Dynasty Warriors 6 – Ma Chao Guide
Xbox 360
Ma Chao Guide by Kresselack
Version: 1.0 | Updated: 02/29/2008
__________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Dynasty Warriors 6 (Shin Sangoku Musou 5) Ma Chao Character FAQ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________ Dynasty Warriors 6 Ma Chao Character FAQ Version 1.0 Created by: Kresselack the Black Wolf, on the 29th day of February, 2008 My email address is: MaBairui AT gmail DOT com Table of Contents: 1) Intro and Updates 2) Who was Ma Chao? 3) Changes Made in DW 6 4) How to Unlock Ma Chao 5) Move Set 6) Yes, Ma Chao Has no Musou Mode 7) Weapons 7a) Horses 8) Costumes, Stats, and Skills 8a) Ma Chao the Splendid 8b) Stats 8c) Skill Tree 9) FAQs 10) Credits and Thanks 11) Legal Information +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1) Intro and Updates +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When my friend first introduced me to the Dynasty Warriors series, I had read up on the generals in the games. Of the ones I read about, Ma Chao was the one that I became really interested in. To my dismay, my friend didn't have him unlocked when he brought the game over (He was stuck at Hu Lao Gate because he kept trying to kill Lu Bu). I bought the game later and quickly remedied that. Since my first DW game, Ma Chao has always been the first I try to unlock, the first to get his ultimate weapon, and the first to get maxed out. Updates: Future updates will be listed here. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2) Who was Ma Chao? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Born in the year 175 AD, Ma Chao died at the age of 47 in 222 AD The following is from the in-game encyclopedia: The eldest son of Ma Teng, he recieved the nickname "Ma Chao the Splendid" due to his skills as a warrior. In an attempt to avenge his father, he commanded an army of troops from Xi Liang to attack Cao Cao at Chang An, but lost. He later went on to serve Liu Bei, where he proposed numerous strategies, such as the capture of Han Zhong. He was counted among Shu's Five Tiger Generals. In battle Ma Chao would wear a lion-shaped helm. a belt with the faces of various beasts, and armor made of silver over a white robe. Seeing his majestic figure, people began calling him "Ma Chao the Splendid." It is said even the great warriors Cao Cao and Liu Bei used the nickname in awe upon seeing Ma Chao in the enemy lines. For more information on Ma Chao you may look at: http://www.kongming.net/novel/kma/machao.php http://www.kongming.net/novel/sgz/machao.php http://www.kongming.net/novel/sgz/machao-2.php In the game Ma Chao's greatest enemy is Cao Cao, and you will hear unique dialogue when the two battle each other. Shortly before Ma Chao died, he is said to have written something to this effect to Liu Bei: "I used to have some two hundred members in my household but they were mostly killed by Cao Cao, except for my younger cousin and follower Ma Dai. He is the only person left to continue the family line, hence I sincerely place him in your care and I will have no regrets." Ma Chao's friend in-game is Zhao Yun, and you will also hear unique dialogues when the two of them are fighting alongside each other. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3) Changes Made in DW 6 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dynasty Warriors 6 made some major changes to the game. Here I will list how they affect Ma Chao specifically. - All characters now attack off the right side of the horse, removing him from the exclusive Shadow Saddle domination club of DW 4 and 5 infamy. - Ma Chao has only 1 weapon design - Ma Chao has no Musou Mode of his own - Most of the usual pre-Shu Ma Chao battles are not in the game i.e. Tong Gate - Shares basic moveset with Taishi Ci, Sun Ce, Zhang He Those are the major ones I can remember right now. I was skeptical at first, too, but eventually the game, and the new Ma Chao, grew on me. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4) How to Unlock Ma Chao +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It is not difficult to unlock Ma Chao in DW 6. You need to unlock the Wei side of Battle of Han Zhong. The way to do this is to play Sima Yi's Musou mode to the 4th stage, which is Han Zhong. Once you have the stage, you can unlock Ma Chao in the Musou mode or on Free mode on any difficulty. Playing the Wei side of Han Zhong, you must complete the 2nd Target: Defeat Ma Chao, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun in 15 minutes. You must score the kills on them, as with other Kill X officer targets, or else you fail the target and will have to try again. It is not hard to do this target, you should start right near Zhao Yun, depending on which character you picked, anyway. Ma Chao will advance across the bottom of the map then head north up the west side, Zhang Fei advances north up the east side. Once you get the target done, you just need to complete the level, save, and Ma Chao is yours. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5) Move Set +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ma Chao uses the same but different moveset as Zhang He, Sun Ce, and Taishi Ci. If you're concerned that he's a 'clone,' try playing him before the others, that way it may seem like he is the master character and the others are the 'clones.' Regardless, there are some differences between the 4 spear users. The skill tree also helps provide some variation between them. Note: Buttons listed for moves are for the 360 version. Normal Attacks (X+): Right slash, left slash, upward-right slash, thrust, repeat. Renbu Level 2: Same as above, with another right slash and a spin-slash added at the end. Renbu Level 3: Same as level 2, with a left, then right slash, followed by a hard swing left and then a hard swing right at the end. Infinite Renbu: Same as level 3, with another left then right slash, followed by a series of slashes at the end. Power Attack (Y+): An upwards swing of his glaive, spins around and swings it again when button is hit again. Renbu level 2: Same as above, with a 3rd spin-swing available. Renbu Level 3: Same as above, with a 4th spin-swing available. Infinite Renbu: Same as above, with a thrust and airwave added to finish it. Held Power Attack(Y held): Does a little spin and performs a slash in a wide arc ahead of him (Not sure if it improves as Renbu is gained, saw no change) Dash Attack (X after the green glow shows up): Slides along the ground and slashes across the front Power Dash Attack (Y after the green glow shows up): Leaps forwards, doing a spinning slash in the air Jump Attack (X in the air): Slashes downwards ahead of him Jump Charge (Y in the air): Jumps even higher in the air, slashing his glaive down as he lands resulting in a small shockwave-like blast in front of him Mounted Attack (X+): Slashes to the right side of the horse, 4 hits, pause, repeat. Renbu level 2: Same as above, 5 hits. Renbu Level 3: Same as above, 7 hits. Infinite Renbu: Same as above, 9 hits. Mounted Power Attack (Y): Strong swing to the right side of horse Mounted Musou (B): Normal attacks, ending with a power attack Musou (B): Mainly the same as the basic attacks, on every thrust an air wave will be shot out as well, ends with a strong thrust, small shockwave thing, and an air wave. True Musou(B when near death): Adds flame element to the above and standard True Musou bonuses, adds a slash combo before the final thrust. Deadlock (Hit X rapidly to win): Kicks back the enemy and slashes them Grab (Hold LB and X): Stabs enemy, pulls spear around behind him and stabs again from the other side of his body Power Grab (Hold LB and Y): Does a flip-stab, then does a wide swipe around him Special (LT): Truespeed - Lets you move really fast and perform kills on the run. It also applies to your horse, resulting in insanely fast speed. Basic Attack (X while running): Same as normal dash attack, maybe better range Power Attack (Y): Same as normal Power dash attack, except greater range +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6) Yes, Ma Chao Has no Musou Mode +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ma Chao, along with 24 other characters, does not have a Musou Mode in DW 6. If there has been official word as to why that is so, I haven't seen it. It does make some sense, since some of the characters were in few, if any battles. That logic is completely negated since the farb campaigns of Lu Bu and Diao Chan exist, however. I do have to say that Lu Bu's Musou is some what entertaining, especially later on, so it does make up for the missing Musou modes, if only a little. Since Ma Chao does not get a Musou mode, you will be playing him in Free mode, unless you have someone to play as player 2 on co-op Musou modes with. Make-your-own-Musou: There are a few stages where Ma Chao is present that you can actually play. (Mt. Ding Jun, Han Zhong for example) Other than that, feel free to go after Cao Cao as much as you can, Ma Chao's thirst for justice will have it no other way. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 7) Weapons +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The weapons system has been redone for DW 6. Instead of the weapon itself granting additional attacks to the combo, the new Renbu system provides that. Similar to DW 5, there are 3 types of weapons. Standard, average attack, grants more range as renbu gauge fills. Skill, low attack, grants faster attack speed as renbu gause fills. And Strength, high attack, makes normal attacks stronger as renbu gause fills. Since Ma Chao does not get a Musou Mode, he only has one appearance for his weapon. (Musou Mode characters have one for each type, although if you look at Gan Ning's, for example, the Skill/Standard look like what a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade weapon would look like on older games, while the Strength is a 4th) Ma Chao's weapon does not look bad at all, and let's face it, most Ma Chao fans would rush to get his 4th, meaning they'd be looking at the same weapon design for the majority of their playtime anyway. Ironhorse Glaive - Standard Warsteed Glaive - Skill Dragonrun Glaive - Strength How to get the best weapon?: He Fei Castle on Chaos seems to be a good place for farming weapons. It's relatively easy to accomplish the targets and end the stage. For a detailed strategy for this see donthatemaleks Character/Horse Guide at GameFAQs. I suppose any difficult stage on Chaos difficulty should work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7a) Horses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horses are a deadly weapon in this game. They can be trained to level 5, and get a variety of skills. Since Ma Chao lost his exclusivity to right-side attacks, he doesn't feel nearly as unbalanced on a horse. He is still quite competent, and most of my 20,000+ K.O.s with him were acquired while mounted. Personally I like Renbu Gait on my horse, one of 2 skills it may acquire at level 4, that makes your Renbu not go down while you are out of combat. The other skills and element don't matter too much. Ice seems to be rarer than the other ones. If you want specific skills/element on your horse, remember not to save and re-load the game to try again. Also be careful going from 2-3 because if you get too many K.O.s on the horse you will jump to 4, meaning you may get what you were looking for at level 3, then get screwed over on 4 and have to do it all over again. Considers the world is the best eyes, followed by in clarity, miss nothing, and finally gazes into the distance. Body has Heavenly as best, and to be honest I am not sure how the others stack up. Untold power is low starting stats, high gains, Well-balanced is average for both, and superior is high start, low gain. If you get a horse with high attack/destruction, you can inflict massive damage on enemies. I had a horse with 400+ for both and was able to kill the super-powered Zhang Fei at Chang Ban in 3 charges. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 8) Costumes, Stats, and Skills +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I've given these their own sub-sections, so, read on if you're interested. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8a) Ma Chao the Splendid ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ma Chao, like any other character, has been changing in appearance as the games progress. The only thing that drastically changes really is his helm. In this game it is nearly gone, he has a golden circlet type thing instead, which exposes whitish-blonde hair. Here are links to his DW 6 appearance: http://koeiwarriors.co.uk/artworks/dw6/arts/a-machao.jpg http://koeiwarriors.co.uk/artworks/dw6/arts/a-machao2.jpg I think he looks pretty good, and there's really nothing to complain about as he *could* have ended up like Cao "I like armor" Ren or, shudder, Dong Zhuo. Thankfully, the latter's definitely not likely to happen, we hope. Secondary Costume: Reach level 25 as Ma Chao to unlock his second costume. He now has golden armor, yellow-blonde hair, and most of his clothing is yellow. Personally it looks like he fell into yellow dye to me, don't really like it. Voice Gallery: Reach level 50 as Ma Chao and you can then listen to all his dialogue in the Camp. Interesting note: In DW 6 if you play a character and fight an enemy that's that character, the enemy will use the other costume. (I don't recall if the other games did that or not) Quick way to see what their alternate costume is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8b) Stats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In DW 6 your stats increase as you gain levels or when you choose them at the skill tree. The maximum amount is 1000 for each, but only Lu Bu will have all 1000s, as far as I know. Since I do not have that many characters maxed out at the moment, I am not sure how Ma Chao compares, but he seems pretty good to me, mostly since he was the first one I maxed out. Ma Chao's Max Stats: Life - 946 Musou - 953 Attack - 976 Defense - 962 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8c) Skill Tree ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ma Chao's skill tree is in the shape of a horse, and was the first skill tree shape I noticed. To see his skill tree please go to: http://www.geocities.com/muninoshinyu/shinobu/ssm5/tree_eng_shu.html Ma Chao gets the standard ability + skills, renbu skills, and the following 'unique' skills: Horsemanship - Raises your horse's abilities to their fullest. Recovery - Improves effect of recovery items. Ice Resist - Nullifies ice elemental attacks. Thunder Resist - Nullifies lightning attacks. Spirit - Musou increases faster. Pouch - Allows you to carry up to 2 Tomes and they will appear more frequently. Bonus Special - Receive one Tome for every 300 K.O.s. Battlecry - Stuns nearby enemies while using your special attack. Rush - Inflicts heavy damage on weak enemies by touching them while using True Speed. Power Rush - Defeats weak enemies by touching them while using True Speed. Stamina - Increases the duration of your special attacks. Note: You will have enough points to get every skill upon reaching level 50. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9) FAQS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Q) Are there really no 4th weapons? A) Yes, as far as I know there aren't any ultimate weapons available. It's all down to luck now, just like finding horses. Q) Speaking of horses, how do I get the Shadow Runner/Red Hare/etc.? A) I'd expect a Horse FAQ to be on GameFAQs at some point, but you need to get a Considers the World for eyes/Heavenly for body horse. Dark dark black for Shadow Runner, Red for Red Hare, White for Hex Mark, they all do unique things though, so don't be too upset if you get an Auburn or Dapple. Level it up with Ma Chao, or any character with Horsemanship Skill. If it has the proper stats, all 485+ I believe, it will become a King of that type. If it was a Red horse, it will also change in appearance to DW 6's monster Red Hare. It seems to be all up to luck on obtaining the Consider/Heavenly mounts, too. Q) Why doesn't Ma Chao get a musou mode? A) I don't know, but most of the battles that should be in it aren't in the game, any way. Q) Will Chao be improved in the inevitable DW 6:XL? A) Again, I certainly don't know. I would imagine Pang De and the other lost characters will be making a return, possibly ultimate weapons will be added. Q) What's with Ma Chao's justice obsession? It makes me want to mute the TV! A) Much like Zhang He is obsessed with beauty, Ma Chao is obsessed with justice. He seems less spear-obsessed in this game, I can only recall his Musou attack talking about the spear. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 10) Credits and Thanks +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks to: http://koeiwarriors.co.uk/- For having the pictures of Ma Chao and other DW series stuff. Those involved with crafting this game, for obvious reasons. http://www.kongming.net/ - For their extensive selection of officer bios. GameFAQs, for obvious reasons. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 11) Legal Information +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2008 AD by B. A. Middleton
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