**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** Kessen II walkthrough AUTHOR: Squarefairy E-MAIL: saturnine13@hotmail.com CREATION DATE: 10/01/02 (October 1, 2002) LAST UPDATED: 09/01/03 (September 1, 2003) VERSION: 1.80 COMPLETION STATUS: At Battle of Tian Shui, Cao Cao's campaign LOCATION: http://www.yueying.net/kessen/walkthrough.txt **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. LIU BEI'S CAMPAIGN 1. The Battle of Xu 2. The Battle of Ru Nan 3. Battle of Bo Wan Po 4. Battle at Chang Ban Po 5. Showdown at Chi Bi 6. Siege of Cheng Du 7. (a) Battle of Fan Zheng (b) Battle at Mt. Dinjun (c) Southern Campaign 8. The Battle of Tian Shui 9. (a) Race at Wei Xing (b) Campaign Against Xi (c) Defense of Chen Cang 10. Battle at Wu Chang 11. Wei-Shu Conflict 12. The Battle of East Lau III. CAO CAO'S CAMPAIGN 1. The Battle of Xu 2. The Battle of Ru Nan 3. Battle of Bo Wan Po 4. Battle at Chang Ban Po 5. Showdown at Chi Bi 6. Battle at Tong Gate 7. (a) Battle of Fan Zheng (b) Battle at Mt. Dinjun (c) Campaign Against Xi 8. The Battle of Tian Shui **More Stages To Come*** IV. ADVICE, HINTS, & TIPS V. CLOSING WORDS ABSTRACT Kessen II is a strategy game for the Playstation 2. This walkthrough attempts to provide strategies and tactics for every battle in the game. This guide was created to supplement existing Kessen II FAQs which lack a stage-by-stage walkthrough of the entire game. WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE +Strategies for each battle in the game +Randomly inserted bits of advice and humor from the writer WHAT YOU WILL *NOT* FIND HERE -Officer statistics -Ability, formation and magic lists -Gameshark or Replay codes HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE This guide is made up of three principal parts: the walkthrough for Liu Bei's campaign, the walkthrough for Cao Cao's campaign, and a section at the end with general advice and tips. Though this guide may be used as a guide for the entire game, I suspect most players will prefer to look up advice for one or two specific stages they are having difficulty with. In that case, use your browser's Search or Find feature to find the battle you need help on. In Internet Explorer, press the Ctrl and F keys at the same time to open up the Search box. A note on my shorthand: three asterisks (***) mean that the policy or strategy beside it is, in my opinion, the best choice. A plus (+) or (-) sign indicates a unit that leaves or joins either you or the enemy. In certain battles officers will join your army, and the enemy may recieve reinforcements. Some units even leave one side and switch to the other. (those units are listed in both the Allies and Enemies list.) Officers may also join or leave before or after battle. COPYRIGHT Kessen II is copyright 2001 KOEI Co., Ltd. This walkthrough is copyright Squarefairy and may NOT be used, in whole or in part, on any website without permission from the author. This guide may be printed for personal use. If you notice any errors, misspellings or mistakes in this walkthrough, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at and tell me. Also, if you have alternative strategies for any of the stages (especially Chi Bi), I am interested in hearing them and might put them in this walkthrough. *------------------------------------------------------------------------* | Please note that this guide was written based on the Beginner and | | Normal Modes of the game. Expert Mode is different: there are more | | enemy units, and everything is just a lot harder. In the future, I | | may note Expert Mode differences for each battle. | *------------------------------------------------------------------------* **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** LIU BEI'S CAMPAIGN **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** 1. THE BATTLE OF XU....................................................... ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: +Xiahou Yuan Guan Yu Yue Jin Zhang Fei Li Dian +Zhao Yun +Himiko VICTORY/ Xiahou Yuan takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Send Liu Bei to destroy the enemy depot. 2. Find and defeat Li Dian and Yue Jin. 3. Zhao Yun will arrive and join your army. 4. Himiko will show up when Li Dian and Yue Jin are defeated; gang up on Himiko with Guan Yu and Liu Bei. 5. Xiahou Yuan will show up; defeat him with Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei. You could win this battle in your sleep (I've done it before myself, in fact.). If you're playing for the first time, you'll have to put up with Mei Sanniang's constant tutorial interruptions. You can skip them, if you'd like, by pressing START. I wouldn't recommend it if this is your first time playing the game, though. So, you'll start with Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei spread out at the bottom of the map. Send Liu Bei to destroy the enemy supply depot in the top right corner of the map, and have Zhang Fei and Guan Yu sweep north from their initial positions to find Yue Jin and Li Dian. Fight and beat them. Once Liu Bei's unit is done burning the depot, send him to help Guan Yu with Li Dian. Zhao Yun will make his fantastically lame entrance a few minutes into the battle, probably right around the time you've finished with Yue Jin and Li Dian. Send him to Zhang Fei's position and wait (or have him help finish Yue Jin, if he's not yet been defeated.). Himiko will apear once you've defeated both Li Dian and Yue Jin. She'll arrive on the east edge of the map. Attack her with Liu Bei and Guan Yu. Once Himiko is gone, Xiahou Yuan will show up on the west edge of the map, which is where Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun should be waiting. Pounce on him. Use Zhao Yun's Raid and Luo Luo's Volley abilities early in the battle, then sit back and wait for Xiahou Yuan to run like a sissy. POSTBATTLE +After the battle, Guan Yu's son, Guan Ping, will join your army. 2. THE BATTLE OF RU NAN................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Guan Yu - Train troops (2 random generals' stats will increase) Zhang Fei- Kill man eating tiger (Zhang Fei's Fame+10, unit +1000 troops) Mei Sanniang - Recruit troops (troops +6, all units +600 troops) *** #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Fei - Zhang Fei's unit to delay enemy Zhao Yun - Zhao Yun's unit to delay enemy *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Xun Yu Guan Yu Yue Jin Zhang Fei Guo Jia Zhao Yun Li Dian +Zhou Cang +Cheng Yu VICTORY/ Xun Yu takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Send either Zhang Fei or Zhao Yun to guard the western mountain pass. 2. Advance the other units over the southeastern bridge and wait. 3. Allow the enemy units to attack. Defeat them. 4. Do NOT allow any enemy units to attack your supply depot. 5. Zhou Cang will arrive as reinforcement a few minutes into the battle. 6. When all other enemies are gone, gang up on Xun Yu and defeat her. You'll start out with either Zhang Fei or Zhao Yun on the west side of the map, with everyone else near the southeast bridge. I'll assume you chose to have Zhao Yun delay the enemy. Have everyone proceed to their target positions and wait. Cheng Yu's unit will arrive as reinforcements for the enemy at the beginning of the battle. The enemy will break into two; most of the units will cross the northeast bridge, while Li Dian (and sometimes Guo Jia) will try to come through the western mountain pass. Keep an eye on Zhao Yun: he can take care of himself against one unit just fine, but if Guo Jia also decides to take the western pass you might be in trouble. Keep a close eye on him. It is best to let the enemy on the east side of the map cross the north- east bridge before attacking, that way you can gang up on them. Zhou Cang will arrive a few minutes into the battle, which will raise Zhao Yun's morale. Zhou Cang is pretty weak, so don't let him fight anyone by himself. There aren't any tricks or surprises in this battle, so just use your abilities as often as you can, surround the enemy and kill 'em off one by one. If Zhao Yun gets in trouble, have him retreat to the depot. The enemy will follow him, but by the time you get to the depot you can turn around, attack the enemy again and use Zhao Yun's Raid ability, which should have recharged in the meantime. That will turn the tide in your favor. If not, well, it's not the end of the world if Zhao Yun flees. Once all of the baddies on the eastern side of the map are taken care of, gang up on Xun Yu, who will either have crossed the northeast bridge or may have stayed in her initial position, in which case you'll have to go to her instead. If possible, fight her on the bridge. You won't be able to use several of your abilities, but she won't be able to use her magic, either. 3. BATTLE OF BO WAN PO.................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Guan Yu - Assist in land development (supplies +8, morale +4) Zhang Fei - Train troops (2 random generals' stats will increase) Zhao Yun - Recruit troops (troops +7, all units +700 troops) *** #WAR COUNCIL Guan Yu - Set mines alone southern route Zhao Yun - Dig pits along center route *** Zhuge Liang - Set rockslide on northern route ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Ren Guan Yu Yue Jin Zhang Fei Li Dian Zhao Yun Xiahou Dun Zhuge Liang +Yu Jin VICTORY/ The entire enemy army takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. The enemy reaches the staging area. PREBATTLE +Zhuge Liang will join you. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Zhang Fei's unit will charge the enemy. 2. Have Zhang Fei retreat to the center route. 3. Lure Xiahou Dun into the pit trap in the center. Attack him with Liu Bei in front and Zhang Fei from behind. 4. Fend off Yue Jin to the south and Li Dian to the north. 5. Have Guan Yu circle around and attack Cao Ren from the rear, while Zhang Fei or Liu Bei attack from the front. 6. Send Zhao Yun to help Zhuge Liang fight off Yu Jin. For this strategy, I'll assume you chose the plan to dig pits along the center route. No matter what strategy you choose, Zhang Fei will ignore it and get himself caught in an ambush in front of Cao Ren on the east end of the map. Blarg. Oh well. Immediately have Zhang Fei retreat to the center route. Cao Ren will pursue, but just ignore him. Meanwhile, Liu Bei will be luring Xiahou Dun into the pits. Once the trap has been activated, squish Xiahou Dun between Liu Bei and Zhang Fei's units. That takes care of him. You'll have to worry about Zhang Fei being attacked from the rear by Cao Ren, but not much can be done about that. Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu will be busy fighting Li Dian to the north and Yue Jin to the south. Guan Yu should be fine, but Zhuge Liang has gotten himself whalloped in the several times I played this stage. If his morale gets around 50 or so (half of the bar), have him retreat into the forest and send Zhao Yun to his rescue. Now, once Xiahou Dun, Yue Jin and Li Dian are gone, that leaves Cao Ren in the center and Yu Jin, who's probably taken the northern route. Have Guan Yu circle around the southern mountains to attack Cao Ren from the rear. If Zhang Fei is still alive and hurting, let him retreat and have Liu Bei take his place in the pass. You'll need to do a lot of annoying maneuvering in order to do it, since the same is so fussy. When Cao Ren's gone, concentrate on Yu Jin. Try to attack him from behind. That's all there is to this battle. 4. BATTLE AT CHANG BAN PO................................................. #STRATEGY SESSION Zhuge Liang - Intercept enemy supplies (supplies +4, Cao Cao's morale -5) Guan Yu - Kill man eating tiger (Guan Yu's fame +10 & unit +1000 troops) Zhang Fei - Train troops (4 random generals' stats will increase) #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Fei - Retreat via western bridge Guan Yu - Retreat through central valley Li Li - Retreat through eastern woods *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Cao Guan Yu Can Ren Zhang Fei Yu Jin Li Li Himiko +Zhuge Liang Dian Wei +Mei Sanniang Hu Zhi Zhang Liao Xun Yu Xiahou Ba Xiahou Dun VICTORY/ Liu Bei reaches the staging point. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE -Zhao Yun will leave your army. Bastard. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Have Liu Bei retreat through the eastern woods. 2. Set up Guan Yu at the smallest point in the central valley. 3. Position Zhang Fei just south of the bridge. 4. Let Liu Bei run like hell while Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Li Li hold off Cao Cao's army. 5. Zhuge Liang and Mei Sanniang show up. Better late than never, I guess. 6. Send Zhuge Liang to help Guan Yu or Li Li. 7. Have Mei Sanniang and Liu Bei assault Himiko at the staging area. This battle is the most difficult one you've fought so far, but it's not as hard as Chi Bi, so take heart. First, choose Li Li's strategy in the war council, the one where you retreat by through the eastern woods. The second the battle starts, right after more of your soldiers defect, press the SQUARE button to go into the map screen and alter Zhang Fei and Guan Yu's mission objectives. Get Zhang Fei over the bridge he's guarding; Guan Yu should be placed at the narrowest point in the valley. These movements are necessary so that both units are in the best possible defensive position. At those specific points, Cao Cao's units will only be able to face you one at a time, which will make Zhang Fei and Guan Yu last much longer. It also helps if you switch your formations to Moon or some other strong defensive formation. Oh! And, as soon as the units are in position, TURN THEM AROUND so they face north. It is always better to meet an enemy head on, and if get attacked from behind your troops will get confused. You don't need any more disadvantages in this battle! If your troops do get confused, just press X repeatedly in officer view until the question marks disappear. Li Li should wait in ambush until Zhang Liao or Xiahou Dun set off the mines and walk right into Li Li's unit. If you're lucky, the unit that sets off the trap might get stuck in that tiny pass, trying to turn around and retreat but can't because Cao Cao's overeager troops are so close behind. This doesn't happen often, though. Don't bet on it. Now, with all that explained, the key to winning this battle is to hang on. Your focus is not on defeating the enemy, only on keeping them away from Liu Bei. So, use your abilities as soon and as often as possible. (Guan Yu should have Charge, Zhang Fei will have Raid, and Luo Luo will have Volley.) Keep your morale from dropping too quickly by using the gather and rush technique. If you've got a bit of luck and you play smart, you'll be able to get through this battle without losing any units. When Liu Bei nears the bridge, Zhuge Liang's unit will pop up. Mei Sanniang's will a few minutes later as well. Zhuge Liang you want to send to help either Guan Yu or Li Li (Li Li will probably be in the more dire situation at this point). Mei Sanniang will show up south of the bridge, which is perfect because you'll need her help to defeat Himiko, who is hanging around the staging area. While Liu Bei can defeat Himiko on his own, it's best to have Mei Sanniang help him so they can be done more quickly. The sooner Himiko is gone, the sooner the stage will end, and the more likely your poor battered units will have survived. What to do if Guan Yu, Li Li or Zhang Fei are defeated and enemies start pouring in? I'd reset, but that's because I'm a perfectionist. The best way to salvage such a situation is to have Zhuge Liang and Mei Sanniang stem the tide at the southern bridge, if the enemies come through there and if they happen to show up in time to help. If they come through on Zhang Fei's side, well, just hope you can defeat Himiko before they reach you. Not much else I can say. POSTBATTLE + Pang Tong and Huang Zhong join your army. 5. SHOWDOWN AT CHI BI..................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Zhuge Liang - Implicate Cai Mao of treachery (Cai Mao joins you) *** Zhou Yu - Train with allied troops (4 generals' stats increase) Sun Quan - Recruit troops (troops +8, all units +800 troops) #WAR COUNCIL Zhuge Liang - Set fire to enemy ships *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Cao Guan Yu Can Ren Gan Ning Yu Jin Sun Quan Himiko Zhou Yu Dian Wei +Cai Mao Hu Zhi +Sun Li Zhang Liao +Zhuge Liang Guo Jia Xiahou Ba Xiahou Dun VICTORY/ Cao Cao takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE Liu Bei allies with Sun Quan to fight off Cao Cao, which means you get to control Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and Gan Ning for this one battle. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Set up your troops in a line parallel to the coast. Cai Mao will show up as reinforcement if you chose to implicate him of treachery. 2. Wait. 3. Wait some more. 4. Watch the cutscenes. 5. Wait even longer... 6. Sun Li will suddenly decide she's in love with Liu Bei and join your troops. Position her in your line. 7. Cao Cao's troops appear. Brace yourself. 8. Fend off Cao Cao's troops as best you can, using abilities as often as possible. Skip from battle to battle to ensure no one gets in serious trouble. 9. About ten minutes after you start shrieking for Zhuge Liang to get off his butt and make the wind blow, he finally does so. 10.Cao Cao's morale drops and Zhuge Liang's unit appears to participate in the battle. Go on the offensive. 11.Surround the enemy units and take them out one by one. The sooner you take out Cao Cao, the sooner this stage ends. In my opinion, this is the most difficult battle in the game. It's given me more trouble than any other stage. *wince* Your only choice in the war council is to set fire to ships. You'll start out with all units positioned at the bottom of the map near the coast. If you decided to implicate Cai Mao of treachery, he'll show up to help you out in this battle, which is necessary since you'll need every unit you can get to hold off Cao Cao's troops. Set up your troops in a line across the bottom of the screen, parallel to the coast but not too close to it (so that units can maneuver behind it if they find it necessary to retreat.). The line doesn't have to be perfectly straight: in fact, if you stagger it a little, that might work better. 'Staggering' is when you place one unit forward, then place the next to the right and below. Here's a diagram; each O represents a unit: O O O O O O O Staggering makes it more difficult for units placed in the back row to be surrounded. Of course, the units in the front row can be more easily surrounded, so keep that in mind. Cai Mao and Sun Li are the two weakest units, so they should be in the back row. Liu Bei should be too, since if he retreats it's Game Over. Sun Li, by the way, will show up a little ways into the battle in a cutscene, probably around the time Cao Cao's troops start appearing in your field of vision. Gulp. The goal of the first half of this battle is to survive until Zhuge Liang summons the wind. If you want to keep all of your units alive so everyone gets experience, it's damn near impossible. (I make things too difficult for myself, don't I?) So, how to stay alive that long? Basically, all you can do is position your troops far away so that the enemy will take longer to get to you. Then, they'll have that much less time to spend pounding on you. Once they do get to you, you have to focus on not letting them surround you. That's hard, because they've got more units that you. However, if your units are sufficiently close to each other, that should hamper them, if even just a little. Every little bit helps. Don't bother being aggressive at this point in the battle: concentrate on defense. If they manage to surround you, your morale will drop faster than you can say "Oh crap". If you don't pay strict attention to morale in this battle, you could find yourself dead in no time. So, if they surround one of your units, have them retreat to a better defensive position, one that hopefully won't let the enemy surround you. Eventually, Zhuge Liang will summon the winds and burn the ships. Yay. But it's not over yet. You've taken a beating, so you won't be in much better shape than Cao Cao. Cao Cao's morale will fall and some enemy units will flee. Now is the time to go on the offensive. Surround the enemy and take each unit out one at a time. If possible, take out Cao Cao's first. Once he's gone, the stage is done. Your units can only fight one on one, but surrounding the enemy lowers their morale drastically and throws them into confusion. I would suggest that once you've set up your units in the line, save the game by going into the map screen and pressing SELECT. That way, if things go sour, you can try again without going through all of those cutscenes again. POSTBATTLE +Ma Su will join your army. 6. SIEGE OF CHENG DU...................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Pang Tong - Have troops cultivate land (supplies +9, morale +4) *** Mei Sanniang - Recruit troops (troops +8, all units +800 troops) Zhang Fei - Train troops (4 random generals' stats will increase) #WAR COUNCIL Guan Yu - Concentrate attack on east gate *** Pang Tong - Go around to far gates Mei Sanniang - Concentrate attack on north gate ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Liu Zhang Guan Yu Yan Yan Zhang Fei Zhang Ren Zhuge Liang Fa Zheng Sun Li Wu Yi +Ma Chao VICTORY/ Liu Zhang takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE Huang Yue Ying (Zhuge Liang's wife) will attach the slingshot ninjas, I mean the Hawk Troops, to Guan Yu's unit. Whoosh! Also, a cutscene of Zhao Yun will show Gan Ning from Dynasty Warriors 2 in the background. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei will go to the east gate and take an excessively long time knocking it down. 2. Guan Yu's unit goes to the northern hills and flies over the castle walls. Send him to help open either the north or east gate. 3. Ma Chao will appear near the supply depot and join your army. Send him and Sun Li to assault the northern gate. 4. Both gates eventually fall. Take out the units behind them. 5. Find Liu Zhang within the castle, if he hasn't already found you. Annihilate him. Walk in the park compared to Chi Bi. I always choose Guan Yu's strategy for this battle, since it's worked the best for me. If you choose Guan Yu's strategy, Zhang Fei, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang will head automatically for the east gate and attack it. Zhang Fei will reach it first, so set up Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei in support positions. This increases Zhang Fei's strength, and if you're lucky, your archer or bow squads in Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's units will attack Zhang Ren on the other side of the gate. While they're busy there, Guan Yu's unit will be racing across the top of the map to the hills so he can fly over the castle walls. Once inside, he might come face to face with Wu Yi's unit. If so, take out Wu Yi. If not, or after killing Wu Yi, go to either the north or east gate to help open it. I'd recommend the northern gate, since I've had more trouble there. Ma Chao will appear in the northeastern corner of the map to join your army. What a headress. Send him and Sun Li to the northern gate. Yan Yan and his goddamned archer unit will be there. He's a tough little bugger, so keep close tabs on this area of the map. Once the gate is open, have Ma Chao lure Yan Yan out of the gate so he and Sun Li can both attack him at once. So, once both gates and their guardian units are taken out, find the commander Liu Zhang. (Fa Zheng should also be hanging around somewhere, if you see him, make him retreat too so you get more experience.). Once you find Liu Zhang (or he finds you), take him out. POSTBATTLE +Liu Zhang's officer, Fa Zheng, will join your army. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Now the game will split into three paths. You will have to choose between three stages in order to proceed. Each stage has different cutscenes, and will allow you to recruit different characters. Listed below are the stages you have to choose from and what you get when you choose them. I recommend doing the Nanman stage: funny cutscenes, easy, and you get elephants. 7a. Fan Zheng (Guan Yu) - recruit Wei Yan 7b. Mt. Dinjun (Zhang Fei) - watch Zhang Fei dance 7c. Nanman (Mei Sanniang) - recruit Zhu Rong -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7a. BATTLE OF FAN ZHENG................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Huang Yue Ying - Deploy new weapon (Zhuge Liang gets Fire Castle unit)*** Guan Yu - Allow Sun Li to train (Sun Li +10 experience) Pang Tong - Spread rumors among enemy troops (Cao Cao's -10% troops) #WAR COUNCIL Guan Yu - Taunt enemy *** Pang Tong - Set up decoy supply compound Li Li - Search for enemy supply troops ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Ren Guan Yu Xiahou Dun Guan Ping Dian Wei Zhuge Liang Xu Huang Pang Tong +Pang De +Yu Jin VICTORY/ Cao Ren and Pang De take flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Guan Yu taunts Dian Wei. 2. Dian Wei leaves the gate. Attack and surround him with Pang Tong, Guan Yu and Guan Ping. 3. Enter south gate after defeating Dian Wei. 4. Attack west gate from the front and behind. Defeat Xiahou Dun. 5. Pang De and Yu Jin arrive as enemy reinforcement. 6. Find and defeat Xu Huang and Pang De. Send Guan Yu to fight Pang De to see a cool cutscene. 7. Find and defeat Cao Ren. Choose Guan Yu's strategy in the War Council. Pang Tong's has never worked for me, and Li Li's wasted too much time. Also, in the Strategy Session, choose either Deploy New Weapon or Spread Rumors. Both choices are good; Fire Castle kicks ass (though it can only be used in this stage), and reducing Cao Cao's enormous army is always a good idea. Choose whichever you feel is better. This is a siege battle. Your goal is to defeat Cao Ren and Pang De. Opening gates as well as destroying the enemy's transport/supply unit will lower enemy morale. So, you want to focus on opening the gates. Send Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang to open the west gate (don't worry about the supply depot, it will be safe). Guan Yu will taunt Dian Wei out of the south gate, then you pounce on him with Pang Tong, Guan Yu and Guan Ping's units. He'll be gone in no time. Then enter the gate and help out at the western gate. Xiahou Dun is usually there, though sometimes it's Cao Ren instead. Attack him from behind and from the front, and if you used Fire Castle, he should be defeated quickly. Pang De and Yu Jin will show up right about now. (I don't know about anyone else, but I find Yu Jin terribly amusing.) Pang De will come in through the west gate. Yu Jin sometimes does too, but once when I played this stage his unit never showed up on the map. Anyway, send Guan Yu to fight Pang De so you can see the cool cutscene. Meanwhile, because the interior of the castle will get awfully crowded, send Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei around to attack the north gate from the outside; Xu Huang and Cao Ren (if he wasn't at the other gate) will be there. Defeat them. Once Pang De is gone, send the other units to gang up on Cao Ren and finish him off. POSTBATTLE +Wei Yan joins your army. 7b. BATTLE AT MT. DINJUN.................................................. #STRATEGY SESSION Sun Li - Allow Ma Chao to train (Ma Chao +10 experience) Fa Zheng - Request attack by Sun Quan (Cao Cao's army loses some troops) Zhang Fei - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) *** #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Fei - Attack supply compound *** Fa Zheng - Split and advance Sun Li - Lay traps and defend ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Xun Yu Zhang Fei Xi Xuanfeng Sun Li Zhang He Zhuge Liang Xu Huang Huang Zhong +Sima Yi +Xiahou Ba VICTORY/ Xun Yu takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Li Li and Luo Luo are captured by Xun Yu. 2. Advance all units except Liu Bei towards the enemy depot. 3. Attack enemy units; send Sun Li around the fray to take care of the depot while the enemy is busy. 4. Xi Xuanfeng will attack Liu Bei from the upper left corner. 5. Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba will make a surprise attack if you chose Zhang Fei's strategy. 6. Once the enemy depot is gone, defeat Xun Yu to finish the stage. For taking this route, you don't get any characters, but you do get to see Zhang Fei parapara dance. The song is awesome. Wish it were on the soundtrack... *sigh* Anyway, choose Zhang Fei's strategy in the War Council. Fa Zheng's is a decent plan, but then you'll have to deal with Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba right at the start of the battle instead of waiting for their surprise attack. Usually surprise attacks aren't a good thing, but in this case it is because then Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba will be out of your way until the enemy supply depot is destroyed, and by then the battle should be yours. No matter what strategy you take, Li Li and Luo Luo will charge the enemy and get captured at the start of the battle. No big deal, really. So, Liu Bei stays at the supply depot while the rest of the units go towards the storehouse. Turn Liu Bei around so he faces the north: Xi Xuanfeng's unit will attack from the upper left corner. Her units' a pushover. Just use your special abilities early in the battle. They'll recharge mad fast so you can use them over and over again. Meanwhile, Zhang Fei and the other units will have met with Xu Huang and Zhang He. Have Huang Zhong, Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei keep them busy while Sun Li goes after the supply depot. Xun Yu isn't a very good at guarding the storehouse; she usually gets stuck behind Xu Huang's unit trying to attack Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang. Around the time the supply depot is destroyed, Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba will make their 'surprise' attack from the south eastern corner of the map. If the enemy supply depot is destroyed or being destroyed, it's nothing to worry about, since Xun Yu will be running in no time. Attack her from behind with Sun Li, and when Xu Huang and Zhang He are defeated (as they will be quite quickly once the depot is gone), have the other attacking units surround Xun Yu and squish her. Easy squeezy. 7c. SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN..................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Huang Yue Ying - Deploy new weapon (Zhuge Liang gets Wood Ox weapon) Mei Sanniang - Recruit troops (troops +8, all units +800 troops) Ma Chao - Hire local guide (no damage from poisonous swamps) *** #WAR COUNCIL Ma Chao - Set traps and wait in ambush *** Mei Sanniang - Destroy bridges and overrun middle ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: +Meng Huo Zhuge Liang +Zhu Rong Mei Sanniang Wu Tugu Ma Chao King Mulu King Duosi Zhang Ren (on normal difficulty) VICTORY/ Meng Huo takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Pounce on the enemy units as soon as they set off the traps. 2. Meng Huo and Zhu Rong show up. Enjoy the dance scene. 3. Find and defeat Meng Huo, and Zhu Rong if you feel like it. This battle's a piece of cake no matter which strategy you choose. I prefer Ma Chao's since then your units won't get bottlenecked in the mountain pass, but both strategies are good. This isn't a tough battle. I HIGHLY recommend that you take Ma Chao's advice and hire a local guide. If you do, you will take no damage from the poisonous swamps. There's no way to avoid going across them in this stage, and they hurt like hell. If you choose Ma Chao's strategy, your units will set themselves up to wait for the enemy at the beginning of the battle. Wait for them to set off the traps, then pounce. Watch Zhuge Liang's unit: he sometimes has a bit of trouble on his own. A few spells at the beginning of the fight can prevent that. Avoid fighting in the forest. I once got stuck in there and couldn't see the enemies well enough to cast magic on them. Once King Mulu, King Duosi and Wu Tugu are dead, a cutscene of Meng Huo and Zhu Rong will play. *snort* Anyway, their units will not come to you, so you'll have to go to them. Send Ma Chao and Zhuge Liang across the northwest bridge to fight Zhang Ren (if you're playing on Normal mode). Send Mei Sanniang and Liu Bei through the mountain pass to meet with Zhu Rong. With Zhu Rong and Zhang Ren defeated, you will find Meng Huo left of where Zhu Rong, south of the west bridge. Attack him from several sides and take him out. POSTBATTLE +Zhu Rong joins your army. 8. THE BATTLE OF TIAN SHUI................................................ #STRATEGY SESSION Huang Yue Ying - Research weapons (skill +10, units advance in class)*** Mei Sanniang - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) Pang Tong - Send out decoys (No idea what this does, I've seen no effect) #WAR COUNCIL Zhao Yun - Position on wings *** Fa Zheng - Position horsemen on left wing Pang Tong - Position bowmen in center ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Cao Zhuge Liang Xiahou Ba Mei Sanniang Zhang Liao Ma Chao Xun Yu Guan Yu Yu Jin Zhang Fei Hu Zhi Sun Li Sima Yi Zhao Yun Cao Ren +Jiang Wei Zhang He +Guo Shao VICTORY/ Cao Cao takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE +Zhao Yun rejoins your army. Whee!! BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Send Sun Li off to destroy the enemy supply depot pronto. 2. Set up your troops in a line to await the enemy's advance. 3. Fend off the enemies until Sun Li destroys the depot. When she has finished doing that, have her attack Cao Cao or help a friend in trouble. 4. Jiang Wei should arrive in his pretty pretty armor. Isn't he cute? Have his fresh unit attack Cao Cao. 5. Mop up the rest of the enemy units for experience, or take out Cao Cao now. Guo Shao's (enemy) unit may show up if you aren't fast. For this battle, choose Zhao Yun's strategy. That way, Sun Li is on the right flank so she can make her way to the enemy supply depot right off the bat. Their depot is located in the northeast corner of the map. No one's guarding it. Sun Li is the best to send since the other cavalry units are needed at the front lines. Have all units advance to a position not too far from the storehouse. Set them up in a line and wait. As soon as enemy Zhang Liao is sighted, he will use the Tiger Cannons, which will take a huge chunk out of either Guan Yu or Ma Chao's unit. Owies. Cao Cao's units will predictably come and attack you. Fend them off until their supply depot is destroyed. Things can get quite hairy if you're not attentive. Cao Cao's men are no pushovers, and they outnumber you. Keep morale high, and attempt to gang up on enemy units. Use your abilities early and often, especially Zhuge Liang's. Liu Bei should be right in the thick of things for this battle, there's no point in having him guard the storehouse if you set up your line properly so no enemies can waltz right through. Jiang Wei will arrive about 10 minutes into the battle, which will raise your morale. Send him and Sun Li (who should have found and destroyed the supply depot by now) to attack Cao Cao's units from behind. If you don't finish off Sima Yi or Cao Cao quickly enough, Guo Shao will arrive as enemy reinforcements, but he's not much to worry about. By now, most of the enemies should have retreated, so surround Cao Cao and send him back home crying. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The game will once again split into three paths. Listed below are the choices and what you will gain by choosing each. I recommend doing Wei Xing, 'cause the cutscene is priceless. If you're more interested in recruiting, then take Xi Province. 9a. Wei Xing (Guan Yu) - recruit Xu Shu & a great cutscene 9b. Xi Province (Sun Li) - recruit Cai Wengi and Ma Dai 9c. Chen Cang (Zhang Fei) - recruit Yan Yan -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9a. RACE AT WEI XING...................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Pang Tong - Persuade Xu Shu (Xu Shu defects during battle) *** Guan Yu - Recruit troops (troops +9, all units +900 troops) Jiang Wei - Feed enemy false information (enemy army reduced by 10%) #WAR COUNCIL Guan Yu - Lead enemy to eastern outpost *** Zhao Yun - Lead enemy to western outpost Pang Tong - Force enemy unit into retreat ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Zhang Liao Zhao Yun Cao Ren Pang Tong Xu Huang Guan Yu Yu Jin Zhuge Liang Dian Wei +Xu Shu Cao Hong Pang De -Xu Shu VICTORY/ Liu Bei reaches staging point. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Advance units to the western gate. 2. Xu Shu will defect when you spot his unit. 3. Fight Pang De and Xu Huang. 4. Attack the western gate. 5. Lure Zhang Liao from behind the gate and surround him. 6. Bottleneck the rest of the enemy units in the mountain pass. 7. Let Liu Bei sprint to the staging point. This is one of those rare stages where each strategy is just as good as the others. If you have no preference, take Guan Yu's strategy, it gave me the quickest victory. Allow your units to traverse the mountain path and make their merry way to the western gate. As soon as you spot Xu Shu's unit, he will defect to your side (he's in the open space between the hill/mountain in front of the western gate and the mountain pass in the center of the map). Xu Huang and Pang De should be hovering around nearby, in which case you will probably have to engage them. Level up Xu Shu's Magic Ability by using his spells right off. Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's units will be slipping through the far west road towards the gate. Zhuge Liang will reach the gate first and start battering it. Have Liu Bei nearby to support him. When the gate falls, Zhang Liao will be right there, and he will engage Zhuge Liang. You do not want to fight an Outpost battle (since you can't use any abilities), so lure Zhang Liao out by retreating. Wait until he traverses the gate, then have Liu Bei pounce on him. Then have Zhuge Liang turn around and help out. By this time, Pang De and Xu Huang should have been taken care of, so your other units are free to move about. If Guan Yu is still in good shape, send him to the eastern gate to attack Zhang Liao. The other units should form a semi-circle around the mouth of the mountain pass. The enemy, being dumb, will bottleneck himself by stuffing all of his forces into the pass. The units will, one by one, walk right into your semi-circle and you can beat them up, three or four-on-one. Zhang Liao isn't a pushover so he will take some time to beat, even when you've ganged up on him three to one. When he retreats, send Liu Bei to the staging point. There shouldn't be any enemy units left up there to bother him, but if you're worried about that, send Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang as an honor guard. Once Liu Bei reaches the staging point, the stage is over. 9b. CAMPAIGN AGAINST XI................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Sun Li - Purchase supplies (supplies +10, morale +5) Zhao Yun - Recruit troops (troops +9, all units +900 troops) Fa Zheng - Interfere with enemy supply lines (enemy morale -10) *** #WAR COUNCIL Zhuge Liang - Cast Mirage Ma Chao - Subvert Ma Dai *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cai Wengi (real) Zhuge Liang Cai Wengi (fake) Ma Chao Cai Wengi (fake) Sun Li Cai Wengi (fake) Zhao Yun Deng Ai +Ma Dai -Ma Dai VICTORY/ Cai Wengi takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Let Ma Chao recruit Ma Dai. 2. Attack Deng Ai with Ma Dai and Ma Chao's units. 3. Hang around the supply depot until the three fake Cai Wengi units attack. Defeat them. 4. The real Cai Wengi will arrive on the eastern edge of the battlefield. Defeat her. This battle is simple and straightforward. Choose Ma Chao's strategy in the War Council. Ma Dai will be recruited automatically at the beginning of the battle. Nice feathers. Let Ma Chao and Ma Dai beat Deng Ai, who will be right in that area. Meanwhile, have your other units take up defensive positions around the supply depot. Three fake Cai Wengi units will come from the west. Once they have been spotted, quickly engage them all at once, or they will attack your units with arrows, which is bad for morale. When Ma Chao and Ma Dai are done with D-D-Deng Ai, either send them to help finish off the fake Cai Wengi units or wait around the supply depot for the boss lady. Cai Wengi appears after a set time passes. You don't have to defeat all of the fake Cai Wengis (though I do for experience points). When the real one shows up (you'll know through a cutscene), wait for her to appear, then surround, attack and destroy. Watch out for her spells, she's one mean witch. POSTBATTLE +Cai Wengi joins your army. 9c. DEFENSE OF CHEN CANG.................................................. #STRATEGY SESSION Zhao Yun - Enlist Yan Yan (Yan Yan joins) *** Zhang Fei - Recruit troops (troops +9, all units +900 troops) Me Sanniang - Train troops (6 random generals' stats will increase) #WAR COUNCIL Zhuge Liang - Give appearance of larger army Jiang Wei - Fake Zhao Yun *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Sima Yi Zhuge Liang Xiahou Ba Mei Sanniang Xiahou Dun Zhang Fei Guo Shao Zhao Yun Zhang He VICTORY/ Sima Yi takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE Gargantua will be attached to Zhao Yun's unit. Smash smash! BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Liu Bei & Zhuge Liang will attack the west gate. Jiang Wei will go around to the east gate, Zhao Yun will head for the north gate, and Zhang Fei will attack the south gate. 2. Liu Bei will probably fell the west gate first. Lure out the unit behind it (Xiahou Ba, usually) and attack him two-on-one. If he doesn't take the bait, then attack him one-on-one and send Zhuge Liang to the north gate. 3. Jiang Wei will dress up like Zhao Yun and attack the east gate. Do not let him stay there long enough for Sima Yi to lower his morale with his damn arrows. When his morale gets low, send him to the south gate and stand by to recover morale. 4. Zhao Yun's unit will break through the north gate. Send him to help whoever needs aid. 5. Break through the south gate and defeat the unit guarding it. Find Sima Yi (should be at the west gate by now) and defeat him. In this battle, for once, you and the enemy have the same number of units. Yay! Unlike Wei Xing, neither strategy here works very well. I take Jiang Wei's because Zhuge Liang can't do anything by himself (really, his War Ability is so low, he always gets his butt kicked). I find this battle difficult to write about, since once you get inside the castle, your tactics depend on the location of the enemies. So I'll have to leave you on your own for a lot of this. Just be sure to have your units run from battles if they are in danger of losing, and once the castle is open, get all of your units inside and fighting ASAP. There's no sense in having them stand around and do nothing while other units are getting pummelled. Okay, so your units head to their stage objectives. Jiang Wei will go to the west gate and dress up like Zhao Yun. *snort* He'll attack the west gate, but he won't break through it because Sima Yi will be there pelting you with arrows. Jiang Wei's morale will drop faster than you can blink, so let him stay there long enough to distract Sima Yi, then run to the south gate and back up Zhang Fei. His morale will recover slowly while he's out of battle. The east gate should fall first. Try to lure Xiahou Ba out from behind it; if he doesn't take the bait, fight him with Liu Bei and send Zhuge Liang to the north gate, since he won't be of any use sitting around the east gate. Zhao Yun will break down the north gate with Gargantua. I'd send him to help Zhang Fei, so that he and Zhang Fei can get inside the castle more quickly. If you sent Zhuge Liang through the north gate, have him attack the unit guarding the east gate from behind. Every time I've played this stage, the enemy units crowd around the east gate after Jiang Wei leaves the west gate. So, as soon as you've broken into the castle from the north and south, get your units inside and find Sima Yi. Attack him, preferably with two or three units, and make him retreat to win this battle. 10. BATTLE OF WU CHANG.................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Pang Tong - Research weapons (skill increase, units advance in rank) Sun Li - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) *** Zhao Yun - Kill man eating tiger (Zhao Yun Fame +10, unit +1000 troops) #WAR COUNCIL No war council! You're on your own. ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Gan Ning Guan Yu Taishi Ci +Zhang Fei Lu Meng +Mei Sanniang Lu Xun +Zhuge Liang Lu Su +Ma Chao +Zhou Yu +Sun Li +Sun Quan +Zhao Yun VICTORY/ Sun Quan takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. You will start out screwed. Get over that now so you can start running like hell. Run from every battle, and retreat into the north east. When you are cornered, fight like the dickens. 2. Zhang Fei and Zhou Yu will arrive several minutes into the battle. 3. Fend off the enemies and avoid being surrounded until the rest of your reinforcements arrive. 4. Take out each enemy unit one by one until Sun Quan shows up, then defeat him. Naval battles suck. Chi Bi sucked. This battle sucks too. Your strategy for the first part of the battle is RUN. Run like hell. It will start out with you and Guan Yu's unit on the left side of the map with Sun Quan's units bearing down on you quickly. The only way you can survive is to run. If you are engaged in battle, retreat as quickly as possible. The place you want to run to is just north of the little spit of land on the left edge of the map. I like it there, because you can set Liu Bei and Guan Yu side by side, with the edge of the map at your left to limit the open space around you. Being surrounded is a death sentence, so avoid it at all costs. Don't retreat too far north: Eagles' FAQ says that if you are in Zhang Fei's spot when he's supposed to arrive, he won't show up, and if that happens, you are screwed. Reset. So, anyway, getting back to the battle. When you reach the point where you can't run anymore, fight. Fight like the dickens. Use your abilities right off the bat, except for Rally; save the Rallies for later on when you really, really need them. If you are lucky, Zhang Fei will show up before you need to use any Rallies. If you are in the red when he arrives, it's probably too late for you, and you should reset. Zhang Fei arrives, by himself, in the northeast corner of the map. Send him to engage a unit, preferably an archer unit (Lu Xun, Lu Su, Gan Ning, and Taishi Ci) so that they can't pelt you with arrows. Keep fighting. Zhou Yu's unit will show up around this time too, but one more enemy really doesn't make a difference at this point. Mei Sanniang, Zhuge Liang, Ma Chao, Sun Li and Zhao Yun will all arrive separately at intervals of a few minutes. When they arrive, set them to work immediately by engaging the enemy units not in battle. When you have more units than they, start surrounding them. Take them out one by one, until Sun Quan shows up and you can take him out. The key to this battle is to stay in good shape until your reinforcements arrive. If you can last until Zhang Fei arrives without using any Rallies, you can make it through the rest. Though the battle seems impossible at first, you can get through it without losing any units. 11. WEI-SHU CONFLICT...................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Zhuge Liang - Accept offerings of supplies (supplies +11, morale +5) Guan Yu - Recruit troops (troops +10, all units +1,000 troops) *** Pang Tong - Form troop with white horses (Mei Sanniang's unit becomes Silver Riders) #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Fei - Formation for final battle *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Cao Cao Guan Yu Xun Yu Zhang Fei Cao Ren Mei Sanniang Pang De Zhuge Liang Yu Jin Ma Chao Zhang Liao Sun Li Xiahou Ba Zhao Yun Sima Yi Pang Tong Cheng Yu Huang Zhong Hu Zhi VICTORY/ Cao Cao takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE Yue Ying's new weapon Arbalest is attached to Zhuge Liang's unit. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Send Mei Sanniang to destroy the enemy supply depot in the north forest near the river and bridge. Zhuge Liang will head for the staging point in the east mountain road. All other units advance to meet the enemy. 2. Attack the enemy forces on the plains and defeat them all. 3. Zhuge Liang will use Arbalest on Hu Zhi, then finish her off and head for the staging point to trigger a cutscene. When that is done, bring him back to the plains to fight. 4. Find Cao Cao's unit sitting in the middle of the field, surround him and take him out. This battle is quite straightforward, a piece of cake compared to the previous stage. During the strategy session, I suggest you take Guan Yu's suggestion to recruit more troops (if you have enough supplies). I tried Pang Tong's suggestion, which was to make Mei Sanniang's unit Silver Riders, but I noticed no difference in her speed or fighting capabilities. So, the battle begins. Cancel all mission objectives except Zhuge Liang's. He automatically heads for the staging point in the east, so leave him alone for now. See the river in the north east corner with two bridges? Now, see the little patches of forest next to that, on the right? The enemy supply depot is there, in the plains surrounded by trees. Send Mei Sanniang to destroy it. All other units should set themselves in a line on the plains not too far from your supply depot to await the enemy. When the enemies appear, let them come to you, then fight. Once most of the units have shown up, get everyone into battle. Keep an eye on your weaker units, like Pang Tong, Sun Li and Huang Zhong while waiting for Mei Sanniang to find and destroy the depot. Once it has been destroyed, go on the offensive. Mei Sanniang may have to deal with Xun Yu by herself if Xun Yu is guarding the storehouse. She usually doesn't get there quick enough to stop you, though. In the east, Zhuge Liang should have used Arbalest on Hu Zhi's unit and then entered into battle with her. Finish this fight quickly by using all of his spells. (Have you been leveling up his Magical Ability? You should have been.) He shouldn't have any trouble with her. When she's defeated, he will continue on to the staging point and trigger a cutscene with Himiko. Once the cutscene has been triggered and Himiko has been driven away, bring Zhuge Liang back to the plains to join in the main battle. By now, the enemy should be pretty well beaten. I always save Cao Cao for last, when all other enemies are defeated, but you don't have to do it that way. Surround Cao Cao, hit him with your best abilities, and you should done in no time. Now sit back and enjoy the wonderfully horrible ending. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Battle of East Lau is a hidden stage you play after you have beaten the game twice with Liu Bei. Some say you get it when you beat it on Expert, but I got it after beating it once on Beginner and once on Normal. In any case, if you've unlocked it, you will play it right after saving after the Wei-Shu Conflict stage. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. THE BATTLE OF EAST LAU................................................ #WAR COUNCIL Zhuge Liang - Wait for reinforcements *** ALLIES: Liu Bei ENEMIES: Himiko Zhuge Liang Hu Zhi +Sun Li Xiahou Ba +Huang Zhong Xu Huang +Pang Tong Guo Shao +Mei Sanniang Deng Ai +Ma Chao Zhang He +Guan Yu Lu Xun +Zhao Yun Lu Meng +Zhang Fei Gan Ning VICTORY/ Himiko takes flight. DEFEAT/ Liu Bei retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Sit and wait for Xiahou Ba and Hu Zhi to come to you. Fight them. 2. Sun Li, Huang Zhong, and Pang Tong will appear behind the east gate. Have them defeat the units guarding it. 3. Mei Sanniang and Ma Chao will show up behind the west gate. Have them defeat the units guarding it. 4. Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei will arrive behind the center gate. Have them defeat the enemy units guarding it. 5. Once all other enemies have been disposed of, find Himiko in the center of the map, surround her, and take her out. Don't panic! The odds aren't really 5 to 1 in this battle. It will start out with you and Zhuge Liang against 10 enemies, but you don't have to deal with them all at once. Only Hu Zhi, Xiahou Ba and Lu Xun will come after you, the other enemies will sit and wait. Lu Xun will take a while to get to your side of the map, so just fight Hu Zhi and Xiahou Ba while awaiting your reinforcements. Sun Li, Huang Zhong and Pang Tong will show up first behind the east gate. Deng Ai and Zhang He are there, so fight and defeat them to get through the gate. Mei Sanniang and Ma Chao will show up a few minutes later on the west side of the map. Have them defeat Lu Meng and Gan Ning to get past that gate. Ditto for Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, who show up behind the center gate where Guo Shao and Xu Huang are. When all of the gate guards have been taken out, bring everyone into the central plains, find Himiko and defeat her. None of the enemies in this stage should be a problem for you; the only difficulty lies in keeping an eye on everyone at once. **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** CAO CAO'S CAMPAIGN **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** 1. THE BATTLE OF XU....................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Xun Yu - Enlist Guo Jia (Guo Jia joins your army) *** Cheng Yu - Threaten enemy troops (Liu Bei loses some troops in the battle) Xiahou Yuan - Recruit troops (troops +6, all units +600 troops) #WAR COUNCIL Xiahou Yuan - Attack Guan Yu and Zhang Fei Xun Yu - Set up ambush and wait *** ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Liu Bei Xiahou Yuan Guan Yu Cao Ren Zhang Fei Yu Jin Mei Sanniang +Zhao Yun VICTORY/ Liu Bei takes flight. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Wait in ambush for Mei Sanniang and Liu Bei. 2. Fend off Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with Xiahou Yuan. 3. Deal with Zhao Yun when he makes his fantastically lame entrance. 4. Defeat Liu Bei to finish the stage. Simple battle. Set up the ambush and wait for Mei Sanniang to set it off, then let Cao Ren and Yu Jin take care of her and Liu Bei, who should not be far behind her. Focus your attention on Xiahou Yuan, because he has to deal with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun by himself. Lucky that he has Rally, Raid, Charge, and Duel, so he can take care of himself pretty well as long as you're there to supervise. Unless Xiahou Yuan gets in the red and can't retreat (it's a bad spot to be in, enemies to front, bridge to the rear), then defeat all of the enemy units before taking out Liu Bei for maximum experience and fame. POSTBATTLE +Li Dian and Yue Jin join your army. 2. THE BATTLE OF RU NAN................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Xun Yu - Force refugees to farm (supplies +6, morale +3) *** Cheng Yu - Spread rumors among enemy troops (Liu Bei's army -10%) Cao Ren - Train troops (4 random generals' stats increase) #WAR COUNCIL Cheng Yu - Sleeping draughts to enemy Xun Yu - Destroy bridge, divide enemy *** ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Liu Bei Hu Zhi Guan Yu Cao Ren Zhang Fei Xun Yu Mei Sanniang Zhao Yun VICTORY/ Liu Bei takes flight. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Xun Yu blows up the bridge. All units go through the east mountains. 2. Meet Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and dispatch them. 3. Distract Mei Sanniang and Zhao Yun while someone torches the enemy supply depot. 4. Force Liu Bei to retreat. 'Nother easy battle. Both strategies work fairly well, but I prefer Xun Yu's. Cheng Yu's is worth doing once, if just to see Zhang Fei asleep on his horse. As for the strategy, let your units go about their business until you get into battle. Xun Yu will make the bridge go boom, then head east to join the other units traveling through the eastern mountains. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are there. Hu Zhi and Cao Ren can take care of them. Did I mention that Hu Zhi totally rocks? Not only can she beat Guan Yu in a duel, her Rush ripped Zhang Fei to shreds on Normal. It was so sweet. Getting back to the strategy, once Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are dispatched, let your units continue on their merry way until Mei Sanniang and Zhao Yun show up. Distract them by engaging them with two or three of your units. Send a cavalry unit to the enemy supply depot and burn that sucker down. Liu Bei will pop up at about this time. If you're quick, he won't be able to stop you before you destroy the depot. Be sure to finish off Mei Sanniang and Zhao Yun before getting Liu Bei, so you can collect experience and fame. Never hurts to level up as much as possible while it's still easy. 3. BATTLE OF BO WAN PO.................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Cao Ren - Enlist Xu Huang (Xu Huang joins) *** Cao Bu - Develop new weapon (Xiahou Yuan gets new weapon, Mortar) Xiahou Yuan - Recruit troops (troops +6, all units +600 troops) #WAR COUNCIL Xun Yu - Decoy Zhang Fei's troops (north) *** Cheng Yu - Decoy Guan Ping's troops (center) Yu Jin - Decoy Guan Yu's troops (south) ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Zhuge Liang Himiko Guan Yu Cao Ren Guan Ping Yu Jin Zhang Fei Xiahou Yuan Mei Sanniang VICTORY/ Zhuge Liang takes flight. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. Cao Ren retreats. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Xiahou Yuan (unconvincingly) pretends to be Cao Cao. 2. Zhang Fei rushes out to fight Xiahou Yuan. Let Yu Jin attack Guan Ping from the front while Cao Ren gets him from behind. 3. Send Himiko and Cao Cao around by the south path to attack Guan Yu and Mei Sanniang. 4. Find Zhuge Liang and defeat him. Sucks that in the strategy session they force you to choose between a shiny new weapon (it's like an arbalest) and getting Xu Huang. I choose to recruit him because Xiahou Yuan will be dead soon so the weapon wouldn't get much use. Anyway, this battle is ever so slightly more difficult than the previous two. That just means you have to actually pay attention. Xiahou Yuan will lure Zhang Fei out by shouting that he's Cao Cao (really, I don't think even Zhang Fei is that stupid). Xiahou Yuan can take care of him by himself, so direct your attention southward. Yu Jin will automatically go to engage Guan Ping, while Cao Ren gets him from behind. Cao Cao and Himiko will bottle themselves into the center pass unless you order them to not be stupid and go south around the mountain. Do so. One can attack Guan Yu, the other can get Mei Sanniang if she's harrassing Cao Ren. Your only worry here is if Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, and Mei Sanniang all decide to gang up on Cao Ren. In that case, you'll have to draw them off with Cao Cao and Himiko as quickly as possible. If Cao Ren retreats, it's Game Over. To end this stage, find and defeat Zhuge Liang. 4. BATTLE AT CHANG BAN PO................................................. #STRATEGY SESSION Xun Yu - Force refugees to farm (supplies +7, morale +3) Cheng Yu - Threaten enemy troops (some of Liu Bei's troops retreat) Cao Ren - Train troops (6 random generals' stats improve) *** #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Liao - Pursue by shortest route *** Xun Yu - Pursue, avoiding forest ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Liu Bei Himiko Guan Yu Zhang Liao Guan Ping Hu Zhi Zhang Fei Xiahou Ba Luo Luo Yu Jin +Zhuge Liang Xun Yu +Mei Sanniang VICTORY/ Liu Bei takes flight. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. Liu Bei reaches the staging point. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Advance all units to meet the enemy. 2. Yu Jin will set off the mines in the forest. Shake it off. 3. Cao Cao should sprint to catch Liu Bei before he reaches the bridge. 4. Hu Zhi, Zhang Liao, and the other units should battle Guan Yu and Guan Ping, then set off the mines in the mountain pass so they can attack Liu Bei too. Take Zhang Liao's strategy. With Xun Yu's, you can't get past Zhang Fei and Guan Yu fast enough to reach Liu Bei before he gets to the staging point. Unless you have some really mad tactics skillz, but most of us do not, so I shall assume you have chosen Zhang Liao's stratgy. Every route has mines. So it doesn't really matter in the end anyway, does it? So, half of your units will follow Yu Jin through the forest after Liu Bei, while the others attack Guan Yu and Guan Ping. Yu Jin will set off the mines, so if you're in battle at the point, go into the battle view and un-confuse your troops by repeatedly pressing the X button. Otherwise, keep going; there's no way around the mines. Cao Cao has a cavalry unit, so once you spot Liu Bei's unit, change his mission objective to chasing Liu Bei. You can catch him before he reaches the bridge. Hold him there until your other units can maneuver themselves through the patches of forest and surround Liu Bei. If you do not dispatch him quickly, Zhuge Liang and Mei Sanniang will show up. They are easily handled by Xiahou Ba and any other free units you may have handy. If Zhang Liao and the others can get past Guan Yu and Guan Ping, be aware that there are mines on that road too. You could have them go through the forest too, but it's already cluttered with units and it's so hard to travel through, so I just take the mines and grit my teeth. You do not need to engage Zhang Fei and Luo at all during this battle, but you may want to (again, for experience and fame). POSTBATTLE +Zhang He and Xiahou Dun join your army. 5. SHOWDOWN AT CHI BI..................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Xiahou Ba - Pressure enemy troops (Liu Bei's morale -10) *** Cheng Yu - Cause rifts among enemy (Gan Ning and Zhang Fei lose troops) Zhang Liao - Raise morale with poetry (morale +10) #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Liao - Concentrate attack on Sun Quan Himiko - Concentrate attack on Liu Bei *** Xun Yu - Chained ship plan ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Liu Bei Xun Yu Guan Yu Hu Zhi Zhang Fei Cheng Yu Sun Li Cao Ren Mei Sanniang Yu Jin Sun Quan Zhang Liao Gan Ning Zhang He Taishi Ci Xiahou Ba Zhou Yu Xiahou Dun VICTORY/ Liu Bei takes flight. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Choose Himiko's plan and let your units move on their own until Liu Bei is spotted. 2. Surround and defeat Liu Bei as quickly as possible. 3. Fend off the Wu units while finishing up the remaining Shu units. 4. Find Sun Quan and defeat him. Having played this battle on the other side, you know what Zhuge Liang is up to, therefore your first priority is to find Liu Bei and defeat him as quickly as humanly possible. In the strategy session take Xiahou Ba's advice to lessen enemy morale, and choose Himiko's strategy in the war council. The battle will begin with the troops moving south on their own and scouting for Liu Bei. In a few minutes, enemy units will begin popping into sight. Avoid confronting them, but don't bother pulling out of battle if they catch you, it's not worth the effort. Liu Bei's unit is slightly below the middle of the screen, and he's got his usual pals surrounding him. Gang up on him, two or three to one, and use whatever skills you have right off the bat. The other units should engage the other enemies onscreen: beware the Wu units, they will kick your butt. Do not let them surround you. If they do, run, or send someone to engage the extra unit. The Shu units are nothing to worry about, especially after Liu Bei retreats, since their morale will plummet. If you manage to defeat Liu Bei before the wind is summoned, and your right flank has survived the Wu onslaught, then this battle is just about won. Mop up the Shu units quickly, then surround the Wu units one by one and pick them off. If your right flank is hurting, then end the stage quickly by surrounding and defeating Sun Quan. There is little finesse to this battle; dive in and fight hard. 6. THE BATTLE AT TONG GATE................................................ #STRATEGY SESSION Zhang Liao - Attack enemy supply troops (enemy morale -10) *** Cao Ren - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) Xiahou Ba - Recruit troops (troops +7, all units +700 troops) #WAR COUNCIL Cheng Yu - Take turns attacking Xun Yu - Send unit around to enemy rear *** Sima Yi - Set ambush near supply compound ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Ma Chao Sima Yi Ma Dai Xun Yu Deng Ai Yu Jin Jiang Wei Zhang Liao Pang De Himiko Xu Shu (ambush) Xiahou Dun Cao Ren VICTORY/ Ma Chao and Ma Dai are defeated. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. PREBATTLE Sima Yi joins your army in an amusing CG scene. It's the Towering Cheese Grater Hat of Doooom! BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Choose Xun Yu's strategy, and let all units fulfill their default objectives. Send Cao Cao to help out at the north gate. 2. Take down both gates and defeat the units behind them. 3. Deal with Xu Shu's ambush to the north. 4. Have Xun Yu and Yu Jin attack the gates from behind. 5. Find and defeat Ma Chao. Both Sima Yi and Xun Yu's strategies work well for this battle, so pick whichever you like better. I prefer Xun Yu's, so I shall assume you did as well. You'll begin with two units crossing the river to attack the gates from behind, and the other units, except Cao Cao, attacking the outposts. By default, Cao Cao will stick close to the supply depot. Since the depot is in absolutely no danger, just send him to help break down the north gate. Two enemy units will be behind each gate, so when they open, you'll have to deal with them one at a time. Outpost battles suck, since you cannot use all of your skills. If you're feeling creative, you can set up some complex lure and surround traps around the gates, but you don't have to. Only Pang De's unit is strong enough to make you worry. Meanwhile, Xun Yu and Yu Jin will be making their merry way up north until they come across Xu Shu's ambush. Xu Shu is a weenie: use a few spells and skills on him, then go back to watching the gate battles. When Xun Yu and Yu Jin have finally crossed the river again, have one attack the north gate and the other the south gate from behind. If you see Ma Chao hiding behind the mountain the middle, ignore him, and he'll ignore you. When both gates are open and all non-boss units destroyed, attack Ma Chao and defeat him to end the stage. POSTBATTLE +Pang De joins your army. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Now the game will split into three paths. You will have to choose between three stages in order to proceed. Each stage has different cutscenes, and will allow you to recruit different characters. Listed below are the stages you have to choose from and what you get when you choose them. If you just want to get quickly to the next stage, Mt. Dinjun is the easiest. For maximum power, however, you will want to do Xi so you can get not one, but two more characters. 7a. Fan Zheng (Pang De) - recruit Dian Wei 7b. Mt. Dinjun (Xiahou Ba) - nothing 7c. Xi Province (Himiko) - recruit Deng Ai & Cai Wengi -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7a. BATTLE OF FAN ZHENG................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Xun Yu - Purchase supplies (supplies +8, morale +4) *** Pang De - Form special unit (Pang De's unit promoted to Katana Troops) Yu Jin - allow Hu Zhi to train (Hu Zhi +10 experience) #WAR COUNCIL Pang De - Fake defection Xun Yu - Empty castle plan *** Yu Jin - Infiltrate supply compound ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Guan Yu Pang De Mei Sanniang Xun Yu Ma Chao Yu Jin Guan Ping Cao Ren Sun Li Zhou Cang VICTORY/ Guan Yu is defeated. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Choose Xun Yu's strategy. Set Cao Cao safely north of the bridge. 2. Wait for the enemies to set off the mines in the castle. 3. Your allies will appear near the north gate and southeast of the bridge. 4. Send all units into the castle, through different gates. Engage the enemy for experience, or... 5. Find and defeat Guan Yu to end the stage quickly. Once again, Xun Yu comes up with a brilliant plot, this one reminiscent of a story from the novel. Never you mind about that, though. You can probably do this battle in your sleep, in under an hour, even if you defeat all of the enemy units for experience. Before we begin, a note on the Strategy Session. All three strategies are equally good, so it really doesn't matter which you choose. Hu Zhi is badass, and beefing her up further can only be a good thing. Supplies and morale are always useful. As for Pang De's Katana Troops, I've never used them, but they're probably badass too. Katanas? Sweet. You can't make a wrong choice here: take into account Hu Zhi's EXP level and your supplies, then make whichever choice seems best. Now, onto the fight. If you choose Xun Yu's strategy, there will only be Cao Cao's unit on the battle field. Don't panic, your allies will show up a little later. To stay out of trouble, position Cao Cao well north of the bridge. After 2-5 minutes, the enemy will start setting off the mines. Wait for all four to go off for maximum effect. Xun Yu and friends will show up when all the mines have been set off, or if you engage an enemy, whichever happens first. Two units will appear at the north gate: send one through that gate and the other through the west gate. Usher Cao Cao and the other two units on the other side of the river through the east and south gates. If you don't wait for the mines to go off before heading into combat, don't worry, you can pass over the mines safely. Spread out your units to avoid getting stuck. With luck, the enemy will be crowded in the center of the castle, and you can surround them and have a merry old time. Beware Ma Chao's archer unit, he can hit you from afar. Defeat Guan Yu to end the stage. POSTBATTLE Dian Wei joins your army. Rar. 7b. BATTLE AT MT. DINJUN.................................................. #STRATEGY SESSION Xun Yu - Purchase supplies (supplies +8, morale +4) Xiahou Ba - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) Sima Yi - Recruit troops (troops +7, all units +700 troops) #WAR COUNCIL Zhang Liao - Split and attack Sima Yi - Surprise attack from the rear *** Xun Yu - Deploy fake troops at supply compound ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Zhang Fei +Xiahou Ba Zhuge Liang +Sima Yi Li Li Zhang Liao Luo Luo Zhang He Huang Zhong Ma Su VICTORY/ Zhang Fei is defeated. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Stand by the supply depot and wait for the enemy to appear and begin combat. Defeat the enemy units that appear. 2. Begin traversing the southern pass to approach the supply depot from behind. Leave Cao Cao at your supply depot. 3. Xiahou Ba and Sima Yi will arrive. Engage the enemy. 4. Strike the enemy supply depot while the enemy is engaged, then surround the enemy. 5. Finish off Zhang Fei. You'll notice I didn't star any strategy in the Strategy Session. This is because what you choose depends entirely upon your situation in the game at this point, something I can't predict. Your choice should be based upon what you don't have. Need more supplies? Get some. Want more troops? Get some. Need better stats? Train. Simple as that. If you don't need any of it, default by getting more supplies. More supplies now means you can get more troops later. This battle gave me problems until I tried out Sima Yi's strategy, which works easily and gives you a chance to rack up decent experience. With the exception of Zhang Fei, all of the enemy units are weak and easy to beat which means experience! So, I suggest you capitalize on this and defeat each and every enemy to get all the experience you can get. Right, on to the battle. You'll begin with Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Cao Cao huddled around the supply compound in the northeast corner. Enemies can only come from the west or the east: usually, with this strategy, they come from the east. Turn your units so they face south. Formations with wide visibility are useful here, the enemy will try to sneak up on you. You can either wait for the enemy to come to you, or send Zhang Liao and Zhang He south towards the backdoor to the Shu supply compound. Either way, you'll meet the enemy. I don't recommend moving Cao Cao, because you do NOT want to lose your supply compound. You'll dispatch the enemy quickly, and once all three units (there's usually three) are gone, proceed towards the Shu supply depot using the southern pass. Around this time, Sima Yi and Xiahou Ba will show up in the southwest corner. Don't let Xiahou Ba rush Zhang Fei. Engage the enemy. While they're tangled up, Zhang Liao and Zhang He can slip in from behind and take the depot. Then, it's just a matter of mopping up what's left. 7c. CAMPAIGN AGAINST XI................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Hu Zhi - Gain supplies through hunting (supplies +8, morale +4) *** Cheng Yu - Recruit troops (troops +7, all units +700 troops) Himiko - allow Yu Jin to train (Yu Jin +10 experience) #WAR COUNCIL Xun Yu - Cao Cao attempts persuasion *** Hu Zhi - Hu Zhi acts as guard Himiko - Himiko acts as guard ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Cai Wengi (real) Himiko Cai Wengi (fake) Hu Zhi Cai Wengi (fake) Cheng Yu Cai Wengi (fake) Xiahou Dun Cai Wengi (fake) +Deng Ai -Deng Ai Ma Dai VICTORY/ Cai Wengi is defeated. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY 1. Cao Cao talks to Deng Ai and convinces him to switch allegiance. 2. The real Cai Wengi appears near the oasis. Engage her to prevent her from using her damned arrows. 3. The fake Cai Wengis converge on your supply depot. Fend them off. 4. Let Deng Ai battle and defeat Ma Dai. 5. Defeat the fake Cai Wengis one by one, determine which is the real one, then gang up on her. This battle is not a leisurely walk in the park, but you get Deng Ai and Cai Wengi for it, so it's worth the bother. First, you'll want to pick Xun Yu's strategy: bringing along a guard is pointless, it just leaves a hole open for one of the many fake Wengis to pop in and burn your precious depot to the ground. Cao Cao will successfully persuade Deng Ai, who will then force the real Cai Wengi to appear. Let Deng Ai battle Ma Dai, and send Cao Cao off to engage a Cai Wengi. As in the Liu Bei campaign, there are four fake Cai Wengis, and one real one. You must defeat the real Cai Wengi to end the stage. It's impossible to tell them apart, except by her position. The fake Cai Wengis attack side by side, two on the left and two on the right. There will be a third Cai Wengi on the right, not lined up neatly with the other two. That's her. However, you probably won't be able to reach her before the fakes surround you, so you'll have to fend them off. Have your units face each Wengi on their own, they should have few problems doing so. However, it will take a while for any of the Wengis to be defeated, so look forward to hopping from battle to battle and curing troop confusion after her nasty spells. Eventually, the Cai Wengis will drop off, because you have an edge in this battle: you're practically on top of your supply depot. Your spells and abilities will regenerate crazy fast, so use them up as quickly as you get them. Each Cai Wengi has an Iron Wall, so at least one of your spells will be wasted: use your least favorite, least effective spell first. One by one, the fakes will disappear, and only the real one will be left. You know what to do. 8. BATTLE OF TIAN SHUI.................................................... #STRATEGY SESSION Sima Yi - Have troops cultivate crops (supplies +8, morale +4) Cao Bu - Develop new weapons (Zhang Liao gets the Tiger Canon) *** Zhang Liao - Train troops (6 random generals' stats increase) #WAR COUNCIL Xun Yu - Deploy horsemen in front Sima Yi - Deploy horsement to left Xiahou Ba - Deploy bowmen in front ALLIES: Cao Cao ENEMIES: Liu Bei Zhang Liao Xun Yu Xiahou Ba Yu Jin Li Dian Sima Yi Pang De Himiko VICTORY/ Liu Bei is defeated. DEFEAT/ Cao Cao retreats. Time runs out. BATTLE STRATEGY Haven't finished writing up the strategy for this battle yet, sorry! **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** ADVICE, HINTS & TIPS What follow are bits of gameplay advice from me, arranged by subject. **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** GENERAL ADVICE... **Be aware of everything going on. That sounds like a tall order, but it's necessary if you want to be in control. If you get too intent on one area of the map, then you may miss opportunities, or worse, your other units will be defeated. Check the map (SQUARE button) frequently. **Be flexible. If your strategy falls apart, adapt. Create backup plans in case something goes wrong. **When in doubt, be conservative. If you're having difficulty with a certain stage (like Chi Bi, for example), assume a defensive position close to your supply depot and wait for the enemy to come to you. Then, your abilities will recharge more quickly, and you'll have more time to think up an offense strategy. MORALE... **Morale is important, perhaps even more important than the number of soldiers you have. I've defeated units more than twice my size, just because our morale was signifigantly higher than theirs. Keep your morale high. When it gets low (even before it turns red), run and get help. When not in battle, morale will slowly recover on its own. **The amount of supplies you have affects the morale of your troops. During strategy sessions, press the SQUARE button to view the troops, supplies and technology (skills) of your army. The supplies and troops should be the same. If you have more troops than supplies, you will begin the next battle with lower morale. IN BATTLE... *Use your abilities as early and often as you can. They cause a lot of damage to the enemy, and if you kill a certain number of enemies, your War or Magic stat will increase. Abilities need to time to recharge before you can use them again. The sooner you use them, the sooner they'll recharge. They'll recharge faster if your unit is close to your supply depot. You'll hear a sound effect when an ability can be used again. **Surround enemies. It may not be fair to gang up on one unit, but who says war is fair? **It is always better to attack from the sides or behind, since it will confuse the enemy. Confused troops are weaker and easier to kill. **Use the gather and rush technique. When your troops have been in battle for a while and their morale is beginning to flag, remove yourself from the fray and call your troops to you by pressing the DOWN directional button. Once a sufficient number have gathered, press X. The officer and the troops will charge the enemies in front of them. Your morale will increase, the enemy's morale and troops will decrease. **When you press the L2 button in officer or troop view, little green and red diamonds will apear over soldiers' heads. This indicates the strength of the reinforcement effect. The stronger the color, the stronger the troops are. If your troops' colors are weak, then they're weak, so gather some troops with the DOWN button and send them to areas where the enemy is gaining the upper hand. Weak troops are more easily defeated. **Destroy the enemy depot. While not essential to success, it can make things a lot easier. **Don't let the enemy destroy your supply depot. Not only will every unit's morale be halved, if night falls before you've won the battle, you will automatically lose. **The Rush, Raid and Charge abilities are wonderful. They drastically reduce the enemy's morale and cause a lot of damage. **Don't duel unless you are certain you'll win. If you duel and lose, your morale will drop a LOT. If you refuse, it will just drop a little. Don't take the risk. If you're gonna propose a duel, check your officer's War stat. The higher it is, the better your chances of winning. Also check your enemy's War stat (In the Map screen press the SQUARE button on units to check their stats.). OFFICERS... **A general's War Ability and Fame affect how many soldiers he leads. The higher the number, the more troops he goes into battle with. The War Ability also affects the unit's offense and defense. **Try to keep all your units alive until the end of the battle. All surviving units get experience. The more experience you get, the sooner your units will be upgraded. **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** COPYRIGHT Kessen II is copyright 2001 KOEI Co., Ltd. This walkthrough is copyright Squarefairy and may NOT be used, in whole or in part, on any other website without permission from the author. This guide may be printed for individual use. CREDITS & THANKS *Muni Shinobu, for his (or is it her?) many fantastic game guides. *GameFAQs.com, for getting me out of many frustrating situations. *Eagles and STwomey for their (albeit incomplete) Kessen II FAQs, without which I would probably never have made it past Chi Bi. *Koei, for making such very good games. If you notice any errors, misspellings or mistakes in this walkthrough, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at and tell me. Also, if you have alternative strategies for any of the stages (especially Chi Bi), I would be interested in hearing them and might put them in this walkthrough. **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-** **-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**