Welcome to what is my 2nd FAQ now. I am Bjan Mara, and I go by the on-line
name of psxfreak101, incase you hadn't noticed :-P
This Character FAQ is for the character Xiao Qiao of the Dynasty Warriors 3
game. Under the list of Character FAQs, Xiao Qiao's name was missing, and
seeing that I'd just completed her musou mode very recently during my second
complete playthrough of DW3/3:XL, and that DW3 does rate as my all-time
favourite game, I figured I may as well write up an FAQ on her. So, here it
goes.
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Contents
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1.0 Version History
2.0 Why play as Xiao Qiao?
3.0 Encyclopaedia Entry
4.0 Unlocking Her
5.0 Moveset
6.0 Using Xiao Qiao
7.0 Weapons
8.0 Musou Mode Walkthrough
8.1 Pirates on the High Seas
8.2 The Battle at Hu Lao Gate
8.3 The Battle at Chi Bi
8.4 The Mountain Bandit Campaign
8.5 The Battle at He Fei
8.6 The Battle at Yi Ling
8.7 The Nanman Campaign
9.0 Is This The End?
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1.0 Version History
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Version 1.0 Submitted 20/11/2005
For all intents and purposes, is complete, unless an error or 100
are spotted.
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2.0 Why play as Xiao Qiao?
---------------------------
Apart from being one of the many playables in the greatest game of all, she has
one of the most uniquely powerful musou attacks. She is quick in attack, and
can own just as well as any other in the game.
This is direct from her Officer Bio in the DW3 game:
"The daughter of Qiao Xuan. She later married Zhou Yu of Wu. Together with
her older sister, Da Qiao, they were referred to as the "Two Qiaos." Upon
hearing a rumor by Zhuge Liang that Cao Cao was after the Qiao sisters, Zhou
Yu proposed war to Sun Quan, effectively drawing the Wu Kingdom into the
Battle of Chi Bi."
Not very exciting, but hey, she wasn't really fantastically important in
history. Just another female added to the game just for a little change in
the line-up.
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4.0 Unlocking Her
------------------
Quite simply clear musou mode with one of either Zhou Yu or Da Qiao. Makes
sense, no?
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5.0 Moveset
------------
A basic description of her moves. Then, it'll be followed by a preferred way
of playing. I'll also add the preferred name for the moves in brackets
afterwards.
T - Triangle, S - Square. C<number> - xth Charge, which is just the proper name.
SSSSSS (S-String) - Fairly wide range consistent attacks in front of her. The
5th strike has a hop in it leading to very possible
interruptions.
Running Attack - For the love of God, do NOT use this move. If you have been
walking for a fair while before reaching some chaos, please
at least stop or even press L1 before you start laying in on
them, because her running move leaves her WIDE open for an
onslaught.
T (C1) - A sluggish 360 move. Not very useful.
ST (C2) - Much like everybody else's C2, a short launcher. Great with her as
you can combo/juggle easily with it.
SST (C3) - A 360 hopping stun attack. It works well, provided nobody interrupts
you in the process.
SSST (C4) - Her fans fly infront and behind her. Can send enemies flying, but
only hits directly infront and behind.
SSSST(T) (C5) - Just a regular high launcher, which links into an aerial 360
attack.
SSSSST(TTT) (C6) - She spins around in a wheel-like manner, with the last hit
having her land to swipe away any still standing infront of
her. Very effective in a one-on-one situation, and can be
linked into her musou very nicely.
Musou - Like her C6, she spins around very quickly in a wheel-like manner. Very
effective in officer killing, provided you can control it. Ends in a
huge 360 move, so if you just press Circle for musou, can be effective
as a crowd clearer.
True Musou - A fire-elemental musou attack, with the last 2-3 cycles having
little delays between each. Juggles the opponent, so there is no
chance of a musou attack from your target to break it up. The
delays though can very well end your juggling when you really
don't want to.
S on Horse - Alternating attacks on either sides, starting with the right.
T on Horse - Fans fly from her side, attacking either side of her
simultaneously.
Musou on Horse - More powerful alternating attacks on either side.
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6.0 Using Xiao Qiao
--------------------
Xiao Qiao's abuseable move comes in her S-String. Because of its speed you are
able to use it to its 4th or 5th hit, and then restart, without your opponent
recovering quick enough to block it, thus an endless combo. Also, due to the
speed of her S-String, this allows for very easy juggling on her part. Using
her C2 (or even her C5) as a base, you'll have the ability to juggle to your
heart's content.
Her other big weapon is her normal musou attack. In just pressing (not holding)
the musou, it makes for a good crowd clearing move. But its true potential lies
in its entire attack. If you are able to land the entire musou attack on a
single general, chances are you will kill him/her. Of course, her musou is one
of the more difficult ones to control, but one way to get around it that works
for me 90% of the time is to allow your target to attack you while you block.
This allows you to line up directly with your target, and if your musou gauge
is full, feel free to offload. This works ideally at the end of your target's
combo.
Another way to target the musou easily is to get your target alongside a wall.
In that position, very little effort is required to keeping it on target.
The following is an example item set-up that I like to use with her:
Of course, item set-ups are always relative to what stat items you have. If
your Elixir is only a +2, then it absolutely isn't worth equipping.
For me, the Tiger Amulet, Tortoise Amulet & Elixir are must-equips on almost
everybody (except for the very few that have special item set-ups). Of those
last four items, any combination of two will suffice really. Whether you want
some more life to survive on, more reach in her attacks, more running speed
than she knows what to do with, or just a bit more protection from the archers
is completely up to you. Personally, I like Speed Scroll & Wind Scroll. As
I don't use horses at all, having a Speed Scroll is fairly useful, particularly
on a faster runner like Xiao Qiao. I may switch one of those two for the Shell
Armor if I am in an archer-heavy stage, because goodness knows that archers
actually hurt in this game (as opposed to the games that follow).
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7.0 Weapons List
-----------------
The following is the 4 weapons that Xiao Qiao can equip herself with. Of
important note is that her 1st, 2nd and 3rd weapons can be found either in
crates throughout the stages, or from an officer upon their defeat. Her 4th
weapon is obtained through a specific objective on a specific stage (explained
under its stats). The 1st, 2nd and 3rd weapons will also have different
assortments of stats on them.
1st - Twin Fans (shared with Da Qiao)
Attack +16
Max Hits: 4
2nd - Violet Fans (shared with Da Qiao)
Attack +31
Max Hits: 5
3rd - Grace
Attacks +38
Max Hits: 6
4th - True Grace
Attacks +38
Max Hits: 6
Speed +24
Defense +47
Luck +28
Musou Charge +30
Element - Death
Element activates on - SSSSSTTTT
Where to obtain it - The Nanman Campaign
Requirements to get it - Defeat Zhu Rong
Where to locate weapon - Down the western pathway, there is a dead-end pointing
north back into the river. Box is found there.
Strategies - There is no time limit in which to meet and defeat Zhu Rong. So
the best strategy would be to work your way through the stage as
per normal (following the walkthrough below), and defeat Zhu Rong
when you reach her. Nothing more to it.
The first note about this musou mode before I begin, the generals you fight
with AND against are relative to the generals with whom you've finished
musou mode with.
The first names that I do mention in stages will be the original generals, with
the potential replacements being placed in brackets (assuming I know them
off-hand, may require a couple of updates to figure them all out).
Second note, I won't really be mentioning where to pick up items or weapons, and
where to get health. Items and weapons you can find locations for elsewhere,
while health pick-ups are general obtained from any of the following:
- Any pot next to a gate will have health
- Any guard captains will drop at least a +100 meat bun
- Any soldier comboed for at least 16 hits upon death can drop at least a +50
meat bun
This walkthrough will only be concerned with just getting through the stages. I
will also mention where the Life+10 & Musou+10 are for each of the stages to
allow for easy maxing of the character.
The other important note: you don't have to take this as the one and only way
to play stages. This game is flexible like that. Feel free to head straight to
the enemy Commander if you so wish. It is all about your preferred manner of
playing, and I'm just outlining the way I prefer to play, which is NOT the
only way to go about it.
Anywho, let us begin with her first stage:
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8.1 Pirates on the High Seas
-----------------------------
Starting position: Centre boat, close to your commander.
Generic stage #1 for Xiao Qiao. Head east from boat to boat, defeating the 2
generals in the east. Along the way, try to defeat as many peons as you can as
they can easily reach your commander. If you wish, continue through to the
gate captain in the north east to stop the flow of soldiers from there, and to
pick up a little bit of defense. There is also a Musou+10 item near by.
Work your way back through to the centre, and putting away any soldiers hanging
around your commander before starting your journal through the western side.
There are 2 generals on the western side along with the enemy commander. Defeat
the 2 generals, and if you wish head all the way to the gate captain in the
bottom left. Close the gate to kill the flow of soldiers, and then collect the
Musou+10 in the bottom-left boat.
Now, head to the enemy commander and make quick work of him.
------------------------------
8.2 The Battle at Hu Lao Gate
------------------------------
Starting Position: With the Wu forces, just west of Fan Shui Gate.
First things first, eliminate Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen infront of you. This will
open up Fan Shui Gate for you, allowing you access to the rest of the stage
essentially. Defeat Hua Xiong just past the gate.
Head back onto the Fan Shui Gate. On top of the gate on the southern side there
is a Musou+10 waiting. Collect it, then head through the northern pathway,
passing Fan Chou, and stopping at Niou Fu. Defeat him, then head back through
to Fan Chou and defeat him as well.
Now work your way east, through the crowd, to Wang Fang. He is situated just
north of the East Gate. Usually the gate would be closed unless Wang Fang has
been defeated, but by now Lu Bu's forces should be nearby, opening the East
Gate up. Defeat Wang Fang, then head back through to Xu Rong and defeat him as
well.
Lu Bu and his sub-generals are optional in this stage. If you choose to defeat
them, get Zhang Liao and Gao Shun first, then work your way through Lu Bu. At
this point in time your character will have little to no chance of beating
Lu Bu, so you'll probably want to use a "hit and run" tactic using your musou.
If you are going to ignore Lu Bu completely, then just whittle down his morale.
The soldiers that come from the gate to the south are all Lu Bu's soldiers, so
defeating them will eventually bring down his morale, and thus prevent any
generals from falling by Lu Bu's spear while he's off-screen.
In any case, Li Jue and Guo Si will have more than likely made their ambush in
the north. Cao Cao may still be sitting in the north, depending on how well he
was managing the soldiers from that northern gate. If that's the case, you'll
probably want to hurry to his side because he can fall very quickly. If Cao Cao
isn't there (or has been defeated), then Li Jue and Guo Si will head through to
the back of Yuan Shao's forces (should be waiting outside Fan Shui Gate). Either
way just head through to the 2 generals and defeat them.
Now, just head back through the southern path, meeting and defeating Li Meng if
he's still alive, and working your way through to the front of Hu Lao Gate. In
the little passage south of Li Meng's position, an archer ambush will appear.
Ignore the archers and continue towards the front of Hu Lao Gate.
At this point, an ally Assault Unit will appear infront of the gate. Protect the
Assault Captain and kill all the soldiers in the area. One of two things can
happen here:
- If you successfully defeat all the soldiers in the area, then the gate will
open and Li Ru will ambush infront of the gates.
- If the Assault Captain falls before the gate is opened, then there will be a
mass morale drop amongst the ally forces, and Li Ru will ambush infront of the
gates. His defeat will trigger the opening of the gates.
Once Li Ru has been defeated, defeat Diao Chan waiting inside the gate. Then,
head on top of Hu Lao Gate, and collect the Life+10 on the northern end of the
gate. Finally, just close the 3 gates in the back, and defeat Dong Zhuo for the
victory.
-------------------------
8.3 The Battle at Chi Bi
-------------------------
Starting Position: As a sub-general of the Commander, north of Zhou Yu's
position.
Your first target will be Xiahou Dun (Dian Wei). As he will be guarding the
area that Huang Gai is supposed to stay around for the fire attack, best to
give him as much opportunity as possible to survive.
Once you're done securing that area, work your way through the generals on the
western side. This should involve Cao Pi, and then Zhang He (Xiahou Yuan) with
his sub-generals Cao Ren & Yu Jin.
At this point, Taishi Ci on the eastern side should be on the verge of defeat.
Head towards his starting position, as on the same boat as his starting
position sits a Musou+10 item. Once there, collect it, and go through Xu Huang
and his sub-generals Cao Zhang & Wen Pin. Once Xu Huang is disposed of, Yue
Jin will head towards your position. Defeat him as well.
At this point, the fire attack should have occurred. Now you are quite free to
finish the stage as you please. I prefer closing all 4 northern gates, and then
systematically working through the generals in a anti-clockwise manner, ending
with Cao Cao of course. The generals that should be left include:
- Cao Cao, with sub-generals Cao Hong, Cheng Yu & Xun You
- Zhang Liao, with sub-general Cai Mao
- Li Dian
- Cao Xiu, with sub-general Jia Xu
Also, Xun Yu will appear as reinforcements in the north soon after the fire
attack. He will only be at 2 stars morale, so if you want to kill him you will
probably have to be quick about it.
---------------------------------
8.4 The Mountain Bandit Campaign
---------------------------------
Starting Position: Near the southern entrance.
The second of the two generic stages for Xiao Qiao, and this one is arguably
easier than the Pirates on the High Seas stage.
There isn't much "strategy" to this stage. Just kill the 3 generals scattered
around the stage (I like going in a clock-wise position, starting with the
left-most general). Once they are all defeated, the Commander will appear at
the northern gate. Feel free to close the gate there beforehand, so that the
Commander won't be reinforced with troops whilst you're hammering down on him.
If you are quick enough, you won't even have to worry yourself with the 3-4
peasants scattered around the place that need to stay alive.
For the Musou+10, head to the houses on the left, sort of centre-ish. For the
Life+10, it is more towards the centre, in the right. Of note, the Life+10 will
be in a little corner of the house, house shaped sort of like this, where the
X denotes where the item is situated:
It's horribly out of proportion, but the idea is there. The pot is very easy to
miss.
-------------------------
8.5 The Battle at He Fei
-------------------------
Starting Position: The central area where most of the action is.
To start, defeat Zhang Liao situated in the centre near where Taishi Ci is
located. Defeating him now will prevent him ambushing Sun Quan later on in the
stage, and can also prevent an instant death cut-scene on Taishi Ci.
With Zhang Liao out of the way, head towards the generals heading towards the
centre from the northern paths. They consist of Cao Zhang and his sub-general
Jia Xu, and Xu Huang. They don't always take the same pathway, but in my
experience, their preferred pathway was the one that heads slightly east before
heading south towards the central area.
Once they are disposed of, you have two options:
- Head towards the north-east area. There you'll encounter (and defeat) Cao Pi
and his sub-general Zhen Ji, and Cao Hong and his sub-general Pang De. Also
in that area is the Musou+10 item, in the top-right hand corner of the stage.
- Head towards the south-west area. There you'll encounter (and defeat) Cao Ren
and his sub-general Yu Jin, and Xiahou Dun and his sub-general Li Dian.
In either case, the allied general in that area (typically Lu Meng in the
south-west, and Zhou Yu in the north-east) will be struggling. Also, by the time
you do clean up one corner, the Wu generals in the other corner will almost
certainly be defeated, prompting the Wei generals there to head towards the
central area, potentially attacking either Sun Quan or the generals battling at
the Wei HQ.
Once both collections of generals are cleaned up, head towards the Wei HQ in
the north-west. There you'll encounter Cao Cao's sub-general Xu Zhu, and there
will also be a Life+10 item next to the western-most gate. Clean up the 2 gate
captains if you so wish, and destroy the Wei kingdom once and for all by
defeating Cao Cao.
Also, at some point (I believe after 15 minutes, but don't quote me on that),
Gan Ning will "ambush" just south of the Wei HQ.
--------------------------
8.6 The Battle at Yi Ling
--------------------------
Starting Position: CLose to Wei Yan and Lu Meng's starting positions.
The first note about the following walkthrough is that I ignore any attempts
at Zhu Ran's efforts on a fire attack. This is based on the fact that I
play this game on Hard, so it would take a fair bit of effort to even get
him to the fire attack area, without losing one or three generals in the
process. Like I mentioned before, you are free to play whatever way you want
and that can include helping Zhu Ran get to the central encampment to start
the fire attack.
Anywho, your first target will be Wei Yan. If any sub-generals are in the area
and you wish to take them down, then by all means destroy them. If you're
looking to prevent deaths amongst your forces, then it is preferred that you
don't bother with most of the sub-generals and head straight for the main
generals.
With Wei Yan gone, head towards the south-east area and aid Zhou Yu (Gan Ning)
by defeating Ma Chao (Guan Yu). Cheng Pu and Sun Shang Xiang will have more
than likely fallen by now, and Lu Meng could be very close to falling as well.
Head back towards your starting position, and slowly head west. At this point
the other Shu officers will more than likely start heading towards your
direction (due to the deaths of those they were fighting). The generals to
defeat at this point are:
- Zhao Yun
- Huang Quan (and sub-general Shamoke if you wish)
- Huang Zhong (Pang Tong)
- Liu Bei's sub-generals Zhang Bao & Guan Xing
With the fall of Huang Zhong (Pang Tong), Ma An Gate (the gate to the west,
guarded by Huang Zhong/Pang Tong's sub-general Yan Yan, whose death can also
trigger the opening of said gate) will open up. Also at this point, Zhuge Liang
will have appeared at Shu HQ as reinforcements, with Ma Liang (his sub-general)
appearing just past Ma An Gate. You have two different paths you can choose at
this point:
- Head through Ma An Gate, and enter the Shu main camp from there. Defeat Ma
Liang along the way, and close the gate west of him if you so wish.
- Head back to the central encampment, and head south through the Stone Sentinel
Maze. When you approach the maze, an ambush party (containing Lei Tong and
Wu Lan, Liu Bei's sub-generals) will appear within. To get through the maze,
basically "hug" the left-hand sides and work your way around in a clockwise
direction (from the point of view of seeing it on the main map). Lei Tong is
through the entrance, while Wu Lan is next to the exit.
Also, keep an eye out for the Life+10 (situated in the centre-right section)
and the Musou+10 (situated in the bottom-left section).
Once through the maze, head towards Ma An Gate and defeat Ma Liang there.
In either case, once done head to the Shu HQ. Defeat Zhuge Liang first. He can
be fought separately from Liu Bei by just hanging around behind the larger
tent towards the southern end of the enemy HQ.
Once Zhuge is done, defeat Liu Bei and bring an end to the Shu kingdom.
------------------------
8.7 The Nanman Campaign
------------------------
Starting Position: East of the Wu HQ.
From your starting position, Zhu Bao (he is Yong Kai's sub-general) is very
close by. Defeat him first if you wish. Head straight for Meng Huo, who should
be infront of the Wu HQ. Once he is disposed of, head west to confront and
defeat Gao Ding (he is Dailai Dongzhu's sub-general).
Now, continue west, heading slightly north, and you'll come across a bridge.
Cross this bridge and head directly north where you'll find a pot containing
a Musou+10. Now head down the western pathway where Gan Ning is fighting (it's
very possible that he is in a bit of trouble right now). Defeat Wu Tugu, Dong
Tu Ne and Meng Huo, who has just reappeared.
Now turn around and backtrack to the eastern side and head down the pathway
there. At best, Lu Meng will be struggling, so rush to his side if you wish
to keep him alive. Down the eastern pathway you'll come across Ahui Nan and
Meng Huo (making his 3rd appearance for the stage). Once Ahui Nan is defeated,
his general King Duosi will approach. Defeat him too.
Head back towards the centre, just outside the Wu HQ. There, Dailai Dongzhu may
have emerged from over the bridge. In any case, defeat him. Meng Huo should've
appeared just south-west of the Wu HQ by now. Defeat him too, then head towards
Yong Kai over the bridge to the right and defeat him.
Heading down the central-eastern pathway, King Mulu awaits. Defeat him AND take
his elephant. With his elephant, you'll be able to break down the wall
separating the two central sections (the path directly south of the gate
captain). In breaking down the wall, you'll meet up with Meng Huo in his 5th
appearance for this stage. Defeat him yet again, and collect the Life+10 that
is just along the river.
At this point, head back towards Wu HQ. Meng Huo will have appeared just
south-east of Wu HQ by the time you get there. Defeat him yet again.
Now head back down south, and head straight for Meng You. By now, Meng Huo will
have reappeared at the enemy HQ in the south-east, in his last hurrah. Defeat
Meng You, then head towards Zhu Rong and defeat her. Just inside the main
gates, Meng Jie (Meng Huo's sub-general, who would've just appeared with Meng
Huo in this last appearance) awaits. Defeat him, then head towards Meng Huo
and bring him down for the last time.
Congratulations, you've just completed Xiao Qiao's musou mode for DW3!
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9.0 Is This The End?
---------------------
Yay for random DW3 quote :-D
Anywho, that's it for this FAQ. Not much else to add except thanks for reading
my character FAQ to do with my all-time favourite game!
If you're wanting to contact me for whatever reason, whether it be pointing out
a mistake in the FAQ, or just wanting to tell me that the game sucks, use this
address:
psxfreak101 at hotmail dot com
Or better yet, just post something on the DW3 board, because I'll be there
ready to answer anything you've got on your mind.
