Duels in Total War Three Kingdoms Total War Three Kingdoms guide, tips
Last update: 05 June 2019
Total War: Three Kingdoms allows players to choose from two game modes - Romance and Records. As part of this first, the generals that make up the army are virtually half-gods - they're units capable of destroying of dozen enemy units. At the same time, these units can engage in combat with enemy generals on the battlefield. How this mechanics works, how to initiate it and what to remember about - all has been explained in this chapter of our guide.
Duels - The Basics
When the two armies will start a battle on the battlefield, this may lead to a Duel between the generals. This is nothing else but a 1 vs 1 clash - the generals will fight without the participation of the nearby army until one of them falls to the ground, runs away, or the duel time ends. Duels can be initiated by the player - by activating the button visible at the bottom of the screen, above the portrait of the General. They can also be initiated by the enemy - then the corresponding window will appear on the screen.
In both cases, the screen will display information about who takes part in the fight, as well as the estimated strength of both heroes. Therefore, it will be possible to understand that whether you have a chance to win the battle and whether it is worth participating in a duel with your general. Duel is quite linear - the generals just cut and strike each other, causing lots of damage to each other. Depending on the results of the duel one of the generals receives a powerful increase bonus, that increases the morale of his army. The general who is the looser is going to receive a penalty. During the duel other generals and their armies usually fight on the battlefield.
Duel results
Duels can end in several ways, and each of them will significantly affect the further course of action. The results can be as follows:
- The General wins the duel. In such a situation, the enemy general will be killed, and the morale of his army will receive a powerful blow - in extreme cases, this can lead to the escape of enemy troops. The winning General, in turn, will receive a bonus for his stats as well as his army.
- The General loses the duel. Change of roles - the enemy and his army gets bonuses, Your General will be killed and the morale of Your army decreases dramatically.
- General runs from the battlefield, or his troops begin to fight - in such a situation, the army of fleeing General receives a huge penalty to morale (and when he flees from the duel he may escape from the battlefield). The troops of the other side get strengthened.
- Time of a duel ended. The duel is interrupted, the General (and his army) who was in a lost position (he is weaker) gets a bonus and the opponent (and his army) gets punished.
Duels - General Tips
Finally, it is worth mentioning a few tips on this mechanics, such as:
- Duels are a great way to eliminate an enemy General from combat. Although they don't have to end with the death of the enemy. It's enough to disable him for a while from the fight. This is especially true of generals who are great in clashes with other units, or offer powerful bonuses for their units.
- Winning a duel, or keeping the one in which your General could lost, can change your chances for victory. This applies, in particular, the battles in which the enemy has quantitative superiority - the elimination of one General from the game will significantly weaken the enemy, and in extreme cases it can even cause the enemy to flee from the battlefield.
- The elimination of the General from the battlefield will make his troops very vulnerable. When you manage to break the morale of these types of units, they will escape from the battlefield. Then, the enemy will not be able to regain control over them. This means that very quick elimination of the enemy General could mean the elimination of 1/3 of the whole army of the enemy.