Dynasty Warriors 4 Zhou Yu FAQ
Written by: Mike Weiss (AKA acidfreeze30)
Version 2.1
Updates / Version History:
2.1: Added a little bit to the Frequently Asked Questions Section. I also
added the last few items into the items section. W00t!
2.0: Added a costumes section. I'm also revamping the items section. Instead
of listing item combinations, I'm just going to list each item and give my
opinions on it (sort of like what I did with the saddles and orbs in my last
update). I'm currently missing two items, but I should have them soon.
1.1: Added opinions on elemental orbs and saddles to the items section.
1.0: This is where it all begins! The FAQ has all of its basic information
finished. I have a bunch of updates planned for after I play the game more.
This includes detailed strategies, item suggestions, and the like. I also
hope to update the Frequently Asked Questions area, after I get asked some
questions...
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Table of Contents:
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1) Introduction
2) Unlocking Zhou Yu
3) Pros and Cons of Zhou Yu
4) Zhou Yu's Moves
5) Zhou Yu's Weapons
6) Zhou Yu's Costumes
7) Items, Orbs, and Saddles
8) Frequently Asked Questions
9) Credits and Thanks
10) Contact Information
11) Copyright Information
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Introduction:
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Name: Zhou Yu (pronounced like "Joe You")
Style Name: Gongjin
Born: 175 AD Died: 210 AD
Zhou Yu was one of the Wu Kingdoms most successful and well known officers.
He was born and raised in a wealthy family from Shu. While Zhou Yu was still
young, Sun Jian chose to move his family into Shu. His son Sun Ce and Zhou Yu
quickly became friends, and (being the same age) took an oath of brotherhood.
Together, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu managed to conquer the lands of Wu. The people
of Wu referred to Zhou Yu as "Young Gentleman Zhou", as a show of respect.
When Sun Ce died, Zhou Yu went on the serve under Sun Ce's younger brother
Quan. When many people urged Sun Quan to surrender to Cao Cao's much larger
army, Zhou Yu told Sun Quan to stand his ground. Zhou Yu noted several
weaknesses in Cao Cao's army, including wide spread illness and instability
in his northern provinces. Zhou Yu declared that with 30,000 troops he would
be able to defeat Cao Cao.
Zhou Yu's plan was to ally with Lui Bei, and stand against the might of Cao
Cao's army. During the eventual battle at Chi Bi, Huang Gai noticed a flaw in
Cao Cao's naval formation. Zhou Yu found out from a fisherman that the winds
would blow to the south east, and with this knowledge, Huang Gai was able to
set most of Cao Cao's fleet on fire. This was a huge victory for Wu.
Zhou Yu eventually died of sickness at a fairly early age. Still, he was
remembered for his cunning and will to win. He was honored by Sun Quan after
his death.
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Unlocking Zhou Yu:
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Obviously, if you want to play as Zhou Yu, you'll first have to unlock him.
This is done by finishing Chapter 2 of Wu's Musou mode. After that, Zhou Yu
should be selectable. Simple. Easy. Effective.
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Pros and Cons of Zhou Yu:
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Pros:
-Awesome Juggler
-Not slow
-Good combos
-Great for killing officers and other stronger enemies
-Awesome running attack
-Projectile on charge 6 improved from DW3
Cons:
-Not all that great at crowd clearing (note: not bad, just not spectacular)
-Musou move is best used against a single enemy, and can sometimes leave your
back vulnerable when it ends
-Charge 1 Projectile would be better if it had a bit more range, and it's
sometimes hard to aim
All in all, Zhou Yu is a great character. He's fun to use, and his voice
actor is much, much better then Dynasty Warriors 3 Zhou Yu was. No more whiny
sounding voice and crappy lines, Zhou Yu sounds cool now. He's quite possibly
the best officer killer in the game, due to his nigh unbeatable combo and
juggling abilities. His running attack can be used to mow through crowds.
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Zhou Yu's Moves:
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S = Square, T = Triangle
SSSSSS: A series of frontal slashes that are good for clearing crowds.
T: Zhou Yu throws something (some claim it's a dart, but it doesn't look like
any dart I've ever seen) at his foes. Great range, and fairly quick to start
up as far as charge 1 moves go.
ST: A juggle friendly upward slash. This sends the target fairly high into
the air, making juggling them a breeze.
SST: A series of sword slashes. In addition to doing great damage, this move
can stun opponents as well. Abuse this when fighting officers and other
strong enemies. This will do 4 slashes normally, but if you hit T repeatedly
you can get up to 6 (as long as you have the level 4 or higher weapon) or 8
(if you have a level 7 or higher weapon).
SSST: Zhou Yu jumps forward into the air while spinning and swinging his
sword. This is basically the same as it was in Dynasty Warriors 3. Good for
cutting through a crowd. Note: Hit T repeatedly for multiple mid air slashes
and more forward movement.
SSSST: Zhou Yu hits the enemy into the air with an upward sword slash. You
can follow them up into the air and hit them three more times by hitting T
repeatedly. If you don't do so, you can easily juggle the enemy when they
come back down. This move is better for juggling then Zhou Yu's charge 2
move, but you need a level 4 or higher weapon in order to use it.
SSSSST: A beam of energy is fired from Zhou Yu's sword. The move itself is
mostly the same as it was in Dynasty Warriors 3, except the beam itself is
large and easier to aim. It's definitely been improved. This requires at
least a level 7 weapon in order to do this attack.
Running Attack: The same as it was in Dynasty Warriors 3, where it was the
best running move in the game! Hit S repeatedly to do more slashes. This will
stun anyone it only hits once. If you hit a soldier more then once they won't
be stunned, but the high damage this move does makes up for it.
Jumping Attack: A downward slash. This doesn't do much damage, but doesn't
leave you vulnerable like the Jumping Charge does.
Jumping Charge: A back flip followed by a quick drop to the ground that
damages all nearby enemies. Good damage, but you're vulnerable during the
flip part. Also, when you land nearby archers will make a pincushion out of
you, so avoid this move like the plague when enemy archers are around.
Musou Attack: The same series of upward slashes as it was in Dynasty Warriors
3. This move is good for juggling things, particularly enemy officers.
True Musou: For the most part, this is the same as his regular Musou, but
with a Fire Element added. At the end, Zhou Yu jumps forward while slashing,
like in his charge 4 move. He then swats the enemy into the air, allowing for
possible juggling after the attack.
Horse regular attack: Standard side to side slashes.
Horse charge attack: A slash to each side, the usual horse charge.
Horse Musou: Stronger side to side slashes. The horse will stop running
momentarily when the attack ends, so keep that in mind when using it.
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Zhou Yu's Weapons:
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Weapon Level: Attack Plus - Weapon name (for levels 1, 4, 7, and 10 only)
1: +14 - Bronze Sword (4 hits max)
2: +17
3: +20
4: +24 - Iron Sword (5 hits max)
5: +27
6: +30
7: +38 - Elder Sword (6 hits max)
8: +41
9: +44
10: +54 - Ancients Sword
How to get Zhou Yu's level 10 weapon:
First of all, you have to have Zhou Yu's level 9 weapon, and you must be
playing on Hard Difficulty. On Fan Castle, wait until a supply team appears
and kill the supply captain. It appears a little after 10 minutes have passed
on the right side of the castle. You should shortly thereafter get a message
saying that Zhou Yu has gotten the Ancients Sword. After that, kill Cao Ren
to finish the stage, and it's all yours. I recommend saving right before the
10 minute mark, in case you miss the supply captain, and then again right
after you get the weapon, in case you die while fighting Cao Ren. If you're
having problems keeping Lu Meng alive while on the other side of the castle,
leave your body guards near him. They'll do a lot of the fighting and help
keep him alive. A set of level 20 bodyguards can kill nearly anything save
generals, so Lu Meng should be fine. If that doesn't work, you could have a
second player set as Lu Meng, and just hide him somewhere safe while you earn
the weapon.
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Zhou Yu's Costumes:
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Costumes are unlocked as you increase in rank. Hit max rank and you'll have
all six.
1) His basic costume, in read and white. Not too shabby.
2) The same as his first costume, except the red and white are reversed.
3) The same as his first costume, but his hair is in a pony tail.
4) The same as his second costume, but with his hair in a pony tail.
5) His Dynasty Warriors 3 costume, in all its glory.
6) His Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends extra costume. For those who've
never seen it, it's his 5th costume, but white instead of red.
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Items, Orbs, and Saddles:
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Zhou Yu starts with 2 item slots, and earns three more as you advance through
the ranks. You also have an element orb slot and a saddle slot. Here I'll
list some item combos to take a look at once I get all of the items. For now,
I'll just put what I use.
Items:
Peacock Urn: Increases your max HP. This keeps you alive longer, which is
nice, but defense > HP when it comes to how long you stay alive. Not a bad
choice, but I would never take this over the Tortoise Amulet if I had to
choose between the two.
Dragon Amulet: Max Musou up. I don't use this, since I'd rather have a
shorter but faster charging musou meter. The choice is your's, more hits or
faster charging.
Tiger Amulet: Attack up. Not a bad choice at all. More attack = things die
faster = less things beating on you.
Tortoise Amulet: Defense up. Equip this, always. This is a great item.
Speed Scroll: Speed up. Don't waste an item slot on this. Zhou Yu is plenty
fast as is, and you can always equip a saddle if you need to get from point A
to point B faster.
Wing Boots: Jump higher. No. Don't even bother with this.
Huang's Bow: Bow attack up. I personally don't find this useful, since I
don't use my bow much. In DW3, you had to snipe archers out of towers, but
now you can just knock the towers down by slashing them. As a result, the Bow
is less useful.
Nanman Armor: Bow defense up. Archers aren't as annoying or powerful as they
used to be, but this is still useful on certain stages which are full of
archers. I don't use this unless I know I'm going to end up being a pin
cushion in a certain level.
Horned Helm: Mounted attack up. Don't waste an item slot on it.
Calvary Armor: Mounted defense up. Yuck.
Seven Star Sash: Luck up. Luck makes enemies more likely to drop meat buns
and whatnot. Some people love this item, but I don't find it to be effective
enough to warrant an item slot.
Elixer: Faster Musou charge. This is awesome. I always equip mine.
Herbal Remedy: Charge attack power up. I don't find this to be all that
effective. I'd rather use the Tiger Amulet.
Art of War: This doubles the length of temporary items you pick up in battle.
While having 2 minutes of max musou in Chang Ban is fun, this item isn't
worth a slot.
Survival Guide: Doubles your attack when you're low on life. Not very useful.
It can save your life, but not often enough to warrant using it.
Way of Musou: Always use your True Musou, even when your life isn't in the
red. Very nice item, but annoying as hell in two player mode. My friends and
I have banned this for multiplayer, but I always use it in single player.
Bodyguard Manual: This makes your bodyguards stronger. I can't quite tell if
it makes them do more damage or take less damage, or what, but it's effects
aren't all the great if you ask me.
Power Scroll: Tired of losing weapon locks? With this, you never will again!
I don't use it, but I can see why some people would. I find weapon locks much
harder to win now compared to DW3.
Wind Scroll: More range. Very nice. This gives Zhou Yu a nice boost in his
crowd clearing skill. I love this item.
Fire Arrows: Makes your arrows have a fire element. Like Huang's Bow, I don't
use my bow enough to warrant an item slot devoted to this.
Charge Bracer: This makes it harder for enemies to interrupt your charge
attacks. This is fairly useful, but I personally get interrupted more while
doing _normal_ attacks then I do while doing charge moves. Meh.
Elemental Orbs and Zhou Yu:
Elemental orbs can be equipped to add an elemental attack to your charge
moves. They will take effect only when your Musou Gauge is full, unless you
have a level 10 weapon equipped.
Poison: Utter crap. When you hit someone with a charge move, they'll be
poisoned. While poisoned, they take increased damage. Sounds nice, eh? Well,
the poison lasts for such a ridiculously short period of time that this
element is near useless. The amount the poison lowers people's defense by
will increase with orb level.
Fire: Very nice. This does damage over time while your opponent is in the
air. This combines nicely with Zhou Yu's excellent juggling ability. The
amount of damage dealt increases with the orb's level, and is quite nice.
Ice: This will not always take effect. This will take effect at a set
percentage of the time which increases with orb level. Basically, it freezes
your opponents temporarily. The ice lasts long enough for you to take
advantage of it, but this doesn't kick in frequently. It's ok at level 4, but
there's better orbs out there.
Lightning: Another great orb. This will knock the target into the air, while
also knocking nearby enemies off their feet. Also, this will deal damage to
anything hit by the lightning, and the damage increases with orb level.
Lightning was pretty lousy in DW3 for all but a few characters, but it's been
highly improved. This is another great choice for Zhou Yu.
Blast: This orb is a joke. It deals damage when enemies block your attacks,
but the damage dealt is extremely small. This is next to worthless, even at
level 4.
Vorpal: This increases your attack power. It also has a chance to cause
instant death (it won't kill officers, it'll take away 20% of their remaining
HP). The instant death won't kick in all that often unless the orb is at
level 4, but the increased attack power is nice. This is a decent choice.
Saddles:
Red Hare Harness: Red Hare is fast. Enough said. Use this when you need to
get to places quickly. Unless you absolutely need every last ounce of speed,
there are better saddle choices.
Hex Mark Harness: Increases your luck, and gives you a horse that is slightly
slower then Red Hare. Not great but not bad either.
Shadow Harness: This thing is awesome. It let's you start the stage on Shadow
Runner, a horse that not only looks cool, but is also only a little bit
slower then Red Hare. The great part though is that this harness prevents you
from being knocked off of any horses. Melee attacks, arrows, you name it.
Nothing will make you leave your mount except the X Button! I personally use
this saddle nearly all of the time.
Storm Harness: A quick horse and a mounted attack boost. Nice for when you
want to be able to hit things as you go by, but Shadow Runner is better for
mounted combat.
Elephant Harness: A tank, in animal form. Start any stage riding an elephant!
Bring the glory of Nanman where ever you go! These are fun, but I personally
prefer horses. TO each his own, I guess.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
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Q: Are you going to write anymore FAQs?
A: I just did. >_>
<_<
Q: How do I get <insert character here>'s 10th weapon?
A: If I haven't written a FAQ on that character, please consult Muni's FAQ.
It has excellent information, and is easy to follow.
Q: I can't get Lui Bei's 10th weapon! I'm playing at Ru Nan, but Zhao Yun
starts in the battle!
A: I get asked this so frequently that this gets a separate answer then the
above. You my friend are playing the wrong stage. You want the Battle of Ru
Nan, not the stage you start with that happens to be at Ru Nan. The battle of
Ru Nan is one of Shu's hidden stages, and can be unlocked by meeting set
requirements in their Musou mode.
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Credits and Thanks:
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Credit for actually writing this FAQ goes to me, of course. If anyone else
contributes anything to this, I'll give them credit and thank them here.
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Contact Information:
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Before E-Mailing or IMing me for help, please follow these simple guidelines:
1) Don't ask me anything that's already covered in this FAQ. You won't get an
answer. I'm not going to waste my time answering questions I've already
answered here.
2) If you're E-Mailing me, please put "Dynasty Warriors 4" or something like
that in the E-Mail title. Otherwise, I might delete it, thinking it's spam.
Likewise, if you IM me with a question, say something like "In Dynasty
Warriors 4, <insert question here>" so I know that you're asking me a DW4
question.
3) Don't send me any E-mail with attachments. They'll be deleted.
4) If you E-Mail or IM me, make it legible. If I can't read your question, I
can't answer it. If I get something like "how 2 u get the thing 4 ur guy that
does stuff???????" I'm not going to answer it.
5) Please be polite. No one likes a jerk.
As long as you follow those guidelines, I'll be more than happy to answer
your question to the best of my ability.
E-Mail:
[email protected]
AIM: acidfreeze118
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Copyright Information:
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This FAQ is copyright (c) Mike Weiss 2003. Do not reproduce this FAQ in any
way, shape, or form without my express written consent. I wrote this, and
only I can give you permission to use it. If I catch anyone making a profit
off of anything I've written without my permission, there'll be hell to pay.
