---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Destiny of an Emperor: Complete Walkthrough and FAQ Version 1.2 © Hieyamu [hieyamu@yahoo.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Intro 2) What's New 3) Weapon and Armor List 4) Q&A 5) Secrets and Hidden Objects 6) General Walkthrough ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Intro ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I made this FAQ a few years ago as a full web site, but since then I've long lost my college web space, so I figured it was time to throw all this great data together in a useful FAQ. I hope this helps you guys enjoy this great game. Feel free to send any fixes/additions to hieyamu@yahoo.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) What's New ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.2 Converted this sucker from a web site to a text file and cleaned up some stuff. 1.1 Location of Hidden Item, Trident - thanks to [RuFill@aol.com] and others. How to Use Chi Tu Ma - thanks to Edward Liu [mahamoti@uclink4.berkeley.edu] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Weapons and Armor List ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Weapons- -Cost- -A.P.- Dagger 50 10 Flail 100 15 Ax 200 20 Club 500 30 Spear 1000 50 Sabre 2000 70 Bow 4000 80 (2 attacks) Trident - 100 Sword 6000 120 Battleax 10000 140 Scimitar 20000 150 Crossbow 45000 130 (2 attacks) Lance 65000 170 Bo Ye - 190 Wan Sheng - 190 Qing Long - 240 Qing Guang - 240 Nu Long - 240 Halberd - 250 -Armor- -Cost- -A.C.- Robe 100 20 Leather 300 35 Padded 800 45 Ring M 2000 50 Chain M 4000 70 Splint M 10000 85 Plate M 30000 100 -Headgear- -Cost- -A.C.- Bandanna 50 10 Cap 150 20 Hood 500 40 Wood H 1000 60 Copper H 2000 70 Bronze H 4000 80 Iron H 15000 90 Steel H 40000 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Q&A ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Question 1: How do I make someone a strategist (i.e. tactician) of my army? Answer 1: Only certain characters may be tacticians. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei can't be strategists, but there are many characters who can. The first person you should obtain who's able to be a strategist is Mi Zhe from Xu Zhou Castle. To make him your strategist, go the menu, go to "Formation", click on "Strat." and select Mi Zhe. Mi Zhe will now have a star by his name, to indicate that he's the strategist of the army. The strategist is by default the last person in the fighting order (kind of like a magician in other games) and he will only fight if there are five or less members in the party. Question 2: How do I cross the river in the Qing Zhou Cave? Answer 2: Wander around until you get in a fight with Han Zhong. After beating him, convert Han Zhong to your side and make him your leader. Now go to the cave and talk to the riverman. He'll let you pass since Han Zhong is your leader. Fight the three Zhang's at the back entrance of Qing Zhou. This battle is much easier than if you fought Qing Zhou at the front gate. Question 3: Where is the Gemsword? Answer 3: The Gemsword is in Wang Yun's house in Luo Yang Castle. There is a red section of ground in the home, and if you search it, you'll find a keyhole. You'll need the Gold Key to open the hidden floor chest. Go back to the cave between Fan Shui Guan and Hu Lao Guan. The Gold Key is on the fourth level of that cave. (I guess hiding the key under the doormat was too obvious.) Now take the key back to Luo Yang and use it on the keyhole to obtain the Gemsword. Question 4: How do I give the Gemsword to Lu Bu? Answer 4: At the battle of Yang Zhou Castle you have a chance to convert Lu Bu to your side. Prepare for the battle by giving the Gemsword to your weakest fighter (that way your stronger fighters will be able to continue fighting through the exchange). As soon as the battle begins, have your warlords attack anyone but Lu Bu. Make the warlord with the Gemsword use the Gemsword on Lu Bu. Lu Bu may accept the sword on the first offer, or, more likely, he'll say, "What's that?" a few times before recognizing your gift. Once you give Lu Bu the Gemsword he'll stop fighting and the rest of your battle should be much easier. Question 5: Where is Chi Tu Ma? Answer 5: After converting Lu Bu, he'll give you a hint as to where to find his legendary horse. "1 south and 8 west." But starting from where? The place Lu Bu is referring to is Fan Shui Quan fortress, the fortress directly south of Xu Zhou Castle. From the gate, take one step south, then eight to the west, but you'll have to walk around the rock in your way. When you search the ground you'll find Chi Tu Ma, King of Horses! Question 6: How do I use Chi Tu Ma? Answer 6: Simply put Chi Tu Ma in the inventory of an active general. What Chi Tu Ma does is give your general an agility boost, much like the Qi Shou tactic. This is useful because the general with Chi Tu Ma will always have the initiative in battle. Thanks to Edward Liu [mahamoti@uclink4.berkeley.edu] for the information. Question 7: How and where do I get Xu Zhe (a.k.a. Dan Fu)? What is the gun powder for? Answer 7: Xu Zhe is begot in the cave north of Nan Yang Castle, in the snowy section of the world. To get Xu Zhe, you'll first need the gun powder. To get it, go to Bo Hai Castle, which is northeast of Nan Yang, and talk to Shui Jing. He'll give you the powder, now go west, young man, to the cave. There are two rocks blocking your way, but that's what the gun powder is for. Use the gun powder while standing next to the rocks, then go get Xu Zhe and make him your strategist. Now you'll be able to pass through Bo Hai Castle and a new bridge will appear to the left of the Nan Yang bridge. Question 8: Where's the silver key? How do I get past the blue guy at Guang Zong Castle? Answer 8: The silver key is in Nan Yang Castle. You have to buy it from a wandering merchant in the upper-right corner of the castle for 4000 dollars. Go to the tiny unnamed village (east of Bo Hai Castle) where a woman is locked in a cell. Use the key to set her free. She'll give you a letter to give to Zhao Yun. Go east to Guang Zong Castle. Zhao Yun will be blocking your way, but if you give him the letter he'll defect to your side. He's one of the five tigers, so let him fight with you. Question 9: Who are the five tigers? Answer 9: The five tigers are: Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao. Question 10: How do I get Zhu Ge Liang and enter the land of Shu? Answer 10: Go to Gui Yang Castle and talk to Liu Bei. Make sure Xu Zhe is in your party at this time. Liu Bei will give Xu Zhe a letter from his mother and he'll run off to visit her. As you leave the palace in Gui Yang, Xu Zhe will be waiting in the doorway. He tells you to go visit Zhu Ge Liang and make him your strategist. Walk to Zhu Ge Liang's (ZGL) house, where a woman will tell you ZGL went to Cui Zhou Ping's house in Lou Sang Village. Do you remember where Lou Sang is? It's the village in which you begin the game. Gullwing your way to Xu Zhou then walk over to the village. A man in Cui Zhou Ping's house will tell you ZGL already left. Go back to ZGL's house and the woman will tell you to wait at Nan Yang Castle. Go to Nan Yang and invite Liu Bei to the palace. Talk to Liu Bei and he will tell you that ZGL's brother, Jin, wants you to go back to ZGL's house. Go to ZGL's house one last time. When you get there, ZGL will be sleeping. If you try to talk to him it asks you if you want to wake him up. Move the cursor to 'No' and press the button ONE time. You'll hear a 'ding' and the cursor will stop blinking. Wait for 6-7 seconds and ZGL will wake up. ZGL will tell you to meet him down in Gui Yang Castle. Go there, to the palace, and talk with Liu Bei. He will tell you of unrest in Shu. Finally, ZGL will join your side. Aside from the fact that he doesn't know how to keep an appointment, Zhu Ge Liang is the most intelligent character in the DoaE world, as well as the best tactician. Although he isn't one of the five tigers, he will gain soldiers every time you go up a level. Question 11: How do I break open the rusty door that holds Liu Zheng captive in Fu Shui Castle? Answer 11: Liu Zheng says you should be able to ram the door down if you hit it hard enough, or long enough. But that's simply not true. After long hours of intensive study, I finally found a secret formula that breaks down the door quickly and efficiently. All that needs to happen are seven line-up changes. The strange thing is, you don't even have to change the formation order, simply go to 'Formation' and arrange your warlords in exactly the same position. After changing the formation, be sure to bang against the door once or twice before changing it again. By the eighth formation, you will be able to break down the door with just one hit. If the door doesn't disappear right away, change your formation again, then hit it. Question 12: Isn't there supposed to be a hidden sword in the hut at the outskirts of Ling Ling Castle? Answer 12: There is a hidden sword in the hut at the outskirts of Ling Ling Castle. To get to it, follow the left side of the outer wall of the castle. Inside the hut a man says, "Search the area around me." The first time you conquer Ling Ling there will be nothing there. Only when you conquer the castle a second time, in section #5 of the walkthrough, will the sword be there, hidden in the square directly in front of the man. Question 13: Where do I find the five special swords that the Yellow Scarves stole from the blacksmith? Answer 13: Nu Long - Nu Long is found in the Wu Mountain Pass between Wu Castle and Po Yang fortress. The sword is on level 3 of the cave, across a lava barrier. Qing Long - Qing Long is begot by defeating the pirates due south of Jin Du Castle. Jin Du is the castle before Jian Ye Castle. When you go south you'll come across a hut, in which stands a pirate. Talk to him to initiate the battle. After winning, return to Jin Du, and a townsman will give you Qing Long. Bo Ye - Bo Ye is found in Guang Ling Castle. There is a bush that juts out from the line of bushes on the right hand side of the wall. A woman nearby will say she cut her foot on something sharp under the bush. Search in front of the bush to find Bo Ye. Wan Sheng - Wan Sheng is inside the first part of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. On the third level of the pass is a lava barrier. Cross the lava barrier and check the treasure chests to find Wan Sheng. Qing Guang - Qing Guang is in the second part of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. Search in a treasure chest on the third level of the cave to find Qing Guang. Question 14: How do I defeat Si Ma Yi's thunder at Ru Nan Castle? Answer 14: You find out how to negate Si Ma Yi's thunder in Chang Sha castle from Guan Suo. Go to Chang Sha after Si Ma Yi uses the thunder on you the first time. The code is: Up, up, down, down, left, right, up, down. You don't have to enter the code quickly, just accurately. Question 15: Where is the hidden tunnel from Ru Nan to Chin Castle? Answer 15: The first part of the tunnel is inside Ru Nan Castle. Follow the path inside the castle until you reach a natural rock wall. There is a notch along the wall. Walk into the notch to enter the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. After finding the exit from the first part of the pass you'll walk west for a short time until you reach another cave. That's the second part of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. After you walk through the second cavern, you'll be close by to Chin Castle. Question 16: How do I defeat Si Ma Yi at Luo Yang Castle? Answer 16: Fight Dian Wei at the first gate, then Liu Dai at the second gate. The third and final gate is guarded by Le Xin. At the castle you'll fight Si Ma Shi and Si Ma Zhao, Si Ma Yi's two sons. After defeating them, Si Ma Yi will approach with a full roster of doom. Now might be a good time to retreat and gullwing yourself to Xu Zhou or use the Gui Huan tactic to run away. This battle against Si Ma Yi, Yu Jin, Wei Xu, Cheng Du, and Xu Zhu is the final battle of the game. There are two basic ways to approach the battle, depending on which strategist you use. The easiest way is to use Zhu Ge Liang. Prepare for the battle by buying lots of power pills, some resurrects, and a few Elixir Ds. In the first round, have your top four fighters use the Bei Ji tactic on themselves. This will increase their attacks by 50% throughout the battle. Huang Zhong, who should be your fifth warlord, can perform the Huo Shen tactic (if your tactic points aren't too low) to start the battle off right. Conserve your tactic points, but use the Ce Mian tactic if Si Ma Yi harasses you with Ji Mian. Now all you have to do is kick some ass. Start by defeating Xu Zhu and work your way up to Si Ma Yi. Once you have Si Ma Yi by himself, the real battle begins. Whittle down Si Ma Yi to under 15,000 hit points and keep the Ce Mian tactic constant. You will now be able to finish off Si Ma Yi if you've cast Bei Ji on your top four warlords, have the five great swords and halberd, and have Ce Mian in effect. Have every warlord use a power pill on Si Ma Yi and he'll go down. A second way to defeat Si Ma Yi is to use one of the other good strategist, such as Jiang Wei or Lu Su. Most upper-level strategists have the An Sha and Wan Fu tactics instead of the Bei Ji and Ji Xian tactics that Zhu Ge Liang prefers. To win the battle, have four of you warlords use An Sha on the four different warlords under Si Ma Yi. Don't try to use An Sha on Si Ma Yi, because it's impossible to assassinate him. While four of your warlords are doing An Sha, have your fifth fighter attack Si Ma Yi. Continue performing An Sha until Si Ma Yi is the last warlord left. Now whittle down Si Ma Yi's forces to at least 20,000 before using the Ce Mian tactic. Once you perform Ce Mian you must keep it continuous until Si Ma Yi is dead. I take the precaution of performing Ce Mian even before the first usage of the tactic wears off, to insure that Si Ma Yi doesn't get a chance to use Wan Fu and heal all his forces. While Si Ma Yi is kept tactic-less, continuously use power pills to quickly chop down Si Ma Yi's men. It should take between two to three rounds to defeat Si Ma Yi after you get him under 20,000 men. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Secrets and Hidden Objects ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hidden Weapon 1: Mt. Da Xing (Ax). Go west of Xu Zhou to reach Mt. Da Xing. Go in the center tent and search the pots. You'll find an ax. Hidden Weapon 2: Hu Lao Guan (Ax). Hu Lao Guan is the fortress before Luo Yang Castle. Go inside one of the tents and search the pots. You'll find an ax. Hidden Weapon 3: Nan Yang Castle (Trident). Nan Yang is the castle leading into the snowy country. Go to the upper-right part of the castle. To the left, in a niche between the water, a wall, and a bush, you'll find the Trident. Hidden Weapon 4: Guang Zong Castle (Sabre). This is the castle where Zhao Yun joins your army, in the snowy countryside. The sabre is hidden in front of the second well. Go Up One Level for Free: Ji Zhou Castle. Ji Zhou Castle is all the way to the east in the snowy country. Inside Ji Zhou, take one step out the right hand exit, then walk up alongside the castle wall. You'll reach a hut in which there is an old man. He'll bring you up a level, regardless of your current experience. Hidden Weapon 5: Wu Ling Castle (Bow). Wu Ling is the first castle you come across in Jing Zhou. There is a bow hidden in front of the well. Hidden Weapon 6: Chang Sha Castle (Sword). Chang Sha is the castle immediately after Wu Ling Castle. There is a sword hidden in front of the well. Hidden Weapon 7: Gui Yang Castle (Sword). Gui Yang is the castle after Chang Sha. Search in front of the well to find a sword. Hidden Weapon 8: Luo Castle (Battleax). Luo Castle is after Fu Shui Castle. Search behind the second well to find a battleax. Hidden Weapon 9: Cheng Du Castle (Scimitar). Cheng Du is the castle after Luo Castle. Search one square to the right of the palace doorway to find a scimitar. Hidden Weapon 10: Ling Ling Castle (Sword). Ling Ling is after Gui Yang Castle. Follow the outer wall of the castle on the left side to reach a hut. Inside the hut is a man who says, "Search the area around me." You will find a sword in the square directly before the man. The sword only appears after you conquer Ling Ling for the second time. Hidden Weapon 11: Jian An Castle (Scimitar). Jian An is south across the bridge from Gui Yang. At the end of the castle is a hut with a lone bush behind it. Search behind the bush to find a scimitar. Hidden Weapon 12: Hui Ji fortress (Scimitar). Hui Ji is south of Jian An. Enter one of the tents and search the pots to find a scimitar. Hidden Weapon 13: Wu Castle (Crossbow). Wu Castle is after Hui Ji fortress. You'll find the crossbow on the right side of a well. Special Weapon 1: Wu Mountain Pass (Nu Long). The mountain pass is between Wu Castle and Po Yang fortress. The sword is found surrounded by lava in a special room on the third level of the cave. Special Weapon 2: Jin Du Castle (Qing Long). Jin Du is after Po Yang fortress and before Jian Ye Castle. In Jin Du you'll hear about brigands to the south. Go south of the castle until you reach a hut. In the hut is a pirate. Talk to him and he'll fight you. After defeating the pirates, a townsman in Jin Du Castle will bequeath Qing Long upon you. Special Weapon 3: Guang Ling Castle (Bo Ye). Guang Ling is after Jian Ye Castle. Along the right side wall of the castle is a row of bushes. One of the bushes juts out from the rest. Search the area in front of that bush to find Bo Ye. Special Weapon 4: Ru Nan Mountain Pass - Part 1 (Wan Sheng). The Ru Nan Mountain Pass is reached through Ru Nan Castle. Wan Sheng is on the third floor of the cavern, across a barrier of lava. Special Weapon 5: Ru Nan Mountain Pass - Part 2 (Qing Guang). The second half of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass immediately follows the first half, with a short area of woods separating the two caverns. Qing Guang is on the third level of the cave. Special Weapon 6: Ru Nan Mountain Pass - Part 2 (Halberd). The halberd is on the second level of the second half of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. Cross a lava barrier to reach six treasure chests. Inside one the chests is the halberd. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) General Walkthrough ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- #1 - Defeat the Yellow Scarves You start off the game with three characters: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. The first thing you should do is equip their flails and robes. Liu Bei doesn't start off with a robe, but he doesn't need one since his hit points are three times as many as G.Y. or Z.F, so don't worry about him just yet. Talk to the guy near the horse. His name is Zhang Shi Ping, and he gives you 200 bucks and 1000 rations. What a nice guy! Next, talk to the horse. The horse says, "Neigh." Sigh. Walk through the town until you find Song Ren and Song Yong. Let them join your army. They suck, but they'll take a hit for the team. Give Song Ren Liu Bei's spare dagger and equip it. Leave the town. You'll notice a path leading off the screen to the left. Follow that path. If you're lucky, you'll make it to Xu Zhou Castle without getting in a skirmish. I tend to run away from battles at the beginning of the game, but feel free to build up your experience by fighting Rebel Forces. Now that you're in Xu Zhou Castle, walk around and talk to people. Get used to the different stores in the town. The weapon shop, item shop, and food shop are in most of the larger castles, as well as an Inn where you can heal yourself. Go to the bottom-left corner of the castle. There you'll find Mi Zhe. Let him join your army then make him your strategist, since he's the first person you find who can be a tactician (I use the terms 'tactician' and 'strategist' interchangeably). To make him the tactician, go to the menu, go down to "Formation," and select "Strat." A star will appear by the Mi Zhe's name. You'll want Mi Zhe to fight, so go to the Reserve shop and get rid of Song Yong (He's the most useless person in the entire DoaE universe). Go see Tao Qian in the palace. He'll make you heir to the throne if you defeat the Yellow Scarves! Check out the notch in the back of the room. Hmm, an empty deathbed. *Foreshadowing*. Leave the palace and buy some bandannas for the crew. You'll want to pamper Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with weapons and armor throughout the early parts of the game because they hit enemies the hardest and enemies like to hit them back. Leave the castle and go north to Qing Zhou Castle and fight Zhang Liang. To win, set everyone to battle Zhang Liang and eventually he'll die. Then, to wipe out the two Rebel Forces, you can try out the awesome All-Out command if none of your guys are hinging on death's door. After winning the battle, you'll go up a level. Mi Zhe will get the Lian Huo tactic! That should help. It's a fire tactic that's much better then his one hit point bare-fisted attack. Go into Qing Zhou, but don't talk to the meathead at the door, unless you're ready for another fight. Go to the Inn and heal yourself. Then walk around the town till you find Chen Deng. Chen Deng rocks! Give him the dagger that Song Ren has. Then go to the door-greeter and show Ma Yuan Yi what you think of his grubby Yellow Scarves. After the battle, go down to Xu Zhou and get rid of Song Ren. Now make Chen Deng your tactician. This Musical Chairs game of warlords never seems to end, but I'll let you make most of the decisions from now on. ;) After saving your game in the Records Room and getting all healed up, go to Mt. Da Xing to the west and whup Zhang Bao's ass by fighting and letting your wimpy fighters use the Lian Huo spell. You'll find nothing in Mt. Da Xing, except some wandering people. But, if you go in the center building and do the 'Check' command over the pots, you'll find a hidden ax! (For more secrets and hidden objects, see the "Secrets" heading.) Give the ax to Liu Bei. Go back to Xu Zhou and heal. Go south along the western mountain range to Tie Men Xia and fight Zhang Jao. Zhang Jao is tough! To beat his army, fight Jao first, then go down the line of warlords and hope they don't gang up on any one of your fighters. You may want to buy healing potions for this battle. Once inside Tie Men Xia, talk to people and look around. You'll find a treasure chest with another ax. Give it to either Zhang Fei or Guan Yu. You'll hear that Qing Zhou has been captured again. Oh, swell. Go back up to Xu Zhou, heal and save. Walk around until you run into Han Zhong. Fight him and convert him. He's your ticket across the river in the Qing Zhou Cave. Heal up and go to the cave that has mysteriously formed behind Qing Zhou. Make Han Zhong your leader. The guy at the river will let you pass now. You'll notice the three Zhang's at the back door are much easier then the myriad of doom at the front gate of Qing Zhou. Now that you've killed off the Yellow Scarves, go back to Xu Zhou. Tao Qian be illin', and he asks Liu Bei to take over for him. That's the end of Liu Bei's fighting days, but don't worry, you quickly get a man called Liu Feng to take his place. Feng has more hit points and the exact same inventory as Liu Bei (convenient, eh?). At the same time, a messenger of Cao Cao arrives and tells you about trouble in Luo Yang. Cao Cao wants you to help him stop some guy named Dong Zhuo, so off you go. . .The fun never stops, does it? #2 - Conquer Dong Zhou and Yuan Shu Walk south from Xu Zhou Castle to Fan Shui Guan. Give Hua Xiong some lumps then go inside. Sun Ce will greet you before the gate, warning you of a suspicious ally. Go inside the fort. In one of the tents there is a treasure chest holding an ax. You'll also find a guy called Yang Jin up in the corner who wants to join your side. Wander west until you get to Hu Lao Guan. Here, for the first time, you'll fight the mighty Lu Bu, the strongest man in the game. After beating him, go into the fortress. In one of the tents there is an ax hidden in a pot. A man called Huo Hu is also hanging around. Let him join your side and make him your tactician. Next, follow the path up to Luo Yang. You'll notice two gates before the castle. What a huge battle! Fight the first one, against Li Jue, then fight the second one, against Xu Rong. Instead of rushing the castle with all your men injured, go back to Fan Shui Guan and heal up. You may want to buy some elixirs because the battle at Luo Yang is hard! Now that you're ready to fight, go up to Luo Yang and take on Dong Zhou and Lu Bu. Use the Chi Xin tactic and elixirs if they gang up on any one of your warlords. Inside Luo Yang you'll find a city in ruins. A man named Wang Gui is standing around just waiting to join your army. Let him. Luckily, the Inn is still intact as well as a seemingly empty house. If you go in the empty house (Wang Yun's house), you'll notice a red section of the floor. Search it, and you'll find a keyhole. All you need now is the key! If you remember, there was a cave you passed on the path between Fan Shui Guan and Hu Lao Guan. Go back to that cave. There're only two things inside: A chest of gold and the Gold key. You'll find the Gold Key on the fourth level of the cave. As you leave, you'll meet up with a warlord called Guan Ping at the cave's entrance. He has over 400 men and 200 strength. Make him your leader. Go back to Luo Yang and use the key on the keyhole. You'll receive the Gemsword. Go west to Yang Zhou Castle. Give the Gemsword to your weakest fighter before starting the battle. As soon as the fight begins, go to "Item" and use the Gemsword on Lu Bu. He may accept it the first time he sees it, or he may say, "What's that?" a number of times, but eventually he'll join your side. After Lu Bu joins you, the other two lackies are easy to mop up. Enter Yang Zhou Castle. In the palace prison you'll find the emperor and Cao Cao. Talk to them. When you convert Lu Bu, he mentions that his horse, Chi Tu Ma, is one step south and 8 west. But from where? Go back to Fan Shui Quan fortress, which is the fortress south of Xu Zhou Castle, and follow his directions from the gate. You'll have to walk around a rock at one point, but you'll find Chi Tu Ma exactly where Lu Bu said the horse would be. Put Chi Tu Ma in the inventory of one of your active generals. Chi Tu Ma gives the general an agility boost, so he'll always have initiative in battle. Now that you have Lu Bu and Chi Tu Ma, you'll want to get to Chang An Castle and fight Dong Zhou. To get there, you have to journey through the Yang Zhou Cave. Although there are quite a few staircases and paths, the cave is very short. Find a club inside this cave. Have Lu Bu equip the club and make him your leader. Once out of cave, go further west and north to Chang An Castle. Fight Dong Min at the gate, then proceed to the castle. You'll notice that fighting Dong Zhou isn't so hard because this time Lu Bu is on your side! After killing Dong Zhou, enter Chang An. This place is huge! In the top-right corner is a man called Zhou Chao. You can let him join your side, but he is probably too weak to fight with you, so it's straight to the reserves for him. Go to the Record Room and invite Liu Bei to the palace. Talk to Liu Bei and he'll give you a free night's rest. When you wake up, talk to him again and find out some disturbing news about Yuan Shu. Outside of Chang An Castle, go west, then south. You'll find a tavern in mountains in a southern mountain cove. Inside the tavern is Zhao Yun. He wants to join up but he has something to attend to first. Don't worry about him right now. Continue east and south to Yuan Castle, where you'll fight Lei Bo. He shouldn't be too much trouble. Yuan Castle is pretty unremarkable. Keep on trucking your way over to Huai Nan Castle, where you'll fight Ji Ling. Ji Ling isn't a very difficult opponent. Once inside Huai Nan, a woman tells you to attack the west gate of Nan Yang Castle, since it is under construction and is therefore weaker. But before you get to Nan Yang Castle you have to go through Chen Cang fortress. Go north from Huai Nan to reach Chen Cang. There you'll fight Han Xian, another wimp. After entering the fortress the guard says he's the only one there. He's lying! In the center tent sits Xu Yuan Zhi. He'll give you a letter of introduction. In a different tent you'll find a spear in a treasure chest. To use the letter of introduction, go south of Chen Cang. In between Chen Cang and Huai Nan, to the east, is a hut where Shui Jing lives. Talk to the woman at the door and she'll let you in to see Shui Jing. He tells you to use either Fu Long or Feng Chu as your strategist. You haven't met either of these blokes, but you should keep their names in mind. Go north to Nan Yang Castle. Two gates stand in your way to the castle. Liang Ji is easy, Chen Lan is a little harder, but Yuan Shu is the real battle. After defeating Yuan Shu at the castle, he'll ask you four times to let him go since he is the 'emperor'. Refuse him all four times, then he will die and peace will be restored in Nan Yang. #3 - Challenge Yuan Shao and Liu Du Once in Nan Yang Castle, heal up and take all of your items and weapons away from Lu Bu. Invite Liu Bei to the palace and chat with him. Go to the upper-right corner of the castle. To the left, there is a niche between some water, a wall, and a bush. Check here to find the powerful Trident. There is also a man in the upper-right corner who is selling a special key for 4000 bucks. If you can afford to, pick up the key because you'll need it eventually. When you go outside and attempt to cross the bridge, you'll meet with Yuan Shao, the brother of Yuan Shu (who you recently killed). He will proceed to kick your ass. Lu Bu will prove that, aside from being the strongest person in the DoaE world, he's also a ripe bastard. He'll desert you to join Yuan Shu's side, so make sure you've taken all your inventory from him before this battle. After one round, Yuan Shao realizes how bad you suck, and he lets you go. Hopefully he hasn't killed off anyone, or else you'll need to use a Resurrect. Go back to Nan Yang to lick your wounds. Now might be a good time to check out the cave south of Nan Yang Castle. The Nan Yang Cave is full of free goodies. First floor: Cap, Spear. Second floor: 2 Spears, 2 Robes, Cap, 1500 gold. Third floor: Cap, Robe, Power Pill, 1000 gold. Besides all the free stuff, there's nothing important in the cave, so you can skip this part if you don't need the money. It's time to go up to the snowy countryside. In the north-western corner is a cave. Go in there and meet up with Zhou Cang. He takes all your stuff, but gives it right back when you let him join your side. Now leave the cave, since there's nothing more you can do right now. Go back to Nan Yang and prepare for a long battle. Then hustle back up to the snowy country, this time going east alongside the Great Wall of China (nice touch) until you get to Bo Hai Castle. Fight Lu Guang, but be warned--this is a tough battle! Once inside Bo Hai, you'll meet Shui Jing again. He'll give you gun powder. Don't try to cross the bridge, because you need Xu Zhe (a.k.a. Dan Fu) first. Go back to the cave where you got Zhou Cang from. At one place in the cave you'll notice two rocks in your way. Use the gun powder on the rocks, then you can get Xu Zhe. Now that Xu Zhe is on your side, make him your strategist, then go back to Bo Hai Castle. Having Xu Zhe will let you pass through Bo Hai as well as form a new bridge south of the snowy country, but don't worry about that yet, continue into the frozen tundra. You'll come across a tiny village with just one gate. A simple battle, right? Wrong. This will be one of your toughest battles if you aren't prepared for it. Chop down Xu Shou and his two powerful friends, then march into the tundra village. A hint to make the battle easier: Attack Wen Hun first and Xu Shou last. Once inside the tiny village, you'll notice a woman locked in a cell. Remember that silver key I told you to buy for 4000 bucks in Nan Yang? If you didn't buy, go back and get it now. Use the silver key to open up her prison cell. She'll give you the Zhao letter, which you can then use to get Zhao Yun to join your side. Zhao Yun is at Guang Zong Castle, further to the east in the snowy country. You won't have to fight anyone to talk to Zhao Yun. In fact, he blocks your way to the castle. Give him the letter and he'll join your side. You should now have three of the five destined tigers: Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and Zhao Yun. There are two more, but you'll find them later. Go on to fight Yuan Tan at the Guang Zong Castle. He's shouldn't be overly difficult. Inside Guang Zong there is a sabre hidden in front of one of the wells. An enemy, Yuan Shang, is standing around somewhere in the castle. He's dressed in red and white armor and doesn't walk around. He should be pretty easy to beat, but he runs away after the battle. Continue east until you reach Ji Zhou Castle. There are two gates before the castle. The first is guarded by Ma Yan and the second by Zhang Yi and Guo Tu. I'd fight Guo Tu before taking on Zhang Yi, since G.T. is much more of a threat. After the two gates, go back to Bo Hai Castle, heal, and get ready for one of the hardest battles of the game. At Ji Zhou Castle is Yuan Shao's all-star team of warlords including the traitor, Lu Bu. Yuan Shao doesn't even waste space with a Rebel Force on his side. I guess the four uber-warlords were enough. Make sure you have plenty of elixirs and resurrects before this battle supreme. Hint: Kill off Lu Bu first. Now that you have Yuan Shao's head, enter Ji Zhou Castle. Invite Liu Bei to the palace then talk to him. He urges you to stop the infighting in Jing Zhou. Ji Zhou Castle is memorable for two things: 1) It's the first place you can buy sabres and 2) There's a man who lives behind the castle who will automatically bring you to the next level. To get to the nice man, take one step out at the right hand side exit of the castle, then walk up and to the left. There will be a hut. In the hut is the nice man. Warning: According to the NES rumor, you need to have Zhu Ge Liang in your army before you reach level 17, so going up a level at this point may hurt you. What I always do is wait until I get to level 50, the highest possible level, before talking to the man. The man then brings me up to level 51! Now that Ji Zhou is settled and Yuan Shao is dead, it's off to Jing Zhou. Go down the bridge slightly west of Nan Yang Castle. You end up in a hut with a man called Yi Ji. He asks you to talk to Ma Su and Ma Liang about the trouble in Jing Zhou. Go south to Ma Su's hut. He doesn't have much to say, so move along to Ma Liang's hut. Along the way, you'll run into Zhu Ge Liang's house. There's nothing you can do here just yet, so move along to Ma Liang's hut. Ma Liang will tell you about the Jing Zhou dilemma. Keep following the path south until you reach Wu Ling Castle. Jin Xuan should be an easy battle, especially in comparison with your last fight against Yuan Shao. While in Wu Ling, search in front of the well to find a bow. Continue down the path until you reach Chang Sha Castle. This battle against Han Xuan looks as bad as your fight against Yuan Shao, but your new bow should help immensely. After winning the battle, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong will be waiting at the door to join your army. You should let both of them join and be sure to make Wei Yan your leader. Huang Zhong is the fourth tiger, so you only need one more now. Once inside Chang Sha Castle, search in front of the well to find a new sword. The weapon shop sells bows, so you should buy at least one more from them. After you get everything in order, head south to Gui Yang Castle. What, no army at the castle gates? That's a first! But as soon as you enter Gui Yang Castle you'll notice something is horribly wrong. Every townsperson is a soldier that reads a four-page treatise when you try to talk to them. Search in front of the well to pick up a hidden sword. Go to the palace and talk to the man of the house, Zhao Fan. He'll ask you to go to sleep twice. Refuse him both times, then he'll fight you. You should be able to wipe the floor with him thanks to your new weapons. Continue walking west and north up to Ling Ling Castle. This is the fourth and final castle of the four corners of Jing Zhou. Fight Xing Dao Rong at the gate then fight Liu Du at the castle. These fights shouldn't be too difficult. After beating Liu Du you will have restored peace in Jing Zhou. #4 - Enter Shu and Restore Peace Now just walk on into Shu. . .but wait, the game won't let you into Shu yet. First you have to get Zhu Ge Liang to join your side. First of all, go to Gui Yang Castle and talk to Liu Bei. Make sure Xu Zhe is in your party at this time. Liu Bei will give Xu Zhe a letter from his mother and he'll run off to visit her. As you leave the palace in Gui Yang, Xu Zhe will be waiting in the doorway. He tells you to go visit Zhu Ge Liang and make him your strategist. At some point after Xu Zhe leaves you, you will run into a general named Pang Tong in the woods between Chang Sha Castle and Gui Yang Castle. After you beat him, he will join your side. He is one of the best strategists in the DoaE world, but you should put him in the reserves once Zhu Ge Liang joins you. Continue walking up to Zhu Ge Liang's (ZGL) house. Along the way, in Ma Liang's house, Ma Su and Ma Liang will join your side. Although they have a ton of hit points, they are primarily strategists, so don't try to make them fighters. At ZGL's house, a woman will tell you ZGL went to Cui Zhou Ping's house in Lou Sang Village. Do you remember where Lou Sang is? It's the village in which you begin the game. Gullwing your way to Xu Zhou then walk over to the village. A man in Cui Zhou Ping's house will tell you ZGL already left. Go back to ZGL's house and the woman will tell you to wait at Nan Yang Castle. Go to Nan Yang and invite Liu Bei to the palace. Talk to Liu Bei and he will tell you that ZGL's brother, Jin, wants you to go back to ZGL's house. Go to ZGL's house one last time. When you get there, ZGL will be sleeping. If you try to talk to him it asks you if you want to wake him up. Move the cursor to 'No' and press the button ONE time. You'll hear a 'ding' and the cursor will stop blinking. Wait for 6-7 seconds and ZGL will wake up. ZGL will tell you to meet him down in Gui Yang Castle. Go there, to the palace, and talk with Liu Bei. He will tell you of unrest in Shu. Finally, ZGL will join your side. Aside from the fact that he doesn't know how to keep an appointment, Zhu Ge Liang is the most intelligent character in the DoaE world, as well as the best tactician. Although he isn't one of the five tigers, he will gain soldiers every time you go up a level. Now you are able to enter Shu. In the woods of Shu you will run into Lu Bu for the last time. He has over 7000 soldiers and looks menacing. But without a strategist to back him up, Lu Bu isn't that difficult to cut down to size. When you defeat Lu Bu you kill him, thus ending the saga of one of the greatest traitors in world history. Continue walking through Shu until you reach a village. Fight Lui Kui then go inside. There is only one man in the unnamed village, and he tells you that Liu Zheng, the emperor of Shu, is held captive in Fu Shui Castle. Continue walking through Shu's long mountain range until you reach Fu Shui Castle. Fight Meng Da at the first gate, then fight Yan Yan at the castle. Once inside Fu Shui, release Liu Zheng from his prison cell, which is inside the palace to the right of the throne room. To break down the door, seven formation changes need to take place. On your eighth arrangement (the formation order doesn't actually need to change), you will break down the door with your first hit. With Liu Zheng liberated, go north to Luo Castle. Fight Huang Quan at the gate and Ma Chao at the castle. After defeating Ma Chao, he asks to join your side. Let him! He's the fifth tiger. Now the destined army is complete. Inside Luo Castle there is a hidden battleax. Check behind the second well to find it. In Luo you start hearing stories about blacksmiths and iron ore. Go south to Mt. Gang Tai. Inside the mountain pass, on level 1, is a treasure chest containing iron ore. There is also a chest holding 1500 coins on the third level. After obtaining the ore, go back to Fu Shui Castle. From Fu Shui go south, then east, then north to reach the blacksmith's hut. The blacksmith will take the ore and tell you to come back later. Go to Mt. Gang Tai again, but this time pass through the mountain. You will come across Mian Zhu Guan fortress. Fight Li Yan then go inside. One of the tents holds a treasure chest with a battleax inside. Continue on to Cheng Du. Fight Lei Tong at the gate then Liu Zheng at the castle. Although Liu Zheng and crew look difficult, they're a bunch of half-wits with poor tactics and poor strength. Once you conquer Liu Zheng and settle Shu, go back to the blacksmith's hut. He will tell you that a group of Yellow Scarves (didn't you defeat all those guys way back when?) took the five beautiful swords he made for you. Darnuts! You will find the swords scattered throughout the rest of the game in caves and mountains. Now go back to Cheng Du and invite Liu Bei to the palace. In front of the palace, one square to the right of the doorway, is a hidden scimitar. Go in to the throne room and talk to Liu Bei. He will assign Zhang Fei to rule Gui Yang Castle and Guan Yu to rule Chang Sha Castle. Suddenly, Liu Bei gets news that the rulers of Wu and Wei die, and everything is thrown into chaos once again. Would you have it any other way? #5 - Save Jing Zhou and Defeat Sun Quan Don't bother replacing Guan Yu or Zhang Fei. Start off by gullwinging to Chang Sha Castle. Talk to Guan Yu in the palace and let Guan Xing join. Go south to Gui Yang Castle and talk to Zhang Fei. Let his son, Zhang Bao, also join your army. You'll notice the two legacy fighters, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, have equal hit points as their fathers', as well as the same inventory. The only difference is their strength is slightly lower. Still, the legacy warlords are very strong and will easily fit in their fathers' shoes. With your replenished army, walk north of Chang Sha, along the path, to Wu Ling Castle. Fight Fan Zhang there. Next go back to Gui Yang then continue west to Ling Ling Castle. You'll notice no one is guarding the gate, but Ling Tong is at the castle. After defeating him, go inside. Along the outer wall of the castle, on the left hand side, is a hut. Inside the hut is a man who tells you to search around him. Search the ground directly in front of the man to find a sword. Gullwing back to Cheng Du and talk to Liu Bei. He will recognize the downfall of the Han Dynasty and declare his bid for emperor. Return to Gui Yang, where a new bridge has been formed into the land of Wu. Go south to Jian An Castle. Your fight against Gan Ning will be difficult due to his great strategist, Lu Su. Defeat Lu Su first, then conquer Gan Ning. You'll notice a canal blocking your path past Jian An. Enter the castle and talk to the people. You'll discover that with some saltpeter and deadwood you can block the canal. The deadwood is found inside the town. Go behind the hut at the end of the castle, where a lone tree stands. Search in front of the tree to find the deadwood. If you search behind the tree, you'll also find a scimitar. Leave the town and go north along the western mountain range, until you reach a cave. Inside the cave you'll find the saltpeter. Return to Jian An and talk to an old man. He'll mix some ingredients then blow up the canal for you. Now you may continue south. You will reach Hui Ji fortress in the south. The battle against Zhou Yu is difficult due to the many strategists on Zhou Yu's side. Conquer Zhou Yu (using Dan Re helps) and his lackies will be easier to kill. In Hui Ji you can find a scimitar within one of the tents, hidden inside a pot. Continue until you reach a cave. There's not much here despite the many stairways and levels. On the second floor there is an Elixir D and on the third floor you'll find a Steel H and Nu Long, the first of the five great swords. On the other side of the mountain pass you'll come to Po Yang fortress. Fight Ding Feng at the gate then Chen Pu at the fortress. Move right along to Jin Du Castle. Fight Huang Gai at the gate and Sun Yu at the castle. Once inside the castle, you'll meet Lu Meng again. This time he wants to fight, so whup his ass. From the townspeople you'll hear about brigands to the south. Go directly south from the castle to reach a hut. Talk to the man inside to fight the pirates. They may look very intimidating and they may take off a lot of hit points, but the pirates are simply super Rebel Forces. After the first few rounds, the tide of the battle will begin to change. But make sure you bring plenty of Resurrects with you. After defeating the pirates, return to the castle. A townsman will give you Qing Long, the second of the five great swords. Now you'll want to go to Jian Ye Castle. As you walk to the east you'll find yourself in a sort of maze, with options in eight directions. To get to the castle, take the south-west path. This will branch into north-west and south-west sub-branches. Take the north-west route to reach the castle. You'll notice a myriad of gates. Well, you better start the killing. The first gate is guarded by Sun Yi. The second gate is guarded by Zhou Tai. The third and final gate is blocked by Sun Huan. The battles will become progressively more difficult as you move along. It would be wise to go back to Jin Du and heal before taking on the castle. The castle is guarded by Tai Si Ci. It's a difficult battle, but not impossibly hard. After defeating Tai Si Ci, you get to fight the super-hidden-secret-magic character, Sun Quan! No sir, you don't get a chance to heal first. Sun Quan is not too hard if you're ready to fight, since he lacks support (four Rebel Forces don't count as support). After defeating Sun Quan he will admit to assassinating Sun Ce and fear his fate in the afterlife. Enter Jian Ye Castle and invite Liu Bei to the palace. Liu Bei will tell you the only thing left to do is settle Wei. #6 - Take on Cao Pi and Si Ma Yi After Jian Ye Castle is Guang Ling Castle. Fight Xia Hou Yuan at the gate and Zhang Liao at the castle. Inside Guang Ling you'll meet Jiang Wei, who asks to join your side. I let Jian Wei stay in the traveling party because he's one of the few warlords that gains forces every level up. You'll notice, while in Guang Ling, a bush on the right side of the wall that juts out from the line of bushes. Search the ground in front of the bush to find Bo Ye, the third of the five great swords. Continue on after Guang Ling Castle. You'll hop from island to island until you reach He Fei fortress. Fight Cao Zhi at the gate and Cao Pi at the fortress. After you win, Cao Pi will run away. Go on to Ru Nan Castle. Cao Xiu will meet you at the first gate, then Xia Hou Shang at the second gate. Cao Pi will be waiting at the castle. Cao Pi is difficult, but he's not the final boss. After you defeat Cao Pi, Si Ma Yi will arrive with "support." Si Ma Yi will attack Cao Pi until he has his head, then Si Ma Yi will send you away with his thunder. Your army will wake up in the Inn of Jian Ye Castle. Liu Bei will tell you to go to Chang Sha to talk to Guan Yu's other son, Guan Suo, who found you unconscious in a field. Gullwing to Chang Sha to get the information on how to beat Si Ma Yi. Guan Suo will tell you the code to negate Si Ma Yi's thunder is from Sun Zi's book. The code is up, up, down, down, left, right, up, down. You don't have to hurry when you type in the code. Gullwing back to Jian Ye Castle then walk back over to Ru Nan. Punch in the code when Si Ma Yi tries to use his thunder, then fight him. In Ru Nan Castle there is a hidden tunnel that leads to Chin Castle. The tunnel is at the back of the wall. Walk to the end of the path within the castle and you'll come against a natural rock barrier. Notice the notch in the wall. Walk into that notch to enter the Ru Nan Mountain Pass. The first part of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass is fairly large, and should be explored using Smoke Pots. On the first level you'll find a Power Pill and Bronze H. On the second level you'll find a Smoke Pot. On the third level, across the lava, you'll find Plate M, Bronze H, and Wan Sheng, the fourth of the five great swords. Although the pass has a fourth level, there is nothing on it. Once you leave the Ru Nan Mountain Pass you'll come up to. . .another mountain pass. Actually, this is the second part of the trail. Inside you'll find an Iron H, Steel H, Splint M, Elixir D, Gullwing, Plate M, and a Halberd, all on the second level. On the third level you'll find an Elixir D and Qing Guang, the fifth and final of the great swords. It's interesting to note that the halberd you find is stronger than any of the great swords, and is especially better than Wan Sheng and Bo Ye. After making it through both parts of the Ru Nan Mountain Pass, head up to Chen Liu fortress. You'll fight Niu Jin at the gate and Si Ma Yi (again?) at the fortress. Si Ma Yi will escape and head for Luo Yang. Continue traveling toward Chin Castle. Xun Huo will meet you at Chin Castle. Inside Chin, the people will tell you that Si Ma Yi took over the rebuilt Luo Yang Castle. When you leave the castle you'll notice a new bridge leading directly north to Luo Yang. Fight Dian Wei at the first gate, then Liu Dai at the second gate. The third and final gate is guarded by Le Xin. At the castle you'll fight Si Ma Shi and Si Ma Zhao, Si Ma Yi's two sons. After defeating them, Si Ma Yi will approach with a full roster of doom. Now might be a good time to retreat and gullwing yourself to Xu Zhou or use the Gui Huan tactic to run away. This battle against Si Ma Yi, Yu Jin, Wei Xu, Cheng Du, and Xu Zhu is the final battle of the game. There are two basic ways to approach the battle, depending on which strategist you use. The easiest way is to use Zhu Ge Liang. Prepare for the battle by buying lots of power pills, some resurrects, and a few Elixir Ds. In the first round, have your top four fighters use the Bei Ji tactic on themselves. This will increase their attacks by 50% throughout the battle. Huang Zhong, who should be your fifth warlord, can perform the Huo Shen tactic (if your tactic points aren't too low) to start the battle off right. Conserve your tactic points, but use the Ce Mian tactic if Si Ma Yi harasses you with Ji Mian. Now all you have to do is kick some ass. Start by defeating Xu Zhu and work your way up to Si Ma Yi. Once you have Si Ma Yi by himself, the real battle begins. Whittle down Si Ma Yi to under 15,000 hit points and keep the Ce Mian tactic constant. You will now be able to finish off Si Ma Yi if you've cast Bei Ji on your top four warlords, have the five great swords and halberd, and have Ce Mian in effect. Have every warlord use a power pill on Si Ma Yi and he'll go down. A second way to defeat Si Ma Yi is to use one of the other good strategist, such as Jiang Wei or Lu Su. Most upper-level strategists have the An Sha and Wan Fu tactics instead of the Bei Ji and Ji Xian tactics that Zhu Ge Liang prefers. To win the battle, have four of your warlords use An Sha on the four different warlords under Si Ma Yi. Don't try to use An Sha on Si Ma Yi, because it's impossible to assassinate him. While four of your warlords are doing An Sha, have your fifth fighter attack Si Ma Yi. Continue performing An Sha until Si Ma Yi is the last warlord left. Now whittle down Si Ma Yi's forces to at least 20,000 before using the Ce Mian tactic. Once you perform Ce Mian you must keep it continuous until Si Ma Yi is dead. I take the precaution of performing Ce Mian even before the first usage of the tactic wears off, to insure that Si Ma Yi doesn't get a chance to use Wan Fu and heal all his forces. While Si Ma Yi is kept tactic-less, continuously use power pills to quickly chop down Si Ma Yi's men. It should take between two to three rounds to defeat Si Ma Yi after you get him under 20,000 men. (I beat the game twice while on level 40, using Zhu Ge Liang the first time and Jian Wei the second time, so it is possible!) Now that you've killed Si Ma Yi, true peace comes to China. All the bushes in Luo Yang are pink with tranquillity. Invite Liu Bei to Luo Yang Castle for his final speech of the game, then enjoy the credits. You've earned it! ---THE END--- P.S. After killing Si Ma Yi and before talking to Liu Bei, you have a chance to wander the countryside. All the rebel warlords are still lurking and you can continue to go up levels.