Here are some cheap early-game lineups that can help you progress efficiently and save resources.
Dynasty Origins early-game lineup recommendations
A. Character Recommendation
At the center of our recommended formation is Liu Bei.
He is strong enough to carry the early game, and you can easily obtain 200 Liu Bei Shards in the Dragon Challenge opening event to improve him to 4-star.
(Dragon Challenge screenshot)
Talent: Benevolence gives Liu Bei a shield while dealing area INT DMG.
The Han Dynasty and Immortal Soul skills are unlocked at Lv.20, greatly increasing his ability.
Most of the free early-game characters are from Shu, so the S1 skill Han Dynasty can easily reach the maximum bonus of 4.
In testing, the S2 skill Immortal Soul can be triggered an unlimited number of times. It is equivalent to a continuous 5S buff for a hero, and combos with the free Huang Wudie from subscribing to generate a continuous buff to increase damage.
B. Character Recommendations
The first Shu light cavalry character when starting out. It activates S2 affinity skill with Zhao Yun, who is given out when you make your first recharge, increasing ATK by 30%.
Day 2 login reward and the key damage dealer, whom you should prioritize. Get shards from Battles. S1 skill Feather Meteor has high damage, and the 5S interval basically loops itself.
Deploy with Liu Bei to activate S2 affinity skill increasing ATK by 30%.
Free from subscription. Windchaser has a large area of effect and can instantly kill enemy archers/support in the same position. Reach Purple to unlock S3 skill Revenge and combine with Liu Bei's Immortal Soul to give Huang Wudie a constant buff.
Unlocked by achievements. Constantly supplies shards, and the first Shu healer/control character for new players. The talent Jade Rabbit Prayer heals heroes and troops over time.
S1 skill inflicts a control effect on an enemy hero for 4S.
S2 reduces male hero DEF by 30%. Most effective against shield-type heroes (all male).
From main quest, the first shield-type Shu hero when starting out. Shards are obtained from main quest trader/Arena shop/starter pack (30R). Forms Wild Beast affinity with Ma Yunlu, and Han Dynasty affinity with Liu Bei. When summoning beasts, beasts can draw the hate of the AI, making it a good front-row character.
A Gold Gongsun Zan or Ma Teng is guaranteed for your first 10x draw. Gongsun Zan is slightly stronger.
Ma Teng's talent has lifesteal, letting all allied light cavalry restore HP when attacking. The lifesteal is relatively weak and not a decisive factor in battles. Gongsun Zan and Zhao Yun trigger the talent Baima Brigade, allowing for one revive at full HP when all of Gongsun Zan's troops are killed.
S2 skill Cool Head gives up to 45% damage bonus when under a negative status effect, and is effective against back row archers/support/mages.
1st recharge character, obtained from recharging shards. Shards are hard to obtain, making ascension difficult, but it can achieve affinity with Liu Bei/Ma Yunlu/Gongsun Zan.
S1 skill increases total ATK by 10% for each enemy troop defeated.
Talent deals damage in a large area and causes Pierce, penetrating the front row to hit heroes in the back row.
The Armor Pierce affinity is activated when deployed with Huang Wudie, dealing heavy damage to enemy shield characters.
You have a fairly solid formation once you reach Lv.32 and unlock the 8th slot.
Liu Bei - Ma Yunlu - Huang Wudie - Huang Yueying - Meng Huo - Zhao Yun - Ma Teng/Gongsun Zan
For example, Liu Bei - Ma Yunlu - Huang Wudie - Huang Yueying - Meng Huo - Zhao Yun - Ma Teng form the following affinity.
The core affinity is Han Dynasty, Wild Beast, Armor Pierce (Zhao Yun - Huang Wudie), Burning Shot (increases Sun Shangxiang crit)
Since you have a lot of Shu characters, Han Dynasty greatly increases their survivability. Ma Yunlu will lead light heavy on one lane, able to fight against enemy infantry with Han Dynasty bonus plus Ma Teng's lifesteal effect. Increase Zhao Yun's survivability to consistently trigger his S1 skill.
C. Mage Recommendation
Shuijing/Zhou Yu
Although the main damage dealer is archer Sun Shangxiang, Zhou Yu increases the burst damage of Sun Shangxiang and all allied archers. Shuijing's advantage is that shards are easy to come by in the early game, allowing you to quickly ascend him and increase skill level.
D. Battles
Before we dive into PVP, you will need to understand how BR is calculated. Your total BR consists of all heroes/mages/troops/alliance stats/relics and all other BR boosts. In Dynasty Origins, total BR is the sum of all hero BR, rather than just the ones who are in use, inflating your BR, but PVP only counts your deployed heroes and relics. Arena battles are automatic and you cannot manually cast mage skills, meaning that you cannot interrupt opposing hero skill with them. You should be careful about choosing your opponent so that it doesn't cost you attempts.
Let's see how this formation works in battle.
Analysis:
Your BR is around 121k, while the enemy BR is around 126k. The 5000 difference is roughly equal to one character. First, you can see that the enemy 4/8/12 heroes are shield-type, without cavalry behind them. Place Liu Bei in slot 8 and bait 4/8 to attack him. Liu Bei's Immortal Soul can revive with a buff as long as your side is not destroyed, continuously reviving and giving a buff. Liu Bei does an excellent job in drawing enemy attention. The enemy lower lane is weaker, with one warrior bringing a group of light cavalry. We put Zhao Yun in slot 16, and both Yunlu and Ma Teng in the rear, and Sun Shangxiang furthest in the back, dominating the lower lane to hit the center enemy. Let's see how this works in battle.
At the start, Liu Bei is instantly killed by Zhao Yun's pierce, giving Zhao Yun a buff. The enemy turns around to attack Ma Teng, who gains a leech effect from affinity effects, preventing a quick kill of Ma Teng in the upper land.
About 6S later, Liu Bei has revived, pulling Zhao Yun's hate back onto him.
After drawing Zhao Yun's attention for 4s, Liu Bei is dead again, and Ma Teng in the upper lane gains a buff. With 30% total ATK and 50% Crit bonus, Ma Teng quickly takes out the enemy Ma Yunlu.
At this point, Zhao Yun can no longer hope to stop Ma Teng. By the time Liu Bei is killed and revived again, your Ma Teng has conquered the upper land and gotten close to the center enemy.
Liu Bei is back in action again and finds the chance to backstab Zhao Yun. Once Zhao Yun is dead, the only center enemy can no longer complete, resulting in victory for us.
Looking at the data:
The enemy has Purple Zhao Yun and Gongsun Zan, which explains the 5000 difference in BR. Purple Zhao Yun can unlock S3 skill, restoring 5% HP per enemy troop killed. Despite this healing, he continues to be shut down by Liu Bei. In combination with Gongsun Zan, he can revive all of Gongsun Zan's troops once. This gives some pressure to our lower land squads, but Dian Wei's physical and mental toughness prevented Gongsun Zan from hitting us in the black
This was a classic underdog fight. It wasn't easy beating an enemy with 2 powerful purple combos, but Liu Bei helped distract the enemy and create opportunities.
We hope you enjoyed this early-game formation recommendation!
