This is what it’s all about. No Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, etc going through Destiny of an Emperor. Thanks to Niahak and his Destiny of an Editor, officers can be switched around and edited. Naturally, the first use I thought of was a Yuan Shu Mod.

Download the Yuan Shu Mod

Xu Zhou

The story and plot go through the same areas. Yuan Shu does not start in the mod, but takes Liu Feng’s old position and joins once Yuan Feng (Liu Bei position) finishes up the Yellow Turban area. Taking over for Zhang Fei / Guan Yu are Yuan Yin / Lu Fan. Here is a list of the characters switched, to make it easier. Sorted by order in which you recruit them (out / in).

Liu Bei – Yuan Feng

Zhang Fei – Yuan Yin

Guan Yu – Lu Fan

Song Yong – Chen Ji

Song Ren – Chen Lan

Chen Deng – Sun Ce

Han Zhong – Han Xian

Liu Feng – Yuan Shu

Yang Jin – Yue Jiu

Guan Ping – Li Feng

Huo Hu – Lei Bo

Wang Gui – Han Xin

Zhou Chao – Liang Ji

Zhou Cang – Liang Gang

Zhao Yun – Ji Ling

Wei Yan – Zhang Xun

Dan Fu / Xu Zhe – Liu Ye

Zhuge Liang – Huo Hu

Guan Xing – Lu Fan +

Zhang Bao – Yuan Yin +

All of the above have level up’s save for Yuan Feng, Sun Ce and Liu Ye. Lu Fan + and Yuan Yin + are slightly buffed clones of their previous version (just re-added so that they join again for Wu).

As for enemies that have been switched (out / in).

Han Zhong – Han Xian

Lei Bo – Zhang Bao

Chen Ji – Guan Xing

Ji Ling – Liao Hua

Zhang Xun – Wang Fu

Han Xian – Liu Feng

Li Feng – Guan Ping

Liang Ji – Liu Chan

Chen Lan – Jiang Wan

Liang Gang – Zhou Cang

Yuan Shu – Liu Bei

Yuan Yin – Zhang Fei

Lu Fan – Guan Xing

Yuan Shao – Guan Yu

Yuan Tan – Gongsun Qian

Yuan Xi – Zhao Yun

Tian Feng – Zhang Yan

Ma Yan – Wei Yan

Lu Xiang – Zhao Lei

Zhang Yi – Yuan Shao

Zhang He – Zhang Fei +

Ju Shou – Xu Shu

Wei Yan – Zhang Xun

Gao Pei – Zhang Fei ++

Wang Lei – Zhuge Liang

Wei Xu – Cao Cao

As you can tell, the mod peaks during the Nan Yang – Ji Zhou areas. Not much is changed in Shu save for the final battle in Cheng Dou, where Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang join Liu Zheng and Wu Yi. Wu isn’t altered and the only thing different in Wei is a buffed Cao Cao has taken Wei Xu’s spot to make the final battle harder.

Further Reading:

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 189 AD Yuan Shu
• Destiny of an Emperor Editor and Mods
• Destiny of an Emperor 2 II Jing Zhou Reunification FAQ
• Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shao Jing Zhou Walkthrough
• Destiny of an Emperor Zhang Jao Scarves Walkthrough

Destiny of an Emperor Wei Cao Pi Si Ma Yi Walkthrough

Xia Hou Yuan is here to face you. Not a difficult general, so An Sha him or fight him to the death. Also note that you can not recruit generals around here for the moment and you won’t be able to until Cao Pi is defeated. Anyway, head north to fight Zhang Liao and Cao Zhen. Zhang Liao is one of the An Sha tacticians I was telling you about, and his fighting is impressive also. Take him out quickly with An Sha or neutralize his abilities with Ce Mian. If you give him too many turns, he will catch at least one person with An Sha. Cao Zhen is a decent tactician but he’s not going to wipe your party out. So defeat them and enter, resting as usual.

Jiang Wei will ask you for Zhuge Liang so say yes, and then he will join. He is not a tiger, but he gains soldiers nonetheless and is a solid tactician-first option that can fight also, making him a top character at this point. Search the bush by the weapon shop (spot on picture) to find another of the swordsmith’s swords, Bo Ye. Give that to someone, rest up, and head west.

Continue west and then north, as it slowly winds east. Cross the bridge north and head west again, only to wrap north and then east once more. You will come upon two gates, the first of which is Cao Zhi. Careful, he has An Sha and Wan Fu. Attempt to An Sha him with Zhuge Liang if possible, otherwise use Ce Mian to keep him at bay. Don’t waste too many tactical points, as the next battle involves Cao Pi. Cao Pi is stationed with Cao Ren and Xia Hou Dun, two good generals. An Sha them if necessary, but remember it won’t work on Cao Pi no matter what. Cao Pi, however, can An Sha you, so be careful. Fortunately he can’t Wan Fu himself, so if you can quickly take out Dun and Ren you can overpower Cao Pi. He will always catch you off guard, remember that. Once it is done, head on in. There isn’t much to do here other than chat, so either head back and rest or continue on.

Head directly west, across the first bridge and then a little south to get past the second bridge. Then go straight south to Ru Nan and it’s two gates. The first is protected by Cao Xiu and Cao Chun. Both are decent fighters but can be An Sha-ed with ease. Same for the next gate, Xia Hou Shang and Xia Hou De. The castle however contains Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Ang and Xia Hou Mao. Cao Zhang is the best Cao you’re going to find, and will be recruitable afterwards if you are interested. Cao Pi packs the same punch as before, and again they will catch you off guard. Cao Ang and Xia Hou Mao aren’t too tough but can be a nuisance when you are concentrating on Cao Zhang and Pi all the time. This battle isn’t too difficult though, assuming Cao Pi doesn’t get anyone with An Sha. After this battle all of the enemy officers you’ve fought at gates (Cao and Xia Hou family basically) you can recruit. Cao Zhang is the real gem but Zhang Liao and Xia Hou Dun could also be effective for certain spots depending on your level.

At the end of the battle, Si Ma Yi comes in and kills Cao Pi. Then he works you with some of his thunder magic, sending you back to Jian Ye disoriented.

Visit Liu Bei who suggests you see Guan Suo, Guan Yu’s younger brother. He gives you the combination from “Sun Zi’s book” and it is “up up down down left right up down”. So buy a ton of smoke pots and head to Ru Nan to use this combination as Si Ma Yi tries to do his magic on you yet again. It will fail and you will be in a fight.

I suggest you use Jiang Wei, Zhao Yun, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, and Ma Chao with Zhuge Liang as your strategist so you can use Ce Mian. Otherwise, Si Ma Yi is nearly unbeatable with Wan Fu and his 40,000 soldiers. Xu Zhu and Dian Wei are difficult warriors also but you just don’t have the time to fight them until Si Ma Yi is ousted. Have Jiang Wei cast Ce Mian (put Chi Tu Ma in his inventory also) every turn that it isn’t in use. It is imperative that this is in effect otherwise Si Ma Yi can use Wan Fun when he has 5000 soldiers left and it’s back to 40,000 again. Power pills help also if you need that last jolt to send Si Ma Yi to his grave.

After he is defeated he flees, and you can rest in Ru Nan. The steel helmets here are the best in the game so I suggest getting one for everyone and a plate mail (Guang Ling) for everyone also. When you are ready, buy a bunch of smoke pots and head for the far west part of Ru Nan.

You will enter a cave and head west ignoring the southern paths. Go south at the wall (or take the path before it to get a power pill) and continue on. Ignore the path up to the treasure; it is an iron helmet and those will do you no good at this point. Just keep going until you get to a staircase and go down it. North or south from here lead to a dead end, and taking a left leads to a smoke pot. North is the way to the exit, so continue that way. It takes you to a staircase, and the room after that leads to another quick staircase.

The room after that is another quick staircase down, while the room afterwards leaves you an option of going north or going east across damage land for some treasures. I’ll let you decide; the treasures are an iron helmet, a plate mail, and Wan Sheng, another sword (same attack as Bo Ye; 190). From this point, head north and take the first staircase you see. From this point, go down and take the left path against the wall, taking the staircase at the end and leaving the cave ultimately.

Now you will be in the second cave. At the first intersection ignore the south route and go west. Follow the path until you get to another intersection. The north trail leads you to a staircase which leads you to the Halberd, the best weapon in the game. That should go to Zhao Yun or Ma Chao. Now continue on, as west takes you to the exit but you can get treasures if you go south and east. The treasures include a splint mail, plate mail, iron helmet, steel helmet, gullwing and an elixir D. Head back and follow the path until you get to another intersection; north leads you to Qing Guang, another 240 attack power sword in the same mold as Nu Long and Qing Long. Get back on the path and head east until you can head south, which you should do.

Pick up the gullwing and go north and then west. A power pill is in the chest, and if you ignore the stairs and go up and right, you’ll get another elixir d. Now go back down the staircase and follow the path. Eventually you will leave the cave, and be proud, you just traversed the longest cave in the game. The end is near, hopefully that didn’t wipe out your tactical points too much (use smoke pots next time if they did).

Now head north and west across the bridge. You’ll come across two gates, the first of which sports Niu Jin alone. This is easy, An Sha or all out him. Next, be prepared and it would be wise to put Zhuge Liang as your strategist again as Si Ma Yi and two tacticians are protecting the Chen Liu gate.

This can either be the hardest Si Ma Yi battle or the easiest, depending on whom you have as your tactician. With Zhuge Liang your tactician and with Jiang Wei having Chi Tu Ma, I would use Ce Mian every turn and these three won’t be able to do anything. Hopefully you still have some tactical points at the end. Si Ma Yi flees and is worried. Chen Liu doesn’t have much for you, so continue on north.

Head across the bridge then take a left. You will get to Chin castle and as Xun Huo says, it won’t be easy. This will probably be very hard, most likely because you are very low on tactical points and didn’t want to have to walk all the way back through the cave again. Hopefully you have an An Sha or two you can use or even more luckily, use Ce Mian to keep Xun Huo at bay.

He is a good tactician and Wang Shuang will pummel you. Another battle of attrition, but if you have the tactical power you will prevail. Heal, get the word in town, and head north for the final battle at a familiar place (Luo Yang).

The first gate is dependent on one thing; if you recruited Dian Wei after defeating him at Ru Nan, he won’t appear here obviously. But if you didn’t he will appear here with Hou Cheng and Liu Ye. Either way this battle should be nothing for you at this point, so kill them and go on to the next one. Liu Dai is here, with Chen Qun and Lu Wen. Again, nothing you haven’t seen before although Chen Qun can be pesky with Li Jian and Wan Fu. Move on. The final gate battle of the game includes Le Xin, Mao Jie and Wang Can. Easy battle, as Wang Can isn’t even that good of a tactician. Heal up and now it’s time to consider some things.

Si Ma Yi is all that is left, and you have to fight a battle before it (his two sons Zhao and Shi). What is there to consider? Well do you have all the weapons and the best armor? The best armor is the steel helmet and plate mail, while Nu Long, Qing Long, Qing Quang, Wan Sheng, Bo Ye and the Halberd should be in your inventory. Also, did you use the free level up from the wise man in Ji Zhou castle? If you haven’t you might want to use that now or wait until you fight up to level 50 (to get to level 51). The choice is yours, but load up on power pills as this is the last battle so there is no reason to conserve money here.

The Si Ma brothers will talk trash to you each turn they have, but don’t worry about it. They are good tacticians but again, the prevailing theme is you’ve seen generals like this before so don’t be afraid; Ce Mian or An Sha them and go on. Note, you can run/Gui Huan in the Si Ma Yi battle and not have to fight his sons again. I suggest you do so and rest, or go through both at the same time for a challenge.

Si Ma Yi presents a big challenge especially if you do this two battles in a row. You definitely want Zhuge Liang as your strategist so again you can utilize the Ce Mian theory. Use Bei Ji on your fighters and Ce Mian to prevent Si Ma Yi’s attacks and Wan Fu attempts and to keep Cheng Yu’s An Sha at bay also. The other three, well you’ll just have to absorb their physical attacks until Si Ma Yi is gone. Once you have defeated Si Ma Yi take out Cheng Yu. This will leave you with three fighters to take care of, so wrap them up and congratulations, you just beat Destiny of an Emperor!

Enjoy the beautiful music, you earned it. Explore the city, explore the entire game, you can do what you want. When you want to advance to the ending sequence, invite Liu Bei to see Luo Yang and talk to him. He will greet you sincerely and thank you for your efforts, stating the wisdom he gained during it all. And you as a gamer should be proud of the wisdom you gained spending ten hours on this game. The ending is a satisfying journey that Liu Bei takes with his two brothers, backtracking through all the castles and land.

Further Reading:

• Two Officer Destiny of an Emperor Challenge NES
• Destiny of an Emperor Zhang Jao Scarves Walkthrough
• Destiny of an Emperor Editor and Mods
• Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shu Mod
• Destiny of an Emperor Parody

Destiny of an Emperor Sun Quan Wu Jian Ye Walkthrough

Liu Bei delegates Guan Yu to Chang Sha castle and Zhang Fei to Gui Yang. Oh my what to do without our two key cogs? In the meantime messengers come from all over telling of Cao Cao’s passing and Sun Ce’s assassination. Also word of Zhang Fei and Guan Yu struggling comes to Liu Bei. You are then directed there, so gullwing to Chang Sha. Get Guan Xing, Guan Yu’s son, here and then get Zhang Bao from Zhang Fei in Gui Yang. The two are very similar to their father’s in their ability, but are slightly lower overall. You’ll learn of the situation as the Wu army is stationed at Ling Ling and Wu Ling. Ling Ling is closer so go there. Keep in mind you don’t have to pick those two characters up and not having Zhang Bao (who you can’t dump in billetting) can actually be a strategic advantage if you favor using Jiang Wei / Zhuge Liang / Ma Chao / Guan Xing / Zhao Yun all at once.

Ling Tong greets you with Wu Fan. Now, these two have some soldiers. They aren’t that difficult, although their defense is much improved from the Shu generals. Dispose of the two and head to Wu Ling to do battle with Chen Wu and Fan Zhang. Another easy battle, keep your soldiers up and defeat these two brutes. At this point, you may get the tactic An Sha (Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang don’t get it, but Ma Liang does). Now this tactic makes the game ten times easier so use it at your own risk as it takes some of the fun and tactics out of the game, but An Sha kills any general that it “works” on. So if you have Zhuge Liang, you’ll notice that you can use it on almost anyone (there are some characters than can’t get An Sha-ed, such as Sun Quan, Cao Pi, and Sima Yi). At any rate, move on and head back to Cheng Du. Liu Bei declares himself emperor in front of civil officers and sends you on a mission to Wu, so gullwing to Chang Sha and head south of Gui Yang. Head west after the bridge and then south to come to Jian An castle.

Gan Ning and Lu Su are a formidable duo. If you’re using An Sha, try to get Lu Su with Zhuge Liang and Gan Ning with Zhao Yun. If you’re not using An Sha, try to contain Gan Ning with Ji Mian and offensive spells. Lu Su can Li Jian you so be careful. If you can defeat Lu Su this battle is a lot easier as his Ji Mian is an issue as well.

Afterwards, rest up and talk to the old man by the item shop. He can help you can by but he needs some ingredients. The salt peter is in the cave to the northwest and the dead tree is in the upper left part of this town. Check the tree behind the house in this area to find both a Scimitar and a Dead Tree. Equip the Scimitar, give it to Ma Chao or Zhang Bao, and then head to the cave to get the salt peter. Head to the left when you get in and go down the staircase. Stick to the left and go up to the next staircase. Now you are in the final room, go down and stay to the left, pick up the salt peter and leave. The old man in Jian An will now destroy the blocks guarding the way south and you can be on your way.

Hopefully you are prepared, a deadly tactician is your opponent at Hui Ji. Making matters worse, Kan Ze is no free pass, but Gu Yong is a lesser general certainly. Zhou Yu has the annoying ability to An Sha anyone on your team (Yes, he can even get Zhuge once in a while). Worse, he can Wan Fu himself if he is low on soldiers. This is the worst and can ultimately turn the battle into a war of attrition with your tactical points. If you have an An Sha tactician, continually try to get Zhou Yu with Zhuge. Once Zhou Yu is out of the picture, the battle can be had quite easily, but it is not easy to get him even with Zhuge. Kan Ze can take you out with Hong Shui so take him out afterwards and then all-out.

Also, if you can recruit Zhou Yu, it would be highly recommended as he is a solid tactician or fighter for the next area or so. Head into Hui Ji. Talk to everyone and go into the left tent. Search the barrel that is one to the left of the upper right corner of the room. A scimitar should be there. Go back and heal, then cross the bridge and head north.

Continue heading east and maneuvering around the water. Eventually you will get to Wu castle, and Zhuge Liang’s brother is there. Zhuge Jin is with Han Dang and Jiang Qin, decent warriors. An Sha them or use other tactics on them since they are not that bright. Zhuge Jin is a decent tactician, but no match for the likes of his brother. An Sha him, or whittle down their soldiers with Bei Ji, Huo Shen, Yi Xin, etc. Again, check out the castle and a man named Lu Meng will warn you for being in Wu territory. Grab the crossbow from the right side of the well on the right side of town. Nothing else of interest really, you might want to buy some smoke pots before venturing further however as a long cave is on the horizon. Head north, east, and then south to get there.

Head through these first two small staircases and then head left at the intersection in the green area. Follow this area until the path splits, and take the first left. Follow the long path and at the end you will see an area that takes away your soldiers with each step. Across it is a steel helmet. Is that worth veering off your path and losing soldiers? Probably not but it is a good defensive item, the best helmet in the game in fact. Head back to the intersection now, and head south this time to get to a staircase. To advance go to the staircase immediately north of you. If you want to search out a bit, go down and follow this long path around. If you make your way to the bottom right corner of the screen you will find an Elixir D. The north corner of the area is a dead end so refrain from going there. Go back to the initial two staircases and continue up. Follow this path now until the next staircase, it’s pretty straight forward again. Go straight right in this room, and then north in the next room, taking the west path that leads up and right, ignoring the path leading down.

Follow it through the wall and then keep going down ignoring the path to the right for the time being. This staircase leads to a chest guarded by damage-dealing area, and it is Nu Long. This was one of the swords that the old swordsmith made, and is tied for the second best weapon on the game (behind the halberd). Give that to Zhang Bao or Ma Chao and head back, taking the right that heads out of the cave. Now head north until you get to the first gate.

Ding Feng will impede your progress, and he has a very high soldier count. Now you’re starting to see generals with soldier counts of well of 10,000. Impressive. But he is alone and can be taken down easily, either physically or with An Sha. However you do it don’t waste too many tactical points as the next battle will be sure to test your skills. Po Yang Fortress = Chen Pu, Zhang Zhao and Bu Xi are here and are all able tacticians.

Zhang Zhao is the best of them, having a 240 for his tactical power. Chen Pu is at 210 and Bu Xi is at 192 so prepare yourself. If you’re trying to use An Sha, good luck as it may take a while to land the guillotine on Zhang Zhao. In fact if you are planning on An Sha-ing this group I would start with Bu Xi and work your way up to Zhang Zhao last. If not, use Ce Mian to limit these men tremendously. Any all tactician battle can be had with Ce Mian controlling the battle, assuming the user has the Chi Tu Ma to go first. At any rate, this battle will be one of the harder ones you’ve fought, but you should prevail. Head in and rest up in the center tent and talk to everyone. Leave southeast until you get to the first gate.

This battle is a mere tuneup, as although Huang Gai has a decent Strength he is no match for you tactically, so An Sha him or use Huo Shen/Ji Mian to prove his futility. Continuing on, you’ll reach Jin Du, with Sun Yu, Zhang Hong and Zhu Zhi guarding it. Sun Yu has a large amount of soldiers along with good tactical and strength abilities. Use tactics on this group, as only Zhang Hong is in the 200’s. Ji Mian, An Sha, Huo Shen, and Bei Ji will help. Once defeated, rest immediately.

Then talk to Lu Meng (the guy who has been warning you everywhere you go in Wu). This time he finally fights you. He is a stalwart general but alone he can be defeated easily. An An Sha from Zhuge Liang would work perfectly, if not using Ce Mian to control his tactical ability would help. Once he is gone he swears Tai Ci Shi could take you down, but then he runs off. Talk to everyone and you’ll get a request to defeat some bandits south of the city. Go do so.

Pirates strength is high and their weapons are good as well, so instead attack them with tactics and they will have no answer for you. An Sha works well as does Huo Shen and Ji Mian. After their defeat the man who asked you to defeat them will give you Qing Long, another of the swords the swordsmith made and this one is as good as Nu Long. Equip this immediately and head east.

Head to the center of this structure and head east again. Take the path that is just a tad south from straight east and you will find three gates and Jian Ye! Sun Yi is at the first gate, and he is a strong fighter but a weak tactician. Again, use An Sha and save yourself the time from a physical beat down thanks to old Sun Yi. Zhou Tai and Xue Zong are at the next one, and Zhou Tai is very similar to Sun Yi. Use An Sha, and then all out as Xue Zong is a weak general. Finally, the last gate pits you against Sun Huan, Xu Sheng and Lu Ji. Sun Huan and Xu Sheng pack a punch but Lu Ji isn’t much. An Sha the former two and then all-out when Lu Ji is around alone. If you’re not using An Sha, regular tactics will work fine against these foes also, it’ll just take a little while longer. Sun Huan overall is a pretty dominant general and it’s a shame you can’t get him. Go back and rest as two tough battles loom.

Sun Quan taunts you and sends out the two best generals of the area; the warrior Tai Ci Si and the balanced tactician Lu Sun. An Sha Tai Ci Shi as soon as possible. Lu Sun can not An Sha you but he has some tricky spells with Bei Ji and Wan Fu. You can An Sha him with Zhuge Liang, but it won’t be easy. If you have Zhuge as your strategist, just use Ce Mian and deal with the physical damage by using Jin Xian.

Immediately afterwards, Sun Quan attacks you! He is alone but he has the tactics to take you down. You can’t An Sha him, period. The game doesn’t let you, so don’t try. You can use Gui Huan if you want to leave (and consequently do battle with Sun Quan without having to fight Tai Ci Shi and Lu Sun). Anyway, for fighting him, Ji Mian/Ce Mian help. As does Huo Shen. He’s alone and ultimately that seals his fate. Keep your soldiers up and Wu will be yours! Also enjoy the music, you get it for a few main boss battles at the end so I hope you cherish it.

Jian Ye has some of the best armor in the game, so you should probably get on to buying some. You are in the final area of the game, Wei, and the generals will never be harder than they are now.

Generals with over 30,000 soldiers are lurking as are many An Sha using tacticians. Also of note, you will encounter many generals around here whom you won’t fight in gate battles. However, strangest of all is Pang De, who has the same amount of soldiers he had when you fought him with Ma Chao and Ma Dai. He’s a pushover and you can recruit him, but it’s too bad they didn’t give him more soldiers if they were going to put him in random battles around Wei. Anyway, after talking to Liu Bei and the townsfolk, venture east, heading north following the coast.

Further Reading:

• Final Fantasy 6 VI Sabin, Cyan, Gau, Doma Walkthrough
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 201 AD
• Lunar Silver Star Burg Ramus Meribia Sega CD Walkthrough
• Rogue Galaxy Planet Rosa Daytron Tablet Walkthrough
• Zelda Twilight Princess Lanayru Zora Lake Hylia Walkthrough

Liu Kui and Zhang Ren bar your path. Liu Kui is of the worthless sort, whereas Zhang Ren is probably the best general in all of Shu (Also another way of saying if you fight him recruit him if you can, and Liu Kui (Not that you’d want to) can’t be fought in random battles). What to make of it? Well, hit Zhang Ren with everything you have; Li Jian, Da Re, Yi Xin, etc. Use Ji Rou to soften up his hits. If this battle is hard you should probably grab some armor from Chang Sha as Shu generals hit harder and the armory at Chang Sha can help that. Anyway, rest up at Ling Ling and buy a few “smoke pots”. When you use a smoke pot you are invincible for a certain length of time (they’ll tell you when it runs out). They’re useful when you need to traverse long mountain ranges or forests, like you have to deal with now. You’ll also get a certain urge each time you use them. Head past the Liu Kui/Zhang Ren gate and follow the path, using smoke pots if you have them. You’ll come to a split field, head north to the next gate to see;

Meng Da and Tao Qian don’t provide much here other than softening you up for the battle afterwards. Tao Qian is not related at all to the Tao Qian that Liu Bei succeeded way back in Xu Zhou. These generals can be recruited but only Meng Da is worth a slight consideration depending on your current party. Obviously, his hitpoints and versatility are his high points, so do what you wish and then attack Fu Shui castle.

Hopefully you don’t have to walk back to rest up. “Run home and tell Liu Bei how terrible Yan Yan is”. Just great. Well, this battle is actually pretty tough. Yan Yan is very similar to Zhang Ren in his stats and soldier level. Yang Huai is an effective fighter and Fa Zheng can be a solid tactician as well, but really they don’t seem too dangerous. Use Bei Ji on one of your tacticians and go after Yan Yan and Yang Huai with Da Re. If you have Ma Liang as your tactician still, use Li Jian on the two and watch them destroy their own army. Either way, if you weren’t too worn out from the journey and previous battles you probably won this with relative ease, so go in now. Rest, buy some weapons if you want, and recall the conversation you had with the guard who told you that Liu Zheng was in Fu Shui castle. Go to the right of the throne room to find him, and he’ll ask you to ram the door open. Do so, and here is the trick. Get in front of the door, and tap up repeatedly. Don’t hold it but firmly tap it several times and it should break after a few seconds. He will thank you and then you will go on your way.

If you talked to the townspeople of Fu Shui you’ll have heard that the fifth tiger (Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun) is in the Han Zhong army. Scary. Well, go north, sticking to the right of the mountains. Once you reach the water, head west along the coastline and you’ll come to another castle. The first battle provides you wish the worst general of the area, Huang Quan, along with another below average character in Leng Bao. Leng Bao can take some damage off you so I suggest dealing with him first, but try not to waste any tactical points.

The next battle is very hard, probably the hardest since the Chang Sha/Ji Zhou ones. Ma Chao (the fifth tiger) along with his brother Ma Dai and friend Pang De are all above 200 with attack and their tactical ability is high also so beware. I’d probably make sure Ji Mian is used constantly, and try to Li Jian or Da Re the Ma brothers with Zhuge or Pang Tong. Keep at it and use Yin Xian/Wan Fu; these three can be tricky if they all gang up on one character.

I’d advise going after Pang De with your fighters as his tactical ability is a nuisance. After the battle, Pang De disappears and Ma Chao offers to join you. Let him; Ma Dai will join also. If you say no, Ma Chao and Dai will be found in random battles in this area. Enter Luo castle and rest. You’re probably going to want both Ma Chao and Ma Dai in your party. Personally, I’d suggest Ma Dai, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong rotating in as strategist. Buy weapons/armor if need be, and get the battleaxe from the northernmost well that is next to the member area and the doorless building. This is better than the sword, so give it to Zhang Fei or Ma Dai.

Continue south into the cave. When you go in, head north at the fork and continue until you get the staircase out. Head left as you leave and the mountains will wrap around as you make your way north. A gate awaits you, but with three average generals. Li Yan and Liu Ba are decent tacticians but shouldn’t scare your army. Liu Xun is a decent fighter, but again these generals should be easy for you. Enter the fort and talk to the people. Liu Zheng has betrayed you and joined the army and is waiting at Cheng Du. Hm, well get the battleaxe from the chest. Give this to your second best fighter and continue to the east, hugging the north cliffs.

This gate provides you with two of the best fighters in the area. A good idea would be to use Ji Mian, Li Jian, and/or an attack spell on them and they should go down with ease. If your party is tired you may want to go back, although if you have a decent amount of TP I wouldn’t waste the time of marching back and instead take a risk with the final Shu battle. Liu Zheng comes into this with Gao Pei, Wu Yi and Wang Lei.

Wu Yi is a solid overall character that obviously has a decent soldier count. The other two are decent at what they do but not great. Liu Zheng is a bad general despite the high soldier level. In all reality, this is one of the easiest section-ending battles you are going to face. Get Wu Yi down and then Gao Pei, then whittle down Liu Zheng and Wang Lei. Nothing difficult. Enter Cheng Du and rest. Get armor, invite Liu Bei, and he will tell you about a swordsmith in the Shu area. First off, head back to that cave.

When you get there head south, but don’t go east (back to Luo castle). Instead, take the far south left exit and continue left until the staircase. The path is pretty straightforward from this point. Get the Iron ore and gullwing out to Luo. From here, walk back to Fu Shui and instead of heading through the dense forest head southeast of Fu Shui to find the swordsmith. Give him the Iron Ore and he will tell you to attend to other matters as it will take him a while to create the swords. So leave and reenter and that will constitute several days. But the five swords were stolen in this time that you were gone so it was all for naught. Gullwing back to Cheng Du and talk to Liu Bei.

Further Reading:

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 201 AD Ma Teng

Rest up and head back out and north. After you touch the bridge, Yuan Shao will stop you. If you had Lu Bu, he will betray you. If you didn’t he will appear anyway, with Yuan Shao, Guo Tu, Wen Hun, and Yan Liang. What a group of warlords! They will surprise you and dominate you, but fear not as they will spare you. Head back in Nan Yang, rest again and explore the city. Buy the Silver Key from the man near the weapon store, as you’ll need it later like he says. Also, search the area to the northwest of him to find a Trident. A great weapon for now, give that to Zhang Fei.

Get some weapons/items, and invite Liu Bei. Liu Bei thanks you for killing Yuan Shu, even if you let him run away, and advises you to be careful of his brother Yuan Shao. But you already know that. Rest up, you have another fork in the storyline; you can go southwest of Nan Yang and liberate the Jing Zhou area, or you can attack Yuan Shao to the northeast (the snowy area (Ji Zhou)). Technically I believe you are supposed to go through Yuan Shao’s section first but actually switching between them works best.

First go southwest to Wu Ling castle. Just follow the gold road all the way there, you will pass Ma Su, Ma Liang, Yi Ji, and Zhuge Liang’s house along the way. The battle at Wu Ling presents you with a decent fighter in Jin Xuan and a mediocre strategist in Gong Zhi. However, once you get Jin Xuan under 1000 this is an easy battle, just utilize the new found trident and Yan Re/Tong Xian if you have them. You cannot recruit Jin Xuan after this battle but Gong Zhi is recruitable and even though his attack is low and his tactics aren’t too much higher than average, he is useful for his soldier count so recruit him if you see him and plug him in if necessary.

Head into Wu Ling and rest up. Check out town, and search the last well to find a Bow. This is a great weapon and in all reality the only reason you went all the way down to Wu Ling in the first place. Give this to Zhang Fei and give the trident to your next best fighter (either Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, Guan Ping, Guan Yu). Head back to the Nan Yang area and go to the upper left cave in the snow. Stick to the top and head left, recruiting Zhou Cang. He is a good fighter and worth subbing in over Guan Ping or Liu Feng if you have them still. That is all you can do in the cave for now so head to Nan Yang, heal up and head to the northeast.

At Bo Hai castle you are greeted by Lu Guang, who has Shen Pei and Gao Lan with him. Lu Guang is a decent fighter while the other two are pushovers. Quickly kill Lu Guang and then all-out. Going in, you realize you cannot advance across the bridge and thus can’t move on with the game. Talk to everyone and you will see Shui Jing again, and he will offer to give you gunpowder to destroy the rocks in the western cave. Agree to this and go do that.

Once in the cave, head to the northwest portion of the cave and use the gunpowder and recruit Dan Fu (Xu Zhe). He is the best tactician you can find right now and a serviceable fighter as well, so I’d suggest cutting down to a 5 person party to accomodate him in battle and to have him be strategist as well. Generally, I have Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Ji Ling/Zhang Xun, Xu Zhe, and Zhou Cang right now. Xu Zhe also has the Fu Bing tactic, which allows your character to get two hits (although I think the second hit is .5 damage as the first, but still 1.5 overall). After you are done formatting your party, head back to Bo Hai with Xu Zhe in front to get to the other side of town and move on. Check the weapon store if you wish and head straight east and then south to the gate once you are past the mountains.

Another very difficult battle. Wen Hun and Yan Liang, who attacked you with Yuan Shao earlier, are two of the best generals in this area. Xu Shou at the same time is one of the better tacticians of this area. Recruit any of them that you can after the fight. For the battle, quickly use Yan Re with Guan Yu and Xu Zhe to help get Yan Liang and Wen Hun under 1000. Once they are both under 1000 concentrate on one of them and then move on to the next one, and slowly but surely you will be able to all out. Go in and use the silver key and the gate and free the lady. She is Zhao Yun’s sister, whom you met at the bar near Chang An, and she will give you a letter to give to her brother.

Go back and rest and then continue east from this gate to get to Guang Zhong. Zhao Yun confronts you, but once you show him the letter he warms to you and joins. Zhao Yun is one of the best overall characters in the game if not the very best. You will use him for the rest of the game. Plug him in along with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xu Zhe and either Wen Hun/Yan Liang/Xu Shou/Zhou Cang, in descending order. Attack the actual castle at Guang Zhong now.

Yuan Tan and his brother Yuan Xi are there to oppose you along with a good tactician named Tian Feng. Pretty tough generals, but nothing compared to the last fight and especially now that you have Zhao Yun. Kill them all and head in. FYI, you can recruit Tian Feng but not the other two (as you’ve noticed you can’t recruit family (ie dong min, yuan yin, yuan tan, yuan xi)). Rest up in the town and search it completely.

You will come across a general by the name of Yuan Shang. He has a lot of soldiers and is actually a good general, but he comes alone and thus his fate is sealed. He says he’ll kill you later but you’ll never see the clown again. Think about buying some weapons, and grab the Sabre at the lower end of the southernmost well (the well in the picture above). After all this is done, leave town and head east until you find a few gates.

The first gate is easy. Ma Yan is a complete pushover and Lu Xiang isn’t much better. The following battle involves Zhang Yi with Guo Tu. Now Guo Tu is as dangerous as Yan Liang or Wen Hun. Also, his intelligence is similarly low. Take advantage of the easier battle previously and unload all your tactical points on Guo Tu. Guo Tu is worth recruiting if you find him, and I suggest building up levels until you find either Wen Hun, Yan Liang, or Guo Tu to go along with the three tigers and Xu Zhe. Whichever one you get, head to the castle and prepare for what is quite possibly the hardest battle on the game (relatively speaking).

If your levels are low or your characters are subpar or your strategy is poor, you will have a very difficult time winning this battle. First of all, the enemies involved; Yuan Shao has more soldiers than you’ve seen and is solid overall, and if you didn’t kill Yuan Shu he will be here, identical to the previous fight with him. Zhang He is the best general in the Yuan Shao area (unrecruitable) and Ju Shou is the best tactician (recruitable) in the area. Then there is Lu Bu, who takes off 4 or 5 hundred a hit and goes first nearly every turn. First off, hopefully you are at the level where you received the tactic “Ji Rou” which doubles defense. This will buy you some time to take out Lu Bu and soften up the other heavy hitters such as Yuan Shao and Zhang He. Leave Yuan Shu and Ju Shou for last. The key is getting Ji Rou out there early and using Yin Xian when you are in trouble to get full soldiers. You may even wish to use Yin Xian with a slow character like Guan Yu on the first turn. Survive the first two or three rounds and you have a decent shot to win. When the battle is over, Lu Bu again flees and the Yuan brothers are killed.

Head on in. Invite Liu Bei who praises you as always, and then check out the area. New weapons/armor is available, and on the outskirts of town is an old wise man who can level you up for free. Don’t get greedy; save it for the end of the game, as when you reach the highest level (50), only the old man can then bring you to level 51. Rest up and leave for Wu Ling in Jing Zhou as another difficult battle looms.

The battle of Chang Sha is said by many, along with the Yuan Shao battle, to be the two hardest battles on the entire game. Since you have basically the same tactics as the battle you just fought against Yuan Shao you will find that the same tactics work well in this as well. Use Ji Rou to neutralize the power of Wei Yan and Huang Zhong. Yang Ling and Han Xuan are mediocre generals at best, but they can be a nuisance when paired with Huang Zhong and Wei Yan. Get them all under 1000 soldiers to lower their attack power, and if you get low don’t be afraid to use Yin Xian (in fact you might as well plan on using this a few times). You might have lost a guy or two but if you are on a decent level and can get the two heavy hitters under 1000 quick, then you should be okay.

Head in and recruit both Huang Zhong and Wei Yan. At this point, Wei Yan is a beast. His agility is very high and his soldiers are high as well, not to mention his attack is high and his tactical abilities are adequate also. Huang Zhong is a solid character who is a tiger and starts off with the same amount of soldiers as Guan Yu. While a solid character, he is ultimately the worst tiger and if there is one tiger who ends up getting lost in billetting it will probably be him. Zhao Yun should never be taken out, while Zhang Fei and Guan Yu can’t be taken out of the active party even if you wanted to. So look at your party; I’m taking Wei Yan and the four tigers with Xu Zhe the strategist south to Guiyang and I advise you do also after you grab the potent Sword on the well across the north bridge. Buy some armor while you are at it. The sword is a dominate weapon at this point, give it to Wei Yan and watch him obliterate the rest of Jing Zhou.

You’ll be surprised as you enter. Everyone is guarding the shops. Grab another sword from the well on the right (Give it to Zhang Fei). Go north to the palace and talk to the last guard. He warns you of Zhao Fan’s intentions. So when Zhao Fan offers a rest, decline twice, and you will fight. If you fall for it, you end up with 200 or so soldiers for each person starting the battle.

How to combat this? Well, have Wei Yan or whomever has Chi Tu Ma use Yin Xian and then it’s basically a new battle again minus the TP you just used up. Either way, with the two swords you just found this battle will be over in a matter of minutes. They’re all decent generals, but you’ll notice for the rest of this area that the enemy has no chance against your swords. After losing, Zhao Fan gives up, and is never to be seen afterwards. Bao Long and Chen Ying can be recruited (along with Yang Ling from the last battle), but at this point you probably have no use for these generic generals anymore. Rest up and head to the northwest.

You will come upon Ling Ling. The first gate is defended by Xing Dao Rong and Liu Yang. Xing Dao Rong is a decent fighter, but with two swords and the party you have, this is an easy all-out win. The castle is guarded by Xing Dao Rong again but with Liu Du as the leader. Another easy battle, so why was this after Chang Sha now?

Inside you should go to the left a bit first, wrapping the wall north and west and north again, and you’ll make your way to a cottage with Pang Tong inside. Search in front of him for a sword (sometimes it isn’t there, random glitch). Back in town, go to the inn and talk to everyone, and if you talk to the man in the upper left he will tell you that Pang Tong has left with his soldiers; this is the trigger to make Pang Tong come out and be available for random battle, and if you don’t talk to him you won’t see Pang Tong ever. So rest up and walk around outside, while AVOIDING WATER AREAS. You’ll see why.

Pang Tong is a tricky opponent. Checking his report you can tell his tactical ability is the best you’ve seen so far at 240. So don’t try tactics on him but rather gang up on him with the swords and hope he doesn’t Wan Fu himself or Da Re on you. So why avoid water? Because then he could use Hong Shui and kill your entire party in one hit. Not good news, so stay away from water and keep at it, he should give in eventually. Then he joins your team, and at 3765 soldiers he provides a cog in front of your line.

Rest up and with this done, head past Ling Ling for a moment as we have an old friend to meet. After a few battles (and probably the first battle you get in) you will see Lu Bu, with 7003 soldiers! Ouch, hope you’re at full health. Each hit of his will take off from 800-1000 depending on your equipment. That might be an entire line of health for a general of yours. However, use Yi Xin or Li Jian on Lu Bu with someone fast (Wei Yan with Chi Tu Ma, for example) and Lu Bu will never get to attack. Otherwise, prepare for a slugfest because he will trounce through your soldiers until you get him under 1000 and even then he takes off 400-500 soldiers a hit. After his demise he gives a final speech, and passes away. Another note, don’t try and save the Gemsword to use it here on him. It won’t work, as it only works at the Yang Zhou battle with Lu Bu.

With Lu Bu gone, head back to Gui Yang and invite Liu Bei to tell him of your victory. Xu Zhe will get word that his mother is ill and will leave, but not before telling you to search out Zhuge Liang. So get on that, and head to his house. Notice the music change! Personally I enjoy it more but I appreciate both, quality NES music. On the way, recruit Ma Liang and Ma Su. Ma Liang will be useful in about ten levels when he learns the An Sha technique. Ma Su can be valuable now too, but I suggest keeping Huang Zhong, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Wei Yan together for now, with Pang Tong as the strategist and the other spot open (for Zhuge Liang).

When you get to Zhuge’s house, his sister says he went off to Lou Sang Village. Return to Xu Zhou (first castle) and go to Lou Sang Village, to the right of Xu Zhou. The old man in the house says he left, and when you return his sister just says she’ll let you know at Nan Yang when he does come back. The chase continues as you head back to Nan Yang (hint; buy like 4 gullwings, and save yourself some time). Invite Liu Bei and then he will say a boy named Jin (Zhuge Jin) came here to say that Zhuge Liang is back at home. Return to his home past the Ma Su house and he will be sleeping. Choose to not wake him, and then wait without clicking anything. He will then get up and join the party, but says to meet him at Gui Yang with Liu Bei. Speak with the two there and a trip to Liu Zheng’s land of Shu will be in order. NOW you can finally continue on with your quest past the guy with red clothes in the house south of Ling Ling.

Further Reading:

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 208 AD Han Xuan
• Destiny of an Emperor 2 II Jing Zhou Reunification FAQ
• Two Officer Destiny of an Emperor Challenge NES
• Destiny of an Emperor Editor and Mods
• Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shu Mod

Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shu Nan Yang Walkthrough

Walk around and gain a level or two and to get acclimated to the guys in the Yuan Shu area. There are some decent warlords in Zhang Xun, Ji Ling and Lei Bo. A tiger, Zhao Yun, is at the bar on the other side of the mountain range from Yuan castle. He commits to you but can’t go with you yet as he has prior obligations. Regardless, when you are ready rest up and head south to Yuan castle. Lei Bo will take you to the battlefield, and he has Chen Ji with him. Chen Ji is worthless so use all your tacticians on Lei Bo and get those 643 soldiers down. Once Lei Bo is toast, use all-out. If you see Lei Bo after this castle, especially if it happens soon, then recruit him as his huge soldier count is probably 200 soldiers higher than anything else on your party. The people in Yuan castle will tell you of Yuan Shu’s cruelty with women. One guy will mention Ji Ling controlling the next castle (Huai Nan), so go there, either through the mountains or the long forested way.

Ji Ling and Zhang Xun will greet you. This is probably the toughest battle in this area outside of the final one with Yuan Shu. Zhang Xun and Ji Ling are also the two best characters in this region, so they are worth recruiting afterwards for their soldiers and attack power. That said, defeating them is not too hard as Shui Xing is available and you should abuse it against these stupid brutes. You’ll take some physical damage but they’ll be gone in a few rounds. Enter the small city to hear more anti-Yuan Shu banter and rest up and leave northwards. Around this time (if you have a character recruited or leveled up to over 500 soldiers) the pink bar will change colors to orange as seen on the photo below. This may seem a bit depressing as now you have a small bar again, but despair not as soon you’ll have a long orange bar of health!

You’ll come upon a gate. Han Xian and Li Feng guard. Not really hard, you could probably get away with all-outting it right from the start. If not, use some tactics on Han Xian and all-out. Rush in to find barely anyone in the area, other than a Spear (to Zhang Fei/Lu Bu) and a man named Xu Yuan Zhi who refers you to Shui Jing and gives you the Intro letter. Now go south east to the cottage and enter with the letter. You will be brought in to Shui Jing and he will recommend both Fu Long and Feng Chu to be your tacticians. This will all make sense a bit later in the game. Also realize that if you get the letter and don’t visit Shui Jing you will have it in your inventory forever, so go see him if for no better reason than to get rid of the Intro letter. Rest up and head north of Chen Cang gate, to another gate.

You’ll notice two gates and a castle with no bridge past the castle. The first gate is Liang Ji and two soldiers. Garbage, just all out and you’ll be done in no time. The next battle? More garbage, with Chen Lan being accompanied by Liang Gang, both bad generals. You shouldn’t have a problem, but don’t be hasty. Attacking the castle (Yuan Shu, Yuan Yin, Lu Fan, Lu Bu (If you didn’t recruit him)) would be an unwise move at the moment. I would suggest having either Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, or Lei Bo at this point to form a party revolving around Zhang Fei, Guan Yu/Ping, Liu Feng and one of the new generals with Huo Hu or Li Ru as your tactician. Also, the cave to the east is worth checking out, for equipment (Spears / Caps) and experience. Also, by the time you’re finished you’ll probably have two if not three of the generals I listed above (Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Lei Bo) and on top of that the Yuan Shu battle will be easy with or without Lu Bu. So rest up at Huai Nan and go there.

This cave is bigger than any you’ve searched before and has a lot of equipment. Upon entry head straight west to hit a wall, then head north and follow it as it wraps around to a staircase. Now, search both ends to get a robe and 1503 coins of gold. Leave the way you came and make your way to the upper left portion of the first floor screen. Grab the cap and spear and now go to the lower left portion of the map until it wraps around to a staircase leading down. Head east and take a quick detour south for a cap, then continue on the path and check all the corners for two spears and a robe. Enter the center staircase and pick up 1006 coins, a power pill, a cap, and another robe. Head on out, rest at Huai Nan and head for Nan Yang to confront Yuan Shu!

As you can see, the great Yuan Shu has more soldiers than anyone you’ve seen yet. Like his family member Yuan Yin he is solid overall if not unspectacular. Lu Bu lurks at the bottom (assuming you DIDN’T recruit him). Ideally, take Lu Bu out first as his physical prowess is too overpowering to ignore. Then, slowly work down the Yuan brothers and use all out on Lu Fan. This battle can be difficult as tactics aren’t as easy to pull off on the generals, but if you got all those spears and are on a decent level, Yuan Shu should be defeated.

Note that when you defeat him, if Zhang Fei is alive, Yuan Shu will be caught attempting to flee and will ask you to free him. If you say no three times, he will be dead, but if you let him leave you will fight him with his brother later on. I’d let him go because he’s Yuan Shu and the battle you face him in next is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, in the entire game. If you are interested you can recruit Lu Fan in random battles but not Yuan Yin. Yuan Yin is the only person in this region that you cannot recruit. So do what you want and head into Nan Yang.

Further Reading:

• Two Officer Destiny of an Emperor Challenge NES
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III General Gameplay Tips
• Destiny of an Emperor II 2 Yuan Shao FAQ
• Destiny of an Emperor II Yuan Shao Generals
• Destiny of an Emperor II 2 Guan Yu Escape

Heading up to the gate, you will see Sun Ce. He complains about Yuan Shu not providing food and rushes off, leaving you to fight Hua Xiong at the gate. A powerful fighter in his own right, Hua Xiong ultimately is easy to overcome as his entourage (Li Su and the rebel forces) do not provide much support for him. Send a barrage of Lian Huo’s/Ye Huo’s on Hua and Li and you should have no problem. Head in, talk to everyone and rest. Recruit Yang Jin (If you wish, you won’t have him long) and get the ax. People around the citadel will knock Yuan Shu. But you know better! Back to the game, you have an option. You can check out the cave to the northwest or fight the next gate to the direct west. I suggest heading to the cave as it is not necessary but secrets lie within.

This cave is not really complicated but the issue that can be a pain is that new forces are now available for you to fight. Powerful generals such as Hua Xiong or Fen Chou and tactical wizards Li Ru or Jia Xu are roaming everywhere in this area and any combination of them will probably put you in deep trouble. There are ten (or eleven, I’ll explain later) generals in the area and if you run into a group of 4 or 5 or even 3 at a time you may want to try retreating. Also note that after you beat these generals at their respective gates (Hua Xiong at Fan Shui say), then you can recruit them. If you can get a hold of Hua Xiong or Li Ru that could go a long way into making your team a powerhouse faster.

Anyway, head straight for the cave; when walking in go north, then hug the left wall and flip around, going down, left, and then following all the way up to the staircase leading down. From here follow the path down for a while, and when you get to a four-way, head down and down the staircase. From here, head left and up, down another staircase and get the Gold Key. This will be very useful soon. Now head back the same way and you’ll see a man hanging around the entrance. He will only show up if you go all the way and get the Gold Key. At the beginning of the cave youll see Guan Ping now, who will join your army and he probably should be put at the top of your army with an ax as his soldiers and attack are an asset for the party. If you managed to get Hua Xiong in here put him in your party and you have 5 formidable characters with Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Liu Feng, Guan Ping, Hua Xiong with Chen Deng as your strategist. If you did not get Hua Xiong use Chen Deng as your fifth member. Rest at Fan Shui Gate and head west of the cave to reach Hu Lao Guan.

Yep that’s right, it is Lu Bu! With a full attack power of 255 he is quite a vicious specimen, not to mention his agility is so high that he attacks first nearly every round! To compound matters Li Ru is supporting him tactically. This can be a hard battle, but if you use tactics (Ye Huo) on Lu Bu and attack Li Ru, they should go down. Careful though, if Lu Bu gets a critical hit on one of your characters you may be in trouble.

After the battle head in and talk to everyone, recruiting Huo Hu. He is better than Chen Deng, so drop Chen Deng or Mi Zhu and put Huo Hu as your strategist. You will be told that Lu Bu would switch his loyalty for money and a man named Wang Yun offers you his sword, the Gemsword, but it is in his house in Luo Yang. Remember this. Head on out and rest at Fan Shui Gate again. Back at Hu Lao Guan you should go north and then southwest to a few gates.

You just fought Lu Bu and Li Ru, so these battles should be cake. Li Jue is a decent character but by himself is nothing more than a 1 minute all-out session. The next battle is interesting if for no better reason than a glitch on the game.

Every once in a while (and this particular time that I’m playing through the game) a character appears with Xu Rong named Guo Ji (Guo Si in the novel). He has a high soldier rate and decent attack, so if he shows up in your game it would be a good idea to try to recruit him after this gate battle. Even with Guo Ji, the battle with Xu Rong is not too hard. Go back to Fanshui and rest though, and then make your way back to Luo Yang for a big battle.

Inside the castle you will see a character, the great Lord Yuan Shu, and he will denounce the idiots who failed on their attack and claim that with Lu Bu at the helm, Dong Zhuo can not be defeated. He runs off, so attack the castle. Dong Zhuo uses the word lunacy on you so be careful. The battle itself can be difficult but could be a lot worse. In a battle like this, I don’t understand why they could not add a few lesser generals to make the battle tougher.

With just Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, you can overwhelm them with Ye Huo and ax hits. Dong Zhuo has a spear equipped and can take off as much as Lu Bu so beware. But keep your soldiers up and again you should win convincingly. Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu flee for Chang An in the process. Enter and search the burnt capital. Wang Gui offers to join, but reject him. You are probably getting to the point where you have a good core of generals along with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and you can afford to discriminate in terms of whom you’d like on your active party. Wang Gui is a good example of a character along the story path who you just don’t need to use. But do talk to Yuan Shao next to him. He says that he’s going back to Bo Hai and he does just that. Now enter the house in the upper left. Use the gold key on the dark red tile on the house to get the Gemsword! With this, Lu Bu can be yours! Leave Luo Yang and head up, left, then down and you’ll see Lu Bu again.

More taunts, and he’s backed by Cai Yong and Hu Zhen.

Cai Yong is a tactician who has some fighting ability while Hu Zhen is one of the worst characters in the area. If you have the Gemsword and if you want to get Lu Bu on your team, use it repeatedly on him and offer to give it to him when he prompts. He will happily join you, leaving Cai Yong and Hu Zhen to fend for themselves. Lu Bu starts off in the billetting and you can buy a Gullwing to get back to Xu Zhou after the battle to put him in.

If you fight Lu Bu, you have a decent battle on your hands. Quickly whittle Lu Bu’s soldiers down and then take out Cai Yong before the two wreak too much havoc. If you recruited Lu Bu, you might as well all-out Cai Yong and Hu Zhen. Also note if you recruit Lu Bu the following battles and the entire next chapter will be far easier. This can be good or bad, but as a beginner I suggest NOT getting Lu Bu, as it is more a novelty thing to do after you have beat the game once. But it’s your choice and both permutations will be listed. Finally, make note of Lu Bu’s horse Chi Tu Ma. Lu Bu tells you to go 8 steps west and 1 south, and do this from Fan Shui Gate. You will get Chi Tu Ma, and give it to whoever you want to attack first because whoever has it gets an upgraded agility. It’s not equippable, just has to be in the inventory.

Enter Yang Zhuo and check out everything, including the palace where Cao Cao is. Also, do not forget to check the empty house near the palace on the southern part of town; you can find a Club in the jar on the upper right. Give that to Zhang Fei or Lu Bu and move on to the cave immediately to the left of Yang Zhou. Head west when you get in, and take the south extention to a staircase. Take that and get the chest (club) and continue along your way until the next staircase. Take that and leave, simple stuff. Also you’re probably noticing that these clubs make the guys in this area go down a lot easier.

Now head through the forest to the gate where Dong Min greets you. This battle can wear down a character or two simply because of Fen Chou. Dong Min isn’t much to speak about and after this battle you’ll never see him again (no random encounters). Fen Chou on the other hand is a solid fighter, so if you are lacking in that department and missed either Lu Bu, Hua Xiong, or Guan Ping, you might want to consider him if you can find him. During the gate battle, try not to waste too many tactical points as a big battle looms. So either head back and heal up or prepare yourself. Notice my party; with the upcoming battle against some tough guys I wanted an extra tactician in there and Huo Hu is a solid bet in the next battle.

Definitely the hardest battle yet, especially if you didn’t recruit Lu Bu. If you did, well it’s a little softer on ya, but Jia Xu is the most dangerous tactician you’ve faced yet and Zhang Ji is a solid warrior similar to Fen Chou. Dong Zhou obviously still packs a punch and if Lu Bu is in there also then it’s that much harder. If you saved TP you are probably feeling wise, as Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, and Zhang Ji can all be had by either Ye Huo or Shui Xing. You won’t be able to use tactics on Jia Xu well and he’ll probably end up using Shui Xing on you before the battle is over. Don’t despair, if your party is as deep as it should be and your TP is high you should win this. Kill Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo first, then work Jia Xu down and the persistent Zhang Ji last. Dong Zhuo will be dead and Lu Bu will retreat yet again. In case you are interested, you CANNOT recruit Jia Xu unfortunately, but you can get Zhang Ji, but that may not be worth it as a new territory with new characters is on the way. Head into Chang An and explore the largest castle yet. There is a character in the back, Zhou Chao, who is not worth your time but you can get him anyway. Save and invite Liu Bei. Check out the weapons and then go see Liu Bei. He tells you to sleep then wakes you up, and a messenger is there to direct you to Lord Yuan Shu who has claimed emperor status. You are then dispatched to head south and quell Yuan Shu’s uprising.

Further Reading:

• Two Officer Destiny of an Emperor Challenge NES
• Destiny of an Emperor 2 II Jing Zhou Reunification FAQ
• DW6 Hulao Gate; Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo vs Yuan Shao led allies
• Destiny of an Emperor Editor and Mods
• Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shu Mod

Wait and watch the opening and get used to the awesome music you will subject yourself to each time you turn on/open up Destiny of an Emperor. Now it takes a while, but eventually it was give you the historical background along with a flashy introduction to several of the main characters who you will either fight with or against in the game. Familiarize yourself with the names and faces, they will be important.

Register a name and I would advise you choose “fast” each time for message speed unless you read poorly. Once you can actually control your character, press A and go to Items and then equip all the default items that the characters have. Each character can equip 3 items; helmet, armor and weapon. Any character can equip any weapon and it would be a good idea to upgrade these three regularly as this game is very difficult when you change areas with older equipment. New equipment can be purchased at castles that you take over. To see which equipment is better, go to your general stats and look at AP for Attack and AC for Defense. The higher the better. For now equip everything but the Dagger on Liu Bei.

Now leave the cottage and talk to everyone in the town, getting the food / money from the farmer and recruiting the Song brothers. Give one of them the dagger and leave for Xu Zhou to the west (follow the road).

Quite possibly you got in your first battle on the way. Or you didn’t. But incase you did, here is the battle structure. All-out is quite possibly the feature that puts Destiny of an Emperor on another level in my mind. When you see groups of anything other than generals (brigands, rebels, pirates, etc) use all-out and gaze at the speed at which you annihilate them. Also if you all-out against a general and you begin to lose you can pull out with b and continue with the standard attack. Report is a useful function when contemplating tactics as checking the opponents tactical ability is imperative and so is knowing your own generals abilities. Tactics are the key to the game. However, with the Chinese names you probably are not going to be able to figure out what is what at first. You get a new one nearly every level at the beginning of the game.

Now make your way into town and explore each area; you’ll find an item shop, weapon shop, save area, member area, food shop, the inn, the palace, and Mi Zhi’s house. Recruit Mi Zhi and dump Song Yong at the member area and align your party by total HP as you generally should do, having Liu Bei the tactician on the bottom of your party as the fifth member. Explore the area and buy some weapons if you want, otherwise leave town and fight around until you gain a level or so. You’ll notice Zhang Fei and Guan Yu gain soldiers with levels. They are what you will hear often in the game, called “tigers”, which basically means you will use them throughout as they consistently gain soldiers each level. Liu Bei and other tacticians will gain Lian Huo, which is a fire spell on one enemy. Head back to Xu Zhou, heal at the inn, and prepare for your first boss at the north castle.

Get used to the brilliant taunts, they will be commonplace. In reality if you fought up a level this battle should be easy; Use Lian Huo with your tacticians (Liu Bei, Mi Zhi, Song Ren) and fight with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. You can probably all-out after the first turn. If you haven’t built up a level or fought a battle at all then just attack Zhang Liang and you should still be fine.

Upon entering, recruit Chen Deng and heal at the inn, while appointing Song Ren your Tactician. Talk to everyone and one nice character will fight you, his name is Ma Yuan Yi. He is a pushover however, just use lian huo and fight. You’ll probably gain a level or two doing this and will gain Wuo Jian (Fire protection (Group)) and Shui Tu (Water attack vs. one enemy). Head back to Xu Zhou to dump off Song Ren and make Liu Bei your tactician with Mi Zhi and Chen Deng with the brothers to make five. It is important to have your character with the highest intelligence as your tactician and if that character is a good fighter (like Liu Bei) you should do everything in your power to get him in the active party as well.

Head west of Xu Zhou to reach Mt. Dai Xin (As Ma Yuan Yi said) and you will encounter Zhang Bao along with Cheng Yuan Zhi! Two generals! Well, it’s still not much, although do be wary of Zhang Bao’s tactics; he could catch one of your lesser generals if he gets some help from CYZ. So Lian Huo CYZ with a few people and get him under 100, and then assault Zhang Bao until it’s at the all-out point. Enter the citadel and talk to everyone and you will then learn where to go. Before you leave enter the middle tent and search the upper right jar to find an axe and throw that to Zhang Fei and have him pass down his flail to someone else. Now leave and gain a level or two and explore the rest of the map. You’ll learn Chi Xin (Heal one person a little) and then you can head down to take on Zhang Jao at the natural fortress of Tie Men Xia.

Zhang Jao can pose quite a threat if your level or skill is not high enough. He comes with two weaker generals, Zheng Mao being a bit more of a threat than Han Zhong despite the soldier differential. So have Chen Deng and Mi Zhi use Lian Huo on Zheng Mao to get him under 100 while using the other three to concentrate on Zhang Jao with Lian Huo and attacks.

You may need to heal, just try to get Zhang Jao under 100 and it should be smooth sailing from there. Head in and explore. Grab the Ax in one of the tents and give that to Guan Yu. You’ll learn the general you just defeated, Han Zhong, can be recruited.

Walk around outside until you recruit Han Zhong. Also note that heading into Qing Zhou results in a battle with Zhang Jao, Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, Cheng Yuan Zhi, and Zheng Mao, so I would refrain from that for now. Instead, head to the cave to the northeast of the castle and talk to the guard with Han Zhong as the leader of your squad. A bridge will appear, allowing you to get an ax (give to Liu Bei), and at the end of the cave is a secondary option of fighting Zhang Jao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang. Obviously the advantage is not having Cheng Yuan Zhi and Zheng Mao. First of all, after all of this head back and get rid of Han Zhong as his attack and tactical ability are poor. Arrange a party with the brothers and Chen Deng and Mi Zhu.

Now the choice is up to you; if you choose to attack the front gate, gain a few more levels, possibly to the point of getting Ye Huo (Secondary fire magic on one enemy). Otherwise this battle will prove to be very difficult. At any rate, start the battle by ganging up on a certain character each turn to get them low on hit points. In case you have not noticed, the amount of damage given by an enemy with under 100 soldiers is much less than one with 100 or greater. The same goes for 1,000 and 10,000 later on in the game. Knowing this, take down the lower three enemies under 100 hit points and then work on Zhang Jao, all the while making sure your hit points are high for those who are attacking (especially Zhang Fei and Guan Yu with the Axes). With decent strategy and adequate levels, you can win.

If you choose to go the back route through the cave and only fight the three Zhang brothers then the battle will be much easier. Whichever way you choose, head back to Xu Zhou and talk to Tao Qian, and you are prompted to take over for him. You have no choice, so do so. Liu Bei will leave you, entrusting you with his son Liu Feng (more soldiers, less tactical ability). He will then state that Dong Zhuo is doing vile things so you must go to the south and deal with it.

Also note that you can now recruit Cheng Yuan Zhi and Zheng Mao, although you are probably better off with Mi Zhu and Chen Deng still.

Further Reading:

• Two Officer Destiny of an Emperor Challenge NES
• Destiny of an Emperor Yuan Shu Mod
• Destiny of an Emperor 2 II Jing Zhou Reunification FAQ
• Destiny of an Emperor Wei
• Destiny of an Emperor Editor and Mods