Free Content
Tao Qian
- A new playable character, available in both 182 CE and 190 CE start dates
- Displaced Population – this pooled resource is increased by the conflicts (specifically sieges) going on around China, the actions of all factions will contribute to this not just your own!
- At low levels it gives bonuses to public order, satisfaction and peasantry income
- If Displaced Population grows large, it will give bonuses to reduce construction time on buildings, mustering time on units, as well as reducing the cost of recruiting militia units as it increases but at the cost of food production at the commandery level
- You can spend this resource through new Assignments that resettle the Displaced Population to increase growth in your territories, this allows you to choose between keeping Displaced Population high in one commandery or low across multiple depending on what bonuses you want
- New units
- Territorial Spearmen
- Territorial Archers
- These units are available for recruitment and also appear in his settlements and garrisons, allowing him to better defend his territory
- Both these units receive combat bonuses when they are on the defending side in a battle
- Don’t forget that, if you want Tao Qian as a playable character, you need to download him from this Steam page
New Legendary Characters
- Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, Diao Chan, and Xun Yu are now legendary characters (shout out to the Make Them Unique team for the awesome Diao Chan artwork in their mod)
- They will appear with unique artwork in campaign and battles
- They are also now accessible in custom and multiplayer battles
- All these characters serve the Han empire originally except Diao Chan, who may spawn for Dong Zhuo after the relevant event chain
- Diao Chan will only be available in custom battles after you have unlocked Dong Zhuo
Lu Zhi
“Minister Lu Zhi is the jewel of the entire country, and his violent death would stir the hearts of all people!”
One of the most preeminent scholars of the Han Dynasty, Lu Zhi made a name for himself as an excellent teacher, with such students as Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan studying under him. He was a pivotal figure during the Yellow Turban rebellion, leading many successful assaults against the rebels.
Huangfu Song
“Huangfu Song did not forget his friends.”
Huangfu Song is a loyal and distinguished general of the Han. Always thinking of others, he took no credit for his pivotal role during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He was a lifelong compatriot of Lu Zhi, pushing for his pardon when he was wrongfully accused by the government.
Diao Chan
“Who would think that the fate of the Han lay in your palm?”
Diao Chan was a serving girl in the employ of the minister Wang Yun. The two were very close and Wang Yun considered her almost as his own daughter. Upon seeing her master’s distress over the fate of the empire under Dong Zhuo’s tyranny, she bravely volunteered, and succeeded, to drive a wedge between Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo. She is also known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China.
Xun Yu
“Xun Yu is my Zhang Liang!”
From a lineage of famed advisors, Xun Yu was a star among them. He was an astute advisor and a loyal aide, to both Yuan Shao and then Cao Cao. He was well connected and recommended Guo Jia to his lord as well as aiding Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Shao.
New units
- Six new Imperial units, who are the best units of the Three Kingdoms era, all with high morale and armour. Due lifelong training as part of a professional army, they can use Formations without a Strategist. Their high recruit and upkeep cost make them difficult to amass:
- Imperial Household Cavalry (Melee Cavalry, Earth), Imperial Lancer Cavalry (Shock Cavalry, Fire), Imperial Sword Guard (Melee Infantry, Metal), Imperial Palace Cavalry (Crossbow Cavalry, Water), Imperial Palace Crossbowmen (Crossbowmen, Water), Imperial Gate Guards (Spear Infantry, Wood)
- Three new Qiang units, who make up the infantry line of the Qiang Army:
- Qiang Warriors (Melee Infantry, Metal), Qiang Archers (Missile Infantry, Water), Qiang Polearms (Spear Infantry, Wood)
- Six new Yellow Turban units available to be researched by those who own the original Yellow Turban DLC or the Mandate of Heaven DLC, thus adding more visual and gameplay variety:
- Scholar: Huanglao’s Paragons (Dual Sabre Infantry, Metal), Jiazi Raiders (Melee Cavalry, Earth)
- Healer: Righteous Vanguards (Shock Cavalry, Fire), Stalwart Shields (Spear infantry, Wood)
- Veteran: The Land’s Chosen (Archers, Water), Fervent Defenders (Two-Handed Ji, Wood)
New Battle Features
Deployables
- There are now battlefield deployables, unlocked through research in the tech tree that can be used in battles, set during the deployment phase
- Defensive Towers – These are buildings with health that can be captured or destroyed. They will fire arrows at any enemies within range, and can be placed anywhere within your deployment zone in Land Battles
- Wooden Stakes – A highly effective anti-cavalry measure, stakes are planted into the ground at an angle to skewer any horses trampling over them
- Deployable Oil – Lay down invisible flammable liquid on the battlefield before lighting it as the enemy pass over, creating a terrifying and effective defensive measure
New Battle Abilities
Two new battle abilities are available to lower-tier units, rewarding active gameplay. Unlike pre-battle deployables, these can be deployed in the thick of combat, and are unlocked in the Red part of the Technology Tree by units that have access to them.
- Caltrops – Simple and effective, caltrops are a sharp metal area-denial measure, deployed on the ground before advancing enemies, who then get them caught underfoot, damaging and slowing them down
- Smokescreen – Deception and misdirection are powerful tools, creating a cloud of smoke obscures movement to confound and confuse the enemy. Units standing in a smokescreen are hidden and cannot be seen from a distance
Siege engines
- New recruitable artillery unit added: Multiple Bolt Crossbows
- Multiple Bolt Crossbows – A new battlefield siege engine, the multiple bolt crossbow is attained in the same way as trebuchets (recruitable only by Strategists). While the trebuchet is principally an anti-building weapon, the multiple bolt crossbow is an anti-infantry weapon
- A new siege engine has been added: Siege Towers
- Siege Towers – Siege Towers may now be constructed while besieging. When battle commences, they may be assigned to units and pushed to the city walls where the troops pour out. Once the first unit has exited a siege tower, subsequent units can employ it as a well-protected ladder
- These can be constructed on the settlement siege screen, the same as Rams and Tunnelling
- They work as in previous versions: units board them and move them to a specified section of wall and then disembark onto the wall
Liu Biao
- New pooled resource: Governance
- This is gained by securing the cooperation of other factions through diplomacy, which will make them your vassal, and by constructing lodging buildings in your settlements
- Increasing your Governance allows you to increase your Domain, the amount of territory you can rule without suffering penalties
- Governance also gives bonuses to character satisfaction, income gained from tribute in diplomacy and to unit replenishment
- Staying within your Domain limit gives bonuses to Governance, public order and relations with Han Empire factions
- Going above your Domain limit will turn the Han Empire against you, but allow you to operate more as an independent warlord
Emperor Ownership Changes
The following changes have been made to when a faction owns the child Emperor:
- 1 year after first capturing the Emperor a choice will be given where you choose between being the Regent, banishing the Emperor, or killing the Emperor
- If you choose to be Regent, every 3 years you will be asked to make the same choice
- If you are Regent, be warned there is now a chance the Emperor can escape from you if you are a weak low-level faction as he will want to be in a stronger faction
- If you choose to Banish the Emperor his token will be removed from the game and he will appear as a recruitable character for the Han. It will give your faction a permanent bonus to prestige as well as some hefty diplomatic penalties
- If you Kill the Emperor he and his token are removed from the game, and gives even bigger bonuses and penalties compared to banishing the Emperor
Emperor Rank Mechanics Update
- On reaching the rank of Emperor the new Imperial Court will be unlocked
- This gives access to the following Ministerial positions:
- Faction Heir
- Grand Tutor
- Grand Excellency over the Masses
- Grand Excellency of Works
- Imperial Chancellor
- Grand Commandant
- Minister Herald
- Minister of Justice
- Minister Coachman
- Minister Steward
- Minister of Finance
- Minister of the Imperial Clan
- Minister of the Guards
- Minister of the Imperial Household
- Minister of Ceremonies
Empire diplomatic functions
- Available upon reaching the rank of Emperor
- The Emperor has direct control of membership of an empire
- Invitation and removal of members can be proposed by the Emperor alone
- The Emperor dictates treaties of war and peace for the empire
- Factions that are not the Emperor in an empire are considered to be subjects and abide by different rules to the Emperor (i.e. they cannot invite or remove factions from the empire)
- Territory controlled by imperial subjects count towards the territory ownership of the Emperor (contributes to victory conditions)
- All subjects pay 80% of their tax income (not all income) to the Emperor, the Emperor pools this income and then redistributes it equally to all imperial subjects with a small bonus amount added
- Subjects under an Emperor are able to reinforce each other, military access, and the ability to resupply on each other’s lands (Emperor Ling must wait until turn 8 to gain mandated powers before he can use all of these)
- Subjects only have active shared line of sight with the Emperor – their shared line of sight with each other is passive, meaning their lands will be shrouded
- Subjects can sign feuds with each other – these are personal conflicts in which they cannot request assistance from other factions
- Emperors can end feuding between subjects by means of the End Feud Between Subjects treaty – this will result in personal grievances (i.e. a diplomatic penalty) between subjects and the Emperor
- Dethroning an Emperor either through elimination or being deposed will result in their empire being disbanded and releasing all of their subjects to act as independent factions
Unit Card Changes
- Updated the set of alternative unit cards, using improved renders of the unit models and consistent poses per unit type. This set replaces the previous set of alternative unit cards
- Updated the interface options screen to make it clearer that an alternative set of unit cards exists for the player to toggle to. Added images showing examples of what each set of cards looks like
Unit Balance Changes
Morale
Alongside the below changes, morale has been reworked to make low-cost militia and peasant units far more likely to rout. This helps to reduce the grinding nature of melee combat and allows units to win fights with more men remaining.
- Increased enemy effect range from 0 to 45
- Morale penalty multiplier from enemy numbers increased from 0 to 1.2
- Increased morale penalties from extended casualties (those over last 60 seconds)
- Morale penalty for fighting cavalry increased from 0 to -6
- Neighbouring unit morale effect range decreased from 160 to 40
- Recent casualties morale penalties added, from -4 for 10% casualties to -12 for 50% casualties
- Increasing weighting for routing friends morale penalty from 1 to 1.2
- Routing unit morale effect distance flank decreased from 100 to 55
- Routing unit morale effect distance front decreased from 75 to 6
- Total casualties morale penalties increased
- Morale penalty for being under missile fire increased from 0 to -3
Weapon Changes
To help add more diverse battlefield roles, axes now have bonuses against shielded units, while sword units do more base and AP damage. This helps sword units to be more effective against Ji/2 handed spear infantry and axe units to be more effective against shielded infantry.
Alongside this, militia now have their own weapon tier which are slightly lower than the base weapon stats, to reduce the combat ability of militia units.
- All axe weapons now have a contact stat effect (this means that when axe units get into combat with enemy units they apply a stat effect to the whole unit, which reduces their shield evasion and shield armour by 35%)
- Axe damage increased from 8 to 10
- New militia axe added with 6 damage and 17 AP damage
- Sabre damage increased from 23 to 25 and AP damage increased from 6 to 8
- Elite sabre damage increased from 28 to 30 and AP damage increased from 8 to 10
- New militia sabre added with 20 damage and 6 AP damage
- One handed spear AP damage reduced from 28 to 24
- New militia one handed spear added with 5 damage and 20 AP damage
- New militia ji halberd added with 20 damage and 20 AP damage
- Two handed spear AP damage reduced from 38 to 36
- Dual wielding axes damage increased from 12 to 14
- Yellow Turban one handed elite spear damage decreased from 9 to 8 and AP damage decreased from 38 to 30
Unit Stat Changes
To further increase the effectiveness of melee units of the Metal class, melee units now have higher evasion, while wood units have lower morale.
- Mounted Sabre Militia
- Morale decreased from 30 to 28
- Evasion increased from 16 to 20
- Weapon swapped to new militia sabre
- Yellow Dragons
- Charge increased from 294 to 304
- Evasion decreased from 20 to 17
- Mounted Lancer Militia
- Weapon swapped to new militia ji polearm
- Axe Band
- Charge increased from 105 to 115
- Evasion increased from 11 to 15
- Weapon swapped to new militia axe
- Black Mountain Marauders
- Charge increased from 134 to 144
- Evasion decreased from 42 to 39
- Fists of the Bandit Queen
- Charge increased from 135 to 145
- Evasion decreased from 33 to 30
- Hidden Axes
- Charge increased from 110 to 120
- Evasion decreased from 29 to 26
- Jian Infantry Captain
- Charge increased from 134 to 144
- Evasion increased from 25 to 35
- Jian Sword Guards
- Charge increased from 78 to 88
- Evasion increased from 29 to 38
- Mercenary Infantry
- Charge increased from 118 to 128
- Evasion decreased from 27 to 24
- Mercenary Infantry Captain
- Charge increased from 118 to 128
- Evasion decreased from 27 to 24
- Rapid Tiger Infantry
- Charge increased from 100 to 110
- Evasion increased from 42 to 52
- Sabre Infantry
- Charge increased from 105 to 115
- Evasion increased from 18 to 40
- Sabre Militia
- Morale decreased from 30 to 26
- Charge increased from 90 to 100
- Evasion increased from 18 to 32
- Weapon swapped to new militia sabre
- Warriors of the Left
- Charge increased from 112 to 122
- Evasion increased from 48 to 58
- Black Mountain Outlaws
- Morale decreased from 32 to 28
- Defenders of Hebei
- Morale decreased from 54 to 50
- Heavy Ji Infantry
- Morale decreased from 40 to 36
- Heavy Spear Guards
- Morale decreased from 42 to 38
- Infantry of Jing
- Morale decreased from 49 to 45
- Ji Infantry
- Morale decreased from 34 to 30
- Ji Infantry Captain
- Morale decreased from 36 to 34
- Ji Militia
- Morale decreased from 28 to 22
- Weapon swapped to new militia ji polearm
- Peasant Band
- Morale decreased from 24 to 20
- Spear Guards
- Morale decreased from 38 to 30
- Weapon swapped to new militia spear
- Spear Warriors
- Morale decreased from 34 to 30
- Warriors of Ye
- Morale decreased from 40 to 36
- Venerable Wu
- Charge increased from 108 to 118
- Evasion increased from 60 to 65
- White Wave Veterans
- Charge increased from 124 to 134
- Evasion increased from 20 to 30
- Yellow Turban Warriors
- Charge increased from 94 to 104
- Evasion increased from 19 to 29
- Yellow Turban Warriors Captain
- Charge increased from 104 to 114
- Evasion increased from 10 to 20
- Youxia
- Charge increased from 98 to 108
- Evasion increased from 35 to 45
- Bringers of Righteousness
- Morale decreased from 34 to 30
- Guardians of the Land
- Morale decreased from 34 to 30
- Militia of Virtue
- Morale decreased from 34 to 30
- Peasant Spearmen
- Morale decreased from 18 to 16
- Reclaimers
- Morale decreased from 32 to 28
- Yellow Turban Spearmen
- Morale decreased from 24 to 22
- Yellow Turban Spearmen Captain
- Morale decreased from 44 to 40
- Chu Infantry
- Charge increased from 108 to 118
- Evasion increased from 35 to 45
- Dao Infantry Captain
- Charge increased from 134 to 144
- Evasion increased from 25 to 35
- Dao Swordguards
- Charge increased from 78 to 88
- Evasion increased from 15 to 25
- Imperial Guards
- Charge increased from 78 to 88
- Evasion increased from 29 to 39
- Warriors of Xu
- Charge increased from 118 to 128
- Evasion decreased from 27 to 24
- Xu Raiders
- Charge increased from 142 to 152
- Evasion decreased from 11 to 8
- Chu Spearmen
- Morale decreased from 39 to 35
- Qi Guardsmen
- Morale decreased from 39 to 35
Projectile Changes
A militia version of the composite bow has been added to reduce the effectiveness of archer militia, while all bows have reduced armour piercing damage and crossbows have slower reloads. This helps to define archers as more effective against low armour units, while crossbows are more effective against high armour targets and heroes.
- Bow
- Normal projectile AP damage reduced from 20 to 15 and reload increased from 4 to 5
- Flaming projectile reload increased from 9 to 10
- Militia bow added
- Normal projectile does 22 damage and 12 AP damage, reload of 5
- Flaming projectile has 43 damage and 3 AP damage, reload of 10
- Elite Crossbow
- Reload increased from 5 to 8
- Crossbow
- Reload increased from 9 to 12
- Repeating crossbow
- Reload increased from 10 to 14
Bug Fixes
Diplomacy
Fixed issue where a Treachery penalty was being applied to the player in various circumstances it shouldn’t, for example when a vassal declares war on the player
Characters
- Huang Gai now has access to all the correct weapon options
- Huang Gai, Pang Tong, Jia Xu and Guo Jia now have access to the correct faction units in custom battles
- Huang Gai, Pang Tong, Jia Xu and Guo Jia now have larger bonus from their career trait to bring them in line with other characters with unique art
- New abilities added for Huang Gai, Pang Tong, Jia Xu and Guo Jia
- Huang Gai – Fire Bomb: throws 3 bombs that do little damage but knocks the enemy unit down, while applying a -25 penalty to morale
- Pang Tong – From the Ashes: sacrifices 25% of HP to give a 10k HP heal to all heroes on the battlefield
- Jia Xu – Hidden Strike: hides him for 30 seconds and gives him a more powerful attack
- Guo Jia – Foresight: passive ability that allows him to see all enemy units, even when hidden
Campaign
- Council Missions will no longer target Yellow Turban factions for spy missions
- Blue Blade and Blade of Xiang Yu now correctly apply an armour penalty to enemies instead of to the character who is wielding these weapons
- Fixed issue where the Uncommon Talent event was firing too often
- Cao Cao’s Tuntian buildings now correctly get cost reduction bonuses from reforms
- Towers and gatehouses in campaign siege battles will now correctly reflect the settlement development level
- Dong Zhuo’s Banquet dilemma choices improved, the release option ties into public order and other choices tie into his intimidation resource
- Assigning a Court position via the Council screen will now correctly update the Council screen with the new Minister
- Fixed issue where Reward section of Mission Success event would be empty
- Fixed issue where occasionally the campaign UI would disappear after closing the Faction Council panel
- Trade Influence will now update correctly in the same turn as equipping an ancillary that affects it
AI
- Fixes for Eight Princes AI difficulty setup
- Improved AI army quality in mid and late game
- Improved AI construction logic (more emphasis on military buildings)
- Improved AI reform selection
- Fixed issue with AI not demolishing buildings when having Food/Public order issues
- Yellow Turban faction will not sign peace with anyone
- Fixes to Vassalage evaluation when the vassal is in an alliance/coalition
Battles
- Fixed issue where when firing, the wrists of soldiers in Mounted Crossbow units were twisting 360 degrees
- Fixed issue where player was unable to see the maximum range on artillery units
Multiplayer
- Fixed issue in ranked multiplayer where units remained locked when increasing general’s rank
Graphics
- Fixed issue in campaign on Ultra settings where tree LOD sprites could appear yellow and dotted when zoomed out
- Fixed some issues with items floating/sinking into terrain and soldiers interacting oddly with terrain in some battle maps involving rice paddies
- Fixed issue with stretched textures on bridges
- Fixed issue where some weapons in battles were too dark
- 2D character art has now been updated to 1080p, meaning it now looks much better than it did upon release
Modding
We understand that many modders have been frustrated with the update process surrounding CEOs and the impact this has had on their mod users. As such, we’ve worked hard to make things easier for you. This is one of a number of steps we are taking across our long-term roadmap as we continue to support and promote modding within Total War: THREE KINGDOMS.
CEO data is now integrated into save files when a campaign is started and not loaded each time the game is loaded. This means that when we release a new patch, campaign saves that rely on CEO mods will still work. It does, however, mean that when your CEO mods are updated, players will not be able to see these updates until they start a new campaign.
However, for those who are more experienced mod users we have also created an option that can be added to preferences.script which allows players to disable baking the CEO in the save file, instead using the system currently in place for Total War: THREE KINGDOMS.