Abilities and Hero Characters (Total War: Three Kingdoms)

Example skill tree with numbering system

Each character in Total War Three Kingdoms has three major Ability skills that may be obtained during a game. With the exception of Yellow Turban characters, major ability skills are located at the centre row of the leftmost (#2), middle (#8), and rightmost (#14) items of the "Skill Tree".

Minor abilities also exist and are simply passive effects (small buffs or debuffs) bundled with certain skills on the tree. "Scare" and "Resistant to Fatigue" are 2 examples bundled (respectively) with Vengeance and Endurance, for example. Minor abilities that are available will appear on the MILITARY tab of a character's detail page along with available major abilities.

Be advised that the remainder of this article has to do with major Abilities, not minor ones.

Abilities Overview

Although major Abilities are part of the Character "skill tree", they are not equivalent to other Skills. Whereas Skills (and Traits and Ancillaries) can modify a character's effectiveness in all phases of the game (battle, in the campaign as an administrator, on assignments or in Court positions), major Abilities represent tactical mastery that is useful only in dueling and army combat scenarios. Buffs and Debuffs gained from Abilities can be enormously beneficial both offensively and defensively when used in the right circumstances.

• Every character, even a Level 1 character will have at least one Ability (Passive or Active Buff or Debuff) to go along with any existing skills on the tree.
• Abilities are classified as either active (player must directly activate the Ability by clicking the Ability button in the game interface) or passive (the player can wait for the Ability to be triggered by battle circumstances like proximity to other units, General's health, participation in a Duel, etc.). In any event, Abilities provide strong tactical advantages for characters and your units on the battlefield.
• There are common Buffs/Debuffs that are almost always granted by a character's class, but in some cases abilities may be rare or even unique to a specific Hero in the game.
• It's always useful for look for familiar characters with abilities you know they have when recruiting. Even generic characters have useful Abilities.
• When recruits pass through your territories, always keep your eyes open for Legendary, Semi-Unique and Unique characters due to the increased likelihood that they will have rare and sometimes unique Abilities as well as highly valuable and useful Ancillaries.

Abilities in Dueling

Abilities are an essential consideration when it comes to dueling since the duelist's Abilities and those of his allied supporting generals can massively influence the outcome of any given duel. It is important to keep in mind that Generals of all sides can Buff or Debuff the duelists, and it doesn't count as interference as it would if your retinues attacked the enemy duelist.

Abilities in Battles

When it comes to the outcome of any given battle, the use of abilities to affect both the retinues and nearby characters can be hugely influential. The proper use of Abilities can improve the performance of allied characters (Heroes or retinue units) in battle and can also seriously hinder the enemy Heroes and retinues.

Understanding and Using Abilities

In order to make the most of your characters' abilities, you can (and should) mouse over specific ability icons in each character's Skill Tree panel to see their detailed effects, parameters, duration and cooldown stats.

Active Buffs/Debuffs always require a left-click on the character's in-battle stat panel to activate. Active Buffs/Debuffs are always subject to a Cooldown period (30-120 seconds typically). Active Buffs/Debuffs typically have unlimited uses, but in some cases are limited to 1-4 uses in a given battle.

Passive Buffs/Debuffs are always available to be activated under specific battle conditions. Activation parameters include (for example) being within a specific range ("Effect range") from another Hero or retinue units, or when the Hero has reached a certain level of depleted health in battle. Most Passive Buffs do not have a limited Duration or a significant Cooldown and therefore they operate almost continuously whenever the activation parameters are satisfied.

Building your character's Abilities

Skill points are obtained when characters reach a fixed XP level through activity of any kind, whether on the battlefield or through administrative activities. New Abilities for all playable characters can be enabled in Campaign mode by assigning available skill points. You must unlock one or more skills adjacent to an Ability on the Skill tree in order to obtain additional abilities, and this is a time-consuming process. Therefore, building your character optimally (with the best mix of skills and abilities for their intended use in your faction) takes some planning and in most cases, a lot of patience.

List of Abilities (currently under Construction)

Active Buffs

Ability	Available to	Target	Can use if	Buffs	Effect range	Duration	Cooldown	Uses per battle	Restrictions
Mending	Champions (Bandits)	Generals	Targets are Within Effect range	+50% Armour, +50% Melee Evasion, 1K Heal Amount for 20s	35m	20s	60s	4	Not on Elephant
Unyielding Earth	Commanders	Generals and Retinues	Targets are Within Effect range	1900% Charge Resistance, 100% Melee Evasion	75m	30s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Stone Bulwark	Commanders	Generals and Retinues	Targets are Within Effect range	100% Ranged Block Chance, Unbreakable	75m	30s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Heavenly Presence	Cao Ren	Generals	Targets are Within Effect range	+10 Morale, 2K Heal over 60s	50m	60s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Binding Fury	Champions	Self	In Melee, Duel or under orders to Attack	5K Splash damage over 10s	Adjacent units	10s	60s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Flames of the Phoenix	Vanguards	Self	In Melee, Duel or under orders to Attack	2.5K Splash Damage over 10s	Adjacent units	10s	30s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Tempered Deflection	Sentinels	Generals and Retinues	Targets are Within Effect range	+50% Ranged Block chance	50m	20s	60s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Adamant Resolve	Sentinels	Generals and Retinues	Targets are Within Effect range	+50% Melee Evasion	50m	20s	60s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Into the Breach	Commanders & Champions	Generals and Retinues	Targets are Within Effect range	+50% Melee Charge Bonus, +15 Morale	75m	30s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Ancient Wisdom	Xun You	Self	Not in melee	+5000 Vision Range, +5000 Forest Spotting	5000m	180s	N/A	1	Not on Elephant
Inward Focus	Yue Jin	Self	Only useful if engaged in melee	+50% Melee Evasion, +100% Melee Attack Rate	Adjacent units	60s	60s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Inspiring Words	Liu Bei	Generals and Retinues	Most useful if engaged in melee	+25% Melee Evasion, +33% Melee Attack Rate, Unbreakable	50m	20s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
All Fronts	He Yi	Generals and Retinues	Most useful if engaged in melee	+10% Armour, +10% Melee Attack, Immune to Fatigue	75m	30s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Wall, Not Climbing, Not on Barricade, Not on Elephant

Passive Buffs

Ability	Available to	Trigger	Buffs	Effect range	Duration	Cooldown
Turning the Tide	Strategists	Routing enemy unit in Effect range	+25% Ranged Damage - (AP), 25% Ranged Damage - Base, +25% Melee Damage - Base, +25% Melee Damage - (AP), +10 Morale	100m	Infinite	N/A
Inspiring Surge	Strategists	Our Generals in Effect range	-2s Decreased cooldown of abilities	50m	Infinite	N/A
Earthen Rampart	Champions	Our Generals and Retinues are in Effect range	900% Charge Resistance	50m	Infinite	N/A
Imperious Presence	Cao Cao	Our Generals on the battlefield	-5s Decreased cooldown of abilities	Infinite	1s	4s
Nature's Ally	Commanders	Our Generals and Retinues are in Effect range	+25% Speed, +10 Morale, units ignore forest penalties	75m	Infinite	N/A
Vengeance	Champions	Under ranged attack	+50% Melee attack (Base & AP), enables Mighty Knockback	N/A	30s	N/A
Final Rush	Vanguards	Heath below 50%	+50% Speed, +50% Charge Speed, +50% Melee Charge Bonus for General	N/A	Infinite	N/A
Tenacity of Steel	Sentinels	In melee or Engaged in a Duel	Incrementally increases General's Base and AP Melee Damage for 60s; remains at +100% until disengaging	N/A	Infinite	N/A
Stalwart Defender	Xu Chu	Enemy General within Effect range	+70% Damage Resistance	35m	Infinite	N/A
Cry of the Forest	Dian Wei	Health Below 20%	+500% Melee attack (Base & AP), Causes Terror	N/A	Infinite	N/A
Foresight	Guo Jia	Enemy units within 5000m	+5000 Vision Range, +5000 Forest Spotting	5000m	Infinite	N/A
Stalker	Yan Baihu, Bandit Strategists	Must be in Forest	+30% Melee Evasion, +30% Range Resistant, Snipe enabled	50m	Infinite	N/A
One With the People	He Yi	Our Generals and Retinues are in Effect range	+15% Melee Evasion, +15 Morale	75m	Infinite	N/A
Familial Conflict	Yuan Clan	If in battle with friendly Yuan Clan members	+50% Melee Damage (Base & AP), +50% Melee Attack rate, +50% Melee Charge Bonus, +5 Morale	N/A	Infinite	N/A

Active Debuffs

Ability	Available to	Target	Debuffs	Effect range	Duration	Cooldown	Uses per battle	Restrictions
Wisdom of the River	Strategists	Enemy Generals & Retinues	-100% Melee Evasion, -100% Armour	50m	30s	120s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant
Roar of the Beast	Vanguards	Enemy Generals & Retinues	-18 Morale	50m	15s	60s	Unlimited	Not on Elephant

Passive Debuffs

Ability	Available to	Trigger	Debuffs	Effect range	Duration	Cooldown
Stifling Deluge	Strategists	Enemy Generals within Effect range	+5s Increased cooldown of abilities	50m	1s	4s
Scare	Champions, Vanguards	Near enemy units	Decreased Morale	Adjacent	Continuous	N/A

Active Buffs (Hybrid Effects)

Ability	Available to	Debuff Target	Debuffs	Buff Target	Buffs	Effect range	Duration	Cooldown	Uses per battle	Can use if	Restrictions
Hamstring	Champions	Enemy Generals and retinues	-50% Speed, +30s Cooldown of Abilities	Adjacent units	1.2K Splash damage to adjacent enemy General, Retinue units	Adjacent units	15s	30s	Unlimited	Given attack orders or Engaged in melee or a Duel	Not on Elephant
Impenetrable Redoubt	Yu Jin	All friendly units	-25% Attack Rate	All friendly units	+25% Melee Evasion, +25% Ranged Block Chance, +5 Morale	Infinite	Infinite	N/A	Unlimited	Not Routing, Defending against a stronger enemy force	Not on Elephant
Condemned Howl	Xu Chu	Self	-100% Ranged Block Chance, -100% Melee Evasion	Self	+900% Melee Damage (Base & AP), Unbreakable	Adjacent units	Unlimited	N/A	1	Health below 20%	Not on Elephant
Earth-Shattering Strike	Xu Chu	Self	-100% Melee Evasion	Self	6.2K Splash Damage	Adjacent units	10s	60s	Unlimited	Given attack orders or Engaged in melee or a Duel	Not on Elephant
Blazing Saddles	Xiahou Yuan	Self	Causes 50% Fatigue when the Buff (Phase I) ends	Self	+100% Melee Charge Bonus, +50% Charge Speed, Enables Mighty Knockback	Adjacent units	Buff (Phase I): 15s Debuff (Phase 2): 1s	60s	Unlimited	Only useful when charging into melee.	Not on Elephant
Tactical Withdrawal	Yan Baihu	Self, Retinues within Effect range	-33% Melee Attack Rate	Self, Retinues within Effect range	+20% Speed, +20% Melee Evasion	50m	30s	60s	Unlimited	Disengaging from battle	Not on Elephant
Poison Volley does not require bow ancillary	Yan Baihu	Self	-33% Ranged Attack Rate, -33% Melee Attack Rate	Enemy Generals & Retinues	333 Ranged Damage - Base (x10), 60 damage over 30s	200m	30s	60s	4	Not in Duel	Not on Elephant
Judgement	He Yi	Self	-50% Melee Damage - Base	Self	6.2K Splash Damage over 30s	Adjacent units	30s	15s	Unlimited	Given attack orders or Engaged in melee or a Duel	Not on Elephant

Gallery

Total War- Three Kingdoms - The Generic Character Skills Guide- Champions

Total War- Three Kingdoms - The Generic Character Skills Guide- Vanguards

Total War- Three Kingdoms - The Generic Character Skills Guide- Sentinels

Total War- Three Kingdoms - The Generic Character Skills Guide- Strategists

Total War- Three Kingdoms - The Generic Character Skills Guide- Commanders