DoaE 3 Assault on Han Zhong
CHAPTER 5: ASSUALT ON HANZHONG
Cao Cao returns home to rebuild his shattered army. Liu Bei takes the opportunity to reclaim Jingzhou. Then, responding to the pleas of Zhang Song, he advances on Yizhou and captures the capital Chengdu. Cao Cao, hoping to settle the score, recruits the warriors of Xiliang and marches on Shu. Liu Bei plans to engage the Wei forces at Hanzhong and once again defeat Cao Cao.Head west, heal your HP and MP, and enter the city. Cao Cao is at the gate with Ma Chao. Cao Cao taunts you and leaves while Ma Chao decides to pick a fight.
Boss: Ma Chao ——————- HP: 8000
This boss is basically the same fight you just had with Zhang Liao, but since you are not rested he is a bit harder. His defense is higher than Zhang Liao’s was and he even has an armor-up spell. Use magic on him to do good damage. Have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei use items when they are not using limits, as they will be doing less damage than you can do with magic. After a few turns he will falter.
Fushui ——–– Treasure/Spells: a. Middle-right house, dresser (Remedy? spell, 2nd Copy) b. Middle-right house, mirror (2000 gold) c. Lower-left house, mirror (Full-Potion) d. Lower-right house, lower blue-capped pot in secret room (hidden passage above lower-right pots) (Mute Scroll) Shop List ———– Hi-Potion…………………….250G Hi-Ether…………………….1300G Super-Potion………………1500G Revive……………………….600G Full-Revive………………..3000G Sleep Scroll…………………300G Remedy?…………………..1000G Sword………………………9200G Bow…………………………9700G Spear……………………..12300G Spear 2.0………………..13000G Shield……………………..12200G Helmet……………………..5600G Helmet 2.0………………..6500G Steed……………………….6000G
Ma Chao runs off. Enter the city and rest up, then restock. Leave to the north. Ma Chao will be at the gate to the northwest, but he will only stand on the rampart and taunt you. Head back to town and talk to the man in the middle-right house, who mentions that Ma Dai could convince Ma Chao to join you. However, Ma Dai has gone to the mausoleum to the north and hasn’t returned. Go to the mausoleum in the woods and head inside.
OPTIONAL DUNGEON: Yizhou Forest —————————————— Enemies: Winged Tiger (600 HP), Imp (580 HP), Zombie (630 HP)
If you wish to explore, there is a small forest southwest of Fushui. This place is very confusing; all the screens are the same. After searching for half an hour I’ve concluded the exits just loop around; if there is a secret buried somewhere in this forest, I can’t find it. There aren’t any pots here either. Of note is this is the only area where you can gawk at the “Winged Tiger” (a Tiger enemy with the Eagle’s wings slapped on). Level up here if you like. If you get lost, keep going in the same direction and you should get dumped back at the first screen after a while.
Mausoleum ———–— Enemies: Chain Spectre (570 HP), Mace Spectre (550 HP), Spear Spectre (600 HP) Treasure: Helmet, Full-Potion, Bow, Remedy?, 2000 Gold, Wind Scroll, Armor, Spells: Drain, Super-Fire
Treasure works a little differently in this dungeon: instead of pots, items and spells will be hidden in ajar coffins, so keep an eye open for them.
Start by checking the coffins to the left and right of the start. The entrance splits off into three paths, but two of them are blocked by obstinate skeletons who refuse to let you by. Take the path to the right. At the fork, go left and check the open coffins along the path for items/spells. After returning, proceed on and take a left at the next for more tombs. Go back and up at the fork, and go all the way to the rear to find a tomb with a key item. Return to the main room and show the item to the skeleton to the left, and he will run off. Enter the left wing and follow the linear path to the back, making sure to check the coffins, and get the second key item. Show this to the final skeleton and he too will run away. Head north for a boss.
Boss: Headless Swordsman ——————————— HP: 14,000
A good trick for beating this boss is this: his physical attack, which is what he almost always uses, should do just enough to build your limit gauge, so have the person attacked use the limit while someone else heals them. He’ll go down in no time. Proceed on to find Ma Dai in the back room.
After the scene, return to town and rest and stock up, then go to the northwest gate. You will catch Ma Chao unawares, as he is outside the gate talking to Ma Dai. Time for a rematch.
Boss: Ma Chao ——————- HP: 15,000
His strength and health have increased, but he’s still no match for you. Take him out again. If your characters are getting knocked out too fast, try putting them in the back row. Having been beaten twice, Ma Chao agrees to surrender and joins the party at level 40.
Nanzheng ———— Treasure/Spells: a. Second house from right, lower twin-pots (Earth Scroll) b. Second house from right, twin pots in hidden room (X-Potion) Shop List ———— X-Potion……………….700G Hi-Ether………………1300G Super-Potion………..1500G Full-Revive…………..3000G Remedy?…………….1000G Bow………………….13400G Saber…………………9400G Saber 2.0…………..13000G Spear……………….15000G Shield…………………7400G Shield 2.0…………….8500G Helmet………………..7000G Armor……………….11750G Go through the village here and stock up, then head up to the Nanzheng Pass. Nanzheng Pass ——————- Enemies: Fat Soldier (660 HP), Axeman (650 HP), Fencer (700 HP) Treasures: 5000 Gold, X-Potion, HP Stone (Max HP+50), Shield, Steed, Saber Spells: Speed-Up, Full-Cure
Another new dungeon design, with walkways along cliffsides. It doesn’t work out completely though, you’ll see what I mean when you walk around outside. It can be rather annoying to travel through here simply because of all the splits, which often form loops or dead ends. Anyway enter the first opening here. Grab the pot to your left and follow that path to an opening outside.
Head left along the walkway to go back inside. In here, go to the lower right, passing the first door you see, and going back outside. A pot lies on the end of this dead-end walkway. Backtrack inside and go through the door you skipped earlier. Go right to find a room with more pots. Leave and take the far left exit outside. Go down to the fork and check the pot. If you need to go back to Nanzheng, the exit is to your left. Otherwise, take the door on the right. Walk to the far right and take that door inside. Go south here and head back outside from the southeast door. Follow the walkway right to the next opening. North from here are two pots and another door. Keep going left and south to another door, where out on the walkway to the left is a pot. Go back to where the pots where and take the door there. Two more doors are to the left. If you want to go back to Nanzheng, take the far left door and exit through the upper-right door to reach the fork from before, where you can go left to get back to the first room. When you’re ready to move on, take the middle door, and go right at the fork for the door out of here.At the next castle, the troop leaders from Bo Wang Slope are waiting for you.
Before the battle, remove any important magic you have on Liu Bei (like Smoke Bomb or Cure-All), although make sure he still has decent attack magic.
Boss: Troop Leader & Troop Commander ———————————————— Troop Leader: 10,000 HP Troop Commander: 10,000 HP
They are not quite as hard as last time, but still good. Try to inflict one of them with blind, as it will ease up the difficulty here. If you really want the upper hand, try to cast Sleep on them to take them out of action for a few turns. Again, just hammer away on one of the bosses until they drop, then kill the other one. The duo will perish, but one of them will throw a knife at Liu Bei with his dying breath. The party takes Liu Bei into the city to recover. Hua Tuo arrives to help help Liu Bei heal. He will diagnose Liu Bei’s wound and tell you that he needs some special herbs to heal him.
Hanzhong ———— Treasure/Spells: a. Hua Tuo’s house (upper-left), middle pot on left (Death Scroll) b. Hua Tuo’s house, pot in secret room (5000 gold) c. House just south of Hua Tuo’s house, dresser (Full-Revive Spell) d. Lower-center house (left of the inn), dresser (HP, MP+300) Shopping List —————— Hi-Potion……………..250G X-Potion………………700G Ether………………….500G Mega-Potion………..4000G Remedy?……………1000G Steed………………..4000G Bow…………………17200G Saber………………18500G Shield 2.0………….14520G Helmet………………9000G Armor……………..19000G Shield……………….9800G Restock, buy the new gear, and head southeast to Hanzhong Mountain.
Hanzhong Mountain ———————– Enemies: Tiger (690 HP), Bandit (730 HP), Prisoner (700 HP) Treasures: Ether, Armor, Shield, Elixer, Super-Fire Scroll, Hi-Ether, X-Potion, 2000 Gold, Helmet, Shield Spells: Buddha
Don’t be fooled by the enemies list, these enemies are much more powerful than their world map brethren. After you go down the first ladder, grab the pot to your left and continue on. You’ll see another ladder further on, go down it to find another pot. Leave left to the next screen. After climbing the first couple of ladders, take the right ladder to reach a pot, then go left and take the ladder going up for yet another pot. Take the down ladder and follow the loop around the bottom of the screen; when you reach the next down ladder, take it for another pot. Now follow the path back to the first screen. Take the ladder down, then go right past the next ladder to find a pot. Now take the ladder down and keep going to reach the third screen. Go up both ladders to reach a pot, then go back down a ladder and head left. Take the up ladder for another pot, and then the down ladder to keep going. Open the pot on the path and go left to the down ladder for another pot. Go up either the ladder just above you or the one you passed, and head right. After a while you’ll spot another pot on the path you should open, and just a little further on is the exit north to the summit.
There’s no boss fight here, just grab the herbs and climb back down. Return to Hanzhong and speak with Hua Tuo. He will tell you that Liu Bei is suffering from delusionary dreams, and you must enter his dream to dispel it.
Liu Bei’s Dream ——————– Enemies: Mace Tengu, Griffin, Dragon Skeleton Treasures: Death Scroll, 2000 Gold, Saber, Shield, Steed, Full-Potion Spells: Wind
You will start in what looks like the Yellow Scarves camp. Entering a tent will warp you around to different locations. Many of the paths loop back around, but have treasure. Enter the tent on the lower-right to find two pots on a peninsula. Go back out and enter the lower-left tent to wind up in a forest area. Follow the path and check the pot along the way. When you see an exit to the south, first go north and grab the pot, then exit south to end up back in the camp. To reach the end, find the tent that takes you to an area similar to Pagoda Tower. At the first fork go north, then go right to reach a pot. Head all the way left and south to end up in a pitch black room. Room #1: From the doorway, go down as far as you can, one step right, four steps down, and right and up to reach the pot. Go back down and left, then take four steps up, two steps right and go up and right to reach another pot.
Take the path back up, left, and back down, and go all the way right from here(you’ll have to fight a stationary enemy). From here, go left two steps and head south, right, and south to another stationary enemy. Go down to the next enemy and head left from there, then go down, left, and up to reach the exit. After exiting out the other door, there will be a yin-yang pad here. Step on it to refill your HP and MP, then head north for another dark room. Room #2: Wander around until you manage to find the road out. There will be another pad here which will also refill your HP and MP. Step on it, then head north to the boss.
Boss: Shinryu ————–— Unlike most bosses, Shinryu loves to use his spells over and over. This isn’t really a problem, though; his attack spells are all weak, although he will try to disable you using Mute and Attack-Down spells. Just use summons and limits on him. His physicals are powerful when he does decide to use them, so make sure to keep your health up. Shinryu will give you his summon spell after being bested. Liu Bei will wake up from his dream and, now fully recovered, rejoins the party. Rest, restock, and head north to a village. A boss will greet you at the gate.
Boss: Warlord ———–—— This guy is the opposite of Shinryu: he just uses physicals all the time. If you can cast Blind on him, it helps a lot. The Shinryu summon will do wonderful damage here, as will most summons. Just make sure you heal whenever you get hit, and especially watch out if he casts Power-Up on himself. He has a really high amount of health, so this fight is going to take a while. Hold out long enough and he will fall to your blade. Not much to do here other than shop. Get your stuff and move out to the north.
Mountain Pass —————–Enemies: Swordsman, Spear Soldier, Spear Elite
Walk along the path, heading down the ladder to get the pot. Ignore the next ladder, it’s a dead end. Walk north to the next screen and pass through this one too. You will be at a small lake, and there is a fork at the start: go left for a pot and right to continue. At the next fork here, go down to find a pot and up to keep going. Next is a four-way fork; go down or left for a path to the next screen, which leads to a pot. Return to the four-way and go north off-screen. Further along is a ladder going down, go down it and keep going to reach a pot. On the next screen, go left for another pot and right to continue. Soon you will reach the end, where you finally catch up with Cao Cao. Cao Cao is annoyed with the party (I guess you say something that confuses him) and decides to remove them once and for all.
Boss: Cao Cao ————–—– Finally, a battle with the main man. He will be casting Power-Up on himself a lot so his physicals will decimate you, and he will use Power-Down and Armor-Down on your party members to soften them up. He even knows the Shinryu summon, which does great damage. Use your summons and limits on him, but linger on someone’s turn before he goes so you can react immediately after. You’ve had harder battles than this, but he is still no pushover, so watch it. His heal spell will bring back 360, but by now you should be able to do at least that much a turn. Outlast him and the battle is yours. Cao Cao will stutter a few final words, then the mighty founder of Wei passes on.
Thanks for the help with the game, it is not translated to English so I’m having a hard time with it. Well, until I found your guide. I’ll bookmark, see you around.
Regards ;) Rune.