Total War: Three Kingdoms — How to play as Han Emperor Liu Xie

Major issues that you might experience

There are several problems that you could face if you’re trying to restore the Han Empire.

Emperor hot potato

This can happen often if you don’t own Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided and you chose an earlier start date. Then again, perhaps you’re a lower-ranked faction (i.e., a Marquis) or your Imperial Favor is fairly low compared to other warlords.

Basically, when you have Liu Xie in your clutches, then you’ll end up playing “hot potato” with the Han Emperor. There’s a good chance that Emperor Xian will go to another faction. That leads to a short romp where you try to recover him, only for him to escape once more. It does become very annoying.

This is akin to what you’ve experienced if you’ve tried A World Betrayed before. But, I do believe that it’s exacerbated at any point past 197 CE since Imperial Favor values are also taken into consideration. Indeed, it’s possible to see notifications where Liu Xie escapes to one faction only to end up in another (or back to the same faction) within the same turn. I told you, it’s “hot potato” mode.

Keeping the Emperor alive

If your faction is able to control the Han Emperor for a full year, then you’re presented with a dilemma as to what to do with him. Simply put, do not banish or kill the Han Emperor.

Normally, you’d choose to continue as the Prime Minister of the Han. The next time this dilemma fires would be after three years (15 turns). Oh, and in case the AI does control the Han Emperor, then there’s a good chance that it’ll continue as Prime Minister nonetheless.

A non-Han faction captures the Han Emperor

I’ve only seen this happen while playing as Yuan Shao in the 200 CE start date. Basically, I was swooping down toward Cao Cao’s territories, and I noticed that the Hero of Chaos left his capital (Chen – Suiyang) undefended. Guess who joined the party? It’s none other than my ally, Gong Du (the last Yellow Turban leader left standing).

Gong Du usually just frolics all over Yingchuan and Chen. But, if Cao Cao’s capital barely has troops, it’s possible for Gong Du to conquer it. Since he’s part of a non-Han faction, Gong Du will automatically force the Han Emperor to abdicate and remove him from play. This can happen from turn 8 to 15, mind you, so you really have to be quick.

An alternative is to actually declare war on Gong Du to make him back off. Sadly, you’ll look untrustworthy in the eyes of other leaders, and you’d get booted out of the Liu Bei-Gong Du alliance.

Note: Speaking of Liu Bei, I’ve never seen Gong Du reach Cao Cao’s capital before. Then again, that’s mostly because Lord Benevolence has a shorter distance to cover from Xiapi to Chen anyway.

An AI lord is the first one to be declared as King

This is another tough issue you’ll face if you wish to restore the Han Empire and play as Emperor Xian/Liu Xie in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided. In fact, this is particularly problematic if you do pick the DLC’s 200 CE start date as anyone but Cao Cao or Sun Ce.

Here are some tidbits:

• The 200 CE start date makes it extremely easy for the Little Conqueror to expand further. Without the northern lords to stop him, he can reach King rank around turn 20 to 25.
• Remember how it’s a requirement to have control of the Han Emperor first? Well, if an AI lord (i.e., Sun Ce) doesn’t control him and he manages to reach King rank first, then he’ll automatically force the Han Emperor to abdicate.
• When this happens, Liu Xie is removed from play and the Imperial Intrigue mechanic becomes null and void.
• Even if the Han Emperor is sitting cozy in your capital, he’ll still completely disappear. It may or may not have something to do with the “hot potato” mechanic.
• It’s possible that the game weighs the prestige, lands, and Imperial Favor of various lords to determine if Liu Xie would jump ship or not. If he ends up in Sun Ce’s clutches, that prestige boost would be enough to make him King. However, the AI might be guaranteed to always kickstart its own dynasty instead of restoring the Han.

That’s definitely a bummer, especially if you want to roleplay as lowly Liu Bei or anyone with fewer owned settlements. To be fair, I’ve only seen AI Sun Ce cruising to create the Kingdom of Wu in the 200 CE start date. Alternatively, you can go with an earlier start date, though you have to manage the “hot potato” game often.

As for governor-type lords, I’m not exactly sure if Liu Yan counts as one. Although I played his campaign, I decided to make Ma Chao my heir and, once he had 500 prestige rank, I was able to attain King rank without waiting for another lord to be declared first.

So, how exactly do we play as Liu Xie in Total War: Three Kingdoms? Well, let’s find out in the next section of our guide.