Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 20:25:12 -0500 Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny FAQ version 1.0 Written by ZhangZhao Summary As one of 32 rulers in second and third-century China, you must conquer all 46 cities and reunite the people. You have an unlimited amount of time to do this. (Game ©1993 by Koei Corporation.) Which ruler should I select? Before you even get started playing the game, you'll have to select a scenario and a ruler. The rulers you have to select from vary with the scenarios. However, Cao Cao is a good bet for beginners, as well as him son Cao Pi and grandson Cao Rui in scenarios 5 and 6, respectively. Sun Jian in Scenario 1, Sun Ce in Scenario 2, and Sun Quan in Scenarios 3-6 are good choices as well. Liu Bei has the charisma to be a good leader, but he is at a slight disadvantage in the earlier scenarios. Other rulers come and go. Below is a listing of rulers for each scenario, sorted by player level(Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert.) Scenario 1 BEGINNER Cao Cao Dong Zhuo Sun Jian Yuan Shao Liu Yan INTERMEDIATE Liu Bei Liu Biao Tao Qian Yuan Shu ADVANCED Liu Yong Ma Teng Kong Rong Wang Lang Han Fu EXPERT Kong Zhou Qiao Mao Gongsun Zan Yan Baihu Scenario 2 BEGINNER Cao Cao Li Ju Yuan Shao Liu Zhang INTERMEDIATE Zhang Lu Liu Bei Liu Biao Sun Ce ADVANCED Lu Bu Ma Teng Yuan Shu Liu Yong EXPERT Wang Lang Yan Baihu Kong Rong Gongsun Zan Scenario 3 BEGINNER Cao Cao Sun Quan INTERMEDIATE Liu Bei Yuan Shao ADVANCED Liu Biao Liu Zhang EXPERT Zhang Lu Ma Teng Scenario 4 BEGINNER Cao Cao INTERMEDIATE Liu Bei Liu Zhang Sun Quan ADVANCED Ma Teng Zhang Lu Liu Du EXPERT Han Xuan Zhao Fan Jin Xuan Scenario 5 BEGINNER Cao Pi INTERMEDIATE Sun Quan Liu Bei Scenario 6 BEGINNER Cao Rui INTERMEDIATE Sun Quan ADVANCED Liu Chan Playing the Game Once you've selected a scenario and a ruler, the game will begin. On your first turn, you will get a display screen of your ruler's home city, complete with the ruler's name, governor's name(in the case of your home city, the ruler is also the governor), and the chief advisor(if an advisor exists.) It will also include helpful information like the amount of gold and food available, the number of soldiers stationed in the city, etc. You will also have a menu of commands to select from. Below is a listing of commands. (Note that a command highlighted in red on the game display screen means that you cannot execute that command.) Military(Milt) Move-Move officers and soldiers into an adjacent city. Send-Send goods between vassal cities. Rlly(Rally)-Rally your soldiers to increase morale. War-Self-explanatory. Drft(Draft)-Draft soldiers from the population. Hire-Hire "professional" soldiers. Trn(Train)-Train soldiers. Asgn(Assign)-Assign soldiers to the command of different officers. Ship-Build ships. Only available in cities adjacent to a naval battlefield(blue circles on the map.) Personnel(Pers) Srch(Search)-Search the city for free officers. Recr(Recruit)-Recruit free officers or subordinates of other rulers. Rewd(Reward)-Reward an officer to increase loyalty. Give-Give food to the people to increase popular support. Delg(Delegate)-Delegate command of a vassal city to the governor. Apnt(Appoint)-Appoint an officer as Advisor, General, Military Officer, Civil Officer, or Governor. Fire-Self-explanatory. Seiz(Seize)-Seize an item from a subordinate. Diplomacy(Dipl) Ally-Form an alliance with another ruler. Jnt(Joint)-Negotiate with another ruler for a joint attack. Trc(Truce)-Negotiate a truce in a city in an extended war. Exch(Exchange)-Exchange goods with another ruler. Help-Request assistance from an ally. Thrt(Threat)-Advise another ruler to surrender. Revk(Revoke)-Revoke an alliance. Information(Info) Spy-Send a spy into a rival city. Own-View information on the city you are giving orders for. Othr-View information on another city. To view info on a rival city you must have a spy there. Terr(Territory)-View a listing of all cities under your command. Sort-Sort all officers in a given area. (Note: sort officers by Army; this makes the officers with the highest Army command go first and allows for simultaneous attacks.) Map(Sega Version Only)-View a map of China. Bttl(Battlefield)-View a listing of who owns what battlefield. Develop(Devl) Develop Land Development(the shovel and pick), Cultivation(the grain), Dams(the one with the big "X"), or Economy(the one with the house and the gold.) Plot Hide-Hide an officer(must have 100 loyalty) in a rival city. Brib(Bribe)-Bribe an officer to switch to your side in battle. Frg(Forge)-Send a forged letter to an officer to decrease his loyalty. Rvl(Rivalry)-Increase hostility between two rival cities. Rbl(Rebellion)-Incite an enemy officer to rebel. Market(Mkt) Go to market to Sell Rice(the minus sign with the grain), Buy Rice(plus sign with the grain), Weapons, or Horses. Emergency(Emer) Exl(Exile)-Send your ruler into exile. Heal-Search for a doctor to heal wounded officers. Tax-Impose a special tax on the people. Rate-Change the tax rate. STRATEGY Here is a sample strategy of what to do. It is recommended that you start out with a ruler such as Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, as they have plenty of resources to work with. FIRST MONTH 1. First, draft as many soldiers as you can. Hiring soldiers is better for your training and morale levels, but they are also more costly. At this point drafting is more effective. 2. Search your city for any free officers. 3. If any powerful rulers such as Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, or Dong Zhuo are in your area, try to form an alliance. This will help you subdue weaker rulers without having to worry about them. 4. Begin developing the land, as well as cultivation and economy. SECOND MONTH 1. Begin training the soldiers. (NOTE: The ruler, advisors, and generals are only allowed to do tasks for one month at a time. You may want to simply assign all soldiers to any military officers you have and let them train.) 2. Recruit any free officers in the city. THIRD THROUGH SIXTH MONTHS 1. During these months, most of your officers will be disposed in training or development. So, this is often a lull. SEVENTH MONTH 1. By this time your army should be well-trained. In addition, your civil officers will be done with their development tasks. Finally, you will have collected the fall taxes of rice. 2. Send civil officers to spy on neighboring cities. 3. Begin rallying your soldiers to increase morale. EIGHTH MONTH 1. Your spies should have returned some information on your neighbors. If you notice a weak neighbor, begin preparing to attack. Send a loyal officer to hide in their city. In the meantime, continue rallying your troops. NINTH MONTH 1. Unleash more plots, such as Bribing(this helps a lot), Forgery, and Rebellions(these don't work all that often.) Keep rallying your soldiers. TENTH MONTH 1. Now is the time to attack. Send out your best leaders and go to war. (Repeat this process as needed.) WAR! In this game, there are two types of battles: the field battle, and the castle battle. There are four types of battlefields: mountain passes, regular fields, lakes/rivers, and Great Wall battlefields. In the castle battle, each castle has its own layout, but for the most part it will contain a walled city surrounded by some outer area. Battle commands: Move: Self-explanatory. Attack(Attk): Norm(Normal): A standard ground attack. Siml(Simultaneous): A simultaneous attack with all units adjacent to the person being attacked. Surp(Surprise): Launch a surprise attack while you are hiding. Bow: Attack with arrows. (Archery units only.) FBlt(Firebolt): Stronger arrow attack. (Archer units only. Cannot be done while it is raining.) Chrg(Charge): Run straight through the enemy. Cmbt(Combat): Challenge an enemy general to a duel. Plot: Fire: Set an enemy unit on fire. Ambs(Ambush): Hide in ambush in a forest, grass, etc. Swtc(Switch): Persuade an enemy officer to switch to your side. Inct(Incite): Incite enemy units to attack each other. Cnfs(Confuse): Confuse enemy units so that they cannot move. Info: Get information on your own or enemy units(note: getting info on enemy units costs 100 gold.) Flee: Retreat to another city. Join(Defense only): Order officers in the castle to join the battle. Delg(Delegate): Delegate command of the battle. Strategy in War: 1. Always try to bring an advisor to the battle. If an advisor is present, you can dig pitfalls(defense only) as well as incite and confuse units. 2. When you are the attacking side in a castle battle, you must either beat down the doors or scale the walls to get inside the castle. Scaling the walls costs 9 Mobility points and may not work if you have low training and morale. 3. If you are on defense, try setting the enemy on fire to lower their troops without hurting your own soldiers. Watch out for it spreading, though. 4. If you are the attacking side, and you know the enemy has an advisor, send forward a general with a low amount of soldiers as a "scout" to check for pitfalls. Follow his path: once one unit has fallen into a pit, subsequent units to pass will not fall in. 5. Try standing inside the little houses in the city when attacking the castle; these have a better defensive advantage than bare ground. 6. If you want to test your luck, challenge an enemy officer to personal combat. If an officer with higher war ability refuses a challenge, some of his soldiers will desert. Try using this on the attacking commander, as he is not likely to accept the challenge. 7. If you're on the defensive side in a castle battle, place your ruler inside one of the castles. You will lose if all castles are captured, and the castle has a good defensive advantage anyway. 8. Before going to war, use the "Sort" command and sort all generals by their Army commanding ability. This fixes it so that your best leader will take the first turn in battle. Remember that an officer must have Army command of 70 or above to execute a simultaneous attack on land; he must have Navy command of 70 or above to do it on water. 9. If you notice a city who has less Food than they do soldiers, attack and just stand around waiting for their food to run out. Be prepared for them to come out and assault you, though. 10. If you have the option of sending someone to a field battle, do it; it will at least stall the enemy before they attack you. SPOILS OF WAR In the end of a war, if you've won you will have a new city or you will have defended your current city. In all likelihood you will have prisoners to deal with, though. If you have captured officers, you will have the option of recruiting them, setting them free, or killing them. Recruit first, but if an officer will not join you, then kill him. If you have captured the ruler, you will only have the options of setting him free or killing him; always kill any captured rulers. It is likely that you will have to rebuild after the battle. Quickly get an army together or you will not hold the city much longer. In the case that you just won a city, also rebuild in the city that the invasion originated from. In addition, the Economy level is likely to be lowered as a result of the war, so invest in it. DIPLOMACY Other than war, diplomacy is another way of interacting with the other rulers. Alliances are key to your success. Early in the game they will prevent stronger rulers from attacking you while you build an army. In addition, allies are more likely to agree to a joint attack or to send reinforcements to an attacked city. Exchanging goods is another method of diplomacy. In this way, you can get food, gold, or weapons from other rulers. When a ruler is weak, you may want to send him a threat. If he surrenders, he will become a part of your army and you will take control of all of his cities. INFORMATION City Data Population(the group of people)-The amount of peasants residing in the city. Gold-The amount of gold available. Food(the grain)-The amount of food available. Soldiers-The amount of soldiers stationed in the city. Officers(the phoenix)-The number of officers in the city. Economy(the house and gold)-The city's economy level. Land Development(the pick and shovel)-The amount of land developed for farming. Cultivation(the single grain)-The city's cultivation level. Dams(the one with the big "X")-The city's dam level. Irrigation(the grain and the droplet)-The city's irrigation level; fluctuates with dams. Tax rate(the percentage sign)-Self-explanatory. Popular support(the bowing peasant)-How much the people like you. Crossbows-The number of crossbows available. Strong Crossbows-The number of strong crossbows available. Horses-The number of horses available. Armored Ships-The number of armored ships available. Medium Ships-The number of medium ships available. Light Ships-The number of light ships available. Rates: Selling rice: The amount of rice you need to sell to get 1 gold. Buying rice: The amount of rice you can buy for 1 gold. Crossbows: The cost of 1 crossbow. Strong Crossbows: The cost of 1 strong crossbow. Horses: The cost of 1 horse. Officer Data Rank: Ruler(the man with the crown and cape), Governor(the man who appears to be just standing there), Advisor(the man with the quill), General(the man with arms extended), Military Officer(the guy with the sword), Civil Officer(the guy with the scroll), Free Officer(the phoenix next to the hands.) Age: The officer's age. Loy(Loyalty): The officer's loyalty. Year: The number of years he has been serving his ruler. Sldr(Soldiers): The number of soldiers in the officer's command. Intl(Intellect) Pol(Political Ability) War(War Ability) Chrm(Charisma) Army(Army Command) Navy(Navy Command) Trn(Training) Mrl(Morale) ITEMS Weapons: Black Dragon(+5 War): Owned by Guan Yu Sword of the Seven Stars(+7 War): Owned by Wang Yun Luminous Sword(+9 War): Owned by Cao Cao, then Zhao Yun Sword of Trust(+10 War): Owned by Cao Cao Horses: Red Hare(+2 Mobility): Owned by Lu Bu, then Guan Yu Grey Lightning(+1 Mobility): Owned by Cao Cao Stallion of the Storm(+1 Mobility): Eventually owned by Liu Bei Books: War Manual of Sun Tzu(+10 Politic, +5 Intellect): There are about 7 of these New Treatise of Meng De(+3 Intellect, +5 Politic): Owned by Cao Cao Way of Peace(+2 Intellect, +5 Politic) Supreme Book of Magic(+6 Intellect, +5 Politic) Ruler-only Items: Medical Book of Hua Tuo: Heals all wounded or sick officers. Hereditary Seal(100 Charm, +15 Politic): Owned by Sun Ce, then Cao Cao Got a question about this game? Any corrections to the FAQ? Please send them to zhao22@midsouth.rr.com. This FAQ is ©1999 by ZhangZhao, and may not be used without the permission of the author.