Dynasty Warriors: Origins Tips - 20 Things You Need To Know Before Playing

In Dynasty Warriors: Origins, you play as the Wanderer, an amnesiac vagabond eager to find clues about his past. Gone are the days when each game had 80 to 90 playable officers. In any case, your adventures lead you to meet all manner of lords, ladies, generals, and secretive beings. Of course, since this is also a hack-and-slash game, you're bound to participate in numerous battles, too. Here's our guide with several tips to help you get started in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins beginner's guide - 20 things to know before you play

Our Dynasty Warriors: Origins beginner's guide has all the details you need. Whether you're new to Koei Tecmo's long-running hack-and-slash series or a veteran eager to learn about the new changes, we have a lot of tips to aid you. We start things off with exploration info, followed by combat and battle mechanics. We've also added a few tidbits regarding campaign progression and unlockables.

The world map of Dynasty Warriors: Origins is vivid and vibrant, allowing you to roam around certain areas to participate in various activities. Here are a few that are notable:

• Skirmishes - These are short and straightforward optional battles. These encounters may reappear from time to time.
• Missions - These are also optional battles, but they tend to have more objectives compared to skirmishes. These also reward you with items.
• Story battles - These have golden diamond icons, symbolizing that you need to complete them to progress further in the campaign.
• Requests and officer interactions - There may be instances when you'd see unique characters on the world map. These officers might offer the following:
  • A short bonding session via a cutscene.
  • A request that's akin to a skirmish, but you improve your bonds with the officer, too.
  • Training tallies where you need to complete certain actions or activate weapon skills in combat.

Related guide: Campaign length and mission list guide

The world map also has plenty of resources for you to find:

• Pyroxene - These crystals are needed to produce gems (more on this mechanic below).
• Moongrass - These flowers help boost your gems.
• Old Coins - There are 500 of these coins. Amassing a certain number nets you nifty valuables at the Shui Jing Retreat.
• Secret herbs - These are part of a side quest that unlocks hidden perks/skills.

Related guides:

• Old Coins rewards guide
• Search for Memories/Shards of the Past guide

An important Dynasty Warriors: Origins tip to remember is to make sure that your gems, which are considered part of your equipment, are often upgraded. This is done by collecting Pyroxene from various sources, such as world map nodes that also respawn periodically. At the inn, you can craft any of the five available gems randomly, though there's also a chance to gain a production boost:

• Oblivion Gem: Increases attack range.
• Vortex Gem: Increases damage against enemies that are launched into the air.
• Scorch Gem: Increases damage dealt to enemies by your parries.
• Wellspring Gem: Restores a certain amount of health for every 100 enemies you defeat.
• Ascendance Gem: Activates a chance to block an attack from an officer.

Note that another material, Moongrass, can be collected via world map nodes. If used during gem creation, Moongrass will lock-in two specific gem types for a bigger upgrade boost.

There are several types of armaments in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. These are either acquired as random drops when you defeat officers or purchased from vendors when you click on a city.

Each weapon type has unique skills, known as battle arts and special arts, which need to be equipped:

• The more you use weapons, the more your proficiency increases. When a weapon ranks up, your character gains a level, too.
• Battle arts are skills that can be offensive or defensive in nature. Special arts, meanwhile, are used to interrupt enemy abilities (i.e. when enemies glow orange).
• Weapon skills can be activated as long as you have enough bravery, represented by the small orange pips/diamonds above your health bar. Just keep attacking hostiles around you so you have bravery pips to spare.
• Some skills are unlocked as you level up a weapon's proficiency, while others can be bought from shops in cities.
• A few skills are obtained via officer requests and when you talk to elder NPCs found on the world map.

Related guides:

• All unlockable weapons guide
• Weapon reforge/upgrades guide

As mentioned earlier, the unique officers you encounter on the world map might provide you with training assignments. Completing these tasks grants you more skill points.

Some objectives fairly straightforward, such as winning duels or parrying several attacks. Many, however, tend to be weapon-specific. For instance, you might be tasked with defeating foes via battle arts, charged attacks, or special combos. In these cases, we recommend grabbing as many training assignments as you can before a battle so you can ascertain which weapon to use. Completing a bunch of tallies for the same weapon saves a lot of time.

Likewise, it's worth noting that you can change your weapon via the pause menu even in the middle of a battle. So, if you're already done with tallies for a particular weapon, you can swap to a different armament to do those other tasks.

For those playing on Wayfarer (i.e. Normal) difficulty and below, we recommend prioritizing the passive perks that provide attack strength, bravery, and extra meat buns.

• The higher your attack strength, the higher the damage that you deal, which is integral to clearing battle objectives faster.
• Bravery is the resource used to activate weapon skills (i.e. battle arts). You want to have additional bravery pips and quicker recharge rate so you can keep casting abilities.
• Of course, meat buns are important so you can restore your character's health.

Speaking of meat buns, these food items restore your health and you can carry up to the maximum amount depending on passive perks that you've unlocked.

But what if you've eaten a bunch of siopao already? Well, fret not, because you can check bases that dot the map. At Adept Rank, the "Meat Perceiver" perk also lets you see the location of vases that contain meat buns if you activate your Eyes of the Sacred Bird action.

Aside from this, some officers may drop meat buns once they've been defeated. However, this does not apply to higher difficulty levels.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins features fast and fluid animations for attacks and movement. This can be seen in how deftly the Wanderer weaves in and out of harm's way on the battlefield. As such, you need to consider the following combat mechanics:

• Blocking - Blocking completely negates all damage from most attacks, though you need to be careful if the blow is unblockable (i.e. the enemy has a red glow).
• Parrying - If you press the block button at the right time, just as an opponent's attack is about to land, you'll parry their blow. This causes the Wanderer to follow up with their own strike.
• Dodging - Perfectly avoiding getting hit by an opponent causes time to slow down momentarily, helping you reposition and do a few swings.
• Guard/defense pips - Officers have shield icons below their nameplates. These represent their overall defense--i.e. think of this as similar to poise or a stagger meter if you play Soulslike games. Perfect parries and dodges, as well as attacks/offensive abilities, deplete these defense pips.
• Assault action - When a target's defense pips are fully depleted, they will be temporarily stunned. You can then follow up with an assault, a devastating move that takes out a chunk of their health bar. Here are some tidbits:
  • If an opponent's health is low enough, the assault action is a one-hit KO move.
  • If an opponent still has a lot of health, the assault action is a multi-hit swipe/slash with your weapon.
  • Ideally, you should be facing two or more officers whenever you trigger your assault action. That's because the move itself hits several hostiles in front of you.

We talked about special arts earlier--i.e. those with an "(sp)" description in the skill's name. One key Dynasty Warriors: Origins tip is to have at least one of these equipped. The reason for this is because enemy officers and even some troop types have abilities that can be interrupted. This can be seen if they glow orange.

If you activate a special art, the interruption will temporarily stagger your target, allowing you to hit them with your weapon several times. Note that the default option, Palm Strike, is a short-range skill. However, you can unlock various medium and long-range options that are weapon-specific.

In some battles in the campaign, you might see a notification asking if you'd like to duel a general. If you press the button prompt, soldiers will form a circle around you and your opponent. At the top of your screen, you'll see a health bar that's partly blue (your character) and partly red (your opponent).

The goal in a duel is to successfully hit your foe with attacks and skills, pushing the meter firmly to the right (i.e. weakening the meter of your rival). Once depleted, you can perform an assault to finish them off. This will greatly lower the morale of surrounding troops.

Of course, the rival general can also cause the meter to swing in their favor if they manage to land hits successfully. You need to do your best to avoid these blows by dodging, blocking, or parrying them, or by casting special arts if necessary.

The meter below your character's health bar is for your musou--i.e. your ultimate ability, which tends to differ depending on the weapon that you have equipped. As long as at least one segment of the meter is full, you can cast your musou to eliminate multiple soldiers around you.

If you reach a higher threshold for the meter, you can unleash your musou rage as well. Here's what happens whenever the rage effect is active:

• You have maximum bravery, which means you can keep using your weapon skills.
• Weapon skill animations won't be interrupted so easily.
• Dealing damage to hostiles restores your health.
• When the rage meter is fully depleted, you get to unleash an even stronger musou ultimate.

A few hours into the campaign, guards will join your squad. These loyal peons will follow you around, allowing you to utilize tactics, such as powerful buffs and offensive maneuvers. There are also dramatic effects that lower an officer's morale if you meet certain conditions. You'll know that these can be activated if an icon appears over an officer's model while you're selecting tactics.

• Charge-type tactics become more effective if cast from a farther distance.
• Volley-type tactics become more effective if cast from high ground.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins really lets you feel like you're a lone mercenary facing over a thousand soldiers. This is best showcased in battles where there are large forces waiting for you in wide open areas. Here are some tidbits:

• You can whittle down the number of troops in a large force until they all retreat by defeating officers/generals.
• In some cases, a grand tactic might be activated. These have nasty effects that you need to watch out for, such as buffing multiple generals or speeding up the cooldown time of their tactics. The good news is that you can interrupt the casting of these grand tactics by completing a task or requirement, such as taking out a specific target.
• Your allies can also utilize their own grand tactics. Oftentimes, you'd be asked to protect a specific officer until they're finished casting.
• Aside from the above, there are also moments when troops muster before advancing. If you approach these squads, you'll trigger a charge or an ambush, swiftly causing a ruckus within the opposing army's ranks.

Another Dynasty Warriors: Origins tip to remember is that you can have an officer companion join you for certain missions. The available roster/pool itself is limited, but the options are more than enough given their functions:

• Battle arts chains - A companion that's right next to you and linked with a blue line can chain battle arts. Basically, when you cast a skill, they might follow up with one of their own.
• Extreme musou - A companion linked with a gold line means that their musou gauge is full. Activating your musou triggers a tandem cast that lays wastes to even more troops.
• Officer switch - When a companion's gauge is full, you might see a prompt that lets you switch to them. Doing so grants you temporary control of a companion for a few seconds. You can utilize their weapon skills and rage abilities as you see fit.

Related guide: All unlockable companions

There's a saying that goes: "Among men, Lu Bu; among horses, Red Hare." And, yes, Lu Bu, considered as the mightiest warrior in China at the time, will certainly test your mettle whenever you encounter him. Be careful whenever you pursue or fight him, since his attacks can easily deplete over half of your health bar.

In some missions, you should certainly avoid Lu Bu, since beating him is not a requirement. In others, well, you're out of luck, because you have no choice but to bring him down as part of an objective. Worse, some of these engagements tend to have multiple phases--he might be riding Red Hare at the start, then he'd fight you while on foot once he's really angry.

Related guide: How to defeat Lu Bu

Are things not going well for your army? Did the Wanderer or an important lord/general get slain in combat? Fear not because the mission doesn't have to end prematurely.

Instead, you can restart at certain checkpoints, allowing you to adapt to what's transpiring on the battlefield. For instance, if your liege was defeated by an advancing force, you can restart from a checkpoint a few minutes prior to that so you can rush to their aid.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins presents a predominantly linear campaign. However, upon reaching Chapter 3, you need to make a few crucial decisions. Your choices here on whether you'd join Cao Cao, Liu Bei, or Sun Jian have major ramifications.

Basically, at the end of Chapter 3, you need to side with one of the three main factions in the game. Once you've done that, you'll experience the rest of the campaign from their perspective, which means you'll only get to participate in battles that they historically engaged in. For example, Cao Cao and Liu Bei both get to fight Lu Bu as he's rampaging all over their region. In Sun Jian's case, however, he and his sons need to lay the foundations of Eastern Wu in the Southlands.

Related guide: Chapter 3 decision - Cao Cao, Liu Bei, or Sun Jian

Even if you're forced to join once faction for the remainder of the game, you don't need to worry. That's because you get to unlock a bunch of mechanics and features once you've beaten the campaign in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. Here are a few examples:

• Story Replay - You can restart at certain points of the campaign or replay one-off battles.
• Ultimate Warrior difficulty and challenges - This is the toughest difficulty setting. Selecting it, though, lets you obtain unique rewards, like weapons, mounts, and items, if you're able to tackle requirements in battles.

Those familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors would know that many generals and officers meet their untimely ends at certain moments. One Dynasty Warriors: Origins tip to consider is that, should you encounter these mishaps, there's still a way to save some of these characters through the "Fate Altered" mechanic.

This is done through the aforementioned Story Replay function. Read the hints prior to replaying a battle where an important character died. If you can manage to find a way to rescue them, then it leads to a branching path and a hidden cutscene.

That does it for our Dynasty Warriors: Origins beginner's guide. We hope these tips help you as you begin your journey as the Wanderer in lands ravaged by endless conflict and lords vying for control.