits the ground they take additional 
damage and discharge the electricity from their bodies, striking any 
nearby enemies. The Purple Element will create a purple haze effect 
around a character's attacks. This will kill any enemy on contact other 
than an officer or general, in which case it deals severe damage to 
them. Obviously this is the most powerful of the three elemental 
effects.

Q: How do I get first/second/third weapons?

A: Like items, as a general rule of thumb the higher the difficulty 
level, the better weapons you can obtain. The difficulty also affects 
how many bonuses the weapon has (up to five max) and how high they are. 
The chances of getting a particular weapon depends on which mode you're 
playing and the stage itself. In Musou Mode you're much more likely to 
get first and second weapons during the early battles, and probably 
won't get a third weapon until the last two battles, it at all. In Free 
Mode, difficulty will increase the odds of getting a third weapon, but 
not always. Also some stages are more likely to produce third weapons 
than others. For example, The Nanman Campaign (Nanman Forces) tends to 
get you a third weapon most of the time, even on easy difficulty.

Q: How do I unlock (insert name)?

Most of the characters can be unlocked by simply clearing Musou mode 
several times, if you have a Dynasty Warriors 2 save on your memory 
card, or just by defeating them in a certain battle. Others require a 
bit more effort on your part. For more details see the character 
strategy section. I've listed some of the more obscure ones below.

Pang Tong: Save him from the ambush at Cheng Du (see walkthrough for 
details).

Taishi Ci: Defeat Liu Yong at the Assault on Wu Territory before he 
gets killed (Musou Mode only).

Sun Quan: See the walkthrough for The Battle at He Fei for details 
(Musou Mode only).

Lu Bu: Kill 1000 enemies at The Battle at Hu Lao Gate.

Meng Huo: Defeat Meng Huo seven times (Musou Mode only).

Q: Who are the Tiger Generals?

A: The Tiger Generals are Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, 
and Ma Chao. Unlike the last game they do not all appear at The Battle 
of Wu Zhang Plains. At Wu Zhang Plain (Shu Forces) the default Tiger 
Generals include Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong (officer under 
Zhuge Liang).

Q: What exactly does luck do?

A: Some people believe it increases the chances of getting good items 
from weapon and item boxes. A more prevalent theory is that it 
increases the odds of an enemy dropping a meat bun. What it does 
exactly is anyone's guess. It's more likely that that latter is true. 

Q: Which stage is best for building up life/musou/attack/defense?

A: One popular choice is The Yellow Turban Rebellion because it's the 
only stage with two life and two Musou power ups. The first life and 
Musou power ups are located by the north entrance of the fortress on 
the outside, and near the southwest gate captain going along the west 
side of the map respectively. The second life and Musou power ups are a 
bit tricky to get to as you need to make a precise jump off the wall to 
get to them, and you'll have to backtrack quite a bit to try again if 
you miss. They are located on platforms on the north of the east 
entrance of the fortress, and south of the west entrance of the 
fortress respectively. 

Another popular choice is Guan Yu's Escape (Guan Yu's Forces). The life 
and Musou power ups are easy to get (near the house by the first gate 
and behind the second gate) and the generals drop an assortment of 
attack and defense power ups along with weapon and item boxes to build 
up your character every time you go through the stage. The stage is 
linear and on average can take less than nine minutes to clear.

One of my personal favorites for increasing life and Musou is the 
Assault on Wu Territory stage (Allied Forces). The Musou power up is 
located next to a tower outside the gate of the first fortress area, 
and the life power up is located by the bend right before the north 
gate captain. This stage is quite linear and can take less than five 
minutes to complete.

What does rank do?

Rank affects the rate of your bodyguard's growth. It also determines 
which mounts you can ride in the game. At rank one you can ride any 
mount in the game without having to use the Imperial Saddle item.

How do I increase my bodyguard's abilities?

Your bodyguard's Life, Musou, Attack, and Defense increase as you 
increase in rank. Their appearance, fighting ability, and number are 
also determined by rank. These are all increased randomly each time you 
gain a rank. Once you achieve maximum rank your bodyguards will also 
achieve their maximum attributes. You can have a total of eight elite 
guards. It is important to note that each character will have guards of 
varying abilities. While their maximum attributes cannot be increased, 
you can equip the Bodyguard Manual to make them more effective in 
combat.

How is the Bonus score determined?

The Bonus is determined by how many Gate Captains you've defeated as 
well as how many of your bodyguards have survived the battle.

V. Basic Strategy

Bodyguards

Bodyguards aren't usually a factor in most battles until you have eight 
elite guards. Most of the time they end up as cannon fodder to distract 
generals while you attack from behind. As to which weapon to use, it 
all depends on your playing style. Archers and crossbowmen are great 
for covering your character from behind and for stunning generals, but 
get overwhelmed when up against large forces. Spears and pikes are good 
if you like to take up defensive positions and advance slowly. Swords 
are best for getting up close and personal with the enemy. If you equip 
the Bodyguard Manual your bodyguards will attack much more aggressively 
with increased power. This is great for distracting enemy generals and 
officers, but it also tends to get them into more danger as well.

Combo Attacks

The last hit of a combo attack always requires recovery time. During 
this time you are wide open to counter-attacks. If you need to attack 
quickly and repeatedly use attacks that use one less hit than your 
maximum combo. For example, if your character has a four hit combo max, 
attack with a 1-2-3 rhythm (square, square, square, (pause), square, 
square, square). This way you can maintain an offensive posture without 
opening yourself up to attack. You can use this with five or six hit 
combos as well.

As an example, Cao Cao's combo attack consists of simple side-to-side 
slashes with his sword, meaning that he can use a five hit combo 
repeatedly to attack a large group of enemies. Yuan Shao has a similar 
combo attack except that the last two attacks are vertical slashes, so 
he may be better off using a four hit combo repeatedly.

Attacking

Attack generals and officers from behind whenever possible. Attacks 
cannot be blocked from behind and are a sure way to break any defense. 
Try to attack while your target is attacking or blocking another person 
(most likely your bodyguard).

Air Recovery

The instant recovery move (L1 while in the air or hitting the ground) 
is extremely helpful in that it allows you to get back on your feet 
after a knockdown move. The enemy generals love to use this move to 
surprise you with a sneak attack. Sometimes it is better to stay on the 
ground if you're surrounded, as attacks can juggle you while performing 
this technique. 

Musou Counter

Musou attacks can be used to counter Musou attacks. If two characters 
Musou attacks collide then a weapon lock occurs. This can be very 
helpful, particularly if a powerful opponent hits you with a Musou 
attack out of nowhere. The trade off between Life and Musou energy 
makes this a very useful technique.

VI. Item Strategy

Speed Scroll (Speed Up) - Unless this is at a high level, the effect 
this has on your movement is slightly noticeable at best. Best used for 
extremely slow characters (Zhang Fei, Xu Zhu, and Meng Huo come to 
mind). Note this only effects movement and not attacking.

Wing Boots (Jump Up) - Only characters with light builds (like females) 
will get any real benefits from this item. Otherwise, the increase is 
barely noticeable. Higher jumping can be helpful for getting hard to 
reach items and dodging some attacks. Otherwise, it's another passable 
item.

Dragon Amulet (Musou Up) - This one is a bit iffy. Some characters have 
such a low Musou that this won't make much of a difference, and vice 
versa. You can pretty much skip this unless you really, really want to 
increase your Musou gage.

Peacock Urn (Life Up) - Every little bit helps and the Peacock Urn is 
no exception. You would be surprised how much difference a little life 
makes between surviving a True Musou attack and seeing the game over 
screen. More life means less waste for every meat bun you get. A solid 
item that gets better along with your character.

Tiger Amulet (Attack Up) - A great item for the early stages of a 
character's development. A must have for weak characters; it makes 
strong characters even better. When your character gets stronger you 
can drop it for another item, but if you have extra space to spare it 
never hurts for more attack power.

Tortoise Amulet (Defense Up) - Another great item for a developing 
character. What can be said for the Tiger Amulet applies to this as 
well.

Huang's Bow (Bow Attack Up) - If you're the sniper type, having this 
item is a nice bonus. Otherwise, you can safely ignore this one.

Shell Armor (Bow Defense Up) - Now that archers are a serious threat, 
equipping this item is a lot more attractive. In battle arrows will hit 
you. A lot. It might not prevent much damage, but it might buy you 
enough time to either kill the archers or run away.

Horned Helm (Mounted Attack Up) - This one is for the equestrian minded 
people among us. In other words, if you plan on riding a horse for most 
of the battle, you might want to invest in this. Then again most people 
ride horses for getting from point A to point B faster rather than 
attacking people with them. It's your call.

Calvary Armor (Mounted Defense Up) - Now this one is a bit puzzling. If 
any hit on a horse dismounts you, why would you need armor to protect 
you on horseback? True, having the Gold Harness prevents you from being 
dismounted by arrows, but wouldn't that fall under the Shell Armor? You 
be the judge.

Seven Star Orb (Luck Up) - It appears that no one really knows what 
exactly luck does. Some people say that it increases your chances of 
getting good items from an item box. Others claim that it increases the 
chances that a defeated enemy will drop a meat bun. From my personal 
observation I'd have to go with the latter. Your mileage may vary. 

Wind Scroll (Reach Up) - This item basically gives your weapon 
additional range as if you were on horseback. The effect is only 
slightly noticeable for most characters unless at high levels. Even 
then some characters have such short range that it won't make much of a 
difference.
 
Elixir (Musou Charge Up) - A very powerful item if you like to use 
Musou attacks frequently. This not only increases the rate your Musou 
gage increases when you give or receive damage, but also when you 
manually charge or are at critical health. Add a weapon with high Musou 
charge and you can fill your entire Musou gage in a few hits.

Red Hare Saddle - This item lets you start a battle mounted on Red 
Hare, the fastest horse in the game. This is great if you need to 
achieve an objective quickly early in the battle (like when you're 
trying to get a fourth weapon), or if you want to increase your 
mobility for a battle. Of course, you can also steal Red Hare from Lu 
Bu or Guan Yu but you'll need an Imperial Saddle or be at class one to 
do so. Having Red Hare at the start is a bit more convenient.

Hex Mark Saddle - Similar to the Red Hare Saddle, except you start on 
Hex Mark, the second fastest horse in the game. The only reason you 
would want to use this item over the Red Hare Saddle is if you don't 
have the Red Hare Saddle, or if you prefer Hex Mark's gray coat to Red 
Hare's fiery red coat. Other than that, there isn't much difference 
between the two overall in terms of performance.

Imperial Saddle - This item allows you to ride all horses regardless of 
rank. It might be useful for a character that's class 16 and wants to 
ride Red Hare really, really badly, but other than that it's anyone's 
guess as to why you would want to use this. I'm not sure if this works 
on Meng Huo's imperial elephants, but it probably does. Not that anyone 
would care.

The Art of War - This allows you to use Wesley Snipes to kill the 
Chinese ambassador. Well, not really. Actually this item increases the 
duration of attack and defense power ups. It can be fairly useful, 
considering that enemies drop attack and defense power ups like mad.

Bodyguard Manual - This item makes your bodyguards "stronger". Whether 
this means they do more damage, take less damage, or both no one can 
tell. But I do know that they definitely become more aggressive when 
attacking, pulling off wild combos and juggling the enemy like crazy. 
Of course, this zeal also makes them more vulnerable to getting killed, 
but you can only avoid risks by being dead. Or something like that. It 
also makes them use charge attacks more frequently, which becomes 
apparent if you're using archers.

The Way of Musou - One of the best, if not the best item in the game. 
This item allows you to use the True Musou attack regardless of life. 
Combine this with an Elixir and a weapon with a high Musou charge and 
you're in business. A definite must have for hard difficulty, but fun 
for the whole family. Get this one as soon as possible.

Survival Guide - This item simply doubles your offensive power when 
your life is critical. It might save your life in a pinch, but you 
might want to use the Defender instead. Then again, it may be the last 
push you need to kill the final general.

Defender - Similar to the Survival Guide, except this one doubles 
defense rather that offense. Usually being at critical life means that 
the enemy is beating you like a red haired stepchild. Discretion is the 
better part of valor. He who lives to run away lives to fight another 
day. You get the picture.

Fire Arrows - This item upgrades your normal arrows into flaming arrows 
that do a bit more damage. Combine with Huang's Bow for maximum 
firepower. Too bad you can't set those Nanman rattan troops on fire 
though.

Buckler - This item prevents you from being overpowered from an enemy 
attack. Certain characters have attacks so powerful that they will 
break a character's guard even when blocked (Taishi Ci comes to mind). 
If you love to block a lot this item is a must have. Personally, I 
think that a good defense is a better offense. If the enemy is blocking 
they can't be attacking now can they?

Power Scroll - This item prevents you from losing weapon locks with an 
enemy. At the very least both you and your opponent will be stunned. 
This can be helpful in hard difficulty where unless you have a rapid-
fire controller or are very lucky, nine times out of ten you will lose 
the match. Then again, chances are that your opponent's bodyguards will 
be more than happy to beat your head in while you recover. I'll pass.

Gold Harness - This would have been really useful Dynasty Warriors 2. 
Essentially this item prevents you from being dismounted by arrows 
while you're on a horse. This does not prevent being dismounted by non-
arrow attacks, however. It can be very useful in conjunction with the 
Red Hare or Hex Mark Saddles when you need to get from point A to point 
B without getting shot off every five seconds.

VII. Character Strategy

Shu Kingdom

The Shu kingdom features warriors with a good balance of attack and 
defense. The majority use pole arms, which is great for both one on one 
as well as group combat. While the smallest of the three kingdoms, the 
Shu army has been known to win surprise victories against overwhelming 
numbers. This is mostly due to their brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang. 
Having the five Tiger Generals (Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang 
Zhong, and Ma Chao) certainly doesn't hurt either.

Zhao Yun
How to unlock: Initial character
History: Also known as the "Little Dragon", this Tiger General was 
famous for breaking through thousands of Wei troops at the battle of 
Chang Ban to rescue Liu Bei's son. 
Strategy: Zhao Yun has good range with his spear and is great at 
clearing crowds and even better in duels with enemy generals. His sixth 
charge attack, a series of spear thrusts, lets him rack up some combo 
points (press triangle repeatedly).
Personal Comments: It seems that whenever Shu sends reinforcements, 9 
times out of 10 they send him. Not that there's anything wrong with 
that. It sounds like he's saying "sphere" instead of "spear".

Guan Yu
How to unlock: Initial character
History: The "Man with the Beautiful Beard". Leader of the Tiger 
Generals, Guan Yu's halberd was said to have weighed over 90 pounds. On 
his steed Red Hare he was an unstoppable force on the battlefield. 
Middle oath brother to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. 
Strategy: Guan Yu's attacks are great for clearing large groups of 
enemies. His sixth charge attack lets loose a shockwave that hits 
everyone in a large radius. A good character for beginners.
Personal Comments: You have to love the way his eyes widen during his 
"Feel the power of the Blue Dragon!" speech. "In death my soul will be 
my brethren." Indeed.

Zhang Fei
How to unlock: Initial character
History: At the battle of Chang Ban he managed to force the Wei army to 
retreat simply by shouting at them. Cao Cao's advisers even had the 
words "Beware of Zhang Fei" written on their sleeves. Tiger General and 
youngest oath brother to Liu Bei and Guan Yu. 
Strategy: Zhang Fei is all about offense. His attacks send him wading 
straight into the enemy, which is fine since his attacks are quite 
powerful. His weakness is that he is very slow, not only in moving but 
also attacking. His sixth charge attack makes him stomp the ground, 
knocking everyone off of their feet. A slow but powerful character.
Personal Comments: Zhang Fei's standing animation is rather neat. Looks 
like he should be holding an electric guitar rather than a pike. 

Ma Chao
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Shu general/DynastyWarriors2save 
History: One of the Tiger Generals, Ma Chao's fighting skill has been 
compared to that of Lu Bu. He seeks vengeance against Cao Cao for the 
death of his father and brother. 
Strategy: His spear attacks are great for hitting multiple enemies as 
they tend to swing in wide arcs. His sixth charge attack sends out a 
shockwave similar to Guan Yu's attack.
Personal Comments: It should be "Argh!" rather than "Kuuu!"

Wei Yian
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Shu general/DynastyWarriors2save
History: Although he faithfully served Liu Bei for many years, Zhuge 
Liang predicted that Wei Yian would eventually betray Shu. After Zhuge 
Liang's death at Wu Zhang plains, he did turn against Shu, but Zhuge 
Liang anticipated this and arranged for his execution beforehand. 
Strategy: Most of Wei Yian's attacks hit all enemies around him. This 
makes him one of the best characters to attack large groups of enemies. 
In his sixth charge attack he spins his double glaive over his head, 
racking up impressive combos in the process (press triangle 
repeatedly).
Personal Comments: Bizarre... character... isn't... he?

Zhuge Liang
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Shu general 
History: The "Sleeping Dragon", Zhuge Liang was renowned for his 
brilliant strategies. Zhuge Liang joined Liu Bei after he paid him 
three visits. Only Sima Yi matched his strategy in warfare, and even 
after Zhuge Liang's own death at Wu Zhang managed to trick Sima Yi from 
beyond the grave. 
Strategy: Zhuge Liang's fan has very little range which means you will 
need to rely on his charge attacks frequently (his fourth charge attack 
is excellent). His sixth charge attack shoots several beams from his 
fan (press triangle for more beams). Not recommended for beginners. 
Experts only.
Personal Comments: Not as good as he was in Dynasty Warriors 2.

Huang Zhong
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Shu generals 
History: Huang Zhong's archery skills were among the best in the three 
kingdoms era, and his swordsmanship was such that not even Guan Yu 
could discern any weakness. One of the Tiger Generals. 
Strategy: Huang Zhong is a solid all around warrior with decent 
attacks. If you love to use bow attacks he's your man. His sixth charge 
attack shoots out two energy waves from his sword.
Personal Comments: Is it me or does he sound a lot like Dong Zhou?

Liu Bei
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Shu generals
History: Emperor of the Shu kingdom and elder oath brother to Guan Yu 
and Zhang Fei. He wasn't much of a fighter, and was even worse as a 
tactician. In fact he didn't win many battles until he met Zhuge Liang. 
What he lacked in fighting ability and strategy he more than made up 
with charisma and propriety.
Strategy: Liu Bei is pretty much average in most areas and has decent 
attacks. His sixth charge attack sends out a shockwave just like Guan 
Yu.
Personal Comments: "Aah, my people. The people are the foundation of 
the country. I just can't seem to protect them." One of the best 
speeches in the game.

Jiang Wei
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with Zhuge Liang 
History: Formerly a Wei officer, Zhuge Liang was surprised that he 
countered one of his strategies and took it upon himself to bring him 
over to Shu. He eventually became Zhuge Liang's successor. 
Strategy: His spear techniques are similar to those of Ma Chao. His 
sixth charge attack fires a ground shockwave towards the enemy.  
Personal Comments: You have to love Jiang Wei's wardrobe. And the way 
he makes those "Wooo!" sounds when he attacks.

Pang Tong
How to unlock: Finish Cheng Du with Pang Tong alive
History: The "Fledgling Pheonix", Pang Tong was a classmate of Zhuge 
Liang. A great strategist in his own right, he helped pave the way for 
what was to become the Shu kingdom.
Strategy: His unusual attacks require some getting used to, but his 
Musou attack is the ultimate in crowd control. His fourth charge attack 
is very effective as well. His sixth charge attack creates a whirlwind 
around him, knocking everyone away.
Personal Comments: "Geh geh geh geh geh..."

Wei Kingdom

The Wei kingdom warriors are all about offense. Most adhere to the hack 
and slash method of combat. They are also, as Revolver Ocelot put it in 
Metal Gear Solid 2, "the greatest collection of freaks outside of Fox 
Hound." As the largest of the three kingdoms, they also have the 
greatest number of reinforcements in the game. Like the Shu kingdom, 
they also have a brilliant strategist, Sima Yi, and their own version 
of the five tiger generals, which include the likes of Zhang Liao, Xu 
Huang, and Zhang He. Whereas Shu relies on strategy, and Wu on defense, 
Wei simply sends overwhelming forces to attack and crush the enemy.

Xiahou Dun
How to unlock: Initial character
History: Brother of Xiahou Yuan and cousin of Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun was 
considered to be Cao Cao's right hand man. Famous for plucking an arrow 
out of his own eye and eating it (the eye, not the arrow). 
Strategy: Xiahou Dun is Wei's counterpart to Shu's Guan Yu. His attacks 
are focused on slashing through both crowds and generals alike. His 
sixth charge attack sends a ground shockwave towards the enemy. An 
excellent beginner's character for Wei.
Personal Comments: Xiahou Dun doesn't lose his eye until after the 
Yellow Turban Rebellion, but the movie shows him with his eyepatch. 
Also, is it just me or is he also the one doing the narration for each 
battle?

Zhang He 
How to unlock: Initial character
History: A former officer of Yuan Shao, Zhang He joined Wei shortly 
after the battle at Guan Du. One of Wei's five "Tiger" generals. 
Strategy: Zhang He is Wei's speed demon. Great speed and fast attacks 
makes him ideal for hit and run strikes against enemy generals. In his 
sixth charge attack he does a swift slash in a wide area in front of 
him (pressing triangle again does another slash).
Personal Comments: Someone at Omega Force must really like Vega. One of 
the funniest characters in the game.

Dian Wei
How to unlock: Initial character
History: Cao Cao's personal bodyguard. Dian Wei's ferocity in battle 
gave him the nickname "Evil Comes". At Wan Castle while buying time for 
Cao Cao to escape he held off the enemy troops with everything he could 
get his hands on, eventually dying on his feet. When Cao Cao learned 
his son died in the attack he showed no emotion. When Cao Cao learned 
that Dian Wei died in the attack he wept.
Strategy: Dian Wei's attacks are purely of the hack and slash type, 
making him highly effective in a crowd. His sixth charge attack is a 
ground shockwave towards the enemy. 
Personal Comments: Dian Wei has been seriously toned down in this game. 
He's still good, but not the absolute wrecking machine he was before.

Xu Zhu 
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Wei general/DynastyWarriors2save
History: The "Marquis Tiger", Xu Zhu was another bodyguard to Cao Cao. 
Normally docile, in battle Xu Zhu turned into an unstoppable warrior.
Strategy: As you might expect from his bulk and weapon, Xu Zhu is very 
slow in both moving and attacking. His attacks are quite powerful but 
have limited range. His sixth charge attack is a series of belly 
attacks (press triangle repeatedly) followed by a ground shaking 
earthquake attack.
Personal Comments: "Fight harder!"

Zhen Ji
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Wei general/DynastyWarriors2save
History: Originally the wife of Yuan Shao's son, Yuan Xi. Became the 
wife of Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi.
Strategy: Like Zhang He, Zhen Ji is a speed demon. She moves fast and 
attacks even faster. Unfortunately, her offensive power is a bit 
lacking and her flute has very little range. Fortunately, her Musou 
attack is a powerful radius attack, striking all enemies around her. 
Her sixth charge attack stuns all enemies around her with a blast from 
her flute.
Personal Comments: She's wearing a rather nice dress, isn't she?

Sima Yi 
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Wei general
History: Wei's counterpart to Shu's Zhuge Liang, he repulsed the Shu's 
northern campaigns six times. Eventually he takes over the Wei kingdom, 
which leads to the creation of the Jin Dynasty, finally uniting China 
under one rule again. 
Strategy: Sima Yi plays similar to Zhuge Liang except he has a much 
better Musou attack. His sixth charge attack is similar to Zhuge 
Liang's as well.
Personal Comments: Sima Yi wins the best motivational speech award for 
Wu Zhang plains hands down. Isn't he just scary?

Cao Cao
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Wei generals
History: Founder of the Wei kingdom, cousin to Xiahou Dun and Xiahou 
Yuan. 
Strategy: His fighting style is simple and straight to the point. 
Meaning he can easily slash his way through hordes of enemies. His 
sixth charge attack is a series of sword slashes (press triangle 
repeatedly).
Personal Comments: How can you not like playing as Cao Cao?

Xu Huang
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Wei generals
History: One of the five "Tiger" generals of Wei. Xu Huang is deeply 
concerned with honor and chivalry rather than having the "win at all 
costs" mentality of the other Wei generals.
Strategy: His battleaxe techniques are great for dealing with large 
crowds. His sixth charge attack creates a shockwave knocking everyone 
off of their feet.
Personal Comments: Is it me or does it sound like he's saying "I'm on 
fire!" during his Musou attack?

Xiahou Yuan
How to unlock: Defeat him at Mt. Ding Jun
History: Brother to Xiahou Dun and cousin to Cao Cao. Xiahou Yuan 
enjoyed killing people in battle as much as hunting wild animals. His 
archery skills were on par with Shu's Huang Zhong, who unfortunately 
cut him in half at the battle of Mt. Ding Jun.
Strategy: Xiahou Yuan plays very similar to Huang Zhong. His sixth 
charge attack is a series of sword slashes (press triangle rapidly).
Personal Comments: He needs some serious anger management classes, 
doesn't he?

Zhang Liao
How to unlock: Defeat him during his attack event at He Fei
History: Originally an officer under Lu Bu, after his death Zhang Liao 
joined the Wei kingdom and became one of their greatest generals. 
Leader of the five "tiger" generals of Wei. Famous for his defense at 
the battle of He Fei where he held off thousands of Wu soldiers with 
only a few hundred of his own. He was so feared that children stopped 
crying at the mere mention of his name.
Strategy: Zhang Liao has fairly decent attacks. His sixth charge attack 
creates a small tornado around him, knocking surrounding enemies away.
Personal Comments: "Splendid!"

Wu Kingdom

The Wu kingdom warriors favor speed and agility over brute strength. 
While not as well rounded as the Shu warriors, or powerful as the Wei 
warriors, the Wu warriors all have a rock hard defense. The Wu 
kingdom's armies are well known for defeating opponents ten times their 
number, a feat shown at many battles such as Chi Bi and Yi Ling. 
Although their strategists were not the equal of Zhuge Liang or Sima 
Yi, Wu's defensive power makes them a formidable adversary.

Zhou Yu
How to unlock: Initial character
History: Originally an advisor to Sun Ce, Zhou Yu eventually became an 
advisor to his younger brother Sun Quan. Noted for his good looks and 
brilliant strategy, he developed an obsession with killing Zhuge Liang, 
whom he saw as his rival. Zhuge Liang was too wise for his plots and on 
Zhou Yu's deathbed he cried to the heavens, "After making me, why did 
you have to make Zhuge Liang?" 
Strategy: Zhou Yu is an average attacker with great defense (a trait 
shared by most Wu warriors). His sixth charge attack fires an energy 
wave from his sword towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: I'm not sure why so many people like using him so 
much. I don't think it's for his personality. Maybe his looks?

Huang Gai
How to unlock: Initial character
History: A loyal vassal to the Sun family, he served Sun Jian, Sun Ce, 
and Sun Quan. His "defection" to Cao Cao at the battle of Chi Bi 
allowed him to initiate Wu's famous fire attack that destroyed Wei's 
entire naval fleet. 
Strategy: Huang Gai excels in attacking a general one on one. He simply 
gets into their face and bashes them repeatedly with his club. Most of 
his attacks focus on beating on one target, which might be a problem in 
a crowd. His high defense helps compensate somewhat. His sixth charge 
attack makes him stop the ground, creating a shockwave that knocks all 
enemies away.
Personal Comments: Huang Gai's standing animation just screams 
attitude, doesn't it?

Sun Shang Xiang
How to unlock: Initial character 
History: Daughter of Sun Jian and sister to Sun Ce and Sun Quan, Sun 
Shang Xiang (or Lady Sun) became Liu Bei's wife and was often torn 
between her country and her husband as a result Zhou Yu's machinations 
against the Shu kingdom. 
Strategy: Lady Sun moves and attacks fairly quickly, but her weapons 
have limited range. Her charge attacks are much more effective than her 
regular ones. Her sixth charge attack sends her chakram spinning around 
her (press triangle repeatedly) racking up incredible combos.
Personal Comments: She looks a bit cuter this time around.

Lu Xun
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Wu general/DynastyWarriors2save
History: After Zhou Yu's death, Lu Xun became Wu's chief strategist. He 
almost destroyed the entire Shu army at Yi Ling with a devastating fire 
attack. 
Strategy: Lu Xun is the speed demon of the Wu. He is among the fastest 
of the Wu warriors and his attacks are incredibly swift. Unfortunately, 
he doesn't deal much damage but his high defense compensates somewhat. 
His sixth charge attack sends two energy waves out in front of him.
Personal Comments: Lu Xun is a pretty good singer.

Da Qiao
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with a Wu general/DynastyWarriors2save
History: Sun Ce's wife and sister to Xiao Qiao.
Strategy: Her normal attacks send her hopping forward, so it's 
important to use charge attacks to knock the enemy away. She tends to 
utilize a lot of swooping aerial attacks with her fans that give her 
good mobility even while attacking. Her sixth charge attack has her 
doing an aerial flip forward while her fans spin out beneath her.
Personal Comments: Not as cute as her sister.

Xiao Qiao
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with Zhou Yu or Da Qiao
History: Zhou Yu's wife and sister to Da Qiao.
Strategy: Has attacks similar to her sister, but more ground oriented. 
Her sixth charge attack has her rolling into the enemy (press triangle 
repeatedly).
Personal Comments: Has the most adorable dash attack in the game.

Sun Jian
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Wu generals
History: Father of Sun Ce, Sun Quan, and Sun Shang Xiang. Famous for 
defeating pirates, but even more famous for taking the Imperial Seal. 
Strategy: An average warrior that uses sword techniques similar to the 
other main generals. His sixth charge attack fires an energy wave from 
his sword.
Personal Comments: "Mmmmm. Great!" Sounds like Sun Jian's been eating 
Frosted Flakes again.

Sun Ce 
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with two Wu generals
History: Son of Sun Jian and brother to Sun Quan and Sun Shang Xiang. 
Known as the "Little Conquerer", he traded the Imperial Seal for troops 
and eventually created what would become known as the Wu kingdom.
Strategy: His tonfas can strike enemies rapidly, but he doesn't do too 
much damage with them. His sixth charge attack is a series of tonfa 
strikes (press triangle repeatedly). 
Personal Comments: His goatee makes him look like Shaggy from Scooby 
Doo. 

Taishi Ci
How to unlock: At the Assault on Wu Territory defeat Liu Yong and 
finish the battle after Taishi Ci joins you (Musou mode only)
History: After his lord is defeated by Sun Ce, Taishi Ci becomes a 
loyal general of the Wu kingdom.
Strategy: Referred to by many Dynasty Warrior 3 players as "The Tank", 
Taishi Ci's habit of bulldozing through the enemy reflects this 
moniker. His attacks are incredibly powerful and break through even the 
toughest defenses. They are also incredibly linear, which means that 
Taishi Ci is more likely to drill a hole through a group rather than 
destroy it outright. His sixth charge attack is a series of rapid blows 
(press triangle repeatedly).
Personal Comments: Taishi Ci is much better than he was in Dynasty 
Warriors 2.

Gan Ning 
How to unlock: Defeat him at He Fei
History: A former pirate, "Gan Ning of the Bells" became one of Wu's 
greatest officers. He is most famous for his lightning fast raid at He 
Fei where he raided the Wei camp with only 100 men without any losses. 
Gan Ning was also known for his skill at archery.
Strategy: His fighting style is similar to that of Huang Zhong and 
Xiahou Yuan (with a round house kick thrown in for good measure). But 
it is his unique Musou attack (in which he runs around like a madman) 
that truly sets him apart from the rest. His sixth charge attack sends 
two ground shockwaves towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: His Musou is fantastic against massive crowds. It's 
also great when used as an emergency escape technique.

Lu Meng
How to unlock: At Fan Castle (Wu Forces) finish the battle with Lu Meng 
alive (Musou mode only)
History: At first Lu Meng thought that a warrior only needed strength 
to be effective, but Sun Quan recommended that he learn strategy as 
well. Afterwards he became both accomplished as a warrior and 
tactician, eventually capturing the legendary Guan Yu. 
Strategy: Lu Meng has moves similar to Zhang Liao. His sixth charge 
attack sends a ground shockwave towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: Lu Meng is a bit more philosophical this time 
around, which is great. He was rather bland in the last game.

Sun Quan
How to unlock: At He Fei get the following events to occur: Taishi Ci's 
death, Sun Quan jumping the bridge, Zhang Liao's attack, Sun Quan 
orders a counterattack, Wei reinforcements appear, Gan Ning attacks. 
(Musou mode only)
History: Son of Sun Jian and brother to Sun Ce and Sun Shang Xiang. 
Ruler of the Wu kingdom. Sun Quan preferred to lead his armies 
personally, but when he was almost killed in the front lines, he 
decided to direct from the rear from then on.
Strategy: An average warrior, his fighting style is similar to the 
other main generals. His sixth attack shoots an energy wave from his 
sword towards the enemy. 
Personal Comments: He still has that crazy hat.

Free Mode Characters

Diao Chan
How to unlock: Defeat her at Hu Lao Gate 
History: Using her beauty to tempt Dong Zhou and Lu Bu, Diao Chan 
succeeded in tearing their relationship apart after Lu Bu kills Dong 
Zhou in a fit of rage.
Strategy: Diao Chan has great speed and her attacks strike in multiple 
directions, but she lacks offensive power. Her sixth charge attack 
shoots two energy waves out towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: Her maraca power has been toned down quite a bit.

Lu Bu 
How to unlock: Get 1000 KO's at Hu Lao Gate
History: The greatest warrior ever in the three kingdoms period, Lu Bu 
was without equal in battle. His tendency to betray everyone led to his 
eventual downfall. 
Strategy: Lu Bu is, hands down, the best character in the game. While 
nowhere near as powerful as the computer controlled version, his 
attacks are incredibly powerful and can clear hordes of enemies faster 
than you can say "It's Lu Bu!" His sixth charge attack is a series of 
halberd swipes (press triangle repeatedly) followed by an earth-shaking 
stomp for good measure.
Personal Comments: Toned down, but still the best. He's pretty funny.

Dong Zhou
How to unlock: Defeat Lu Bu and Dian Chan at Hu Lao Gate 
History: After the Yellow Turban Rebellion Dong Zhou took control over 
the Imperial Court along with his adopted son Lu Bu. His reign of 
tyranny ran unchecked until Diao Chan's plotting lead to his death at 
the hands of Lu Bu. 
Strategy: Dong Zhou is an average warrior with a fighting style similar 
to the other main generals. His sixth charge attack shoots an energy 
wave towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: Not much to say here. Cao Cao is more fun to play 
though.

Yuan Shao
How to unlock: Defeat Yian Liang and Wen Chou at Guan Du 
History: Yuan Shao led the allied forces in the attack against Dong 
Zhou. Afterwards he fought with Cao Cao at Guan Du over the central 
plains of China. Although he had superior numbers, Yuan Shao eventually 
lost due to his indecision and penchant for not listening to his 
advisors. 
Strategy: Yuan Shao is an average warrior with a fighting style similar 
to the other main generals. His sixth charge attack sends a shockwave 
out in front of him knocking down all enemies.
Personal Comments: How can you not like this guy? Who needs strategy? 
He has the best headgear in the game next to Lu Bu.

Zhang Jiao
How to unlock: Defeat Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and Zhang Jiao at the 
Yellow Turban Rebellion
History: Founder of the religious movement known as The Way of Peace, 
Zhang Jiao raised the people up against the corrupt Han Dynasty and 
started the Yellow Turban Rebellion. 
Strategy: Like Pang Tong, Zhang Jiao has a bizarre series of attacks. 
His charge attacks are even stranger but can be effective crowd 
clearers. His sixth charge attack fires a fireball towards the enemy.
Personal Comments: The zaniest character in all the three kingdoms.

Meng Huo
How to unlock: Defeat him seven times at Nanman (see walkthrough) 
History: Leader of the southern Nanman tribes of the Shu kingdom. He 
led a rebellion against Shu, but was captured and released seven times 
by Zhuge Liang before he submitted. 
Strategy: Quite possibly the slowest character in the game, but when he 
gets to the party he is more than capable of bringing down the house 
with his powerful attacks. His sixth charge attack is a punch to the 
ground, which creates a large shockwave, knocking everyone off of their 
feet.
Personal Comments: Does Meng Huo remind you of a teddy bear?

Zhu Rong
How to unlock: Defeat her at Nanman
History: Wife of Meng Huo, Zhu Rong was the only female character in 
the game that actually participated in battle in the three kingdoms 
novel. 
Strategy: Like Sun Shang Xiang, her charge attacks are more effective 
than her regular attacks. Fast, but limited offensive power. Her sixth 
charge attack is a series of dart/knife/whatever throws in front of 
her.
Personal Comments: Is it me or does she have a Brooklyn accent?

Fu Xi 
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan. If 
this doesn't work for you, you'll need to clear Musou mode with Sun 
Jian instead.
History: A mythical character in Chinese history, he is known for the 
creating the origin of Feng Shui as well as the characters later 
developed in the I Ching.
Strategy: Fu Xi's broadsword attacks are slow but powerful. He has good 
range but has a high recovery time after using a combo. His Musou 
attack is one of the best in the game for clearing out crowds. His 
sixth charge attack thrusts his sword into the enemy (press triangle 
for more hits) and throws them over with it.
Personal Comments: He requires a lot of work to get up to his true 
potential.

Nu Wa 
How to unlock: Clear Musou mode with Sun Shang Xiang, Xiao Qiao, Da 
Qiao, and Zhen Ji
History: A mythical character in Chinese history, she is associated 
with the creation of mankind.
Strategy: Nu Wa has the fastest attacks in the game bar none. Her 
attacks are so fast that she can counter most charge and even some 
normal attacks simply by counterattacking. While most of her attacks 
focus on one enemy, she recovers so fast that she can pull off multiple 
combos one after the other. Her sixth charge attack is a series of 
stabs with her rapier (press triangle repeatedly).
Personal Comments: Her True Musou attack can get up to 30 hits on a 
single enemy with a clean hit. Scary.

VIII. Fourth Weapon Locations

This information here was obtained from Muni Shinobu's Fourth Weapon 
FAQ at www.gamefaqs.com and is included for convenient reference.

-----------
Shu Kingdom
-----------

Zhao Yun
Stage: The Battle of Chang Ban
Type: Supply Team
Location: Entry point near Zhang He
Direction: Northeast entry point
Method: Defeat Xiahou Dun and Zhang Liao. After Cao Cao's reinforcements 
appear, Liu Bei will send out a request for help. Go to Liu Bei and an 
event with Zhao Yun will occur. Then defeat Zhang He.

Guan Yu
Stage: Guan Yu's Escape
Type: Supply team
Location: North of fourth fort
Direction: South
Method: Clear the fourth gate.

Zhang Fei
Stage: The Battle of Chang Ban
Type: Supply team
Location: Entry point near Xu Zhu
Direction: Northeast entry point
Method: After the Zhang Fei event at Chang Bang Bridge occurs, defeat 
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan.

Huang Zhong
Stage: The Battle of Mt. Ding Jun
Type: Precious item
Location: To the west of Cao Cao's initial position
Method: Defeat Xiahou Shang.

Ma Chao
Stage: The Battle at Tong Gate
Type: Supply team
Location: Right side of the bridge on the north of the map
Direction: Northeast entry point
Method: After the event where Han Sui meets Cao Cao, Han Sui will defect 
to Cao Cao's side. The supply team will appear after a while.

Wei Yian
Stage: The Battle of Jie Ting
Type: Precious item
Location: On top of the hill where Ma Su advances
Method: Wait for Ma Su to move up the hill on his own. The enemy will 
ambush Ma Su. Rescue Ma Su and defeat all the other generals besides 
Sima Yi. Then enter Sima Yi's camp.

Jiang Wei
Stage: The Battle of Jie Ting
Type: Supply team
Location: Entry point to the northeast of Sima Yi
Direction: Toward northwest entry point
Method: Defeat Zhen Ji and Cao Zhen.

Pang Tong
Stage: Assault on Cheng Du
Type: Precious item
Location: Northwest of map
Method: After Pan Tong is surrounded by Zhang Ren, defeat Zhang Ren.

Zhuge Liang
Stage: The Battle at Wu Zhang Plains
Type: Precious item
Location: East end of Zhuge Liang's initial position
Method: Defeat Cao Xiu when he arrives with the Wei reinforcements.

Liu Bei
Stage: The Battle at Yi Ling
Type: Precious item
Location: Inside Sun Quan's camp
Method: Defeat Sun Shang Xiang.

-----------
Wei Kingdom
-----------

Dian Wei
Stage: The Battle at Wan Castle
Type: Supply troop
Location: East of Hu Che Er's initial position
Direction: Toward entry point guarded by Jia Xu
Method: Defeat Hu Che Er.

Zhang He
Stage: The Battle at Guan Du (Cao Cao's Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: Center of map, around the bend of the central river
Method: With Yan Liang and Wen Chou still alive, find and burn the Wu 
Chao supply depot.

Xiahou Dun
Stage: Guan Yu's Escape
Type: Precious item
Location: Northeast corner of the fort Guan Ping is in
Method: Defeat Zhou Can, Chen Zhen, and Guan Ping.

Xiahou Yuan
Stage: The Battle of Mt. Ding Jun
Type: Precious item
Location: In the alcove west of Huang Zhong's initial position
Method: After the cut scene where Huang Zhong runs down the hill, defeat 
Huang Zhong).

Xu Zhu
Stage: The Battle at Tong Gate
Type: Precious item
Location: Southeast of Ma Chao's fort
Method: Defeat Ma Dai and Pang De, then pass through Tong Gate.

Zhang Liao
Stage: The Battle at He Fei
Type: Precious item
Location: To the north of the broken bridge
Method: Defeat Chow Tai.

Xu Huang
Stage: The Battle at Fan Castle
Side: Wei Forces
Type: Precious item
Location: Near northeast edge of the ground level
Method: Defeat Guan Ping before the flood event.

Zhen Ji
Stage: The Battle of Jie Ting
Type: Precious item
Location: Around Zhuge Liang's camp
Method: Defeat Jiang Wei.

Sima Yi
Stage: The Battle at Wu Zhang Plains
Type: Supply team & precious item
Location: Entry point southeast of the Shu base
Method: Defeat Zhang Bao. 20 minutes later the supply team will appear 
around Zhang Bao's initial position. Defeat the supply team captain and 
a precious item will appear.

Cao Cao
Stage: The Yellow Turban Rebellion
Type: Supply troop
Location: Entry point northwest of map
Direction: Toward center north entry point
Method: Defeat Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang without losing any enemy or 
ally entry points.

----------
Wu Kingdom
----------

Zhou Yu
Stage: The Battle at Chi Bi (Sun Quan's Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: To the southwest of Cao Cao's initial position
Method: Defeat Xiahou Dun and Zhang He.

Sun Shang Xiang
Stage: The Battle at You Ting
Type: Precious item
Location: Around Cao Xiu's initial position
Method: Defeat Cao Xiu.

Huang Gai
Stage: The Battle at Chi Bi (Sun Quan's Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: To the north of Zhuge Liang's prayer structure
Method: Defeat Zhang Liao.

Lu Xun
Stage: The Battle at Yi Ling
Type: Precious item
Location: Northeast of the Stone Warrior Formation
Method: With either Lu Meng or Gan Ning still alive, go through the 
Stone Warrior Formation and defeat Zhuge Liang.

Taishi Ci
Stage: Assault on Wu Territory (Allied Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: Area in front of the center north entry point
Method: Defeat all enemy generals except Sun Ce.

Lu Meng
Stage: The Battle at Fan Castle (Wu Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: Southeast of Wei base on the middle level platform
Method: Defeat Guan Ping.

Gan Ning
Stage: The Battle at He Fei (Wu Forces)
Type: Supply team
Location: Entry point northwest of map
Direction: Toward entry point southwest of map
Method: Wait for Taishi Ci's death event.

Da Qiao
Stage: The Battle at You Ting
Type: Precious item
Location: Dead end to the west of the northwest entry point
Method: Defeat Zhang He.
Note: This one cannot be obtained in Musou Mode.

Xiao Qiao
Stage: The Nanman Campaign (Wu Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: To the east of the bridge at the northwest of map
Method: Defeat Zhu Rong.

Sun Ce
Stage: Assault of Wu Territory
Type: Precious item
Location: Southwest of Taishi Ci
Method: Make Taishi Ci defect to your side by defeating Liu Yong without 
defeating Taishi Ci.

Sun Quan
Stage: The Siege of He Fei Castle
Type: Precious item
Location: To the east of the pond in the center of the castle
Method: Defeat Zhang He.

Sun Jian
Stage: Surprise Attack on Liu Biao 
Type: Precious item
Location: To the right of the entrance of the path toward Lu Gong
Method: Defeat Lu Gong.

--------------------
Free Mode Characters
--------------------

Lu Bu
Stage: The Battle at Hu Lao Gate
Type: Supply team
Location: Entry point northeast of map
Direction: Toward entry point behind Cao Cao's initial position
Method: Defeat Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Liu Bei, and Gonsung Zan.

Diao Chan
Stage: The Battle at Hu Lao Gate 
Type: Precious item
Location: West of Fan Shui Gate 
Method: Defeat Yuan Shu.

Dong Zhuo
Stage: The Battle at Hu Lao Gate
Type: Precious item
Location: Entry point west of map
Method: Wait until all your generals are defeated except for Lu
Bu and Diao Chan. Diao Chan will defect to the allied forces. Defeat 
Diao Chan.

Yuan Shao
Stage: The Battle at Guan Du 
Type: Supply team
Location: North of the southeastern fort
Direction: Southeast entry point
Method: Keep Wen Chou alive for 10 minutes.

Zhang Jiao
Stage: The Yellow Turban Rebellion 
Type: Precious item
Location: Southeast of the river north of map
Method: Defeat all three officers of Liu Bei, all five officers of Cao 
Cao, or all four officers of Sun Jian.

Meng Huo
Stage: The Nanman Campaign
Type: Precious item
Location: West of the mountain at the center of the map
Method: Defeat all enemy generals on the east side (Ma Chao, Zhang Yi, 
and Ma Dai) or all enemy generals on the west side (Zhang Fei, Zhang Bao 
and Guan Xing).

Zhu Rong
Stage: The Nanman Campaign
Type: Precious item
Location: Near the bridge at the center of map
Method: Keep Dong Tu Ne and Ahui Nan alive for 15 minutes. When they 
withdraw from battle the precious item will appear.

Fu Xi
Stage: Surprise Attack on Liu Biao (Liu Biao's Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: Dead end area at the northwest corner of the beach
Method: Defeat Huang Gai.

Nu Wa
Stage: The Battle at Wan Castle (Zhang Xiu's Forces)
Type: Precious item
Location: North of Dian Wei's initial location
Method: Defeat Dian Wei.

IX. Red Item Locations

The information here was obtained from Muni Shinobu's Equip-able Items 
FAQ at www.gamefaqs.com and is included for convenient reference.

Red Hare Saddle
Stage: The Battle at Hu Lao Gate (Allied Forces)
Method: Defeat Lu Bu and a supply team will appear on Cao Cao's attack 
route.

Hex Mark Saddle
Stage: Assault on Cheng Du (Liu Bei's Forces)
Method: Defeat all enemy generals except Liu Zhang, and the precious 
item report will appear at the southwest of the map.

Imperial Saddle
Stage: The Battle at Yi Ling (Shu Forces)
Method: Prevent the Wu fire attack by defeating Zhu Ran. Then defeat all 
enemy generals except Sun Quan. A supply team will appear from a troop 
entry point near Sun Quan's command base.

The Art of War
Stage: The Seige of He Fei Castle (Wei Forces)
Method: Defeat all enemy generals except Sun Quan. A precious item will 
appear on Sun Quan's ship.

Bodyguard Manual
Stage: The Seige of He Fei Castle (Wu Forces)
Method: Defeat Xu Zhu and a precious item will appear in the northeast.

The Way of Musou
Stage: Guan Yu's Escape (Guan Yu's Forces)
Method: Defeat Xiahou Dun to get the item.

Survival Guide
Stage: The Battle at Wu Zhang Plains (Shu Forces)
Method: After any two Tiger Generals (Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, 
Huang Zhong, Ma Chao) are defeated, the falling star event will occur 
and a precious item will appear north of the entrance of Zhuge Liang's 
fort.

Defender
Stage: The Battle at Wu Zhang Plains (Wei Forces)
Method: After two of your generals (must be a playable character) are 
defeated, the falling star event will occur and a precious item will 
appear at the top northeast of the map.

Fire Arrows
Stage: The Battle at Chi Bi (Cao Cao's Forces)
Method: Defeat Zhou Yu before fire attack and a precious item will 
appear around the center of the map.

Buckler
Stage: The Battle at He Fei (Wu Forces)
Method: After Taishi Ci's death event and Sun Quan jumps over the broken 
bridge, Zhang Liao will attack Sun Quan. Defeat Zhang Liao to get the 
item.

Power Scroll
Stage: The Battle at He Fei (Wei Forces)
Method: After Gan Ning appears, defeat Gan Ning to get the item.

Gold Harness
Stage: The Battle at Tong Gate (Cao Cao's Forces)
Method: After Han Sui defects, defeat all enemy generals except Ma Chao.
When he begins to retreat, enter the gate and the supply troop will 
appear to the west.

X. Battle Walkthroughs

Note: Some of the characters in each battle may vary in Musou mode 
depending on which characters you've unlocked up to that point. These 
walkthroughs are based on the default Musou or Free Mode battles. If 
another character appears instead, just substitute that character for 
the other one in the walkthrough. Also the initial position you start 
in assumes you're using a character that isn't already in the battle or 
is non-affiliated. Otherwise you'll begin at their initial starting 
position.

---------------------------
The Yellow Turban Rebellion
---------------------------

Han Forces: 

This battle presents a major change from the original in Dynasty 
Warriors 2. First, you are now on defense and the Turbans are on 
offense. Second, you are completely surrounded on all sides. Third, the 
Turbans will attack en masse instead of waiting in set positions. This 
means that there is a good chance that one or more of your allied 
generals will be wiped out before you manage to clear out your section. 
Basically you are defending a large fortress in the middle of the 
screen with He Jin in the center. The Turbans have surrounded you on 
all sides and each general has taken a defensive position outside the 
fortress. Sun Jian is at the west gate, Cao Cao is at the south gate, 
and Liu Bei is at the east gate. Your character starts out by their 
respective leader. If you're playing as a non-affiliated character, 
they will start by Sun Jian's position. Your major threats again are 
the three Zhang brothers, each of which has a nasty attack to unleash 
on your army.

The primary strategy early in the battle is to take out all the 
generals in your area and then assist the allied general closest to 
you, much like you did in the last game. However, unlike the last game 
your allies begin with very little support and will not last very long 
without help (most of the Han forces are in the main fortress). Even 
though Cao Cao has lots of officers and even some archer support, it 
seems like he's always the first one to go. If he dies you can kiss 
Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and all his other officers goodbye. Therefore, 
it's a good idea to go and help him out after you've cleared your area.

Early in the battle Zhang Bao (standing on the cliff on the right side 
of the map) will start dropping boulders on top of soldiers east of the 
fortress. These are the same boulders you know and love from the 
original game, and they will do some serious damage to you if you enter 
that area. In addition, if any soldiers approach the valley leading up 
to his position, there will be a cut scene where he starts rolling down 
Indiana Jones style boulders down towards them. These boulders ricochet 
off the walls and can be hard to dodge, especially while fighting 
soldiers at the same time. The good news is that the boulders will 
squash the enemy without prejudice as well. They materialize out of 
thin air at the top of the valley so be careful that one doesn't appear 
on your head. If no one opposes him after a period of time he will come 
down the valley himself to engage your forces. If you're playing as one 
of Liu Bei's forces, taking him out early is a priority, as the 
boulders will take a serious bite out of your forces. Also, reaching 
the top of valley while the boulders are being rolled activates a cut 
scene of your character destroying the boulders and motivating the 
troops. This also stops the boulders from rolling down the valley as 
well as the ones dropping to the east of the fortress.

North of the fortress across a river is where the majority of the 
Turbans are waiting. Access to the south is normally available only by 
a small river crossing in the northwest. However, Zhang Liang (located 
by the entry point west of the fortress) will eventually freeze the 
river, allowing the Turbans (and your forces) to walk right over it. If 
you're playing as Sun Jian's forces, Zhang Liang is your primary 
target.

If you're playing as Cao Cao's forces, the strategy is simple. Clear 
out all the generals south of the castle. Then go help another general 
who looks like they need it. You might have to come back to drive off a 
few enemy ambushes to the south, but with you in his corner Cao Cao 
doesn't have much to fear. With the generals gone in the area, the 
Xiahou brothers will pretty much clear the south map all the way to the 
gate captain.

During this time you might notice that Zhang Jiao may be running around 
in your area. Defeating him won't end the battle now, but will make him 
teleport to the north, where killing him there will end the battle. If 
you don't kill him in a certain amount of time he will teleport inside 
of the fortress and run around a bit. If defeated inside the fortress 
he will teleport to the north as well. Note that when Zhang Jiao is 
defeated the first time he will say, "When all else fails, attack!" At 
this point all the remaining Turban generals and officers get a morale 
boost and all the enemy troops in the north will proceed to attack the 
north of the fortress. Also some additional enemies will appear at the 
south of the fortress (another reason why Cao Cao gets swamped so 
often). By this time you should have defeated several generals and 
officers so the morale boost should tide you over until you can kill 
the other generals.

When you defeat most of the Turban generals the Han forces will begin 
their counterattack and move their forces out of the fortress to the 
north to engage Zhang Jiao. Zhang Jiao may surprise you with his 
flamethrower attack so be careful and let your allies distract him 
while you attack from behind (this applies to any enemy general).

Yellow Turban Forces:

The grass always looks greener on the other side. In this case this 
adage doesn't hold true. Fighting as the Yellow Turbans forces is as 
harsh as it was in the original game. The Han forces will put up a 
tremendous fight and your "Children of the Yellow Turban" will be 
shredded like the namesake cloths they wear. Entering the fortress is 
even worse as enemy ambushes pop up everywhere. The Way of Peace won't 
save them, but the General of Heaven has one secret weapon: you. The 
battle pretty much boils down to how fast you can kill all the Han 
generals before the Yellow Turbans get slaughtered, as you can pretty 
much forget any backup from the other generals. If you're playing Zhang 
Jiao, you're going to have to walk all the way to the northwest corner 
to cross the river just to join the battle, as the river hasn't been 
frozen yet. Otherwise, you'll usually start northeast of the castle, so 
work in a clockwise direction around the fortress, taking out Liu Bei, 
followed by Cao Cao, and then Sun Jian. Then enter the fortress and 
begin working on the generals in there. You won't be lacking in cannon 
fodder for this one, but the Turbans won't last long unless you get 
their morale up quickly. An important note to remember is that if you 
defeat a primary general, all officers under them will withdraw from 
the battle. Thankfully Sun Jian, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei aren't as tough 
as they will be in later battles, but He Jin will put up a considerable 
fight compared to his miserable performance in the last game.

-------------------------
The Battle at Hu Lao Gate
-------------------------

Allied Forces:

This battle is a bit more straightforward than the original. There is 
only one route to Dong Zhuo and unless something goes horribly wrong, 
all of your forces should rendezvous at the bottom for the final push 
towards Hu Lao Gate. Yuan Shao starts in a fortified position in the 
northwest so his safety won't be much of a concern. Sun Jian's forces 
will be assaulting the middle gate in the map (Fan Shui) while Cao 
Cao's forces approach said gate from the rear. Liu Bei's forces are 
positioned to attack a smaller gate in the northeast. Surprisingly an 
allied general Yuan Shu has positioned himself deep into enemy 
territory in the southeast, but he wont be there for long. In fact he 
wont be doing any fighting at all. Basically the same strategy you used 
for the original battle can be applied here. Clear out the enemy in 
your path and assist the other forces. Then get together and push 
towards Hu Lao gate. Sound easy? It should, but there's just one minor 
problem.

That problem comes in the form of a huge warrior with a long headdress 
riding a red horse and wielding a humongous crescent halberd. You 
guessed it. Lu Bu is back and he stronger than ever. Shortly after the 
battle starts a cut scene will show that Yuan Shu's army is not moving. 
Shortly after Lu Bu will make his presence known via a cut scene and 
proceed to lay waste to Yuan Shu's forces (accompanied by Lu Bu's theme 
music, a remix of the Dynasty Warriors 2 theme). Afterwards, he will 
proceed north and attack any unit that comes into range. While it is 
possible to beat Lu Bu on your first try, it's also equally likely that 
he will kill you. If you do engage Lu Bu and attempt to flee later, he 
will follow you all over the map so try and get some of your own allies 
between the two of you to draw his attention. Yuan Shao warns you not 
to engage Lu Bu and instead head towards Hu Lao Gate. If your character 
is very weak defensively that is excellent advice. Zhang Liao is 
usually hanging around in the area with Lu Bu and is much easier to 
defeat, dropping a handy weapon box. If you are playing as Zhang Liao 
and encounter Lu Bu, an exclusive cut scene between the two will occur. 
If Yuan Shu is killed and Lu Bu encounters Liu Bei, Guan Yu, or Zhang 
Fei (and they are all still alive) a cut scene will take place showing 
a brief skirmish between Lu Bu and the oath brothers. This reduces Lu 
Bu's morale and he will pull back from battle slowly. This is very 
important as if Lu Bu is left alone without this event, he will cut his 
way towards Yuan Shao one general at a time.

After the Lu Bu threat is taken care of one way or the other, and your 
forces have rendezvous in the southeast, it's time to head for Hu Lao 
Gate. In the bend before the approach to Hu Lao Gate Dong Zhuo's forces 
will launch a surprise attack with several archers on the mountainside. 
Unless you have a penchant for pain and a healthy supply of arrows, 
it's better to make a break for Hu Lao Gate. At the top of the bend a 
cut scene will occur of your character leading an assault unit to the 
Hu Lao Gate. Help the assault captain clear out the area in front of 
the gate and the gate will automatically open, releasing a flood of 
enemy soldiers as well as an ambush unit in front of the gate. After 
that is taken care of, it's time to take on the hundreds of soldiers 
inside Dong Zhuo's fortress. And face the scary wrath of Diao Chan 
(read get free defense up item).

First of all it would be a good idea to take out those three gate 
captains as soon as humanly possible because until the gates are 
secured you are doomed to face unending hordes of enemy soldiers. Try 
not to engage Dong Zhuo just yet until this is done. If he does give 
chase try jumping onto the raised platform to escape. Now this is just 
my observation, but for some inexplicable reason most generals do not 
jump up after you when you jump onto a raised platform. Try it on other 
stages and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, after the gate captains are 
taken care of and the solders swarming you have been thinned out to 
acceptable levels, it's time to take out Dong Zhuo himself. If he gives 
you trouble you may have to wait for some back up to arrive. Speaking 
of backup, two of Dong Zhuo's generals will appear to the north at 
around this time, but since you're miles away and are about to kill 
Dong Zhuo anyway, their appearance doesn't really mean anything.

Dong Zhuo's Forces:

Unlike the Yellow Turbans, Dong Zhuo's forces are more than capable of 
holding their own. In fact while I was getting Dong Zhuo's fourth 
weapon one of the generals survived for over 30 minutes completely 
immersed in a sea of red at the center of the map. Now that's tenacity. 
Anyway, with Lu Bu on your side, how can you not lose? As Dong Zhuo 
puts it, "Don't hold back! Lu Bu is coming!" Unless you're playing Dong 
Zhuo, Diao Chan, or Lu Bu, you'll start right next to where Yuan Shu is 
positioned. You can pretty much do anything you want on this one, but I 
usually take out Yuan Shu first, followed by Liu Bei and company to the 
northeast, circling around the back towards Cao Cao (who has miles of 
soldiers following him, it might take a while to cut through all of 
them), and then around towards Sun Jian in a circular pattern. 
Afterwards, backtrack and head up towards old pointy hat to finish the 
job. The only two things you need to worry about are Diao Chan dying 
(she gets sent out to the frontlines early in the battle), which causes 
Lu Bu to turn against you, and if all your generals except for Lu Bu 
and Diao Chan are killed, in which case Diao Chan defects. Either case 
is highly unlikely unless you are trying to do them on purpose. Even if 
you do absolutely nothing it can take up to 45 minutes for all your 
generals to die on hard difficulty. So go ahead and have fun with this 
one. Grovel and tremble? Yuan Shao has stamina, but he's nowhere near 
as scary as his hat.

---------------------------
Surprise Attack on Liu Biao
---------------------------

Sun Jian's Forces: 

Well, I guess it's not a real surprise attack, considering that Liu 
Biao has a bazillion archers waiting for you on shore. And a rock 
ambush. But I digress. Your character has some good advice in the 
opening cut scene. Ignore the archers on the beach and make a break for 
the fortress. If you concentrate on killing the generals, your officers 
will mop up the beach for you. Basically this battle involves two 
fronts. Sun Ce will approach Liu Biao from the south and Sun Jian will 
take the back road and attack from the east of the fortress. 
Unfortunately, Sun Jian will end up getting baited by Lu Gong into a 
rock ambush in the stone valley to the north and winds up deader than 
Julius Caesar in a cut scene. Of course, if you are playing as Sun Jian 
this event won't happen. Killing Lu Gong won't prevent this from 
happening (amusingly a deceased Lu Gong is told to retreat), as this 
automatically happens once Sun Jian reaches the northern rock valley. 
But even if this does occur, it's not much to worry about. Think of it 
as divine punishment for taking the Imperial Seal. Anyway, it's pretty 
much up to you on which route you take to the fortress. The opposition 
on either route isn't exactly impressive. Once inside there are a few 
more officers and archers to take care of, and then it's on to Liu Biao 
himself. If you're feeling generous, try and see if you can get Sun Ce 
to smack Liu Biao around before you deliver the coup de grace. Or 
better yet use him to distract Liu Biao as he does have quite a bit of 
stamina (Liu Biao, not Sun Ce).

Liu Biao's Forces:

This battle is even easier on this side. Again, the choice of which 
route to take is pretty much up to you. If you take the east route you 
can make a beeline for Sun Jian and kill him before anyone even gets 
near the fortress. Or you can take the south route and systematically 
slaughter all the Wu generals and officers for assorted goodies before 
killing Sun Jian. There are a lot of archers on the beach, but chances 
are they'll be firing at random people instead of the true threat, 
which in this case is you. On a side note, if Sun Jian gets to Lu Gong, 
Lu Gong will retreat in order to bait Sun Jian into the rock ambush. 
Unfortunately, the event doesn't kill Sun Jian outright like it did 
before, but it does reduce his morale (having a ten ton rock dropped on 
you would tend to do that).

------------------------
The Battle at Wan Castle
------------------------

Cao Cao's Forces:

The opening cut scene before the attack will feature your character 
sleeping, reading, or passed out on the floor from drinking, depending 
on which one you selected. After that, it's time to go pull Cao Cao's 
sorry butt out of the fire (figuratively and literally). You won't have 
to worry about Cao Cao for a while since he has no less than four 
officers (including Xu Zhu) protecting him, so all you have to do is 
clear a path for him. Since you're under his direct command, the more 
enemies you kill the higher his morale will be. Because the main gate 
leading to Cao Cao is locked and being fiercely defended by one "Evil 
Comes" (a.k.a. Dian Wei), Zhang Xiu's forces will have to take the long 
way around. Which is fine since you want them to come to you. 
Systematically take out the enemy generals, officers, and gate captains 
moving in a clockwise direction around the compound, and Cao Cao will 
follow from behind. When you get to the southwest gate Cao Cao will 
hold his position there. I'm not exactly sure the condition at which 
Cao Cao can flee the castle or the gate he'll use since it's never 
happened to me on this stage. Anyway, after Cao Cao is safe for the 
time being, you can go help out Dian Wei who is putting up one heck of 
a fight at the gate to the interior of the compound. Northwest of this 
Xu Huang is fighting off some soldiers. If you help him clear the area, 
he'll help you with Zhang Xiu. After that you can proceed in Zhang 
Xiu's general direction and mop up his remaining forces. Zhang Xiu has 
stamina but not much else. Prepare to meet your ancestors? You've got 
it the other way around my friend.

Zhang Xiu's Forces:

Oh boy. This battle's a fun one. If your definition of fun is to fight 
wave after never ending wave of soldiers. Unlike Cao Cao's version of 
this scenario, Cao Cao gets reinforcements. Lots of reinforcements. 
Lots and lots of reinforcements. You get the picture. So it would be in 
your best interest to eliminate Cao Cao as soon as possible. 
Unfortunately, the most direct route is also being guarded by one angry 
baldheaded guy carrying an axe with your name on it. Dian Wei is 
guarding the gate leading to the center of the castle where Cao Cao is, 
and unless you want to fight your way through hundreds of Wei soldiers 
going to long way around, your best bet is to take Dian Wei out. 
Killing Dian Wei shows a cut scene of his heroic last stand, after 
which the Dian Wei gate to the inner compound will open. As you cut 
your way to the back of the castle, reinforcements in the form of Zhang 
Liao and Zhen Ji will arrive to the northwest in a cut scene, as will 
several ambush parties to liven things up. From that point on it's a 
only a matter of making a beeline towards Cao Cao before he manages to 
get away, cutting through his reinforcements, ambush parties, officers, 
and generals until you get to the big man himself. Cao Cao isn't that 
tough, but you might be worse for the wear by the time you reach him.

---------------------------
Assault on the Wu Territory
---------------------------

Sun Ce's Forces:

This battle is pretty linear, but it does branch off into two 
directions, one of which determines if you'll get another ally in the 
battle or not. First off take out the two officers in the area, which 
opens up the gate. From there you can follow the path until it's 
decision time. You can west towards Taishi Ci or go east towards Liu 
Yong. If you kill Liu Yong before Taishi Ci gets killed, he will 
surrender and join your side for the battle. If you're playing Musou 
Mode this will also unlock Taishi Ci as a playable character. Liu Yong 
is probably the toughest of the three target generals (stamina wise) 
and has lots of archer backup. After he's gone there isn't much else to 
do but mop up the remaining generals. During this time you should get a 
cut scene where your character suggests to Sun Ce to split forces and 
take both generals out at once. It's a good idea, but unfortunately 
your forces tend to arrive after you've taken out the second general. 
Let them pick off the stragglers and go take out the third general.

Allied Forces:

This battle is even more linear than the other scenario since the gate 
to Taishi Ci is closed. You'll initially start off in the southwest 
corner of the map. While listening to Larry, Moe, and Curly make their 
pre battle commentary, head up north and take out Zhou Yu's officers 
along the way before taking Zhou Yu out himself. Be careful since there 
are a lot of archers in the surrounding area. Then follow the yellow 
brick road around the bend and you may encounter Sun Ce, one or more of 
his officers, or both depending on how quickly you took out Zhou Yu. An 
interesting observation I've made is that if Da Qiao is near Sun Ce 
when you fight her, she becomes considerably tougher defensively than 
if she were alone. If you want you can run past Sun Ce and take out any 
of his generals in front of him, then come back and finish him off. On 
a side note, there are some rather interesting glitches that occur 
occasionally on this stage ranging from enemies coming at you from the 
mountainside to people fighting on the mountainside itself.

---------------------
The Battle at Guan Du
---------------------

Cao Cao's Forces:

This was one of my favorite battles in the original game due to the Wu 
Chao burning event. It's still here but now Yuan Shao has finally 
realized that having a single highly vulnerable supply depot wasn't 
such a good idea. So now he's built not one, not two, but four depots 
this time, and you have to guess which one is the real one. This time 
around Yuan Shao is already laying siege to Cao Cao so it's important 
you find the supply depot as quickly as possible. Cao Cao is positioned 
deep in the castle, guarded by Xu Zhu and Zhang Liao. Yuan Shao is 
north of the castle, and the depots are to the east. Wen Chou has 
already begun his assault on the north side of the castle. Unless 
you're playing as one of Cao Cao's generals, your initial position will 
be by the bridge near the river branch, an idea spot to launch an 
attack on the depots. Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Huang, and Guan Yu 
are nearby and have been assigned to assault the depots. It's your 
choice as to which depot to attack first, but it's best to start with 
the southeastern one and work your way counterclockwise to the northern 
one so you don't waste too much time if it's the wrong one. You'll 
eventually find the right one through the process of deduction.

During your supply depot hunt several events may occur as time passes. 
The first cut scene features Yuan Shao's army moving archer towers to 
assault the castle, after which archer towers will appear on the east 
side of the castle. The second cut scene features the collapse of the 
castle's wall, which results in the destruction of the north wall of 
the castle, allowing Wen Chou's forces to move in. These events may or 
may not take place depending on how fast you can find and burn down the 
Wu Chao supply depot.

Each depot is guarded by a general and upon their demise the gates of 
the depot will open. If you enter the wrong one you'll get a message 
that the supplies aren't there. If you enter the right one you'll get a 
cut scene where your character will report the position of the supply 
depot back to Cao Cao. When you've found the right one find good old 
Chun Qiong and proceed to cut off his hands, ears, and nose. After his 
demise the Wu Chao compound will go up in flames in a cut scene, and 
Cao Cao will begin his counterattack. 

As you approach Yuan Shao you may or may not run into Liu Bei. If Guan 
Yu runs into Liu Bei a cut scene between the two will appear and Liu 
Bei will withdraw from the battle. Fortunately, Guan Yu will remain 
with you unlike the previous game. From here on you know the drill. 
Take out the remaining generals (Zhang He is running around somewhere, 
go say hi to him) and gate captains before taking on old pointy hat 
himself. Don't you just love his hat?

Yuan Shao's Forces:

This battle is much easier than the original one since the Wu Chao 
burning event does not automatically occur. It will burn if they manage 
to find and kill Chun Qiong, but you're not going to let that happen, 
right? Actually I don't know if that's true, since it's never happened 
to me before. But we don't want to take any chances, right? You can 
find out where Chun Qiong's hiding by looking at the start map. Fun. 
Now back to business. At the start of the battle Yuan Shao sends Yan 
Liang to lead the assault on Cao Cao. You'll be across the bridge by 
the river bend so go ahead and follow him. Basically your goal is to 
take out all of Cao Cao's generals before they manage to cross the 
river and get to the depots. You can safely ignore Xiahou Yuan at the 
northwest at the castle since he tends to stick around there. 
VmanXkindV writes in to mention that defeating him will trigger the 
collapse of the castle's northern wall, so go ahead and take care of 
him if you want to do some exterior decorating on Cao Cao's castle. 
That leaves Xiahou Dun, Xu Huang, and a few other generals to take care 
of, since they're the ones who are after the depots. Inside of the 
castle are Guan Yu, Xu Zhu, Zhang Liao and a few other officers. 
They're relegated to defending the castle. It is important to note that 
if Guan Yu encounters Yan Liang, he will kill him instantly in a cut 
scene (those cut scenes can be hazardous to your health), in which case 
Yuan Shao orders Wen Chou to take over the assault. Guan Yu is probably 
the toughest of Cao Cao's generals so be careful when you encounter 
him. By the time you kill a few generals, the wall breaching cut scene 
should occur, making your job a lot easier by opening a hole through 
the north wall of the castle (Cao Cao will even congratulate you for 
it!). After Yuan Shao's troops run amok for a little while in the 
castle, another cut scene takes place showing Cao Cao launching a 
surprise assault, making additional troops appear to the southeast. But 
by this time your morale should be high enough that it won't matter one 
way or the other. After that clear out the remaining generals and gate 
captains, and show Cao Cao that you don't need any strategies to beat 
him.

----------------
Guan Yu's Escape
----------------

Guan Yu's Forces:

In this scenario it's just you and Guan Yu against Cao's Cao's forces. 
Unless you're playing as Guan Yu, in which case it's a kindler, gentler 
version of the Endurance Mode. Your objective is to clear five gates by 
defeating five of Cao Cao's generals without losing Guan Yu. To make 
things more interesting you must also escort a carriage and ensure its 
safety through the five gates. Despite what you might think, the enemy 
will not physically attack the carriage, but the carriage will take 
damage if left alone near the enemy or if you get too far away from it. 
It starts out with around 200 life and takes damage in 50 point 
increments (you get a message every time the carriage takes damage). 
But if you're careful to stay close to the carriage and kill the 
enemies as they come it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Despite 
what you see in the opening cut scene, if you're Guan Yu you do not 
automatically start on Red Hare. Bummer.

After a few archers say hello behind the opening gate you'll run into 
Zhang He and an officer. Defeat Zhang He to open the first gate. After 
a second group of archers say hello you'll run into Zhen Ji and an 
officer. Defeating her opens the second gate. Around the hills in the 
next area Xiahou Yuan will greet you along with yet another officer. An 
enemy ambush will also come to the party as well. Beat Xiahou Yuan to 
open the third gate. A third group of archers lies in wait past the 
gate, and after that is Xu Huang and his officer. Beating turban boy 
opens the fourth gate. Just one more to go. Across the bridge is yet 
another group of archers, an officer, and Xu Zhu. These people sure 
know how to throw a party, don't they? Beating Xu Zhu won't open the 
last gate, but beating someone behind you will.

While you've been busy spanking the other generals, Xiahou Dun, 
offended that Guan Yu doesn't want to play with Cao Cao anymore, has 
been coming up from behind and is out for some serious blood. When 
Xiahou Dun meets Guan Yu another cut scene occurs, followed by some 
serious fighting. If you're playing as someone other than Guan Yu, be 
sure to back him up (mainly by stabbing Xiahou Dun in the back while 
he's occupied with Guan Yu). If you are Guan Yu, you have a serious 
fight on your hands. Xiahou Dun is much tougher than he was in previous 
battles, and he's not shy with his Musou attacks either. There's a meat 
bun in a jar to the left of the fifth gate if you need it. Defeating 
him makes him drop the very valuable Way of the Musou item and opens 
the fifth gate.

Cao Cao's Forces: 

This battle is basically the same as Guan Yu's scenario except you're 
seeing things from Xiahou Dun's point of view. There are a few minor 
changes however. First of all you get absolutely no backup whatsoever. 
It's just you and Xiahou Dun (unless you are Xiahou Dun in which case 
it's just you). Second, Guan Yu can open gates simply by riding up to 
them since there are no guards at the gates. And lastly Shu 
reinforcements appear at each gate to prevent you from reaching Guan Yu 
(where the heck were they when you needed them in the last scenario?). 
But despite all these obstacles Xiahou Dun isn't going to take no for 
an answer. And neither are you.

Guan Yu has a commanding head start ahead of you, and the fact that he 
has Red Hare doesn't help matters any. Chances are he'll be one step 
ahead of you all the way, so just concentrate on playing catch up and 
defeating all the Shu officers in the way. The carriage is simply there 
as a time limit. You lose if it gets past the fifth gate. You can't 
attack it or slow it down, but it moves so slowly that it won't be a 
problem unless you really take your time. The Shu troops won't put up 
much resistance, but they did bring along quite a bit of archers to 
slow you down. The only problematic part is the fort where Xu Huang was 
in the last scenario. Shu archers line both the east and west sides of 
it and will put you in a serious crossfire while you fight the Shu 
officer there. After the fort Zhao Yun appears near the bridge and 
you'll have to defeat him as well. Then it's on to man with the 
beautiful beard. Like Xiahou Dun in the last scenario, Guan Yu has been 
powered up significantly. Use the same strategies you used there. If 
you're alone, good luck. Remember the nearby meat bun if you need it. 

-----------------------
The Battle of Chang Ban
-----------------------

Shu Forces:

This battle isn't as hard as the original one, since Cao Cao's 
reinforcements are smaller and only come in one direction. But that 
doesn't mean you can rest easy. The premise is the same as the last 
time. You need to fight off Cao Cao's forces and buy enough time for 
Liu Bei's reinforcements to arrive. What is new this time around is 
that you need to protect the peasants that are with you and make sure 
they get to safety. The peasants look just like private units except 
they are wearing brown/yellow colored clothing. Your starting position 
will vary depending on whom you choose, but will be somewhere on the 
east side of the map. Cao Cao's main force is to the northeast with 
Zhang Liao and Xiahou Dun. Xu Zhu is to the southeast, and Xu Huang and 
Zhang He hanging out in the northwest. Liu Bei will retreat to the 
center of the map, but will encounter Xiahou Yuan early in the battle. 
Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang are covering Liu Bei's escape 
route across the Chang Ban Bridge.

Your opening strategy depends on your initial position. If you start in 
the southeast, defeat Xu Zhu and the southern gate captains, then head 
north and assist there. If you start in the northeast, defeat Xiahou 
Dun and Zhang Liao and the north gate captains. Once the north is 
cleared you can follow Liu Bei's escape to the south, or proceed along 
the winding path to the west and fight the officers and generals you 
encounter along the way. During this time Cao Cao's main force should 
arrive to the northeast, but you should be long gone by then. Make your 
way to Liu Bei's position and help him take out Xiahou Yuan and the 
other soldiers harassing him. By that time Liu Bei's reinforcements 
should arrive to the southwest in a cut scene. At this time the Shu 
forces will begin evacuating the peasants on the boats, after which Liu 
Bei will start mobilizing his troops to counterattack against the Wei 
forces. Theoretically speaking, since it takes quite a while for even 
one group of peasants to be evacuated and impatient people like me are 
already attacking Cao Cao. I'm not sure what causes Liu Bei to retreat 
from this battle since I've never seen it happen, but apparently he can 
retreat from battle as an alternate victory condition. 

During this battle two events can occur, both of which are key to 
getting two fourth weapons. The first event, Zhang Fei's famous stand 
at Chang Ban Bridge, will occur if the Wei forces manage to reach the 
bridge while Zhang Fei is on it. This prevents any Wei forces from even 
crossing the bridge for a period of time. The second event involves 
Zhao Yun. If Liu Bei sends out a distress call for help and Zhao Yun 
arrives near him, a cut scene will occur where Zhao Yun makes his 
presence known.

Cao Cao's Forces:

One of my personal favorites, you can really get down and dirty with 
this battle. The setup is basically the same except you're now on 
offense rather than defense. And despite Zhang Liao's objection in the 
opening movie, you get to slaughter all the peasants under Liu Bei's 
protection and have fun doing it. So let's get to it!

You'll begin in the northeast along with Xiahou Dun, Zhang Liao, and Xu 
Zhu. First off you'll want to want to get rid of Zhang Fei and Zhuge 
Liang in the northeast. Unlike the last game where Zhang Fei was 
essentially a Lu Bu clone, this time around he's much less powerful. 
Once that's done you've practically won this battle. You just need to 
make sure that Liu Bei doesn't manage to get away in the southwest when 
the reinforcements arrive. Around this time Cao Cao should arrive to 
join the party. Proceed to follow Liu Bei's escape route across the 
Chang Ban Bridge. You will encounter some token resistance, some 
officers, and best of all some peasants. If you manage to eliminate an 
entire group of peasants assigned to a general, Liu Bei will give his 
famous "Aah, my people." speech. If you get all the peasants on the 
stage you can hear him repeat it up to two times! Weeeeee! Follow the 
trail and proceed to slaughter every soldier, officer, general, and 
especially peasant you encounter until you reach Mr. "Aah, my people." 
himself. 

--------------------
The Battle at Chi Bi
-------------------- 

Sun Quan's Forces:

Veterans of Dynasty Warriors 2 are in for a rude awakening here. The 
stage has been totally redesigned and the boats are of varying shapes 
and sizes, making the battlefield into a giant maze. The fire attack 
doesn't have as big of an impact as it did before, so you'll have to 
work a bit harder for victory. The basic plan is the same. Get the wind 
blowing, make sure Huang Gai (and Zhou Yu) survive to initiate the fire 
attack, then move to counterattack Cao Cao's forces.

No matter where you start, your initial goal should be to take out the 
general smack dab in the middle of your fleet. In this case it's Xiahou 
Dun. This is important because he's guarding the very position Huang 
Gai needs to be in order to launch the fire attack. After he's gone 
it's decision time. You can head to the west and take on Xiahou Yuan, 
or go east and take on Xu Huang. Whichever direction you choose, the 
forces opposite of yours will push into your territory while you push 
into theirs for a game of musical boats. You might have to come back to 
assist if they are coming dangerously close to your leader.

You won't have to worry about getting 100 KO's this time, as the wind 
event takes place after a certain amount of time. When the cut scene of 
Zhuge Liang calling the wind appears, a cut scene of Zhou Yu being 
astonished will occur, Zhou Yu will instruct everyone to clear a path 
for Huang Gai, which, if you're reading this, you should have already 
done. If by chance you should return to that area, a cut scene will 
occur where your character covers Huang Gai. When Huang Gai reaches 
that position you will get a message saying that Huang Gai is in 
position. If you are playing as Huang Gai, you only need to get to that 
position after the wind blows, and once you get the in position message 
you can then leave the area. After that it's only a matter of time 
before the fire attack begins. Obviously, if Huang Gai is killed before 
this, the fire attack will not occur. Alternately, if Zhou Yu is 
killed, Huang Gai will withdraw from battle with the same results. But 
if you cleared out that area beforehand it shouldn't be a problem. Note 
that when the fire attack occurs, the layout of tbe boats on the map 
changes and Sun Quan's forces can assault Cao Cao directly from the 
front. This makes getting around a lot easier.

When you've reached either the northwest or northeast corners of the 
map, you have two basic options. You can continue moving to the 
opposite corner and clear out the gate captains along the way, then go 
south and help defeat the generals you missed. Or if the fire attack 
has occurred you can begin assaulting the closest general on the boats 
near Cao Cao's position. Zhang Liao is on the west side and Xu Zhu is 
on the east side. When the fire attack cut scene occurs, Cao Cao's 
morale with drop and Zhou Yu will give the instruction to "Move to 
counterattack!" and Sun Quan's forces will begin mobilizing to attack 
Cao Cao via the new boat connection formed in the attack. The fire 
makes it hard to tell the Wu soldiers from the Wei soldiers so keep 
your map zoomed in. If the fire attack is successful, another cut scene 
will occur where the Shu army sends a random general (Guan Yu, Zhang 
Fei, or Zhao Yun) and reinforcements from the northwest to help you. 
Hopefully you won't have to depend on them to win, but it's nice to 
know that Zhuge Liang cares. But like Zhou Yu says, "Everyone, do not 
become one of Shu's victories! This battle shall belong to 
Wuuuuuuuuuuu!" On a side note if Huang Gai encounters Zhang Liao after 
the fire attack, a cutscene will show Zhang Liao shooting Huang Gai 
with an arrow, knocking him into the water. This will eliminate him 
from the battle, so if you don't want to lose Huang Gai be sure to take 
out Zhang Liao before he reaches him.

As the battle progresses, depending on his morale Cao Cao may start 
retreating to the north camp. If he gets there you might have problems 
with all those archer towers and gates, unless you took care of them 
already. Also reinforcements from the north will appear in a cut scene 
to back up Cao Cao. But if you've already defeated all of the other 
generals and the Cao Cao's navy is up in flames, it won't make much of 
a difference. 

Liu Bei's Forces:

This is pretty much the same as the Wu scenario, except you'll start by 
Zhuge Liang's altar in the southwest. Take out the nearby gate captain 
and proceed using the same strategies you used for Wu. The only major 
difference is that you won't have to clear out Huang Gai's area this 
time around. There is an exclusive cut scene that will occur when the 
wind blows, showing your character reacting to the summoned wind. Other 
than that, everything else is pretty much the same as the Wu scenario, 
except the cut scene featuring Shu reinforcements will not occur (you 
are the reinforcements).

Wei Forces:

Cao Cao tells you to head for Zhuge Liang's prayer altar to the 
southwest in the beginning of the battle, and that's a good idea. You 
won't find Zhuge Liang there, but if you manage to defeat Lu Meng 
nearby and go to the altar afterwards, a cut scene showing Zhuge Liang 
being overrun by troops will occur, effectively preventing the wind 
event from taking place. Special thanks goes to Ed Allen for that 
information.

If you're too slow getting to Lu Meng and the wind-summoning event 
occurs, it's time to switch to plan B and take out Huang Gai instead.
He should be running around near Zhou Yu's position, but if you can't 
find him then Zhou Yu will do since Huang Gai will withdraw if he's 
defeated. So you can use the same strategy you used in the last game. 
Drop everything you're doing and make a beeline for Huang Gai. 
Interestingly enough if you defeat Zhou Yu before the wind-summoning 
event occurs it will still show him in the cut scene. Once the fire 
attack has been prevented you've as good as won the battle, as the Wei 
navy will eventually crush the Wu forces with superior numbers. As long 
as you help out of course. Systematically crush every general and 
officer on the map, and then proceed onward towards the Sun leader.

-----------------------
The Battle at Tong Gate
-----------------------

Allied Forces:

This battle is a fun free for all with a small map and lots of generals 
to deal with. Ma Chao and his six generals are up against Cao Cao and 
his three generals. It may look like Cao Cao is seriously outnumbered 
on this one, but as Ma Chao said in the opening cut scene it's probably 
a trap, and he's right. And you get to lead the vanguard. Gee, thanks 
Ma Chao. Right out of the gate Ma Chao will begin attacking Cao Cao's 
troops with his officers Pang De and Ma Dai. It's your job to help back 
him up by engaging the Wei generals near Tong Gate. Xiahou Yuan is in 
the area, but Cao Hong and Cao Ren are the bigger threat. They both 
have a high amount of stamina and tend to double-team you, so be 
careful there. Eventually, Ma Chao will begin going after Cao Cao in a 
cut scene, followed by two of his generals. Shortly after, a second Wei 
force led by Xu Huang will lead a rear attack coming from the valley 
north of Tong Gate. Ma Chao, realizing the situation, will order the 
remaining generals to deal with this threat from behind. Hopefully by 
this time you'll already have defeated all of the generals by Tong 
Gate. If not, you may have to break from combat and go back to help out 
the generals with this rear assault.

If Pang De and Ma Dai are killed and Cao Cao encounters Han Sui, a cut 
scene will occur in which Cao Cao tries to negotiate with him. This 
causes Han Sui's morale to drop. If this occurs, Han Sui will defect to 
Cao Cao's side after a while. If you have been diligent in defeating 
enemy generals when the opportunity presents itself, this shouldn't be 
any problem. 

Cao Cao's Forces:

This scenario is even more fun than the first. Ma Chao has little 
chance of winning without you to back him up, but you're still going to 
have to work for this one. You'll start near the entrance of Tong Gate 
right in the vanguard (are you cannon fodder or what?). You should 
ignore Ma Chao for now and worry about his two officers. Ma Dai and 
Pang De are as tough as Cao Hong and Cao Ren were in the last scenario. 
Take out his officers, and then proceed inside Tong Gate. Fighting six 
generals at once (five if you ignore Han Sui) might seem rather 
intimidating, but compared to Ma Chao's officers these guys are about 
as tough as wet toilet paper. When Xu Huang joins the party from the 
north, you'll have Ma Chao's allies caught in a wicked pincher attack. 
Drive them together into the fields and crush them like the proverbial 
insects they are. The Han Sui defection event can occur in this 
scenario, but since it doesn't really matter one way or the other (or 
if you're impatient like me), feel free to put him out of his misery, 
even if he is an old friend of Cao Cao.

-------------------
Assault on Cheng Du
-------------------

Liu Bei's Forces:

You'll start this battle off in a cotton field, which looks a lot more 
like a dark scary forest to me. As the opening cut scene shows, your 
character can get lost in this place easily. The lack of a map, not to 
mention rock soundtrack, can be disconcerting for some. Fortunately, 
the start map still works so you can use that to get your bearings. 
There are three routes to Liu Zhang and they're all pretty much the 
same in terms of resistance. One thing to keep an eye on during this 
battle is Pang Tong, who will take the bottom route. As soon as he 
enters the valley a cut scene will occur, shortly after which he will 
be ambushed by enemy troops. If you don't go to help him he will die in 
another cut scene. If you do manage to save Pang Tong, and he survives 
the battle, he will be unlocked as a playable character. After bailing 
out Pang Tong, go after the remaining generals and mop up whatever 
resistance is left. If all of Liu Zhang's generals are killed and he 
encounters Liu Bei, he will automatically surrender in a cut scene, 
ending the battle.

Liu Zhang's Forces:

There isn't really much to say about this one. Go kill Zhao Yun. Go 
kill Pang Tong. Go kill Liu Bei. None of them are any real threat, and 
since they all tend to take different routes they can't really help 
each other. There are a lot of archers in the woods, and without the 
map it might be hard to tell where they are, but other than that you 
don't much to worry about here.

--------------------
The Battle at He Fei
--------------------

Wu Forces:

This classic battle has received a major makeover in the sequel. It is 
also much more complex in terms of areas and events. The battlefield is 
comprised of five major areas: northwest, northeast, center, southwest, 
and southeast. Before we talk about the battle let's look at these 
areas in detail.

Northwest Area: Here lies Cao Cao's base camp. From here are paths to 
the northeast area, center area, and southwest area. Cao Cao waits 
outside of his camp's main gate, and guarding him nearby is Xu Zhu. If 
you can get the Sun leader inside of Cao Cao's base camp it will count 
as an alternate victory condition for Wu.

Northeast Area: This area has paths leading to the northwest area and 
center area. Lu Xun and several Wu officers will be fighting two Wei 
generals (including Zhen Ji as an officer) in this area. There are also 
dozens of crossbowmen on both sides in this area, making this a rather 
dangerous area to fight in.

Center Area: This is a small village and is the central hub of the 
battlefield with roads leading to all of the other areas. Taishi Ci 
starts here, as does the Sun leader. Because of its strategic 
importance this area will be highly contested by both sides throughout 
the battlefield. The infamous Zhang Liao also begins here, and will be 
joined shortly by Xu Huang from the northwest.

Southwest Area: Lu Meng starts off here and will be in serious jeopardy 
as there is also a large Wei force in the vicinity as well. Not to 
mention a platoon of crossbowmen. The Wei forces here comprise of 
Xiahou Dun and another general. Paths from this area lead to the 
northwest area or center area.

Southeast Area: This is the Wu staging area and has only one path to 
the center area. In the corner there are several gate captains and a 
legion of Wu crossbowmen. Strangely enough, no matter how many times 
I've fought this battle, this area never comes into play. The Sun 
leader never goes into the area (only to the area north of there) and 
the gates have no bearing on the outcome of this battle. Not only that, 
but there's a Wu general guarding there to boot. The only reason you 
would want to go into this area is to kill the gate captains for 
defense up bonuses, but the number of crossbowmen guarding the area 
makes it more trouble than it's worth. 

Now that we've got the description of the battlefield out of the way, 
let's get to the battle strategy. Chances are you'll start in the 
center area in the middle of it all, unless you're Lu Xun or Lu Meng in 
which case you'll start in your respected area. Unless you're trying to 
unlock Sun Quan, the first thing you should do is eliminate Zhang Liao. 
If you're Lu Xun or Lu Meng you should concentrate on clearing your 
area of all generals and gate captains before heading to the center. If 
Zhang Liao is not killed within a certain time, a cut scene will occur 
in which Taishi Ci is killed. When this occurs the Sun leader will 
begin to retreat to the broken bridge to the southeast. He should be 
safe there for the time being, but if you really want to be safe (and 
unlock Sun Quan) go next to him and another cut scene will occur with 
the two of you leaping over the broken bridge. Once this takes place, a 
message telling you that Zhang Liao has left the central defenses will 
appear, followed by another cut scene where Zhang Liao starts attacking 
the Sun leader. He teleports there instantly with a large Wei force so 
be sure to be nearby when it happens. Go ahead and take him out. After 
Zhang Liao's reign of terror ends, the Sun leader will start mobilizing 
for a counterattack in another cut scene (stay by him to initiate it). 
All of these events are necessary to unlock Sun Quan. Unfortunately, 
this also means that you have to baby sit him during most of the 
battle, during which Lu Xun, Lu Meng, or both have probably already 
given up the ghost. If they're still alive by all means go and help 
them, but chances are they will kick the bucket by the time you get to 
their locations. By this time most of your generals will be dead, so 
you will need to play catch up right away. Start the slow and painful 
process of clearing out the outlying Wei generals one by one in the 
southwest, center, and northeast areas. Wei reinforcements will arrive 
to the northeast and southwest in a cut scene. Things might seem grim, 
but don't despair. Eventually Gan Ning will arrive in a cut scene and 
attack Cao Cao's position. The Wu forces will slowly approach the 
northwest area, but sometimes they will just sit back on the hill while 
you do all the work. This can be frustrating if you're trying to get 
the Sun leader into the camp. One way I've found is to bait Cao Cao 
into chasing you, then lead him all the way back to the Sun leader. The 
Sun leader will start chasing after Cao Cao, upon which you can bait 
back into the camp. It's hard to do sometimes, but it may be the only 
way to get the Sun leader into camp when the Wu army insists on camping 
out on the hillside.

Ed Allen reports that it's a common misconception that you need to get 
Cao Cao to retreat in order to unlock Sun Quan in this battle. 
According to him you only need to get all of the other requirements and 
he should be unlocked. Andrew Kieschnick writes in to confirm that Cao 
Cao does not need to retreat in order to unlock Sun Quan.

If you're not interested in unlocking Sun Quan or have already done so, 
the battle strategy becomes much more simpler. Take out Zhang Liao as 
soon as possible. Having Taishi Ci for the battle makes things a bit 
easier. Next clear out all the Wei generals in the center area. After 
that's done, head either to the northeast or southwest area and help 
out the generals there, depending on whom you feel is in worse trouble. 
Next go to the opposite corner and do the same thing. If you like, you 
can try a "Gan Ning raid" by heading to the next area via the northwest 
rather than center route. Take out Xu Zhu as fast as possible and 
bloody Cao Cao's nose a bit before heading to the next area. After the 
northeast and southwest areas have been cleared, head to the northwest 
for the final assault. Wei reinforcements will arrive, but so will Gan 
Ning.

Wei Forces:

This battle is pretty much the same for the Wei forces. Help Zhang Liao 
clear out the center of all Wu opposition, then pick a corner and go 
assist the forces there. Move to the opposite corner and repeat, then 
head to the southeast area to finish off the Sun leader. There are a 
lot of crossbowmen covering the area so approach with caution. Gan 
Ning's ambush will occur at around this time, but unless you get a help 
request message from HQ, you don't have to worry too much about it. If 
you want to get the Power Scroll he's carrying (or are bloodthirsty 
like I am), hang around the center area until he appears, then go to 
him and show him exactly who you are.

------------------------
The Battle at Fan Castle
------------------------

Shu Forces:

This is the most difficult of the three scenarios at Fan Castle. You'll 
be facing not only the Wei army in this one, but the Wu army as well. 
Not to mention that you won't be receiving any backup either. It's 
basically another version of Guan Yu's escape, except that if you're 
not Guan Yu you won't be getting any help from him at all. It's just 
you and a sea of red and blue (soldiers that is).

Okay. Now that I've told you how harsh this battle is let's get 
started. You'll be positioned somewhere to the east of the castle and 
will have to hack your way across the perimeter to the south 
fortification in order to get to Sima Yi. Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping 
are here too, but they won't move from the castle walls during the 
battle because of the impending flooding of the castle. So they send 
you down there to bait the enemy instead (gee, thanks Guan Yu). You 
will be facing hundreds of soldiers down there with no backup so take 
it easy and move with caution. The rain will make visibility very 
limited so make good use of your radar. If you encounter Pang De a cut 
scene will occur ("So you can advance in the rain. How about when it's 
raining arrows?"), and several groups of archers will appear near your 
position. Fun. If you survive that you'll most likely encounter turban 
boy (a.k.a. Xu Huang) running around there. 

At around this time you will most likely get a message that water is 
about to flood into the castle. This cut scene will occur the moment 
you set foot on higher ground. The good news is that this will 
instantly kill everyone on the lower level. The bad news is this 
includes your bodyguards, so make sure as many of them are on high 
ground as possible before you initiate the event, as you're going to 
need all the help you can get. After water floods the castle the layout 
of the center map will change as you will have to walk on the rooftops 
due to the flooding. Shortly after the flood event Lu Meng and the Wu 
army arrive to attack Guan Yu in a cut scene. At this point Wu troops 
begin flooding the castle from every direction, making for some 
colorful chaos as troops from both sides engage you. Guan Ping is 
probably going to be quickly overwhelmed by the Wu reinforcements, but 
there's not much you can do about it, so concentrate on taking out Sima 
Yi as quickly as possible before Guan Yu gets in trouble. Lu Xun 
arrives near Sima Yi's position, but he's not much of a threat. Lu Meng 
and Gan Ning may or may not start heading in your direction depending 
on the situation, but if you're fast enough in engaging Sima Yi, 
chances are they won't make it in time to assist him. Take out the 
enemy groups one at a time as you slowly work your way to Sima Yi's 
position, and be sure to secure the gate behind him to make things a 
bit easier once you do engage him. 

Wei Forces:

This scenario is much easier than the Shu one. In fact, if you're good 
you can even take care of Guan Yu before castle even floods or the Wu 
reinforcements arrive. You'll start off near Guan Ping's position to 
the east. Your ally Pang De will stay put at his position throughout 
the battle, meaning he will definitely be killed when the flood starts. 
First off begin the battle by heading towards the castle battlements to 
engage Guan Ping's forces. While you're fighting up the stairs you will 
encounter several groups of crossbowmen that can be hard to see in the 
rain, so be careful. Head south along the wall and wipe Guan Ping off 
the map. Then go north to the corner and head west towards Guan Yu, 
systematically taking out the pitiful Shu forces along the way. As you 
might expect Guan Yu is a bit tougher than his son was. Fortunately, 
he's also quite a distance away from the gate captain so you won't have 
to worry about that. A special cut scene will occur if Xu Huang 
encounters Guan Yu. All's fair in flood and war. Interestingly enough, 
Guan Yu will make short work out of any Wei troops in the vicinity, so 
if you're using them as cannon fodder you'll need to work fast. After 
defeating Guan Yu a final cut scene will occur. "In death my soul will 
be (with) my brethren." 

Wu Forces:

This scenario is exactly the same as the Wei scenario. Despite arriving 
with Lu Meng in the opening cut scene, you won't start with any allies 
from Wu. The Wu troops will still take their sweet time arriving in 
battle. Not that you'll need it. You can pretty much follow the same 
strategy you used in the Wei scenario. For fun, try playing this 
scenario using Guan Yu and watch his reaction in the opening scene.

--------------------------
The Battle of Mt. Ding Jun
--------------------------

Shu Forces:

This is an interesting level in terms of design. The battle takes place 
on a mountainside with the Shu forces at the top attacking the Wei 
forces at the bottom. You'll start at the top of the mountain leading 
the assault down the center path with Huang Zhong backing you up. Zhang 
Fei will take the adjacent path down. The center path is covered archer 
towers as well as spike barricades that can do some serious damage to 
you. Horses will also rear up and throw you if you encounter the spikes 
on horseback. It's amusing to watch everyone getting bounced around on 
the spikes as you descend. But I digress. The opposition consists of 
Xiahou Yuan who is coming up the center path, and Zhang He who is 
coming up the adjacent path to engage Zhang Fei. If you're not feeling 
sure of yourself you can always take the safer path with Zhang Fei, but 
that wouldn't be any fun now would it? 

When Huang Zhong comes to the top of the mountain a cut scene of him 
firing an arrow at Xiahou Yuan will occur. This will greatly increase 
Huang Zhong's morale and decrease Xiahou Yuan's morale. When Huang 
Zhong comes down the mountain to engage Xiahou Yuan another cut scene 
will take place. Defeating Xiahou Yuan brings yet another cut scene of 
his demise. After you reach the bottom go ahead and help out Zhang Fei 
by taking out Zhang He around the corner. After that's done you can 
approach Cao Cao in two ways. You can charge down the middle facing 
more spike barricades and archers. Or you can take the stealthy 
approach and take one of the side paths. The choice of approach is up 
to you, but before you fight Cao Cao try to secure the gate directly 
behind him to make things easier on yourself.

Wei Forces:

You'll be fighting an uphill battle on this one literally. This 
scenario is the same as the Shu scenario except you're going up instead 
of down. The bad news is that going uphill slows you down considerably, 
making you an easy target for archers. The good news is that you can 
use the spike barricades to your advantage since they're facing the Shu 
army instead of you. You can choose either to go with Xiahou Yuan up 
the center or go with Zhang He on the side path. Whichever you choose 
go and help take out the other general after you've finished with 
yours. The winding path to Liu Bei from the center is covered with lots 
of crossbowmen so approach with caution. Reinforcements led by Zhao Yun 
appear as you're fighting Liu Bei, but they're too far away to make any 
difference. Take out the gate captain and finish Liu Bei off.

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The Battle at Yi Ling
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Shu Forces:

This battle can be relatively tough or a complete nightmare, depending 
on whether or not you can stop the fire attack from taking place. 
You'll begin in the center of the battlefield. Liu Bei is camped out in 
a nearby fort, while the Shu generals are positioned in various places. 
Huang Zhong is to the west facing off against Sun Shang Xiang. Ma Chao 
is to the southeast facing Gan Ning. And Wei Yian is to the east up 
against Lu Meng. Zhao Yun is nearby, but he doesn't have any major 
match ups so he'll attack anyone conveniently in range. Sun Quan is in 
a heavily fortified position in the northeast guarded by Lu Xun, but it 
would be suicidal to go there until all the other Wu generals are 
defeated. It doesn't matter which general you go after in the beginning 
as long as you stay near Liu Bei's position. More specifically, the 
valley west of Liu Bei's position. I would recommend going after Lu 
Meng first since he's the closest. Lu Meng has considerable stamina in 
this battle (as do Gan Ning and Lu Xun) so it might take you quite a 
while to defeat him. When you do defeat him, head straight for the 
valley I mentioned earlier without stopping to take any coffee breaks.

When you get a cut scene of Lu Xun surveying the Shu camp, drop 
whatever you are doing and get to the valley as soon as possible. If 
you're already heading there by the time you get the cut scene you have 
a good chance of stopping the fire attack from taking place. If not 
chances are that unless you are very close to the valley you won't be 
able to prevent it in time. After the cut scene occurs, Zhu Ran will 
appear in the valley and make a beeline towards Liu Bei's camp. If he 
gets out of the valley the fire attack cut scene will occur, and Liu 
Bei's encampment will go up in flames. This reduces the morale of all 
of your generals and officers and greatly increases the difficulty of 
the level. This will also cause Liu Bei to retreat into the southwest 
corner of the map. If you manage to take out Zhu Ran before he leaves 
the valley the fire attack will be prevented, and you can breathe a 
sigh of relief. If you've prevented the attack you can proceed at will 
to engage the other Wu generals (other than Lu Xun). If the attack 
takes place, it becomes even more imperative that you eliminate the 
generals as soon as possible, or the morale loss will seriously affect 
your generals' ability to fight. Note that if you're playing as Zhuge 
Liang this cut scene will not take place, so keep an eye on the valley 
for a red blip and get there immediately to intercept Zhu Ran.

Since you're probably near the valley I mentioned earlier, you'll be 
nearby Sun Shang Xiang position so go take her out first. She's 
surprisingly easy to defeat compared to the nearby gate captain, who is 
considerably tougher for some unknown reason. After that circle around 
the shipyards to the north and take down any generals in that area, 
before heading to Ma Chao's position in the southeast (if he's in 
trouble you may want to head there first). Gan Ning is considerably 
stronger than he was at He Fei, and chances are his two officers will 
try to triple team you. During this time a Wu ambush party will appear 
to the southwest, but if you've already prevented the fire attack they 
will be ambushing thin air. Amusingly they will start heading east into 
the stone warrior formation, where they will be cut to pieces by the 
soon to be arriving Shu ambush party waiting there.

When all the Wu generals other that Lu Xun are taken care of, it's time 
to head northeast for the final push towards the Sun leader. Hopefully 
around this time Liu Bei will get a report of Shu's success and begin 
mobilizing his troops for the assault. If not, you're in for a long 
battle. The Wu encampment is in an excellent defensive position with 
only a small bridge connecting it to the south, large amounts of troops 
guarding it, and dozens of crossbowmen providing cover fire. Not to 
mention Lu Xun guarding the bridge. Like Lu Meng and Gan Ning he's 
received a tremendous stamina boost and will take a considerable amount 
of time to take down. Once he's out of the way you'll probably want to 
take out the nearest gate captain, as the gates here have an unpleasant 
tendency to bring out even more crossbowmen. After that you'll run into 
the Sun leader, surrounded by even more crossbowmen. You won't have 
much success fighting him unless they're out of the way so take them 
out as soon as possible. You might have to secure the gate behind him 
as well, lest they bring out even more crossbowmen.

Wu Forces:

This scenario is so much easier than the Shu scenario. The battle is 
pretty much the same, except the Shu generals are much more easier to 
kill than their Wu counterparts, and Liu Bei starts in the fortified 
camp to the southwest instead of at the center. Just be sure to take 
out Zhang Bao who is hanging around the valley where Zhu Ran will 
appear. Once that is taken care of there is very little to worry about 
on this one. The fire attack will affect morale so much that the Wu 
generals will most likely take out some generals all by themselves. 
Which isn't to say that you should help them. I like to start with 
Huang Zhong since he's west of the val