First Look at Total War: Three Kingdoms Dong Zhuo Campaign Gameplay
The latest Let’s Play video from Creative Assembly is something fans have been itching to see since his reveal trailer; Total War: Three Kingdoms Dong Zhuo campaign gameplay. The video showcases ten minutes of gameplay from a campaign playthrough featuring the tyrant himself, and gives players details of his starting position and gameplay mechanics.
Total War: Three Kingdoms Dong Zhuo Campaign Gameplay Reveal
Dong Zhuo is the only one of the twelve playable faction leaders in Total War: Three Kingdoms who isn’t available at the start of the game. To unlock his campaign, players must either reach the rank of Emperor or defeat the tyrant on the battlefield. As one might expect from his history, Dong Zhuo’s starting position is ‘hard’; the tyrant begins play at war with almost all of the other twelve faction leaders. However, he also begins play with the Han Empire as his vassal, giving him the best starting economy.
The video also gives players a look at Dong Zhuo’s unique Intimidation mechanic. This resource, which decreases over time, can be spent to coerce other factions in diplomacy, and also affects public order and corruption in the tyrant’s territory. Players can increase their Intimidation by razing settlements (and other brutal acts), but it decreases whenever they promote a character or lose battles. Dong Zhuo himself is a powerful Vanguard; a frontline leader who excels at smashing through enemy units and leading shock cavalry. One ability of note is “Reign of Terror” which is a buff that grants his units +100% melee damage (base & armour-piercing) while imposing a -50% reduction to Melee Evasion and applying Unbreakable.
Dong Zhuo’s two unique units are both cavalry; suiting his Vanguard class. His first unit are Xiliang Cavalry, a traditional shock cavalry unit, and the Heavy Xiliang Cavalry. The former is available from the start of the game. The latter, the heavier variant, is available to characters at rank 3 or higher. Dong Zhuo’s unique building chain is a military building called Enforced Conscription. This chain improves the starting rank for newly recruited units and boosts public order, but increases redeployment cost and slows population growth. Dong Zhuo’s two noteworthy characters are Xiang Liao, and of course, the legendary Lu Bu.