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Total War Three Kingdoms Fates Divided Yuan Shao Captain Armory Guide

Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided — Yuan Shao Captain Armory and Lineage guide

O Captain! My Captain!

When the going gets tough, the Fatuous Lord gets going. Here’s our guide to help you with Yuan Shao’s unique faction mechanics — Captain Armory and Lineage — part of a free update that coincides with the release of Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided.

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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 – Yuan Shao’s Captain Armory and Lineage

How Lineage works

For the sake of clarity, Yuan Shao’s Lineage mechanic has been around well before the Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided DLC. However, the free update does tweak it a little bit.

Anyway, Lineage points are gained via the following means:

  • Yuan Shao leads an army – 5 points each turn.
  • Yuan Administration Office buildings – From the third building tier onwards, you’ll get 1/2/4 points each turn.
  • Winning a battle – 15 points.
  • Losing a battle – 5 points.
  • Each Northern Army unit you recruit – 10 points.
  • Each new army you raise/deploy – 10 points.

Note: You no longer gain Lineage from having alliances or coalitions.

Total War Three Kingdoms Fates Divided Yuan Shao Captain Armory Guide 1

What’s it used for?

Lineage is used in the following actions:

  • Recruiting an officer in your court – 10 points; this lets Yuan Shao get more officers without spending a dime (except for their salaries).
  • Choosing the “Secure & Occupy” option when you capture a settlement – 50 or 75 points depending on the settlement; this boosts faction support, military supplies, garrison replenishment, and army replenishment.
  • Obtaining Captain Armory perks.

Total War Three Kingdoms Fates Divided Yuan Shao Captain Armory Guide 2

What are captain retinues?

Like Sun Jian, Yuan Shao and his generals are able to recruit captain retinues (Shao doesn’t even need an outpost building just to recruit them). Here are some key differences when you recruit captains and their retinues:

  • Captains can’t lead armies. An officer has to be fielded first. Once you click on the plus sign, you’ll see a tab for captain retinues. You’ll need to spend gold on their recruitment and upkeep costs.
  • Since they can only supplement armies, once all officers in an army are removed, the captains also disappear. Likewise, if a captain’s retinue is wiped out, it’s gone for good.
  • Captain retinues have fixed unit types, and most are low-tier. These can’t be changed at all.
  • Captain retinue units are garbage and they’ve got low morale. They’re primarily there for the early to mid-game when you just need more soldiers to swarm and outnumber stronger armies.

Total War Three Kingdoms Fates Divided Yuan Shao Captain Armory Guide 3

Captain Armory perks

However, with the free update that’s releasing alongside Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided, Yuan Shao now has the Captain Armory. It provides the means to upgrade captain retinues using Lineage points.

There are five upgrade tiers that require you to be at a particular Lineage value (30/60/100/150/300) just so you could purchase certain perks. Oh, and to be clear, only two of these — “Captain Missions” and “Increase Army Limit” — have faction-wide effects. The remaining upgrades are specific to a captain retinue.

Captain Armory Perk/Upgrade Tiers Perk/Upgrade Lineage Cost
Tier I Captain Missions (more on these in a while) 0
Guerrilla Deployment 30
+20% melee damage 30
+10% melee attack rate 30
+15% melee charge bonus 30
Tier II Unit Training (+25 bonus EXP each season) 60
+7% attack range 60
Enable caltrops 60
+10% armor 60
Enable flaming arrows 60
Tier III 10% replenishment in foreign lands 100
+15 military supplies in enemy territory 100
+5 morale 100
+10% melee evasion 100
Enable poison arrows 100
+15% ranged firing rate 100
+50% ranged ammunition 100
Tier IV Whitewater ability (increases enemy officer ability cooldown) 150
Enable unbreakable 150
+20% ranged damage 150
Enable stalk 150
+25% battle running speed 150
Enable smokescreen 150
Tier V Increase Army Limit (+3 available armies) 300
Formations (enables circle, shield wall, spear wall, wedge, and many others) 300
Ambush Battles (chance to ambush when initiating an attack) 300
+10% ranged block chance 300
Enable terror 300

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Regarding “Captain Missions,” this should be the first one you unlock the moment you start Yuan Shao’s campaign in Total War: Three Kingdoms. You’ll receive three tasks here that provide increasing faction-wide bonuses. These tend to be quite passive affairs, and you’re likely to complete them as you progress further.

Captain Mission Requirements Effect
Pursuit: Maneuver Kill 100/300/500 enemies with captain retinues Upkeep cost for mercenary units reduced by 10%/20%/30%
Pursuit: Enlistment Recruit 3/5/7 different captain retinues +25/35/60 Lineage points
Pursuit: Triumph Win 3/5/7 battles with captains in your army Recruitment cost for captain retinues reduced by 10%/25%/45%

As for the perks/upgrades themselves, try not to overdo it. As mentioned, these captain retinue units are still crap compared to what you can obtain. Plus, given that Yuan Shao has the opportunity to unlock Northern Army units, you don’t really want to get saddled with militia troops once you’re King.

At best, you might use Lineage points on specific retinues that have earned their keep throughout the campaign. For the most part, though, you’ll be using Lineage points for officer recruitment and the “Secure & Occupy” option when capturing settlements.

In any case, now that you know about Yuan Shao’s Lineage and Captain Armory mechanics, it’s time to head straight to his 200 CE campaign in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided.

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Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.


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Jason Rodriguez
Jason Rodriguez is a guides writer. Most of his work can be found on PC Invasion (around 3,400+ published articles). He's also written for IGN, GameSpot, Polygon, TechRaptor, Gameskinny, and more. He's also one of only five games journalists from the Philippines. Just kidding. There are definitely more around, but he doesn't know anyone. Mabuhay!
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