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. --------------------- The Battle at Yi Ling --------------------- 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