Routing Document

As I keep taking extended breaks between routing and running, I keep forgetting what I tested and routed, something this document will hopefully prevent...
Since the discovery of true musou gate clips, a whole bunch of stages have been superceded by a faster route utilising this trick. Most things are thus outdated. Sorry, nobody!

These notes might still be able to give some insight, explanation, or reasoning behind the route taken.

...........................................................


This assumes you are using my save file's weapon setups.

**THE ROUTING DOCUMENT**

Every officer should have a curved blade as weapon 1 and throwing knives as weapon 2. If this is not the case, weapon 2 is specified per officer at the start of each route.
Skills should be Rage Springs>Attack Boost>Havoc=Mighty Roar. Dasher on non-Dash officers, Musou Springs if musous are required quickly.
Animal selected should be Maple (Endurance+Penetrate required)

1p = solo/first officer
2p = splitscreen/second officer

x = default selected officer
< > = direction (left/right) to select officers (doesn't always matter)
(so "2p x >>" would mean it's splitscreen, first officer default, second officer 2 right)
If no info is given, pick the default officer

# Lu Bu

semi up to date run

## **Historical**

**Ten Eunuch Rebellion**
cutscene

- 1p Watch the WR and copy it exactly and pray for good RNG

**Getaway from Hulao Gate** 2p x >
camp

- (better to have 2p instead of 1p because less troops?)

**Uprising at Chang'an** 2p x >
camp

- 1p/2p Musou clip through the first gate
- 1p Clear the way for Wang Yun, defeat Zhang Liao
- 2p Go to the escape point
- 1p Defeat Dong Zhuo, don't trigger his dialogue
- 1p Defeat Jia Xu

**Capture of Puyang** <
cutscene, camp

- Defeat Yu Jin before his dialogue starts

**Hypothetical**
semi up to date run

# Wu

**Historical**
up to date run

**Hypothetical**
up to date run

# Shu

**Historical**
out of date run

Bow: Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang

**Yellow Turban Rebellion**
cutscene

- Default route, defeat Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, Zhang Jiao

**Battle of Hulao Gate** 2p x >
camp

- 1p/2p Copy Wei Historical, but defeat Li Jue with 2p to skip the archer ambush for safety
- 1p After Zhang Liao, go to the base in front of Hulao Gate and defeat Jia Xu, then wait for the gate to open
- 1p Save rage for inside Luoyang

**Defense of Xu Province** 2p
camp

- I can't be arsed to route this currently, as doing 2p strats will force the reinforcements to spawn and retreat immediately , meaning you will have to intentionally play it a lot slower

**Battle of Xinye** 2p x >
cutscene, camp

- 1p Do the entire stage as normal
- 2p As 1p enters the Eight Gates Formation, approach the officers in the Northeast base and defeat them as the stage progresses
- 1p Save/quit/load Xu Shu's dialogue listing all of the gates
- 1p Have rage to defeat Yueying before her dialogue

**Battle of Changban** 2p < >
camp

- just old route but now with 2p

**Battle of Chibi** 2p x >
cutscene

- just old route but now with 2p

**Battle of Chengdu** 2p x <

- 1p Rush to Luo Castle and bowjump into it, but instead of weapon switching after, drop down as fast as you can to trigger the dialogue as fast as possible
- 1p Capture Luo Castle, build rage, and use it to defeat the bridge ambush for your reinforcements
- 1p Defeat the drawbridge officer, defeat the two base ambush officers, build rage
- 2p Head a little east to prevent enemies from getting defeated
- 1p Once the drawbridge gate opens, rush to the castle wall and savejump/clip up it, then rage to Liu Zhang and defeat

**Battle of Mt. Dingjun**
the same

**Battle of Fan Castle** 2p > >
cutscene, camp

- 1p/2p Dash forward outside the castle
- 1p Defeat the three officers and clear the path to the first escape point, then wait at the first ambush location
- 2p After the Guans start moving, loop around the castle and idle next to Guan Ping (might want to clear some enemies approaching you)
- 1p Use rage at the ambush and rush to the escape point (Wu spawn)
- 1p Defeat Lu Meng and Lu Xun, and whoever else, then head toward Mi Fang/Fu Shiren (you can also try to camera manipulate the Guans to prevent them from moving so they will be closer)
- 1p Defeat the two traitors, camp Xu Huangs spawn and rush south to defeat the other guy, build rage
- 1p Rage, defeat the Xiahou Dun ambush and rush to Cao Ren

**Battle of Yiling** 2p x >
cutscene

- 1p Dash to the ledge directly north of the Wu main camp and ledge hop it
- 1p Head towards Han Dang and wait half a second for his dialogue before defeating him to prevent Zhao Yun's dialogue
- 1p Defeat Sun Quan before the gate dialogue ends or you will get Han Dang's

**Battle of Tianshui** 2p x >
camp

- 1p Rush through the gorge and horse bowjump up the bridge and defeat the officers there, then go east where Jiang Wei will spawn later
- 2p Defeat the two ambushes and trigger the cutscene, then defeat Jiang Wei before his dialogue starts
- 1p Defeat Jiang Wei when he respawns

**Battle of Jieting**
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

**Battle of the Wuzhang Plains**

**Hypothetical**
out of date run

**Yellow Turban Rebellion**
cutscene

- 1p Default route, defeat Zhang Liang
- 2p Rescue peasants
- 1p Defeat Zhang Bao, Zhang Jiao

_Battle of Hulao Gate__ 2p x >
camp

- 1p/2p Copy Wei Historical, but defeat Li Jue with 2p to skip the archer ambush for safety
- 1p After Zhang Liao, go to the base in front of Hulao Gate and defeat Jia Xu, then wait for the gate to open
- 1p Save rage for inside Luoyang

**Defense of Xu Province** 2p
camp

**Disturbance at Guandu**

**Battle of Xinye**

**Battle of Changban**

**Battle of Chibi**
find your shoes

**Battle of Chengdu**
pang tong lives

**Battle of Mt. Dingjun**
defeat  cao xiu

**Battle of Fan Castle**

**Battle of Lukou**

**Ambush at Chang'an**
saving Xiahou Mao fast seems unavoidable

**Pacification of Nanzhong**
extra stage, sadly

**Invasion of Luoyang**

**Capture of Wei**

# Wei

**Historical**
up to date run

**Escape from Luoyang** 2p x >
cutscene

- 1p No special route, just complete the stage as normal lol
- 1p Push Diaochan with your horse to make her reach the trigger faster

**Battle of Hulao Gate** 2p x >
cutscene, dialogue (7), camp

- Defeat Song Xian, then wait *outside* the first base to avoid dialogue (and be careful not to skip this trigger when rushing through the base)
- 2p If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer as 1p defeats the gatekeeper, with optimal rage dash cancels, you do not need this as there is a very high chance your allies will defeat an officer, sometimes more than one if you're lucky
- 1p Avoid archer ambush by going past the officer and luring him (watch a run for clear instructions)
- 1p Wait for Jia Xu's trick up his sleeve dialogue to rush to Hulao Gate with rage
- 1p Watch Lu Bu's cutscene for 1.5 seconds to ensure the gates are open
- 1p Do not defeat Diaochan
- 2p  If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer before 1p defeats the city gate officer
- 2p If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer before 1p defeats the main camp gate officer

**Battle of Yan Province**
camp

- Save jump four or five times, depending on what method you wish to use, over the raised bridge and continue as normal.

**Battle of Xu Province**

- Save jump twice and ledge clip up the cliff
- Open Mi Zhu's gate before Tao Qian dialogue happens
- Rush through the ambush base by sticking all the way right
- Defeat Tao Qian and go back to wait OUTSIDE the ambush base until Liu Bei spawns
- Save jump (2) and ledge clip up the cliff and defeat Liu Bei

**Imperial Escort** 2p >> >
cutscene

- 1p Defeat the 5 officers starting at the top 2p Move toward later position 
- 1p Spawn camp rock ambush
- 1p Overlook south emperor spawns 2p Overlook north emperor spawns
- 1p/2p Avoid extra Cao Cao dialogue by immediately hugging the emperor
- 1p/2p Spawn camp Yuan Shao (spawns when emperor is close)

**Battle of Wan Castle** 2p x >
cutscene

- 1p Use your horse to quickly defeat the statues
- 1p Save your allies to prevent an additional stage

**Battle of Guandu** 2p x >
cutscene, dialogue (7), camp
(note: if you can properly control both officers, you can leave 1p on the east side)

- Defeat Wen Chou and Yan Liang before their dialogue
- Idle inside Baima to avoid Guan Yu defeating/spawning officers and meeting Liu Bei

**Battle of Mt. Bailang** 2p < >
camp

- 1p Check WR video for most optimal base route to work around the dialogue
- 1p Go around the top from the east and defeat the Yuans

**Battle of Xinye** 2p x >
cutscene, dialogue (9), camp

- Two players to avoid dialogue

**Battle of Chibi**
cutscene, camp

- Play the stage as normal
- Defeat Gan Ning as soon as he spawns and immediately save/quit/load so the boat starts moving and to guarantee Liu Bei directly spawning

**Battle of Tong Gate**
camp

- Refer to WR video for the exact route
- Note that the Ma Chao cutscene is triggered by Cao Cao reaching the main camp, so try to get him stuck in it
- Manipulate the ram by looking at it until it hits the gate, then look away, and repeat twice more (you can see the ram on the minimap, but if you can't, just give each action 3 seconds)

**Battle of Hefei**

- Reach the cliff before Yue Jin and Li Dian's protection dialogue
- Sniping Sun Quan, hold forward when using charge attack 5 (C5) to properly aim it in front of you, do NOT hold it the entire time

**Battle of Mt. Dingjun**

- Defeat Ma Chao,  Zhao Yun, Yueying, Zhuge Liang

**Battle of Fan Castle**

- Refer to the WR video for the exact route
- Defeat as many enemy officers as possible during any downtime to avoid ally dialogue

**Hypothetical**
semi up to date run
Bow: Dian Wei, Xiahou Dun, Jia Xu, Wang Yi

**Escape from Luoyang** 2p x >
cutscene

- 2p Wait three seconds after Diaochan spawns, then defeat Lu Bu to ensure the first gate is opened
- 1p Push Diaochan with your horse to speed her up

**Battle of Hulao Gate** 2p x >
cutscene, dialogue (7), camp

- Defeat Song Xian, then wait *outside* the first base to avoid dialogue (and be careful not to skip this trigger when rushing through the base)
- 2p If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer as 1p defeats the gatekeeper, with optimal rage dash cancels, you do not need this as there is a very high chance your allies will defeat an officer, sometimes more than one if you're lucky
- 1p Avoid archer ambush by going past the officer and luring him (watch a run for clear instructions)
- 1p Wait for Jia Xu's trick up his sleeve dialogue to rush to Hulao Gate with rage
- 1p Watch Lu Bu's cutscene for 1.5 seconds to ensure the gates are open
- 1p Do not defeat Diaochan
- 2p  If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer before 1p defeats the city gate officer
- 2p If there is no dialogue, you can defeat an officer before 1p defeats the main camp gate officer

**Battle of Yan Province**
camp

- Same as Historical

**Battle of Puyang** 2p x >
camp

- 1p Rush to defeat Zhang Liao WITHOUT defeating Cao Xing and bowjump the gate when his dialogue starts
- 2p Defeat Zang Ba, defeat Lu Bu

**Battle of Xu Province** >
camp

- Save jump (2) and ledge clip up the cliff
- Open Mi Zhu's gate before Tao Qian dialogue happens
- Rush through the ambush base by sticking all the way right with rage
- Lure Tao Qian as close to the ambush base as you can until his retreat dialogue ends, then slap him dead
- Save jump (2) and ledge clip up the cliff and defeat Liu Bei

**Imperial Escort** 2p >> >
cutscene

- 1p Defeat the 5 officers starting at the top 2p Move toward later position 
- 1p Spawn camp rock ambush
- 1p Overlook south emperor spawns 2p Overlook north emperor spawns
- 1p/2p Avoid extra Cao Cao dialogue by immediately hugging the emperor
- 1p/2p Spawn camp Yuan Shao (spawns when emperor is close)

**Battle of Wan Castle (die)** 2p x >
cutscene

- Do not save your allies

**Battle of Xiapi**
cutscene, dialogue, camp

**Battle of Wan Castle (save)** 2p x >
cutscene

- Save your allies

**Battle of Guandu** 2p x <
cutscene, dialogue (7), camp

**Battle of Mt. Bailang**
camp

- Defeat the Wuhuan reinforcements

**Battle of Xinye**
cutscene, dialogue (9), camp

- Wait for Xu Shu's dialogue before defeating him, then save Cao Ren

**Battle of Chibi**
cutscene, camp

- After boarding the boat, rush through the southern road and defeat the 3 officers outside the main camp to ensure the gate opening

**Campaign for Jianye** 2p x >
camp

- 1p Rush to inbetween two bases outside the enemy main castle, defeat east gatekeeper, west gatekeeper, west base, east base
- 2p Go chill with the enemy officer outside to make sure he is not defeated
- 1p Take the two southern bases
- 1p Wait outside south inner castle gate for the ambush, defeat ambush and go north for Huang Gai and SSX
- 1p Defeat Xiaoqiao and Daqiao after spawning them, then Lu Su
- 1p Enjoy dashing over the traps, defeat Zhou Yu, then Zhou Tai, then Sun Quan (don't trigger his dialogue)

**Uprising at Xuchang** 2p < >
cutscene

- 1p Stand in the corner to avoid proximity dialogue after defeat Wang Zhong
- 1p Defeat the troops in the four corners, save rage
- 1p Rage, defeat Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, Zhang Jiao (before Liang's dialogue ends)
- 1p Defeat Cao Cao, Wang Zhong, then stand where Wu will invade to prevent it
- 1p Defeat everybody who spawns until the stage ends (final Zuo Ci dialogue skippable)

**Pursuit at Nanjun** >
camp

- Defeat Zhao Yun, gatekeeper, then Liu Bei before he teleports into the base
- Defeat Liu Bei again, defeat Chen Zhen, defeat Liao Hua
- Wait for the gate to open and defeat all the officers as the other gates open
- Climb ladder, defeat Yueying, Ma Su, then Zhuge Liang, Zhuge who, then the three stooges, then your boredom waiting through 40 seconds of dialogue

**Battle of Baidi Castle** 2p < >
cutscene, camp

- 1p Kill Yueying
- 2p Stand with the enemy officers to ensure they live
- 1p Kill Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Jian Yong and then whatever other trash in the plaza
- 1p Wait for catapult and break the gates with it
- 1p Bow jump up to your Shu friends and slap all into the afterlife
- 1p Kill Liu Bei without triggering his dialogue (rage recommended)

# Jin

**Historical**
up to date run, but it's not optimal
Bow: Sima Yi, Wen Yang
Double-edge Trident: Sima Zhao, Deng Ai

**Pursuit at the Wuzhang Plains** 2p x >
cutscene

- 1p Defeat the 2 officers in the west; 2p defeat officer directly in front of you
- 1p Defeat advancing officers and wait at the eastern base; 2p Defeat Xingcai and wait outside the central base
- 1p Defeat officer in the base and wait for the gates to open
- 2p Trigger Guan Suo's ambush; 1p Defeat Wei Yan and Ma Dai and trigger main camp ambush
- 1p Pre-open eastern main camp gate
- Rage, defeat 3 juggernauts and go to Jiang Wei

**Battle of Xiangyang** 1p x
camp

- Defeat the 4 officers and cross the bridge fast
- Defeat Wei Yan, bowjump and defeat Gongsun Yuan before Sima Yi's dialogue ends

**Battle of Mt. Xingshi** 2p x >
cutscene, camp

- 1p Defeat the bridge ambush and go to Ma Dai's ambush
- 1p Trigger Ma Dai when the Messenger dialogue appears
- 2p Defeat Main Camp ambush
- 1p Complete the stage

**Coup détat 1p** x
cutscene

- Take armoury, take barracks
- Defeat central officer, take main camp
- Rage, defeat Cao Shuang's south vanguard, then spawnkill

**East Gates Battle** 2p < >
cutscene, dialogue, camp

- 1p Defeat Zhu Ji, Sun Xian, Shi Kuan before Sima Zhao's dialogue ends
- 1p Clear peons outside allied main camp and go to Tang Zi
- 2p Go to Liu Zan, defeating ONLY the gate officers
- 1p After getting all the officers stacked up, move away and pray
- 2p As soon as an ally is routed, defeat reinforcements and Liu Zan
- 1p Defeat Liu Zuan and continue as told, the end is a cutscene trigger

**Battle of Mt. Tielong** 2p > >
dialogue, camp

- 1p Dashkill Jiang Shu and jump down ASAP
- 1p Ledge clip off your horse, rush to Guo Huai's gate, defeat Xiahou Ba
- 1p Spawncamp Jiang Wei

**Guanqiu Jian & Wen Qin's Rebellion** 2p x >
camp

- 1p Get some rage as you dash to the overpass until Wen Yang spawns; 2p Set up for easy 90° dash
- 1p Dash back and up the cliff path, defeat Shi Zhao, wait at the green highlight
- 2p Dash to the east, spawncamp Wen Yang
- 1p Defeat Wen Qin, Go around the castle and defeat the two officers assaulting
- 1p Go north; 2p Defeat Wen Yang inside the castle
- 1p Build and use rage, defeat the three officers starting from the eastern base

**Battle of Xuchang** 2p > <
cutscene, camp

- 1p Trigger Guanqiu Dian ASAP, defeat him, then Guanqiu Xiu; 2p Dash towards the city gates
- 1p Defeat Wen Hu and go north to the next spawn
- 2p Defeat 3 Unit Commanders and Liu Zan
- 2p Defeat the next 3 Unit Commanders and go toward Yin Damu
- 1p Defeat Wen Hu and go south; 2p Defeat Yin Damu and go west
- 1p Rage, defeat Wen Hu and go north until it ends; 2p Defeat the 3 Unit Commanders
- 1p Go north and spawncamp Wen Qin

**Zhuge Dan's Rebellion** 2p X >
cutscene, dialogue, camp

**Wei Emperor's Last Stand** 2p x >
cutscene

- 1p Trigger cutscene at the start of Zhong Hui's dialogue ; 2p Go toward the gate
- 1p Capture barracks ; 2p Take Jia Chong's path
- 1p Wait for juggernaut dialogue before fully approaching Cao Mao in the barracks

**Battle of Taoyang** 1p X
camp

- Turn around and summon your horse, save jump, save clip and defeat Xiahou Ba

**Battle of Jiange** 1p >
cutscene, dialogue, camp

- Turn around, defeat Liu Yong and the three messengers down the cliff and go through the base
- Bowjump up the mountain to defeat Zhuge Zhan and anyone else without wasting time
- Go down, defeat Xi Zheng, Wang Han, Huang Chong and Li Jian and head to the main camp
- Defeat Zhang Shao and Huo Yi and go inside
- Defeat Yueying, defeat Jiang Wei
- Go north to defeat Yang Xi and Li Xin and then go back
- Mount your horse and ledge hop western ledge after the gate opens
- Go through the boulder ambush, into the base, and defeat the two officers, build rage
- Go straight forward, and save clip
(alternatively, you can ledge hop, but it's inconsistent)
(alt alt, jump twice with your horse, hop off, dash+charge attack, musou at highest point, then dash)
- Defeat Guan Suo, defeat Jiang Wei before his dialogue

**Battle of Chengdu** 1p x
cutscene, camp

- Defeat Guan Yi before the dialogue ends (hard) OR have him approach you before defeating him
- Cutscene upon entering the castle
- Look away from Jiang Wei to have him jump down quicker, defeat before his second dialogue starts
- Defeat Ju Fu and Unit Commander
- Go through the middle and defeat Guan Yinping and her two ambush officers south of Yueying
- Defeat Yueying before the gate dialogue ends
- Jumping off your horse, use two aerial musous and a double-edge trident ledge clip to scale Chengdu's wall
- Defeat Guan Suo, Jiang Wei, Jiang Bin and Wang Han and spawncamp Ma Dai
- Build rage and wait at the eastern inner gate until you can get to Liu Shan

**Hypothetical**
up to date run, but it's not optimal
Bow: Sima Yi, Wang Yuanji
Double-edge Trident:

**Coup d'état** 1p <
cutscene

- Exactly like historical, but defeat all 4 vanguard officers, so go east before going south

**Xiahou Ba's Journey** 1p <

- Take Guo Huai's path instead

**East Gates Battle** 2p < >
cutscene, dialogue, camp

- Like historical, but ignore all 2p actions

**Battle of New Hefei Castle**

**Capture of Chengdu** 2p x <
dialogue, camp

- 1p Savejump into the castle and defeat Liu Chen before his dialogue ; 2p Go south
- 1p Wait for dialogue before approaching and defeating Jiang Wei
- 2p Go all the way south, defeat Xingcai, defeat Liu Shan

The DW8XLCE Speedrun Encyclopaedia

A document for general information on everything useful and noteworthy for speedrunning.

**Tricks + Exploits**

- **(horse) [wall clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sSCwR0pmjQ#t=8m35s)**: on a horse, musouing or (far less reliably) running into a wall whilst being hit can clip you through it  and go out of bounds -- this can also be done on corners of certain gates to pass through them, remaining in bounds
- **(horse) [gate mount](https://youtu.be/vxHoYZaxwGo)**: you can hop onto horses through gates, so you can strategically pre-park your horse on the other side of a gate that will close -- your horse will not be summoned or path to you behind a gate, [unless it lacks an invisible wall](https://youtu.be/f8V-brjofNw), useful in conjunction with true musou clips
- **(horse) [save jump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9YcAoVa0gs#t=32s)**: (controller only) on a horse, saving and quitting whilst in a jump and hitting continue allows you to jump in mid-air on the first frame, indefinitely chainable
- **(horse) [save clip / save ledge clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9YcAoVa0gs#t=48s)**:  (controller only) on a horse, whilst jumping into an ledge, saving, quitting and continuing allows you to get onto it by holding *only* forward -- note that in free mode, with the addition of a continue input on the loading screen, it does not work properly, but by inputting jumps you (very inconsistently) can clip through
- **(horse) [ledge hop / ledge jump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjG4f3-G7NM#t=38m53s)**: on a horse, jumping and dismounting simultaneously parallel to a low ledge allows you to get onto it

.

- **dash cancelling**: (curved sword) chaining dash cancels out of regular attacks quickly -- do note that if you are holding any direction whilst doing dashing you will go noticeably slower and that by not doing so you may dash toward enemies you hit (see below for a list)
- **switch cancelling**: (staff) chaining dash cancels out of a switch attack quickly
- **[bow jumping/hopping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB0L0JF5FIM#t=21s)**: dashing at the apex of a jump and immediately charge attacking, which can be done whilst [dismounting a jumping horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ia0w0Myh-Y#t=2472s) for slightly more height
- **empowered switch attack**: with certain weapons (see below for a list), you can hold the switch button to do additional damage -- this can be held independently during any other action
- **[sniping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf6GCiS-Bso)**: the flame bow's C5 attack has a huge reach with which you can kill officers whilst being outside a trigger, or through exploitable gates
- **[ledge clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJaaoVm1ux8)**: certain aerial normal/charge/musou attacks allow you to clip through the invisible walls of one-way ledges (see below for weapon list) -- use in combination with chainable aerial musou (see below for list) and horse jump dismounting for more height
- **dash clip**: the sides of hulao gate can be clipped through by dashing, no other location is known (this is likely a little extension of ledge clipping?)
- **[zipping](https://twitter.com/nobuyo4519/status/1531253116703633408)**: this previously patched trick seems to be doable in certain locations but only with Wang Yi's musou, allowing you to zip large distances and go out of bounds.

.

- **animal carry-over exploit**: an officer's selected animal's abilities outside of story mode will carry over into it
- **dialogue cancel**: ending the currently ongoing dialogue by [triggering a cutscene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9YcAoVa0gs#t=13m25s) *or* [save-quit-continuing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xsx5k6IwP0#t=20s) (save skipping), the latter being especially useful in individual level runs
- **summon & mount**: if you hold down the summoning button you will mount your horse as soon as it is near whilst you can continue to walk

- **splitscreen**: playing two officers, which has multiple uses and effects throughout the game:

1. manipulate certain events, mainly triggers tied to specific officers, [such as during escort missions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOhKa0bZ4Ms)
2. prevent dialogue from happening by simply having splitscreen, or by picking specific officers
3. do spread out tasks or events simultaneously or quicker
4. access to areas that get locked behind gates through musou clips or gate mounts
5. reduced amount of troops and visible officers
6. most camera pans and some cutscenes do not trigger

.

- **amount of troops**: in the options menu, under graphics details, you can pick between 'many', 'normal' or 'few' on-screen characters (troops), which could be useful to build rage faster, or have cleaner dash cancelling respectively; however, 'few' makes officers load in slower which will lead to timeloss
- **movies**: completing some stages will play a movie, which you can turn off in the options menu so you don't have to skip it manually
- **return to menu**: pressing start + select (menu + pause) returns you to the start menu, which is useful to skip battle camp dialogue in redo stages in hypothetical, or when you've selected the wrong officer -- note that unlike keyboard, with a controller this can be done from anywhere
- **vsync 2**: ledges with invisible walls do not block movement with vsync set to 2 (30 fps), but bear in mind that the you'll likely have to play with this framerate, too

.

- **officer selection**: the first officer you select (1p) as will affect the tasks and dialogue you are given in a stage
- **random dialogue**: random encounter/retreating/defeating dialogue only occurs if there is no current on-going dialogue (note that there is one free frame in-between two dialogues)
- **bodyguards**: you can use bodyguards to trigger dialogue, or to use their skills such as Emergency Support to get musou at the start of a stage
- **exploitable gates**: (see below for list) a handful of gates lack aren't fully solid, which has some side-effects
- **true musou clip**: as you use a true musou, the secondary officer (2p) will always be put directly to the right of the first officer (1p), which will allow the secondary officer to be placed on the other side of a gate

=======

**Elements**

- **velocity**: attack speed increases
- **battleaxe**: 2x damage buff for 30 seconds after every 50 kills (reward from ambition mode and XL ambition mode completion)
- **induction**: 2x damage for regular, charge and ex attacks (and musou that continue after their animation ends)
- **explosive**: 1.5x damage for regular, charge and ex attacks (and musou that continue after their animation ends)
- **aggression**: 1.5x damage for musou
- **frenzy**: 1.2x damage for 20%(?) defense loss
- **harmony**: 1.2x damage
- **flurry**: unknown damage increase the higher your chain is
- **slash**: elemental attacks only, doesn't apply to officers (damage unknown)
- **cyclone**: elemental attacks only, deals a fixed 20% damage per hit on a blocking enemy (useful on multiple projectile elemental attacks, like throwing knives' 6th attack
- **triumph**: slightly fills rage gauge upon defeating an enemy
- **roar**: slightly fills musou upon defeating an enemy

(Note: elemental attacks are specific attacks usually recognised by their 'slashing' sound or green glow -- look up cyclone for more specifics)

Recommended for Beginner: velocity, battleaxe, induction, explosive, triumph, flurry
(if required, flurry can be replaced with roar)
Recommended for Ultimate: velocity, battleaxe, induction, explosive, triumph, cyclone
(unless confident, consider replacing triumph with jubilation on your secondary weapon)

**Skills**
Recommended: Rage Springs, Attack Boost, Mighty Roar, Havoc
If required, replace either Mighty Roar or Havoc with Dasher

**Weapons**
Weapon 1 should always be a Curved Sword. Weapon 2 depends on circumstance.
No requirements: Knives to build rage
Open ledges: Bow to bow jump
One-way ledge: Double-edge Trident to ledge clip (stage specific)

=======

**Speed Comparisons**

**General Notes**
Do note that the "in-game passage of time" is tied to framerate, which the game caps. If you are experiencing slowdown, i.e your framerate dips below the cap, you are losing time.

**Movement Techniques**

[Here is a dash cancelling comparison](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjA4Q2P80Oo).


(other badly measured comparison:)

*DEFEAT GAN JI: straight line from wall to gate* -

- **sword cancelling (rage)**: 7.4s
- **sword cancelling**: 8.3s
- **sword cancelling (rage+holding W)**: 10.7s
- **sword cancelling (direction (W))**: 12.0s
- **staff switch cancelling**: 12.2s
- **horse musouing (3x, incl. starting prance, Red Hare)**:
- **horse musouing (3x, incl. starting prance)**: 14.1s
- **pugil stick cancelling**: 15.4s
- **bow jumping**: 17.1s
- **horse running (Red Hare)**:
- **horse running**: 19.3s

**AI Movement Speed**
Officers ignore ladders and certain ledges when deloaded and will go straight through.
You can mostly freeze moving officers in place by rapidly loading/deloading them.

*BATTLE OF CHIBI (Shu): allies going to the ship* -

- **deloaded (looking away)**: 41.0s
- **loaded (looking)**: 44.1s

Rams' deload range is stage specific, if they can even be deloaded at all. Successful examples of ram manipulation can be seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX-qcRAlDvw#t=46m15s) or [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbAmSg7P20w#t=33m30s). Generally, deloaded rams (that are in ramming position) tend to stay in place, or possibly follow a timer instead. With a timer, their visual process is irrelevant. Note that if you deload a ram while it is in the process of ramming, it will reverse and restart. Certain rams have a tendency to get stuck in a turning loop, which deloading will fix.

=======

**Language**
English is faster than Japanese in all tests. Chinese was not tested.

**Uprising at Chang'an - Intro**: Diaochan, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Private, Diaochan, Wang Yun
[English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqnomo8PbU#t=10m31s) ~44 seconds
[Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzJeSqJK4I#t=11m25s) ~50 seconds

**Uprising at Chang'an - Bridge**: Zhang Liao (x2), Lu Bu, Messenger, Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun (x2), Dong Zhuo
[English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqnomo8PbU#t=13m19s) ~56 seconds
[Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzJeSqJK4I#t=13m45s) ~63 seconds

**Capture of Puyang - Intro**: Lu Bu, Chen Gong, Lu Bu, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao
[English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqnomo8PbU#t=16m36s) ~42 seconds
[Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzJeSqJK4I#t=17m20s) ~50 seconds

**Battle of Dingtao - Escape**: Xiahou Yuan, Chen Gong (x2), Lu Bu, Chen Gong, Xun Yu
[English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqnomo8PbU#t=22m3s) ~48 seconds
[Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzJeSqJK4I#t=23m14s) ~59 seconds

=======

**Miscellaneous**

**Notes on Hypotheticals**
To turn off hypotheticals in Free Mode, deselect the ones you wish to disable in the 'Hypothetical settings' menu in the kingdom view in stage select, and then turn *on* 'Use Hypotheticals" in gameplay settings.
Do note that certain hypotheticals do not have a toggle and thus cannot be turned off once achieved. The only workaround is to start a new story mode and play to the desired stages without completing the hypothetical objectives. You can then use the continue option until you fully finish the stage. Game design!
Also take note that using stage select (in NG+) will automatically complete all hypotheticals previously completed up to that point.

**Notes on Weapons**
**Dash cancel**:

- normal attack: curved sword
- charge attack:  curved sword, claws, sword, bow, "flute", pugil sticks, flying swords, boomerang
- switch attack: staff, sword & hook, wingblades
Curved sword normal attack dash cancel is unrivalled in speed. Remember that during rage, you can dash faster.
All charge attacks can be chained if you input a switch attack immediately after landing and dash out of it.

**Empowered switch attack**:
Curved Sword, Halberd, Axe, Great Sword, Flute, Lance, Arm Cannon

**Ma--ho clip (ledge clip)**:

- Curved Sword: aerial normal attack
- Double-edge Trident: (has multiple aerial attacks) aerial charge
- Striking Sword: aerial charge
- Siege Spear: aerial charge
- Rapier: aerial charge
- Wingblades: aerial charge, aerial switch

**Switch cancel grants height** (no use so far):

- Chain & Sickle: dashing
- Orb & Scepter: dash into aerial charge
- Wired Gloves: dash into aerial charge

**Other**:

- Fan: switch cancel can clip onto ledges
- [Flame Bow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf6GCiS-Bso): C5 has the furthest range. Its regular attack also reaches far.
- [Wingblades](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJQcidgSp4Y): using its switch attack from great heights will build up a lot of speed

**Notes on Officers**
**Chainable aerial musou**:
Wen Yang, Yu Jin, Ma Chao, Sima Zhao, Xu Shu
Wen Yang gives the most height, but is slightly slow.
Yu Jin gives  less height, but is the fastest.
The other 3 should be used in combination with a double-edge trident.
Use in combination with bow jumping or ledge clipping.

**Ledge clipping aerial musou**:
[Wang Yi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqr2gWoZX8E#t=18s). Useful with bow jumping.

**Notes on Horses**
Horse jump height depends on how long you keep holding down the button. To be able to hop off your horse whilst jumping at maximum height, you have to do a jump just before it. This will give you the ability to hop off the horse at any point in the jump.

**Notes on Gates**
The following gates lack an invisible wall (and are useful)

- Hefei south main camp south inner gate
- Hefei north main camp inner gate
- Wujun southeast main camp west gate
- Xuchang south main camp gates

The following gates can be jumped over

- Puyang east castle south gate
- Xiapi (Showdown version) all gates

The following gates can be dashed through (the sides)

- Hulao gate main gate

=======

**Notes on anything else so it doesn't get lost to time**

**Zhuge Dan's Rebellion, dialogue times**
dialogue							start	end	length	saveskip
Zhu Yi: My lord...					15.0	21.7	6.7
Sun Chen: How dare you...			22.8	28.0	5.2
Sun Chen has executed Zhu Yi!		-	-	-
Quan Duan: Master Zhu Yi...			30.7	36.4	5.7
Quan Yi and Quan Duan defected		-	-	-
Sun Chen: So this is...				39.1	46.0	6.9		X
Defeat Zhuge Dan					-	-	-
Wu Main Camp gates open			-	-	-
Messenger: Lord Zhuge Dan...		51.0	57.4	6.4		X
Zhuge Dan: So it seems...			57.5	64.3	6.8		X
Wen Qin: You dog...				64.4	69.2	4.8
Zhuge Dan: You insult not...			69.3	75.2	5.9
Zhuge Dan has executed Wen Qin		-	-	-
Wen Yang: Father...					77.8	83.1	5.3
Wen Hu: You're right...				-	-	-
Wen Yang and Wen Hu defected		-	-	-
Shouchun Castle South gates open	-	-	-
Private: Master Wen Qin...			-	-	-
Messenger: We've received reports...	95.1	100.9 5.8

Using a horse to go through walls in the OoB category

This guide describes how to reduce the time, but not the difficulty, to complete the level. Going through textures has several features and complexities. I will try to explain how to use this method.In fact, what it looks like:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1521084595?t=00h03m58s
This has not yet been fully explored, so I can not give a clear explanation.

       One of the reasons why the nature of the conditions for performing this trick is still not clear is that in 95% of cases, in order to pass through the wall, you need to have a "broken character model". What does it mean? Unless someone hits you, there's a pretty slim chance you'll get deeper into the wall for your character model to start "shaking". (In most cases, you need to get backstabbed followed by a character animation, and also sit on a horse.) On rare occasions, a horse will go through walls without interacting with anyone at all.

       Not all walls (sometimes gates too) can be passed through. Walls that have "holes" have a rather noticeable discrepancy between the textures and the wall itself.
Here the horse stands close to the wall. You can’t go through these (at least it hasn’t been noticed):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MC_VqjR3KbfLPRf1sd2RVnT6bONdINFW/view?usp=sharing
Here the horse is also bounded by the wall, but the texture extends beyond it, and it turns out that the horse is partially inside:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UH1X0M0W-x7eM_oW4hkDq7n03W0gtuvK/view?usp=sharing
The essence of the method is to simply "rub" against the walls until the character model with the horse starts to fall through and "shake". At this point, you just need to move forward. Musou will also help to increase the chances. I recommend that when searching for "holes", do not lose contact with the wall in order to do it faster.
It was noticed that when changing the camera angle in the place where there was no "hole", it appears. In addition to this, it is possible that the amount of infantry loaded on the screen also affects success. From this, a conclusion was made about lags in the game, which reduce the number of frames. I couldn't get the FPS below 30, but it's possible that 15-17 fps will be a positive result.
If you've already gone through the wall once on the stage, it won't be too hard to do it again until you complete the stage.

What you need to know outside the walls:
-If you dismount from a horse, you won't be able to saddle it back until you enter the "playing" area.
-The camera will behave unpredictably and may fly away from the character. Focus on the mini map.
-If the camera flew away, then you will not be able to hit someone, because the game did not load them.
-To return the camera you can use Musou, save and load.
-Not through all the walls you can go back to the "playing" area
-It has been observed that unloaded enemies can be hit if they are next to a wall you have passed through.
-You should avoid barracks where infantry spawns. You can enter there, but not exit without using the described method.
-No need to approach the borders of the map, otherwise the character may be stuck tightly.
-No need to go through the water, which is very close to the "playing" area. You can also get stuck.

This method is not easy. It takes practice to apply it successfully in runs.
The guide will be updated as the method progresses.

Mawfeen

KillerMaster73

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition

Battle of Liang Province - Coalition Forces

Battle of Mt. Bailang - Coalition Forces

Battle of Liang Province - Rebel Forces

Battle of Guangling - Wei Forces

Battle of Liang Province - Dong Zhuo's Forces (DLC)

ArgentSky

Historical

Hypothetical

Ultimate

Beginner

Easy

Normal

Hard

Chaos

Saving

No Saving

Solo

Splitscreen

Storyline

NG/NG+

Difficulty

Interim Saving

Officers

The missing 54 stages from the two 'NEW STAGE' DLC have been added for a grand total of 305 stages, of which 84 are DLC.

Bonus fact: The Battle of Liang Province has both an original and DLC version. Amazing!

Name	Author
Routing Document	Mawfeen 3 years ago
The DW8XLCE Speedrun Encyclopaedia	Mawfeen 3 years ago
Using a horse to go through walls in the OoB category	KillerMaster73 4 years ago