Dynasty Warriors 4 / Shin Sangoku Musou 3 - Taishi Ci By Akumu X (Copyright 2003) This guide was made entirely on the experiences of Akumu X. This guide will not be altered in any way without my consent, and may not be distributed without my name as author on. This FAQ may be distributed, but not sold. ___________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: 1) Guide History 2) About Taishi Ci 3) Orbs 4) Moves, 10th Weapon Acquiration 5) How to get Taishi Ci, Character Strategy, Item Use 6) What Taishi Ci says 7) Final Words ___________________________________________________________ 1) Guide History – None yet. First edition. April 16th 2003 1.1 Added "How to get Taishi Ci" due to popular demand ___________________________________________________________ 2) About Taishi Ci Place of Birth: Huang County, Dong Lai (Presently Dong Lai in Shan Dong Province) Lifespan: AD 166 – 206 (40 Years) Titles: Imperial Corps Commander who oppresses the Enemy with Ferocity Men Xiu Du, Zhong Lang Jiang Family: Taishi Heng (son) Taishi Ci was a diligent scholar of his time and had a magnificent beard. He started his career as Junior Official in his home county of Dong Lai. Kong Rong, the Governor of Bei Hai and descendant of Kong Zi, admired Taishi Ci very much and to show his respect to him and his mother, Kong Rong provided them with gold and splendid food. When Kong Rong was besieged by remainders of the Yellow Turban rebels, Taishi Ci followed his mother’s orders and led a small army to rescue the Governor. However, Kong Rong did not want Taishi Ci to risk his own life for him and wanted to ask Liu Bei for reinforcements, but they were not able to break through the siege. Taishi Ziyi then spent his days practicing archery with two of his sergeants. As soon as Taishi Ci noticed a weakness in the enemy’s formation, he charged right in and managed to break the siege without help. Since then, Kong Rong regarded Taishi Ci very highly. Ziyi returned to the southlands and served Liu Yong. During this time, Sun Ce was rapidly gaining territory and had his eyes set on Liu Yong’s cities. One day, Taishi Ci spotted the enemy Lord Sun Ce praying on a hill and was going to arrest him. The two dueled on the hill and were equally matched. When Sun Ce’s officers arrived, Taishi Ci quickly retreated to Liu Yong and prepared for war (1). Taishi Ci left Liu Yong’s service after the latter refused his strategies and lost his cities to Sun Ce. Ziyi took his remaining troops to Dang Yan and proclaimed himself Governor. Sun Ce attacked the city and captured Taishi Ci. Impressed with Ziyi’s skills and wisdom, Sun Ce wasted no time in employing him and gave him a high position in his army. He was appointed Imperial Corps Commander Who Oppresses the Enemy with Ferocity, and also held the ranks of Men Xiu Du and Zhong Lang Jiang (2). While under Sun Quan’s leadership, Taishi Ci held responsibility for all affairs in the south of Wu. Ziyi died of natural causes in the eleventh year of Rebuilt Tranquility (AD 206) (3). (1) The incident of the duel is mentioned in both SGYY and SGZ and is one of the few real duels in the San Guo period. (2) These ranks were taken from SGZ and I will provide the additional English translation when I can be certain of its exact meaning. Zhong Lang Jiang was a title also held by Zhou Yu. (3) Taishi Ci died before the battle of He Fei occurred and was not killed by Zhang Liao as stated in SGYY. Take that you posturing smug Zhang Liao fans! :-P ___________________________________________________________ 3) Orbs Orbs are a fun new feature in Dynasty Warriors 4, allowing any character to make use of any Element in the game. You must have full Musou to make use of an Orb, unless you have a 10th Weapon which removes this requirement. 1. Fire Orb Sets the enemy on fire. Those on fire will receive extra “burn” damage. 2. Lightning Orb Adds lightning to your attacks. Enemies hit by lightning will hurt other nearby enemies when they hit the ground. 3. Vorpal Orb Instantly kills enemy soldiers and does a set amount of damage against enemy generals. 4. Ice Orb Freezes the enemy. Enemies will be frozen if hit for a time. While frozen enemies receive more damage from your attacks. 5. Blast Orb Deals out more damage, and enemies will still take damage even when they are blocking. 6. Poison Orb Enemies have a blue-purplish haze around them. When enemies are poisoned with this Orb, they will take more damage when you attack them rather than if they were not poisoned. For Taishi Ci I recommend the Ice Orb primarily and if not Ice then a good level Lightning orb. ________________________________________________________ 4) Moves, 10th Weapon Acquiration Moves Key: S = Square T = Triangle SSSSSS: Taishi Ci's regular attacks are kinda slow, yet strong. With poor crowd control. T: His throw. Yea...that one the computer loves to abuse. It looks really nice and the damage is ok. Once again though, don't try it on playable generals. ST: Element activates. SST: His charge rush. He continually brains you with those two huge rods. Press T more and depending on your weapon level you'll get more hits. Up to 6 I beleive. Last hit dizzies. SSST: His "Put you into orbit with Lu Bu and Xu Zhu's enemies" move. This attack he hits you with both rods at the same time right in the chest, and it don't matter who you are...you're not landing for about 5 minutes. (that is to say 2 seconds) Use this move against the crowds! People that go flying back will knock everything in their path down. Even kill people in their path just by hitting them. Use it properly. Element activates. (preferably ice, lightning or fire) though with lightning they won't fly so far away :-( SSSSTT: Pretty much standard knock them into the air then knock them back down to the ground attack. Element on the first hit. SSSSST: He shoves his left rod in you and continually hits you with his right rod before shoving you off SSST style but with a bigger swing out. Tap T for more hits...though the hits don't add to much. It doesn't hurt anything. Probably his best move. Running Attack: Pretty standard run attack. Lunges one rod at you. Jumping Attack: Just a downward swing in the air...good for whatever you need it for. Jumping Charge: Same ol' jumping charge. Interruptions a-plenty. Moderately useful though. Musou Attack: His hard to get to know musou. He walks around jabbing each of his rods into people then give a quick ending shooting people into the stars. Very very damaging on one guy, and if used right can hurt the whole crowd. True Musou: His musou with fire and a bit of an extended ending. I'd just stick with his normal musou. Horse Attack: Your usual right to left swings. A bit more powerful than most, however. Charge Horse Attack: Charged swings. Just 2 like usual. A scosh more powerful. Horse Musou: Same attack on normal horse attack except quicker, more damaging and has utmost priority. 10th How to and Weapon Information: Put it to hard difficulty, and make sure you have his level 9 weapon. Name: Tiger Slayer Attack +56 Stage: Campaign for the Wu Territory Howto: There's a bridge directly in front of you. Once you cross that bridge, a message will appear saying Yu Mi is retreating towards the Niu Zhu Fort. Catch up with him before the fort gate closes behind him. (Have a hare equiped) Defeat Yu Mi and Zhang Ying before they retreat. Taishi Ci earns Tiger Slayer weapon message. My notes: Ok...this is by far and away one of the easiest Lv 10s to get in the game. It's all there...and it's all easy. You can do this with a half leveled up Taishi Ci. (I did) Just make sure you got the Lv 9 weapon. ______________________________________________________ 5) How to get Taishi Ci -In Wu musou mode Chapter III on the stage "The Campaign for Wu Territory" You must fight Taishi Ci. Either in a duel or otherwise. (I recommend duel since he isn't that hard to beat in one) After the fight you will see any event with Taishi Ci on his knees. Your character will talk to Taishi Ci about building a new world. Taishi Ci will retreat. 3 to 5 minutes later Taishi Ci will return and attack your enemy with you. You will then have Taishi Ci as a selectable character. Item Usage and Breakdown These items are what I use. My preference 1) Peacock Urn 2) Tortoise Amulet 3) Tiger Amulet 4) Dragon Amulet or Wind Scroll (depending on how much you like his musou) So basically the pros and cons of Taishi Ci are as follows: Pros: He loves to park people into the horizon. (God bless him) - His power...my god... - He's a GREAT dueler Cons: His lack of crowd clearing can make it kinda tough at times - His musou unless you know how to use it JUST right - His speed (he's actually slower than Xu Zhu and Meng Huo) HOW? You ask. Because Xu Zhu can roll where he wants to go (his running attack) and people that play Meng that want to travel across a map just keep hitting triangle. Breakdown: 6) What Taishi Ci says: His guard crush (R3 button): "Let's have a go, then!" His musou: "Rrrrruh!" His true musou: "Hold together!" (sounds like he's talking to himself on this one) ________________________________________________________ 7) Final Words Thanks to: The www.kongming.net peeps, for their opinions and ideas. Muni Shinobu, and all the others at GameFAQs Message Boards for providing so much info, and KOEI/W-Force for making a great game! ________________________________________________________