Ways To Upgrade Your Characters In Dynasty Warriors: Origins

In most Musou games, players will attack enemies and gain EXP in battle to level up. It’s been like that for most entries from Dynasty Warriors to spinoffs like Persona 5 Strikers. Dynasty Warriors: Origins uses the leveling-up system a bit differently which may throw veterans off.

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Players will primarily control one character, The Wanderer, who can perform all the customary moves of the past Musou games. From hacking and slashing enemies to using special attacks. Let’s go over the myriad of ways to upgrade The Wanderer in Dynasty Warriors: Origins from leveling up stats to boosting the effects of gear.

5

Test Weapons

Also Levels You Up

The best way to boost the power of The Wanderer is through weapon progression. As players use weapons in battle, they will gain EXP. Gain enough and the proficiency of that weapon type will increase. With each new weapon tier reached, a coinciding one will be gained for The Wanderer’s overall level too which will raise stats. It’s an odd leveling-up system admittedly but it does work once players get used to it. The easiest way to grind for levels then is to diversify between weapon types in battle. Players will start with a sword and then get a spear quickly thereafter.

Bounce back and forth between these two weapons and the others that will unlock further down the road. It may seem like a good idea to master one weapon fully before going back and trying another one, but that wouldn’t level up the hero as quickly. There’s no shame in abandoning a weapon type in the game that isn’t fun to use, but at least give them all a shot. As a final note, horses level up through usage in Dynasty Warriors: Origins too but they won’t help to level up The Wanderer.

4

Getting Better Weapons

Look Out For Bonuses

Of course, leveling up a weapon isn’t simply enough to make The Wanderer stronger. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is similar to Diablo in that there will be a lot of loot dropped on the battlefield or it can be gained in other ways too. The same weapons will drop consistently like normal spears or long swords. However, besides attack power, these weapons will largely differ in bonuses attached. They can range from abilities that will increase how fast players recover their Musou Gauge to increasing the running speed of the player.

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These bonuses are often better to look out for compared to the hard stats of a weapon. Beyond weapons though, players can also find accessories with one or more abilities attached. These can be acquired primarily through side battles that are somewhat tied to the story. They’re shorter than the big story battles but longer than the random bouts that will pop up on the world map. Overall, stacking bonuses between weapons and accessories will give players an edge in battle.

3

Look Into Arts

They Are Everywhere

Every weapon has a direct Musou attack attached that can be activated once enough energy is accumulated. There’s a refined combat feature in Dynasty Warriors: Origins though called Battle Arts which are less devastating special attacks but still pretty handy. Players can attach these Battle Arts to the face buttons like Triangle, Square, Circle, and Cross on the PS5 controller, for example. Some Battle Arts can be used with any weapon while others force players to always equip the designated weapon to use them.

Each Battle Art can be mastered to increase its potency and it is not clear at first how this leveling up system works. The number attached is not a kill count. Instead, it’s tied to how many times players use the move in battle. So, if a Battle Art can level up in eighty moves, players will have to use it eighty times. It’s a lot to keep track of as there are many Battle Arts in the game but they will make The Wanderer a formidable adversary for sure.

2

Apply Skills Points To A Tree

The Secret Is Easy

Skill points are some of the easiest currencies to get in Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The best way to get them is through kills as every one hundred kills on a mission will grant players with three skill points. Skill points will also be rewarded when players level up a weapon or if they complete certain side missions like Trainings for some of the bigger heroes. Skill points can be used on a fairly basic skill tree that is initially divided into three tiers.

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Players can increase stats like Defense or get new Battle Arts. There are branching paths but by and large, players can easily fill out the tree as each new tier unlocks. As basic of a skill tree for an RPG as this is, it’s still necessary for beefing up The Wanderer’s power. So, it’s good to at least know about the kill count trick to rack up those skill points quickly.

1

Craft Gems

Hunting For Pyroxene

On the world map, players will find clusters of brown-orange rocks. They don’t need a pickaxe to mine them like in Minecraft and these clusters will reward players with Pyroxene. This simple mineral can be used to create gems in Dynasty Warriors: Origins back at Inns or battle tents. Players cannot choose what type of gem they want to craft though.

The whole system feels a bit like a free-to-play gacha game setup with randomness. Once players unlock their Eyes of the Sacred Bird, sometimes the randomness will be narrowed down to a few categories. Randomness aside, equipping gems will be a lot like equipping accessories only this time gems can be leveled up more easily. It’s just a crapshoot if players will be lucky enough to score big on good abilities but it’s worth a shot as Pyroxene is everywhere.

Systems

Released

January 17, 2025

OpenCritic Rating

Strong