Summary
- Play on Historian difficulty to avoid excessive grinding – officers and bosses can be tough even on the easiest setting.
- Focus on objectives beyond just hacking and slashing – failing objectives like saving allies can lead to defeat.
- Utilize different weapons, pay attention to abilities, and save special attacks for critical moments in battle.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins is unlike any other entry in the series besides the usual carnage of hacking and slashing literally thousands of enemies per battle. The game begins with a nameless wanderer, aptly named The Wanderer, who stumbles into helping the volunteer army of Liu Bei.
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From there, The Wanderer helps whoever is in trouble, and like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, players can eventually choose which army to follow. That’s the story setup, and even though there are a lot of returning mechanics in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, some Musou veterans may need a refresher. Here are some beginner tips to help The Wanderer begin his journey in Dynasty Warriors: Origins on a high note.
8
The Difficulty Levels
The Consequences Of Failure
Players can begin Dynasty Warriors: Origins on the Historian, Wayfarer, and Hero difficulties. These can be swapped outside of battle at any time, so players can play around as they see fit, like in most action games.
That said, even the easiest setting, Historian, will give players something to think about. Officers and bosses can often demolish players if they aren’t careful. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a long game, so for those who don’t want to grind as much, it’s wise to still go with Historian.
7
Keep An Eye On Objectives
It’s Not All About Hacking And Slashing
The hardest thing about the game is paying attention to objectives. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is still ultimately about hacking and slashing opponents, but there’s more to it this time around. A defeat can easily happen if an ally falls, a base is captured, or some invention is destroyed like a battering ram.
Pay attention to the briefings before major missions and also keep an eye on the letters in the top middle of the screen. These represent people or objectives, and if they get deep in the red, that means players should hightail it to that letter’s area.
6
Don’t Rely On One Weapon
Learn To Level Up Your Character
The leveling-up system is different than most Musou games. Players earn EXP for their weapons and once a proficiency level is achieved, The Wanderer will level up his stats as well. That means that players can power level if they swap weapons in between battles, which is a good idea.
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Players will begin with a sword, followed by a spear, and gauntlets, and the rest goes on. Defeating enemies and reaching proficiency levels will also net players with skill points in Dynasty Warriors: Origins to spend on a skill tree, which is another way to help level up.
5
Pay Attention To Weapon Abilities
Attack Power Doesn’t Mean Everything
In most RPGs, players will tend to gravitate toward raising their attack power when equipping new weapons. Attack power isn’t everything in Dynasty Warriors: Origins though, the more important thing to look out for is the attached abilities.
Like Diablo, players are going to find a lot of loot on the battlefield, much of it being the same weapons but with little differences. Before equipping anything, be sure to read these weapons’ abilities as they can often help out more beyond a simple stat boost, like increasing how fast the Musou Gauge will fill.
4
Saving Arts And Musou Attacks
Don’t Forget About War God Rage Too
Three types of special attacks can help players out in sticky situations. There’s the aforementioned Musou Gauge, which will dish out a devastating attack based on the player’s weapon type. After the big boss fight with Zhang Jiao, players will also unlock War God Rage, which is like a temporary Super Saiyan boost in power.
Finally, there are Battle Arts, which can be equipped with the four face buttons and activated with a button combo using the triggers. All of these abilities should be saved for dire moments or when encountering an officer, as players won’t need to use them to deal with standard enemies.
3
Use The Horse For Traversal, Not Combat
Say Neigh To This Mechanic
Eventually, players will unlock a horse in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. It can be used to get around the world map more quickly if players don’t want to rely on the fast travel system. It’s a good idea to use the horse instead of fast travel so that players can spot materials lurking in tall grass or forests.
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The horse can also be used in battle, which is nice for getting around the battlefield more quickly, but not so great for combat. It can be a bit awkward to maneuver a horse over crowds of soldiers, and it’s also easy to be knocked off, so it’s best to save the horse for traversal only.
2
Check The World Map For Missing Objectives
Allies And Bonuses May Be Waiting
To reiterate, fast travel is not always the ideal mode of transportation in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, as players can miss gathering important materials along the way. If players are good on materials though, they may want to take a look at the overview of the world map in the menu instead to find secrets.
Certain warp points may be marked, and going to them could grant some good rewards, including new horses. This overview can also show if there are any side objectives to complete or heroes that want to bond with the player. It’s a good plan to check back to this overview map after every major battle, especially once players open up the world more.
1
Complete Lots Of Side Activities
From Training To Random Battles
There are a lot of side activities in the game, but nothing that players could directly call a side quest the same way as they would be labeled in a game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Instead, players can befriend heroes and get achievement-like Training regiments. Killing enemies a certain way can get players gear or skill points, for example. Some heroes may even want to bond, similar to the social aspects in the Persona series.
There are random battles that pop up on the world map along with longer skirmish battles that are loosely tied to the story. Even on the easiest setting, these side activities shouldn’t be ignored, as they can help raise the strength of The Wanderer quickly.
- Released
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January 17, 2025
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong