Lance

Master the Lance in Dynasty Warriors: Origins with our guide on its unique mechanics, powerful combos, and essential battle arts. Learn how to face tank and deal massive Fortitude damage.

The Lance is distinct from other weapons due to its unique mechanic. It allows you to take hits while holding different buttons plus Strong attacks to make those attacks more powerful. It is the only weapon where you can face tank enemies' hits and power up your own Strong attacks. The Crescent Blade is another semi-tanking weapon but has a completely different mechanic.

Combos:

1. Normal Attack x1 -> evade + forward + Strong attack to launch -> Strong attack -> Block + Strong attack -> Strong attack (air juggle) -> Strong attack. Optional: Chain (Special) Crouching Tiger Strike as soon as the last strong attack connects. You can only Chain that battle art if the enemy is still flashing white in the vulnerable state. It looks like a grab battle art but cannot actually connect if the enemy is not in the vulnerable state. If all connects, it will do about ~6-7 Fortitude damage, 7 if you start with a parry/counter. If no battle art is used, it will do ~4-4.5 Fortitude damage.
2. After Parry or Counter, hold Strong attack to charge -> evade + forward -> (no directional input) -> hold Strong attack to charge -> evade + forward -> (no directional input) -> hold Strong attack to charge. This combo consists of 3 charge attacks. This combo does the highest amount of Fortitude damage in the game (6) without battle arts. But in a real battle, it is difficult to connect. The reason is that after you launch the enemy and are charging up for the next attack, if an ally hits the airborne enemy, it can send him flying away out of your range or recover early. It is not the best combo to use with ally officers nearby. Also, it is best done after a counter which gives you more time to charge up.

Most useful battle arts:

• Tenacious Heart (TH): This is the core battle art because you cannot die by getting hit while it is active, except from Orange and Red attacks. At the same time, you auto-accumulate charge while getting hit without the need to actually charge up by holding the Strong attacks. This makes you more mobile as you can dodge those Orange attacks and still power up your charge Strong attack.
• Vengeful Stormquake (VS): This is another battle art that is almost always used. It swings 2 times, and you will not die or get staggered from Orange and Red attacks when mastered on its first swing. You can use its first swing to tank any attacks. To be safe, it is best to use TH and this battle art together, and you will never die.
• Battle Cry Blast: This is a better version of VS as you will not get staggered during its whole duration and can tank any attack, BUT this battle art costs a lot more bravery to use. So it is not a straightforward upgrade to VS. VS is preferred for its low cost as it can be used whenever it is needed.
• Dispersion Arrow/Boundless Sunburst: Instead of the above, you can pick one of these two to tank Orange and Red attacks. These are not better than the above but can be fun to play around with since they are rarely used. The Lance is probably the only weapon that can make these two battle arts somewhat useful.
• Crushing Earth Gambit: This battle art sounds great and works great in battle, functioning like VS and Battle Cry for tanking purposes. The only problem is that it costs 5 bravery, which is way too much. It would be a must-have if it cost like 3.
• (Special) Crouching Tiger Strike: This is one of the few battle arts for Lance that can chain after a combo for more Fortitude damage. The tradeoff is that if you use this battle art, you will not be using Palm Strike or Power Shot, and this battle art costs a lot more. It also has slower startup and less range than Power Shot.
• (Special) Ice Luan: The Lance lacks a high-cost, high-damage battle art. Ice Luan fits the bill perfectly.
• Inner Fire Fury: This battle art makes you a mini Lu Bu spamming normal attacks in rage mode and does not cost that much. But there are 3 problems with it: 1. It drains your health when using it, so you cannot use it whenever, even if you have enough bravery. 2. It has no stagger protection, meaning you can be hit out of it. 3. The biggest problem is not knowing which battle art it can replace and improve the weapon’s performance.

Recommended Final Setup:

• Tenacious Heart
• Vengeful Stormquake/Battle Cry/Crushing Earth Gambit: You have to pick one of these 3 to tank Orange and Red attacks.
• Dispersion Arrow/Boundless Sunburst: Instead of the above, you can pick one of these two to tank Orange and Red attacks.
• Special Move Palm/Power Shot/Crouching Tiger: Crouching Tiger allows for more combo attacks but costs a lot more.
• Special Ice Luan: This is your big finisher and for AoE attacks.
• Optional: Inner Fire Fury maybe.

Weapon Attributes:

• Damage to officers +10%
• Damage +10%, defence –5%
• Extend parry window
• Assault damage +10%
• Boost damage to Wushu when attacking officers by 10% (10% extra Fortitude damage).
• Charge Strong attack +15% damage

The attribute Charge Strong +15% damage is still being debated, as from a recent Changban army battle, charge attacks were not used that much. Vengeful Stormquake was mostly spammed, and Musou was used to recharge bravery. Perhaps Musou +10% is better.

Accessories: Red Dragon and D