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Horses are a key part of gameplay inDynasty Warriors: Origins.Entire battles can hinge on your ability to be in the right place at the right time, and in many cases only a swift steed can make that happen. While you’re given a perfectly serviceable horse early in the game, there are several others to unlock both during the story and in the postgame.
In general, the harder a horse is to get, the faster it is and the better capabilities it has during combat. If your stables have some empty space, here’s how to get your missing mounts.
Mounted charge damage increases by 50%
Level 10
Reduces the chance of getting knocked off your horse when damaged by 50%
Level 20
Gain Bravery whenever you fall off your horse.
Walnut is thebasic horse, given as part of the story during the early missions of the game.She has some decent abilities, but you’re likely to find and switch to better steeds before she levels up high enough to actually learn any of them.
Base Speed 14, Endurance 2
Level 5
Regains Endurance when attacking from horseback.
Maple is fairly easy to unlock; all you need to do israise the Peace rating of You Province, where you start the game, to its first tier. The early story missions, combined with a few random skirmishes from the World Map, should be more than enough to attain this goal.
Once the bottom section of the Peace meter turns blue,visit the You Province Waymarkto claim your reward.
Maple is similar to Walnut, butslightly fasterand with a more useful final ability. Her earlier access to a stability boost can help ease the frustration of getting immediately dismounted when summoning your horse in the middle of a melee.
Chestnut moves faster when your health bar is critical (red).
Chestnut is a horse whoexcels at escaping from tough situations.Her defense boosts and increased speed when your health is low make her ideal for quickly mounting up and fleeing if a battle turns against you. The main risk is that you’ll get dismounted by an enemy attack before you can get clear.
Walnut is unlocked byraising the Peace rating of Liang Province to level 2.Liang doesn’t see much action through the course of the game, sofollow Dong Zhuo’s Bond storylinein the first two chapters to get missions there; completing them all, plus the story missions in the northwest, should be enough to secure Chestnut.
Base Speed 19, Endurance 4
Birch staggers nearby enemies when summoned.
Birch is a fineall-rounder mid-tier steed. Her extended charge distance makes it easier to penetrate enemy formations, and her stability bonus makes it less likely that you’ll be dismounted while doing so.
Birch can be unlocked byraising the Peace rating of Yu Province, in the center of the map, to level 1. You can usually manage this just by fighting the Yellow Turbans in Chapter 1, plus a few skirmishes, but if for some reason that doesn’t get you there,Cao Cao’s routehas several missions in Yu as well.
Take 40% less damage from arrows while mounted.
Leaping down from a ledge on horseback staggers enemies upon landing.
Mahogany isthe best horse available outside of New Game Plusthanks to her unmatched speed. Her abilities are also quite good, taking some of the best powers from the other horses to her a solid companion in nearly any situation.
Mahogany is unlocked byraising the Peace rating of Jing Province to level 1. Jing becomes an important area later in the game for all three factions, but theSun Clanmakes their home there and so has the easiest time earning this loyal steed.
Take 80% less damage from arrows while mounted.
Hex Mark hasthe longest charge distance of any horse in the game, making her especially useful forrescuing alliesduring large battles. Her other abilities are only so-so, though, as arrow damage is usually minimal and a Bravery boost is often little compensation for being dismounted.
Hex Mark can be earned bycompleting the the Battle of Chibi in Liu Bei’s storyline,on Ultimate Warrior Difficulty, with six or more allies surviving. Given how much of an advantage the enemy starts with, this can be tricky.
Start byfighting off the landing forces led by Xiahou Yuanon the west side of the map, until flankers appear at your western base. At that point, pull back to protect the base and keep pressure off of Zhuge Liang.
Once the base is secure,rush to the HQ at the center of the beachto defend Liu Bei and Sun Quan. They’ll likely be in trouble already, so be prepared for a tough fight. As soon as the faction leaders are safe,move to the prayer roomto protect Zhuge Liang from Xiahou Dun.
As long as you can keep these key areas stable until the time comes to launch the fire attack, you should be able to keep your allies alive through the ensuing pursuit.
Doubles your chance to resist being dismounted when damaged.
Storm Runner is one ofthree legendary mounts only available in the postgame.She’s exceptionally fast, especially in clutch situations, and can help make sure you go into battle with your Bravery topped up bymaking Nectar Water more likely to appear.
Unlocking Storm Runner can be tricky. You need to playthe final mission in Cao Cao’s storyline, the Battle of Huarong Pass, on Ultimate Warrior Difficulty, withat least seven allied officers surviving.This means you need tofinish the game at least once on any storyline, then either reach or return to Huarong Pass on the highest difficulty setting.
The good news is thatyou don’t need to worry about allies surviving the initial retreat.Everybody returns to participate in the mass battle against Liu Bei’s large force, and that’s when you need to ensure their survival.Stick with Cao Cao’s main group, occasionally moving northeast to support the reinforcements when they appear.
When Liu Bei orders the catapults to fire,don’t immediately rush to stop them.The archers will kill your guards, leaving you with nobody to destroy the siege weapons. Instead,help the flanking officers fight their way up one of the hills on either side of the battlefield, and they should be able to do the rest.
Once you defeat Liu Bei and get through the gate with Cao Cao, youstill need to win the boss fight against Guan Yuto complete the scenario and unlock Storm Runner.
Storm Runner, Shadow Runner, and Red Hareall start at Level 30,meaning all their abilities are unlocked from the start and their stats are maximized.
Gain a 50% bonus to Defense when mounted.
Shadow Runner is slightly slower than Storm Runner, but makes up for it withthe best horse abilities in the game.A massive Defense boost and a complete immunity to being dismounted makes her a fantastic steed, and she’s surprisingly easy to unlock to boot.
Follow Cao Cao’s route andplay Escape From Wan Castleon Ultimate Warrior Difficulty. This is the mission where Dian Wei dies unless youavert his fate.For unlocking Shadow Runner, it’s best tofocus on completing the missionand letting Dian Wei have his glorious death for now.
At the start of the mission,help take the northeast base as quickly as possibleto stop the fire arrows. Around the same time you finish,enemy reinforcements will appear in the southeast, heading straight for your HQ. Drop everything and go todefend the south base.
If you defeat the reinforcements before they can take the HQ,usually by staying in the base and slaying anyone who tries to enter, the catapult attack will never happen; this is the condition for unlocking Shadow Runner. With the barrage stopped before it’s begun,complete the mission as normaland you’ll be rewarded with a fine horse.
Base Speed 50, Endurance 5
Red Hare’s charge attacks have a chance to instantly defeat soldiers.
Doubles the damage from Red Hare’s charge attacks.
Red Hare’sunmatched speed, aggression, and staminamake him the perfect match for his original rider, Lu Bu. In the game, Red Hare is given to Guan Yu as a gift after being captured by Cao Cao, but if you’re incredibly skilled you can claim the legendary stallion for your own.
Unlocking Red Hare isone of the hardest challenges in the game.It requires winning the boss fight against Lu Bu at Xiapi (in either Cao Cao or Liu Bei’s route), on Ultimate Warrior Difficulty,without using any items or picking up any of the meat buns at the edge of the arena.
Essentially, this means that apart from the occasional healing you’ll get from Musou Rage, you have tobeat the hardest boss in the gamewithout recovering health.We can give you some tips, but ultimately it’s going to take a lot of practice to make it happen.
