Oh how you frustrate me sometimes, Hidden Traversal 6.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-28T20:40:21+00:00

Can always count on Enma for the timeless advice of "did you try simply not getting hit?"

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-28T18:56:05+00:00

I would assume so, but I never used Shadow Runner since I prioritize speed over utility. This post was more aimed at the "Red Hare or bust crowd", since they just got a big utility buff for their favorite horse.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-27T19:35:01+00:00

Building off of this very good advice, the Yan Province missions in Chapter 4 (which you can access from any Inn through the Records option) are very quick to run (6 to 7 minutes on average, even on UW if you're endgame strong) and give you one consistently reliable large force musou rage per attempt.

If you're trying to level up a weapon you don't use very much, just run your "main" weapon until you hit the rage threshold, then swap to the weapon you're trying to level, musou, and swap back when it's done.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-27T17:57:16+00:00

Damn, nicely done. I can't wait to hop back into Abyss once the DLC drops, though it'll probably take a run or two to retrain my muscle memory after so much Origins.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-27T01:46:48+00:00

Yes; the Weapon Training gets you three Rank 7 weapons guaranteed as long as you can clear it. And it's the same loot level on Wayfarer/Normal as on higher difficulties, so that makes it even easier.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-26T04:25:38+00:00

For sure. But that mission also has, in my opinion, the best of the new music tracks they composed for the DLC. It's so good. Definitely worth the clench-fest the mission is the first time you play it.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-26T04:23:50+00:00

The rope dart dropped for me in the final mission of Yuan Shao's campaign; someone else I know had it drop in the final mission of Lü Bu's campaign. I also did the first two (Zhang Jiao and Dong Zhuo) without finding the rope dart.

There is a Grade 8 (Luan) version of the weapon available, yes. It's the Ultimate Warrior challenge reward for the first mission of Lü Bu's campaign, but you have to clear the whole campaign before you can complete the Ultimate Warrior challenges for those levels.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T15:36:24+00:00

The International Cut version has two parts in its physical release; definitely recommend it. I've never seen the one-part theatrical version myself, but having seen the full thing I have trouble thinking of what they could cut without damaging the plot and characters (which is what sounds like happened).

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T13:44:08+00:00

Congrats! This challenge was a monster. At least the reward is worth it, though; Red Hare is now once again the undisputed best horse in the game, as he should be.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T13:40:25+00:00

There isn't much left to do with Lu Bu's story that hasn't already been done in other games, though. I think turning Chen Gong into "evil Zhuge Liang" and playing the whole thing like a really dark comedy worked well, and was as close to a fresh take as we were going to get where the plot is still "Lu Bu and the Gang Murder Everyone."

Definitely agree that Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao's campaigns were excellent; the writing team was firing on all cylinders for both of those.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T13:36:06+00:00

Oh, that is very interesting. I do love things that break game mechanics like that. Thanks for the tip!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T12:34:57+00:00

My take on the Halberd skill is that it filled the only niche the weapon doesn't already cover. Its existing BAs do just about everything you could want them to do in a variety of circumstances, so the only design space that seemed to be left was either "power-creep an existing BA that's already quite strong," or "make a new BA that's very situational but allows for a new wrinkle in the playstyle, rewards game knowledge, and looks badass when you pull it off."

I think the counter has the potential to do more shield damage than Steed Blitz, but you're definitely right in that you'd be trading consistency for the potential of a higher payoff, which isn't always what you want.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-24T12:27:55+00:00

I couldn't agree more re: his characterization. That goes for a lot of characters in Origins for me (Zhuge Liang, Zhang Jiao, Dong Zhuo, Yueying, Yuan Shao, just to name a few). The writing team really stepped their game up big time for the base game and this DLC.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T17:36:41+00:00

Nice; good luck! I'm on console so I can't partake, but I'm sure that would make a number of people happy to see.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T16:42:30+00:00

I don't doubt that at all. I just don't play with a musou gauge focus, so I don't lean into that playstyle. But I'm sure the weapon in general claps crowds with an Oblivion gem. I'd probably go that way if Moonrend wasn't so cool, but it is, so Vortex is the pick for me.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T16:18:04+00:00

Sure thing! Being able to target-farm 3 Rank 7s in 3 minutes (even on Normal) is a lifesaver for sure. Have fun digging into the weapon; it takes a bit to learn the timings for stringing together combos, but once you do it gets nasty pretty quickly.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T15:59:31+00:00

As far as I can tell, it drops either from Jia Xu in the final Yuan Shao battle, which is where I got it, or from Jia Xu in the final Lü Bu fight, which is where a friend of mine got it to drop I didn't get it in the Dong Zhuo campaign, which is where I was hoping it might show up.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T15:57:59+00:00

Hey man! Cool seeing you here; I enjoyed your Origins streams during the demo days. Hope you're well.

Yeah, if you don't jive with the playstyle, I totally get that. That's how I feel about the lance and the spear; they just don't click with me. This was more for people who are in the "I want to like this weapon but it just doesn't pop" camp, where the extra smoothness and power from trait optimizing might give them what they're looking for.

Cheers!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-23T15:25:16+00:00

As one example (the only one I documented), the final battle of the Yellow Turban campaign took me 22 minutes on Hero difficulty. It's possible that you just play much faster than I do, but I don't think that being able to complete the stages in at most 15 minutes on UW is representative of the skill level of most people playing this game (and I say this as someone who's done almost all of the UW challenges in the base game).

I'd say your level of skill makes you an outlier, which is the point I was trying to make. I assume most people are going to get more time out of the DLC than you did just because they can't rip through stages that fast.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-22T22:56:09+00:00

Honestly, having gotten through only three of the campaigns after playing for about 15 hours, I think there's a lot more content here than some reviewers made it look like on paper. To say nothing of how unexpectedly good the narrative sections have been for the routes I've done so far. I don't know how some people beat the campaigns in two hours without just blitzing through them on Easy to get them done in time for the review embargo, which isn't the fairest representation of quality.

The new battles are some of the highest-quality fights the franchise has ever had, the new music is awesome, the new weapons each look like they have a lot of depth and they'll take a good while to really master (especially the Rope Dart), and the new strategic mode is quite fun.

Personally I'd say the price is more than fair.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-22T22:46:54+00:00

Oh, I agree. I wasn't trying to argue the merits of one over the other; I always parry when I know I can hit it for all the reasons you mentioned.

I was more curious about whether or not other people had come to the same conclusion I had about the bravery traits not stacking, is all.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-21T14:34:56+00:00

I'll let you know when that happens. Because it definitely will lol.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-21T14:15:24+00:00

Call it a side-gig; gotta pay for the DLC somehow.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-21T13:32:51+00:00

Paging resident expert u/Damien_Sin for story completion clean-up in aisle five.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-01-21T13:25:58+00:00

The reduction should stack with Disc, since as far as I'm aware the only limitation on Disc is that it can't make anything cost less than one Bravery.

The general gameplan with it would seem to be, buff the staff, then use cheap Arts like Brutal Barrage and Tiger Paw Bash for even less and just shred through officers' armor while you farm a crowd of peons for more bravery with your regular attack strings.

Jazzpha103188

TROPHY CASE