Lu Bu FAQ V1.0 ----------------------- By: Ektazy LuBuGuide@hotmail.co.uk Copyright @ Chace King 2011 Table Of Contents: -------------------- 1. - Introduction 1.1 - Copyright/Disclaimer Info 1.2 - Version History 2. - Dynasty Warriors 7 Introduction 3. - Biographies 3.1 – Lu Bu’s DW7 In-Game Bio 3.2 – Lu Bu’s Historical Bio 4. - What's New With Lu Bu? 4.1 – Lu Bu’s Skill Set 4.2 – Lu Bu’s Moveset 4.3 - Weapons and Weapon Compatibility 4.4 - Acquiring Lu Bu’s Special Weapon(s) 5. – Optimal ‘builds’ for Lu Bu and using him on Chaos difficulty 6. – Lu Bu in Story Mode 7. – Lu Bu in Conquest Mode 8. – FAQ 9. - Credits --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 1. - Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Hi all, my name is Chace. This will be my first ever FAQ and I have chosen to write about the infamous Lu Bu. He has been one of my favourites throughout the series, especially from Number 4 onwards, and even those players who aren’t a fan of him usually respect him as an immensely powerful character. I have played since DW3, though DW4 was the game that really got me into the series. Whilst I have had many characters that I’ve enjoyed and maxed out over the course of the series (Jiang Wei, Zhou Tai, Zhuge Liang, Sun Jian, Gan Ning to name a few), I’ve found that often these characters vary a lot between each game and Lu Bu has been one of the few that has been consistent and I have levelled up with each game. Feel free to email me at LuBuGuide@hotmail.co.uk if you have any corrections/additions/questions, and of course if I add anything you suggest I will credit you here in the guide! This guide has been written for X360, however the PS3 version is virtually identical, so just substitute X’s for Squares and Y’s for Triangles! This is my first guide, so go easy on me if I’ve made a mistake! Enjoy :) ------------------------------------ 1.1 - Copyright/Disclaimer Info ------------------------------------ This FAQ is copyrighted to me, however this is just a bit of fun in my opinion so feel free to post it elsewhere as long as you credit it to me and preferably include a link or reference to Gamefaqs to the original. As of 25/08/2011 this guide is granted use on the following sites: www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com ------------------------------------ 1.2 - Version History ------------------------------------ Version 1.0 - FAQ is written and checked through. Version 1.1 – Update concerning new distribution and a few punctuation/syntactical changes. Version 1.2 – Update concerning voice actor for Lu Bu in FAQ section. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 2. - Dynasty Warriors 7 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Dynasty Warriors 7 is created by KOEI and developed by Omega Force. It is based on the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" novel by Luo Guanzhong. The game takes place in the "Three Kingdoms" era of China where regional warlords fought for total control of the country. As I’m sure you know this is pretty much divided into: Shu – Liu Bei Wu – Sun Jian/Sun Quan Wei – Cao Cao Jin – Sima Clan As Dynasty Warriors 7 is the first game in the series to properly include Jin’s unification of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ it therefore spans a larger amount of time, meaning my above leaders no longer hold true for the duration of the game. However they do serve as a rough guide and more information can be found within the encyclopaedia in-game. Thankfully DW7 gets rid of the Renbu system pioneered in DW6 (maxed out Renbu on a map full of enemies made u incredibly strong, but on a smaller map with less enemies even your most powerful characters felt quite underpowered, and you always felt like you had to rush to the next group to not let your Renbu drop too far) and we are now back to the original charge-attack system of previous titles. Lots of characters return (62 in total) and several new ones under the kingdom of Jin. Many of the new names will however be familiar to those having played earlier games, as lots of these officers have previously appeared in their ‘generic’ officer forms. Story Mode pretty much = Musou Mode from earlier games, though with nicely improved cut scenes and more free-flowing gameplay, and conquest mode is a very welcome addition, basically a more exciting version of the previous Free Mode. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 3. – Lu Bu’s Bios --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Some general information on the history of Lu Bu! ------------------------------------ 3.1 – Lu Bu’s In-Game Bio ------------------------------------ The mighty Lu Bu. He was skilled in all the martial arts, especially archery and horseback riding. It was often said, ‘Among men, Lu Bu... Among horses, Red Hare...’ Red Hare could gallop 1,000 leagues in a single day and Lu Bu burnishes his fabled spear. Loyal only to himself, he cut down his own adopted father, Ding Yuan, and joined Dong Zhuo, only to later betray him as well. ------------------------------------ 3.3 Lu Bu’s Historical Bio ------------------------------------ Lu Bu is a warrior who wants to prove his strength to all. First serving his adopted father, Dong Zhuo, he defies the Allied Forces at Hu Lao and Si Shui Gates. Known for his ferocity in the former battle, Yuan Shao warns his officers to steer clear of him in every game. In most titles, he has a special duel with Liu Bei and his brothers during the conflict. Not one to trust Dong Zhuo, he often gives into Diao Chan's deception and rebels against his former master in their story modes. In other characters' scenarios, he wanders the land after his benefactor's death and steals Xia Pi away from Liu Bei. Facing Cao Cao and Liu Bei's armies at the castle, Lu Bu dies after his defeat. - For a full and detailed history visit http://koei.wikia.com/wiki/Lu_Bu --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 4 - What's New With Lu Bu? --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Lu Bu has made a return to his single Halberd in DW7. I really enjoyed the crazy dual-spinning-halberd thing he wielded in DW6, however I feel that the single Halberd suits him best and has been his signature weapon throughout the series. He looks similar to how he has always looked, with a nice alternative red armour as the second choice. Personally I downloaded his DW6 costume (black armour with added bulky plates + red helmet plumes) from DLC as it looks great. - His moveset in DW7 with the halberd is excellent, and reminds me very much of his moves from DW4. - Main costume in black with red plumes. Alternate costume red with silver/black plumes. - Halberd as his main weapon grants his EX attack. - Gains two new Musous, both of which are extremely strong. ------------------------------------ 4.1 – Lu Bu’s Skill Set ------------------------------------ Lu Bu’s Skill Tree is laid out as follows: 5th Normal Attack - 6th Normal Attack - 6th Strong Attack - Speed Up++ | -> 5th Strong Attack –> Halberd Master Musou +1 –> Musou Attack 2 Skill Points Up -> Attack Range Up -> Synergy 5th Normal Attack: 84 Points 6th Normal Attack: 126 Points 5th Strong Attack: 224 Points 6th Strong Attack: 252 Points Halberd Master: 280 Points Speed Up++: 420 Points Musou +1: 98 Points Musou Attack 2: 280 Points Skill Points Up: 112 Points Attack Range Up: 168 Points Synergy: 2240 Points (yes, seriously!) Total Points required to max out skills: 4284 That’s 429 Officers to kill, or around 357 if you get Skill Points Up straight away. Sounds a lot, but to get a character to maxed stats you will earn about 8-10k Skill points so you will get even Lu Bu’s expensive skills pretty quickly. ------------------------------------ 4.2 – Lu Bu’s Moveset ------------------------------------ In DW7, each character can use any weapon within the game, with the added bonus of being able to swap them around in-game. However, special ‘EX’ attacks are available when using the character’s ‘main’ weapon, which often makes it worthwhile to keep the original weapon. Lu Bu’s EX attack is unlocked when he uses his Halberd, and is activated upon C3. For reference, X = normal attacks, and C = Charge attacks. For example, C5 = XXXXY and C1 would just be Y. ----- Running X attack: Wide horizontal slash, good for clearing those irritating archers. X – Backhanded diagonal slash XX – Forehand diagonal slash XXX – Downward slash XXXX – Backhand horizontal slash XXXXX – Forehand diagonal slash XXXXXX – Final backhanded diagonal slash that activates element. His standard X chain is great for crowd clearing, and general all round reach. ----- C1 – Pushes his Halberd above his head with two hands, breaking enemy guard and causing enemies to recoil. C2 – A satisfying two-handed uppercut. C3 – Spins the Halberd repeatedly round his head whilst moving forwards, great near-360 coverage and crowd clearer. C4 – Powerful diagonal slash, useful for crowd clearing but won’t hit as many enemies as you might think. C5 – Spears the enemy in front of him, spins his weapon repeatedly into the enemy, spears them yet again, and then slams them into the floor. Useful against blocking enemies as the spearing ignores block. On harder difficulties however officers will often flip out of the final slam, avoiding most of the damage. C6 – Does a quick hit that breaks enemies guard, then whirls his weapon around in a sort of ‘X’ pattern (you’ll see what I mean), finally followed by a shout that blows enemies away and can lift enemies up off the floor. Extremely powerful and useful for killing crowds and officers alike. ------ EX Attack - Continue pressing Y after C3 to activate his EX attack. Lu Bu rushes forward surrounded by red wind-like energy and grabs the first enemy he comes into contact with. With red lightning coming from his hand he then slams them into the ground. Huge damage. The grab breaks officer’s guard and so is useful against powerful opponents. As he grabs the enemy Lu Bu will shout ‘I grow tired of your presence!’ ------ Musou Attack 1 – [Spirit Bomb] A huge burst of red Musou energy, enemies directly in front will receive two hits. On harder difficulties it is fairly easily blocked, so make sure you chain the Musou at the end of a combo to avoid wasting it. Musou Attack 2 – [Armageddon Strike] Activated by pressing B whilst in mid-air. Halberd becomes swathed in red lightning and Lu Bu slams it down into the ground, obliterating everything. Although I’m not 100% sure it’s unblockable, in my long time playing as Lu Bu I don’t think I’ve ever seen it blocked. ------ Weapon Switch In Attack – Swings his weapon in a medium, upside-down arc. Weapon Switch Out Attack – Temporarily gains a double that attacks simultaneously (so to all intents and purposes, attack x2), and a running and attack speed boost. It only lasts for a very short time (not much upwards of 5 or so seconds), but if you combine it with a conventional attack x2 and can catch an officer with C6, it will utterly decimate them, even on Chaos. ======= A quick YouTube search for ‘DW7 Lu Bu Gameplay’ can show you many of these attacks in action. ======= ------------------------------------ 4.3 - Weapons and Weapon Compatibility ------------------------------------ Although any character can wield any weapon, each character has a star rating for each weapon. 1 Star means the character’s damage will be below normal with it, 2 Stars mean the character is good with the weapon and the damage is around normal and 3 Stars means the character and the weapon are very suited to each other; the damage output will be a little higher than average. Having said this, as each character has two weapon slots and the seals from each weapon stack, if you are happy to just use a character’s main weapon it can make sense to put a 1 star weapon in the secondary slot if it provides you with bonuses such as lots of seal slots and an element. An example would be giving Lu Bu the Level 10 War Fan ‘Fenghuang Wing’ (despite his 1 Star proficiency with it) as it has 5 seal slots. As a high level Lu Bu however there are some excellent weapon combos that I shall touch on later. Here is a list of Lu Bu’s star proficiency with each weapon available: Axe: (***) Wheels: (**) Gloves: (**) Shaman Rod: (*) Arm Cannon: (**) Brush: (***) Flail: (***) Spinner: (**) Flute: (**) Iron Fan: (*) War Fan: (**) Sword: (***) Flying Swords: (*) Rapier: (***) Chain & Sickle: (**) Lance: (**) Nunchaku: (**) Crossbow: (***) Throwing Knives: (**) Harp: (**) Chain Whip: (N/A) Double Voulge: (***) Great Sword: (**) Pike: (***) Tonfa: (***) Club: (***) Curved Sword: (**) Sword & Shield: (**) Staff: (**) Twin Axes: (***) Spear: (***) Twin Rods: (***) [EX] Halberd: (***) Bow: (**) Claws: (***) Twin Swords: (***) Some stars are not gold at the start, but will light up later either through gains in Att/Def/Health, or through buying skills in the skill tree. Also, it is possible to equip ‘Weapon Master’ seals that increase the character’s proficiency straight to 3 stars. Referring back to my earlier example, equipping ‘Fenghuang Wing’ with the ‘War Fan Master’ seal would increase Lu Bu’s proficiency with it to 3 stars. ------------------------------------ 4.4 - Acquiring Lu Bu’s Special Weapon ------------------------------------ Each type of weapon available has 10 Levels of weapon available (a few have 11, including sword and spear), each differing in attack strength, attainable seals, seal slots and element. Here I will list the 10 Halberds available, and the stats of each: 1: Light Halberd, Att 10, 2 Seal Slots, No Element. 2: Sturdy Halberd, Att 15, 2 Seal Slots, No Element. 3: Heavy Halberd, Att 20, 2 Seal Slots, No Element. 4: Sky Piercer, Att 28, 3 Seal Slots, No Element. 5: Earth Piercer, Att 37, 3 Seal Slots, No Element. 6: Hell Piercer, Att 43, 3 Seal Slots, No Element. 7: Royal Halberd, Att 50, 3 Seal Slots, No Element. 8: Heaven Piercer, Att 33, 2 Seal Slots, Lvl. 1 Slash. 9: Cosmos Piercer, Att 37, 2 Seal Slots, Lvl. 2 Slash. 10: Black Dragon Halberd, Att 40, 3 Seal Slots, Lvl. 3 Slash. Weapons 7 – 10 are unlocked through Conquest Mode. The steps to attain them are: - Firstly unlock the ‘Smithing’ ability in the skill trees of Zhuge Liang, Lu Meng or Guo Huai, which will cost 840 skill points. If, like me, you are very impatient just grab one of these characters and it only takes make 30/40 mins to go from 0-840 skill points if you don’t buy anything else and do perhaps 11/12 arena battles on beginner, lol. - Unlock as many cities as possible. The more cities you unlock the more weapons become available. You should unlock the cities anyway as they unlock mounts/extra battles/achievements, all good stuff. - Finally enter a city with your smithing enabled character and purchase the weapons from the weapons dealer (or merchant, but dealer is better). Beware they are quite expensive, Lu Bu’s 10th halberd for example is over 60k Gold and you will have to buy the 8th and 9th weapons first, adding approximately another 30k gold to the total price. And that’s just one weapon. However the Halberd is the most expensive 10th weapon I’ve encountered. (It’s cost me about 900k gold for about 85% weapon completion, not too bad). Clearly the best weapon for Lu Bu is the Black Dragon Halberd, not to mention it looks awesome, so go get it! --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- 5 - Optimal ‘builds’ for Lu Bu and using him on Chaos difficulty --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- This section is based on the information found on cinquedea27’s excellent guide entitled ‘Chaos Optimal Build FAQ’. The link to his full guide is: http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/606311-dynasty- warriors-7/faqs/62415, go check it out. To fully realise the potential of Lu Bu it is necessary to equip him with certain seals and weapons. This is the build I use to optimise his attack strength: First Weapon: Black Dragon Halberd (Halberd) (Slash Element) (3 Seal Slots) Second Weapon: Qinggang Sword (Rapier) (Slash Element) (5 Seal Slots) This is a SYNERGY build. The Synergy seal will ‘Greatly increase Attack when both equipped weapons have the same element’. Each seal stacks so put Synergy on both weapons + the one in Lu Bu’s skill tree and you’re looking at a crazy Synergy x3 build. Couple this with two ‘Officer Assassin’ seals and one of each Attack, Defence and Health +++ seals and you’ll be playing a monstrous character than can wipe out foot soldiers and officers with ease. So assuming your Lu Bu is max stats (or nearing it) you will begin with 888 Health, Attack and Defence. The Attack +++, Defence +++ and Health +++ seals will bring you nicely to 1000 Health, Attack and Defence. Synergy x3 will cause you to slaughter foot soldiers with raw attack power and Slash Element, and a combination of Synergy x3 and Officer Assassin x2 will let you drain officer HP fast. Your set up would be: Black Dragon Halberd with [Attack +++] [Synergy] [Officer Assassin] Quinggang Sword with [Max Health +++] [Defence +++] [Synergy] [Officer Assassin] and one final seal of your choice. There are of course other set-ups and weapons that would work, so try out a few and see which you prefer. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 6 – Lu Bu in Story Mode --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Lu Bu is not playable in story mode; however he does make several appearances in each story, most notably at the Battle of Hu Lao Gate and for Wei’s story, pursues Cao Cao during one level. He also appears in the Battle of Xu Province. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 7 – Lu Bu in Conquest Mode --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- To unlock Lu Bu you must complete his ‘Legend Battles’ within Conquest Mode. His legend Battles are located on the far left of the Conquest Mode map. Battle 1 – Battle of Hu Lao Gate Difficulty: *** Reward: 500 Description: In their campaign to kill Dong Zhuo, the allied forces have pushed their way to Hu Lao Gate. A fearless smile crosses Lu Bu’s face as he gazes upon the approaching swarm of enemies. Defeat the enemy soldiers and show them what true power really is! Battle 2 – Beauty vs Beast Difficulty: **** Reward: 1000 Description: As a favour to the beautiful Diao Chan, Lu Bu is preparing to kill her master, Dong Zhuo. None must know of the treachery behind Diao Chan’s tears. Kill Dong Zhuo as he waits within the palace and fulfil Diao Chan’s wishes! Battle 3 – The Demon’s Last Stand Difficulty: ***** Reward: 1500 Description: Lu Bu, betrayed by his allies, has retreated to Xiapi Castle. His disheartened forces are under intense pressure from the combined armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. At this point, all you can count on are your own two hands. Do what you must in order to obliterate your enemies! (This is how it should read, go spot Koei’s two grammatical/syntactical errors in the actual game haha) Completing all of Lu Bu’s Legendary Battles will unlock Lu Bu’s wallpaper for ‘Officers 1’ in the gallery. To unlock Lu Bu’s ‘Officers 2’ wallpaper he needs to be available as a sworn ally. Once an officer has a high enough bond with you (increased by playing legend battles, rescuing officers within battles, paying for them to join you in battles and talking to them within the cities) they will become a sworn ally when you talk to them in a province city. -------- Lu Bu has a few special lines for interactions with Diao Chan, Dong Zhuo and Zhang Fei (and likely more, but I’m too busy killing things to notice tbh lol). The reasons behind Dong Zhuo and Diao Chan are fairly obvious, and Zhang Fei’s are usually in reference to their battle at Hu Lao Gate. - A notable appearance of Lu Bu within Conquest Mode is his position as the final general within the ‘Battle for Supremacy’, a 10 Star battle. Defeating him for the first time will reward the player with Red Hare. If you are playing as Lu Bu, the final general will instead be Dong Zhuo. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 8 - FAQ --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Q: Why choose Lu Bu? A: He is one of the signature warriors of the series, the fearsome general of Hu Lao Gate (DW4: It’s...it’s Lu Bu!) and all round incredibly powerful character! Plus he’s around 6’10 so towers over most other characters and standard men, has some great looking armour sets, and great crowd-clearing and officer-slaying moves. Q: Who is the voice actor for Lu Bu? A: Jamieson Price, who has done a great job of voicing him for DW5, 6 & 7 and also the Warriors Orochi Series. EDIT: Since completing Conquest Mode in Dynasty Warriors 7, I noticed in the credits that actually Tetsu Inada is credited with being the voice of Lu Bu for Dynasty Warriors 7, and even the rest of the series according to his Wikipedia. So I’m not really sure, seems more likely to be Tetsu Inada though. Here are the relevant Wiki pages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson_Price#Video_Games_Roles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsu_Inada#Game Q: Did the real Lu Bu use a Halberd? A: Lu Bu is reported to have used one within the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, the Fangtian Huaji, which translates as either ‘Heavenly Halberd’ or ‘Sky Piercer’. However it is not sure whether this weapon ever truly existed. See the Koei Wiki Lu Bu page for a more in-depth discussion. Q: What does Lu Bu’s name mean? A: Lu Bu’s name in Chinese is used to refer to an incoming thunder storm. His style name, Fengxian, when broken into separate characters means ‘Immortal Phoenix’. Q: You sayd dat the Black Dwagon Halberdz is the bezt Halburds but ure wrong cos cleerly Royal Halbird haz hiyer attack?!?!!1111!!!lol!!!! Idiot!!!!!! A: The bonuses of that slight attack difference are completely outweighed by the advantages of having an element on the Black Dragon Halberd, therefore activating Synergy x3. Not to mention the effect of the actual element itself. So yes, Royal Halberd has higher attack, and no, that does not make it better. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 9 - Credits --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- - Thanks to KOEI and Omega Force for continuing to make this game, and for translating it into English for us! - The KOEI wiki for their bio of Lu Bu. - To whoever designs Lu Bu’s costumes. - Dynasty Warriors 7 for probably being the best game in the Dynasty Warriors series so far. - DW4 on PS2 for really getting me into the series, DW3 for the introduction. - To Lu Bu himself, who knows, he may not have been quite as bad in real life, haha. - To cinquedea27 for his excellent guide as a reference for the ‘Optimal Build’ section. His guide can be found here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/606311-dynasty-warriors-7/faqs/62415 - To Hbkrvd9 for his guide on Huang Gai providing the basis of my layout for this guide to Lu Bu. As this is my first guide, without his structure I would have been a lot more lost! His guide can be found here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/606311-dynasty-warriors- 7/faqs/62383