For the character, see Shi Xie
Shi Xie is a playable faction in Total War: Three Kingdoms added by a DLC bearing the same name. It starts the campaign in southern China, located in Jiaozhi commandery. The faction exists in 190, 194, and 200. Gaining a rank as a duke, king, or emperor renames the faction to Ba.
Ba is a Han loyalist faction and cannot declare themselves emperor upon obtaining the rank of king. However, Ba can become emperor by capturing an existing imperial seat belonging to another faction.
Unique Features[]
- Unique Units
- None
- Unique Buildings
- None
- Unique Features
- Splendour
- Tribute Chest
- Bonds of Family
Splendour[]
Splendour is the unique faction resource of Shi Xie. It reflects his patriarchal attitude, as Splendour is exclusively gained by appointing family members to positions of power. This can be done by giving family members a court position, making them administrators, or vassal faction leaders. Unlike most faction resources, Splendour has no natural decay and can be collected slowly. Splendour comes in three tiers, ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 260. At the highest tier, Splendour grants satisfaction and public order alongside a bonus in trade influence. Its main use, however, is to buy Tribute Chests.
The tiers of Splendour are as follows:
Unnoticable (0-65)
- You do not have enough Splendour to purchase any Tribute Chests.
Your domain holds few beauties and riches. Those who pass through it leave unimpressed, and those who do not come will never hear of it.
Dazzling (66-130)
- You have enough Splendour to purchase one Tribute Chest.
- +10% trade influence
Your domain is impressive to behold. It is a veritable hub of trade, culture and study. Those who inhabit it observe with reverence, and your land draws in immigrants and passersby in droves.
Godlike (130-260)
- You have enough Splendour to purchase multiple Tribute Chests.
- +10 satisfaction (faction-wide)
- +5 public order (faction-wide)
- +25% trade influence
Your domain is of legendary beauty and affluence. Those who pass through it rarely leave, and your legend will echo through the ages.
Tribute Chests[]
Tribute Chest menu
Once Shi Xie has saved up at least 65 Splendour, he can purchase a Tribute Chest. Tribute Chests are boosts to anything from income to diplomacy to the military of Shi Xie's faction. When a Tribute Chest is bought, it is stored and does not go into effect until manually activated. When activated, the boost cannot be cancelled and will run its course for twenty turns. In total, there are six Tribute Chests to be bought and they can be activated all at once if Shi Xie was to save them up.
Tribute Chests come in three categories: Diplomatic Tribute, Regional Tribute, and Personal Tribute. Diplomatic Tribute Chests are applied faction-wide, Regional Tribute Chests are applied to a commandery, and Personal Tribute Chests are applied to a character. Chests also have a diplomatic function, as they can be traded with other factions. This means that they can be used as a diplomatic tool besides their use as a mere boost.
The six chests are as follows:
Trader's Chest
- +15% trade influence (if leader, heir or prime minister)
A chest for a trader, with coin scales and coins from various regions.
Diplomat's Chest
- +15 diplomatic relations with all factions (if leader, heir or prime minister)
A chest for a diplomat, filled with treatises and writings.
Economist's Chest
- +10 public order (local commandery)
- +15% income from all sources (local commandery)
A chest for an economist, containing tools and guidelines to incentivise a region to generate more profit.
Industrialist's Chest
- -2 construction time (local commandery)
- +15% replenishment (own armies in local commandery)
A chest for an industrialist, filled with materials to help boost labour productivity in a region.
Lord's Chest
- +15 to all attributes
- +25 satisfaction
- +50% character experience
A chest for a lord, containing the finest of luxuries, fit for a court member of the highest standing.
Commander's Chest
- +15% melee evasion (own retinue)
- -10% recruitment time (own retinue)
- +10 morale (own retinue)
- +10% melee attack rate (own retinue)
A chest for a commander, with martial treatises as well as exquisite military materials.
Bonds of Family[]
Bonds of Family is a minor passive effect for Shi Xie's faction. It significantly reduces the cost to adopt characters – such as prominent generals – into Shi Xie's family. Paired with his Splendour gain from assigning characters of his family to positions of power, adopting courtiers, administrators, and vassals is a good way for Shi Xie to significantly increase his Splendour gain.
Starting Situation[]
Rise of the Warlords (190)[]
190 - Shi Xie (Blue), Enemies (Red)
Shi Xie has wisely, and insidiously, kindled the favour of the Han, for he is cunning of mind and a barrier against threats from distant lands. His rise was won through the strength of his family's deep and noble lineage, and not-insignificant personal favours to the powerful. Shi Xie benevolently welcomes the needy and the destitute to his lands, all-the-while planting his own family members into positions of power. For as surely as Shi Xie gives generously, he also takes advantageously...
Start: Hard
Shi Xie starts the campaign in Jiaozhi commandery. He is at war with three minor warlords: Qu Pan to the south and Ying Shao and Zhou Huan to the north. After taking out the three warlords, he is in a prime position to expand into the abandoned land to the northeast by defeating Liang Qing. Alternatively, he can expand westwards into Nanman territory. Due to the lack of any nearby major warlords nearby – the closest being Sun Jian – Shi Xie will most likely have a relatively tranquil early campaign if he defeats the three minor warlords, and will be in a decent position to become a superpower that dominates southern China.
A World Betrayed (194)[]
194 - Shi Xie (Blue), Shi Wei (Green), Enemies (Red)
Shi Xie has wisely, and insidiously, kindled the favour of the Han, for he is cunning of mind and a barrier against threats from distant lands. His rise was won through the strength of his family's deep and noble lineage, and not-insignificant personal favours to the powerful. Shi Xie benevolently welcomes the needy and the destitute to his lands, all-the-while planting his own family members into positions of power. For as surely as Shi Xie gives generously, he also takes advantageously...
Start: Normal
Shi Xie's power in the World Betrayed campaign has grown significantly since 190. His brother, Shi Wei, now has his own vassal faction under Xie. He is at war with two minor warlords to the east: Zhou Huan and Lin Jun. His options to expand are somewhat limited, however, as there is less abandoned land to the east and the Nanman have become more centralised under a smaller amount of leaders. Despite this, there is still plenty of room for the governor to expand and grow into a major power in China.
Mandate of Heaven (200)[]
200 - Shi Xie (Blue), Vassals (Green), Yan Lin (Red)
Shi Xie fosters the goodwill of those around him, that he might better enjoy their favour whilst nurturing his own ambitions at the same time. He has gained favour with the ailing Han government as a barrier against the tribes of the south, and with this favour he has placed his family into positions of power throughout the land. Yet as the Han diminishes, Shi Xie's lands are seen by other warlords as ripe for the taking; he will have to fight well to maintain his light in a dimming world...
Start: Very Hard
Shi Xie's situation
Shi Xie does not have missions in the Fates Divided campaign. Shi Xie is not in a great position. While his army of vassals has grown to four factions, the governor is significantly weaker than he was in 194. A minor warlord – though he possesses a large amount of territory – Yan Lin to the north threatens to take out some of Xie's weaker vassals, such as Shi Huang and Shi Yi. If he defeats Lin, he has new problems to contend with, however. North of Yan Lin is another governor: Liu Biao. Biao has carved out a gigantic domain for himself and poses a major threat to the factions of southern China, including Shi Xie. Xie's expansion options are also limited, as the Nanman stand largely unified under Kings Meng Huo, Mulu, and Shamoke. His eastern expansion is also hampered by Sun Ce, who will also be a threat to Shi Xie.