Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Liu Yan and Liu Zhang guide

The fertile lands of Shu in the southwestern corner of China offer prime opportunities to help your heir and faction grow. Here’s our Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided guide to help you with Liu Yan’s Aspirations, Inheritance, Tradeoff penalties, and dealing with his heir Liu Zhang.

Note: For more information, check out our Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide is based on Romance Mode playthroughs with VH/VH difficulty selected.

Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Liu Yan and Liu Zhang Aspirations and Inheritance guide

Liu Yan and Liu Zhang are playable thanks to the Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided DLC, but there are a few caveats. First off, Liu Yan is only playable in the 190 CE and 194 CE start dates. Meanwhile, it’s Liu Zhang who takes the reins in the 200 CE start date. Your decision on which campaign to choose will also determine a viable timeframe to unlock Aspirations and when you’ll want to trigger Inheritance for your heir.

You can refer to the pages below for the parts that you need help with:

• Liu Yan’s and Liu Zhang’s unique mechanics: Aspirations and Inheritance
• Tradeoffs and sources of Aspiration Points
• 190 CE campaign tips: Liu Yan completes Aspirations as Dong Zhuo’s vassal while marrying and divorcing heirs
• 194 CE campaign tips: Inheritance for Liu Zhang in three turns

Note 1: Choosing a 200 CE campaign with Liu Zhang already leading the faction means that you’ll no longer be able to complete Aspiration tasks. You’re only left with Inheritance rewards as you continue to progress.

Note 2: Fa Zheng is a unique strategist and he has the “Mock” ability (damage-over-time and melee debuff) that can target hostile generals. He’s available in the 194 CE and 200 CE start dates; he doesn’t appear in the 190 CE start date.

Note 3: Whoever leads the faction has a unique dilemma that pops up from time to time. It involves motivating your heir for higher XP gains at the cost of a temporary dissatisfaction penalty.

Note 4: Lastly, it’s possible for the Liu Yan/Liu Zhang faction to become King/Emperor upon reaching 500 prestige (no Emperor Seat is needed). This was even though the two are counted as “Regional Warlords” with the other Governor-type leaders. However, this was after I had passed Inheritance to another character (Ma Chao), and this experience comes from a pre-release build used while I was reviewing the Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided DLC.