How To Defeat Zhang Jiao In Dynasty Warriors: Origins

One of the first real challenges that players will face in Dynasty Warriors: Origins will probably be the fight against the head of the Yellow Turbans, Zhang Jiao. Here’s how you can defeat him.

How To Fight Zhang Jiao’s First Phase

The first phase will be a one-on-one fight in a large wasteland. In this phase, Zhang Jiao will use sorcery to throw stones across the arena at you. If you’re close, he’ll summon four stones, requiring you to quickly evade. If you’re far away, he’ll summon twice as many and throw them at you in sets of two, which you can dodge simply by running around him. If you’re close to him when he summons his large supply of stones, gain some distance or else you’ll take a ton of damage as they pelt into you. 

While most of his attacks are ideal at keeping you away, he does have a few close-range attacks. He has simple combos that you can parry as well as an AOE attack designed to push you away. If you see him start to glow white, he’s charging for his AOE, so back off or you’ll take damage.

After a bit, he’ll start using moves that give him a red aura, meaning those attacks can’t be canceled. These will involve him summoning a massive amount of rocks to drop around him, and summoning several clones. The simplest way to deal with these attacks is to back off and wait until his attack ends before continuing your assault. As you fight, make sure you have a sword equipped as that will allow you to deal a decent amount of damage as opposed to spears or gauntlets.

The key thing to be aware of is to keep track of your health. Most likely you’ll only be able to heal four times depending on what skills you have upgraded. Keep in mind that there are jars by the entrance to the arena that have meat buns, so whenever you back off from Zhang Jiao’s attacks and need to heal, run back to the entrance and take some of the buns. 

How To Fight Zhang Jiao’s Second Phase

Once you unlock Musou Rage, the second phase will begin, where the Yellow Turbans will appear to assist Zhang Jiao. Thankfully, your army will appear to aid you too, allowing you some breathing room. If you need to heal, this would be the best time to do so by running to the entrance and nabbing those juicy meat buns. Zhang Jiao will summon tornados to throw you around, so as you’re slaughtering his soldiers, make sure to be aware of the wind or you’ll be thrown off.

After defeating enough of his soldiers, Zhang Jiao will attempt a Grand Tactic. During this time, you’ll have to defeat 300 soldiers in only a few minutes or risk a massive attack that will probably defeat you. To make matters worse, Zhang Jiao will begin to summon lightning to rain down on the arena. Watch your feet to see when a ring begins to close in on you and evade when the ring flashes. The most efficient way to defeat the Yellow Turbans in time would be to use Musou Mode, which, if timed properly, can kill several dozen at once. While you may have unlocked Musou Rage Mode, given the time constraints, sticking to the basic Musou mode is probably the best.

Once you foil Zhang Jiao’s Grand Tactic twice, he’ll emerge onto the battlefield once more with the same tactics from Phase 1. Thankfully, with the assistance of your army, it should be pretty easy to wipe out his remaining health, ending Chapter 1.

And that’s how to beat Zhang Jiao in Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is now available on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.