Unlocked just before the Battle of Sishui Gate in Chapter Two ofDynasty Warriors: Origins,Tactics let you command nearby troops to execute daring maneuvers on the field. As you gain more guards for your personal squad, you’ll unlock more and more options, giving you a healthy arsenal of tricks that can turn the tide of battle in your favor.
Only having three slots to equip Tactics means you have to be very particular about which ones you bring, especially as your library grows. We’ve ranked all seventeen, so you can pick the best of the lot.
17Order To March
Order To March does exactly that; tells your guards togo to a specified spot and stay there.They’ll fight any hostiles that they encounter on the way, but there are much better uses for their talents.
Anything that you could accomplish with Order To March, you could do more effectively with a different Tactic. The only real benefit is itsthirty-second cooldown, but Order To Defend and Order To Protect also have that and are much more focused in their purpose.
16Encouragement
Encouragementgives a buff to nearby allies, which is nice on paper but in practice doesn’t really do anything. In general, the best thing you can do for allied soldiers and officers isfight alongside them, since you can defeat enemies much more efficiently and your very presence can heal them when they get low on health.
Buffing friendly troops is nice, but doesn’t give enough of a benefit to take up a slot, especially compared to the other Tactics available. The allies who really need help - the ones who aren’t anywhere near you - are the ones who would stand to benefit most from an ability like Encouragement, but obviously that’s not an option if they’re all the way across the map.
15Invigoration
Invigoration does the same thing as Encouragement, but with a larger buff. That means it hasall the same drawbacks as its less-powerful cousin, so it isn’t enough of an improvement to make it truly better.
14Order To Protect
Order To Protectassigns your guards to defend a nearby officer with their lives.It’s best used tokeep mission-critical characters aliveuntil you may rescue them properly, but in most cases if you need this Tactic, it’s already too late.
Generally,if you’re close enough to use Order To Protect,then you’re close enough to get on your horse and move to your beleaguered ally to heal them.There are a few corner cases where a few extra seconds can save a mission, but those are few and far enough between that using a Tactics slot for this isn’t warranted.
13Order To Defend
Of the “Order” series of Tactics, Order To Defend has the most practical uses. It sends your guards tokeep the enemy out of the target area at all costs.It’s best fortemporarilyholding down a friendly base that’s just barely hanging on, especially if you need to leave before mopping up enemy officers for a rescue or other important task.
Remember, your guards are still just basic troops - they won’t last long against even a nameless officer.
12Defensive
The Defensive Tacticessentially turns your troops into a buff for yourself; they form up around you, creating an aura effect thatreduces incoming damage.
Defensive can be useful to deployright before charging into a Large Force, but you’re probably better off softening the enemy ranks with a more offense-oriented Tactic instead. Not only will that damage officers and eliminate troops, but it also has the potential to reduce enemy Courage as well.
11Volley
Volley isthe very first Tactic you unlock. It allows you tohave nearby soldiers fire a concentrated volley of arrows at a target spot, hitting every enemy within its radius. It’s a perfect beginner Tactic, andis more effective the more troops are available to participate.
The best time to use Volley (or any other ranged Tactic) iswhen you have the high ground over your target. This causes the attack toreduce the Courage of any officers it hits, significantly weakening them in addition to the normal damage it deals.
Always look forblue lines and the Tactics' icon over potential targets.This indicates that using the indicated Tactic will inflict a Courage penalty.
10Charge
Charge isone of the earliest Tactics you’ll unlock, and quickly proves its usefulness even if it’s later overshadowed by more powerful options. Sending your guards and any other available troops nearby to rush straight ahead isa very effective means of clearing a path to an officer, and if you give your soldiers enough distance to build up momentum they caninflict a Courage debuff as well.
Make a habit of using Charge as often as possible as soon as you get it; it has the shortest cooldown of any Tactic of its class by far, and you’ll want the practice for when Mounted Charge opens up later on.
9Spear Wall
Spear Wall ispossibly the trickiest Tactic in the game to use effectively, but when it works it really works. It causes your troops toact as a barrier, preventing enemies from getting past them and attacking any who try.
If you candeploy a Spear Wall in front of a charging squad, it will neutralize the effect of the charge and inflict a Courage penalty on the enemies instead. You can also use this Tactic toblock off narrow reinforcement laneor even protect siege equipment in a pinch.
8Catapult Barrage
You won’t find a Tactic, or even an attack, that deals more damage in a single blow than Catapult Barrage. It has excellent range, andalways inflicts a Courage penaltywhen it connects. By all accounts, it should be one of the best Tactics in the game, except for one thing holding it back.
The cooldown on Catapult Barrage is an excruciatingten minutes.That means thateven on the longest missions, you’ll get to use it twice at the mostunless things get unnecessarily drawn out. As satisfying as it might be to drop a massive boulder on Lu Bu’s head,you’ll get a lot more value out of repeatedly using weaker Tacticsthan endlessly waiting for the catapult crews to reload.
