You can find the tier list of weapons performance in DYNASTY WARRIORS ORIGINS in this guide.
Weapons Tier List
A good BA kit is a must when fighting large forces, so even if the weapon has strong standard attack ranges, a weak BA kit will overwhelm it. This time I will weigh a weapon’s performance based on its viability in single combat and large crowds of officers. Remember that all weapons are powered by SP, Power Shot BA, and Huanglong & 60% Defense spells.
S Tier
Halberd
Little needs to be said. It’s Lu Bu’s weapon. Insane battle arts. Incredible range with a C6 that can stagger any enemy, even through their True Musou phase. The strong string is a tad slow to ramp up, but that’s only an issue if you start your attack string with strong attacks. It can easily be mitigated by using 4/5 normals at the beginning. Rage mode consists of wide sweeping ranged attacks with which is incredibly easy to abuse. This weapon is unparalleled, but it still has some weaknesses. Steed Blitz, while strong, is very prone to interruption. Time is not completely paused during its animation, so you might find yourself being interrupted as your horse lands for the big finish. And while the BA itself has the potential to interrupt any enemy attack, it’s only capable of doing so during the horse’s arrival sequence, and it won’t interrupt anyone close to you, leaving you open to interruption yourself. Again, it’s a very strong BA that’s worth using, but its use in large army engagements can be questionable. Still, because the Halberd has such an amazing kit for crowd clearing already, you don’t have to rely on this BA as much, making its shortcomings less problematic.
- Single Combat: S
- Large Armies: S
- Recommended BAs: Sky Crusher, Dance of the Demon, Steed Blitz
A Tier
Wheels
I wanted to put this at the same tier as the Halberd at first, but I couldn’t do it. It’s still above the competition, but it’s not nearly as dominate as the Halberd. It has exceptional range and an incredibly easy to abuse dash-recovery string that spawns two circling rings around the player for a duration. Paired with its fantastic selection of BAs that can spawn more wheels for recovery, this weapon can easily be spammed to take out large groups of enemies and dissolve fortitude. The only caveat is its high skill ceiling. Getting the timing down will take practice, but you unlock a perk at level 5 that makes the timing more forgiving. Also, it has one of the best AOE BAs in the game in Tiger Blast, albeit it’s quite costly since it doesn’t have a cost reduction for mastery like most other end game AOE options. I found myself using Flowing Lotus Gambit more often due to its cheap cost and ability to generate 5 wheels. It’s easy to abuse the recovery mechanic with this BA. I will add that the performance of this weapon does suffer a bit in 1 on 1 encounters since dash-recovery spam can make tracking a single target quite tough, but it’s still worth using due to the damage & bravery generation potential.
- Single Combat: A
Large Armies: S - Recommended BAs: Claw of the Predator, Flying Lotus Blast, Twin Tiger Blast
Crescent Blade
This weapon is moving up a tier due to its incredible performance in large engagements. While a tad slow, its wide sweeping attacks does an amazing job at generating bravery and ramping up its weapon mechanic, allowing you to do 3 fortitude damage with its block+heavy(held) attack at level 2, which is equivalent to a lot of mid-late game BAs that cost 5 bravery. What really catapults this weapon to A tier is Great Mountain Throw, which procs quickly, has what I believe is the largest AOE from a BA in the game, and can interrupt any attack, including red unblockables, which also makes it a great tool for single combat. However, it does function a little differently compared to most AOEs. For one, its damage is frontal. Positioning everyone in front of you could be an issue, but because of its 180-degree radius and immense range, it’s worth the tradeoff. The second caveat is that it procs off a single strike, meaning it could whiff if you activate during an inopportune moment. The strike is very similar to the Palm Strike though, so it does have decent range and it will teleport a short distance to connect. To round up the kit, you have Azure Dragon Bellow as a medium cost BA that scales off the weapon’s ramp up mechanic, and Burst Wave Slash, a cheap BA with solid fortitude damage that’s best used to finish off combos. Note There’s currently an exploit with Great Mountain Throw that allows you to double your damage. By holding onto the shoulder RB/R1 button and activating power shot right after Mountain Throw’s damage ticks, you’ll do double damage to both health and fortitude. There’s a possibility that this exploit works with other BAs, notably Palm Strike and more importantly Heaven & Earth’s Wrath, which operate in the same manner as Mountain Throw. More testing is needed.
- Single Combat: A, S+++ with exploit
Large Armies: S - Recommended BAs: Bursting Wave Slash, Azure Dragon Bellow, Great Mountain Throw
Gauntlets
Moving up from B to A is the Gauntlets. I grossly undervalued its potential in large engagements. While its standard attack strings are still focused on short-ranged attacks, it has a great collection of AOE BAs that allows it to clear huge crowds without issue. Its standard attack strings are not without AOE support either, with access to both a siphoning attack and some frontal AOE strings. Its ability to generate bravery is somewhat limited though since it can’t take advantage of huge mobs with its standard attacks in the same way that both the Crescent Blade and Halberd can. When you do have enough bravery though, Heaven and Earth’s Wrath will clear your immediate area and do a ton of fortitude damage. It procs the same way as Great Mountain Throw, via a strike, except the AOE consists of a circle around you. Wrath of Earth is a great budget version of this BA should you find yourself in smaller engagements.
- Single Combat: S
Large Armies: A - Recommended BAs: Wrath of Earth, Heaven & Earth’s Wrath
Spear
While the weapons are not listed in order of strength, the spear does sit at the bottom of the A tier. There’s simply too much focus on frontal attacks, making it a relatively hard weapon to use in large engagements. Thankfully, the weapon is agile, so it can still perform. You’ll just have to worry a bit more about positioning. With that said, it’ll devour anything in front of you. It has a good selection of BAs. Dragon Flash can melt almost a full bar of fortitude. Its range is immense, equal to Great Mountain Throw or better, but it’s AOE is a narrow straight line, limiting its use in large engagements. And like the rest of his kit, it only damages what’s in front of you. There are some BA options for crowd control, but they’re lackluster at best. I found it best to focus on what the spear is good at, small engagements and single combat. Being one of a handful of weapons with a dedicated BA that sets up a counter, I think its fair to say that this weapon is a dueling specialist. Pair it with Rising Dragon Vortex and you’ll be winning a majority of your duels.
- Single Combat: S
Large Armies: A- - Recommended BAs: Piercing Vengeance, RIsing Dragon Vortex, Dragon Flash
B Tier
Sword
Yes, the beginner weapon. Agile, decent range and good selection of battle arts that includes possibly the best value BA in Divine Eagle Dance, a large AOE BA for only 6 bravery. Like the Halberd, it also has a C6 that can interrupt anything. And while its range is shorter than the polearm weapons, it’s serviceable. It is a versatile weapon that will fit any playstyle. Now, I must knock this down a tier since its evaluation in large army battles is only average due to its middling range. Its C5 + Aerial Heavy does have crowd clearing potential but makes positioning a nightmare due to the already chaotic battlefield. UW challenges often have you taking down a single lead officer within a time limit, so it’s imperative that you keep track of your target. Dashing across the battlefield makes this quite tough. Additionally, Divine Eagle Dance is incredibly unsafe to use with multiple officers around. The animation is quite long, and you’re just standing around the whole time. It doesn’t negate its usefulness in single combat & small enegements, but when you’re engaging 3 – 5 officers at once, it can become quite hard to activate.
- Single Combat: S
Large Armies: B- - Recommended BAs: Fickle Fury, Shadowless Blade, Divine Eagle Dance
Podao
Moving up from C to B is the Podao. I severely undervalued the BA, Sea of Flames, which absolutely melts fortitude due to its DOT effect. Its AOE is somewhat small though limiting its use outside of small engagements and single combat. It’s also not stackable, like someone here has suggested. Outside of this, the weapon’s focus on charged attacks and average reach makes it somewhat weak to large scale engagements. Because so much of the kit, including the BAs, requires charging for optimal damage, you leave yourself open to interruptions. It does hit hard, and you can clear plenty of content with it, but you likely won’t be clearing large armies with this weapon. Like most weapons, it has a large AOE BA that’s a single chargeable sweeping slash. It’s quite strong, and I believe its range is close to Dragon Flash from the spear kit at full charge, but again, you’ll have to charge it. It can perform against large forces, but you’ll have to pay attention to your positioning.
- Single Combat: A+
Large Armies: B - Recommended BAs: Sea of Flames, Blade Typhoon, Burgeoning Devastation
Twin Pikes
The first time I spoke about this weapon, I thought it was the best aside from the Halberd. While it’s still a great weapon, it’s severely hampered by its terrible BAs. Like I’ve mentioned at the start, good BAs are an absolute necessity for large scale engagements, especially when you’re targeting a the lead officer for a challenge. Generally, you need a good cheap BA that costs between 3-4 bravery, a good mid-tier BA that costs 5 bravery, and a massive AOE that costs between 6-8. It doesn’t have anything that fits the criteria of the first two, but it does have one flashy AOE BA in Sky Sunder. However, its radius is somewhat small, and it doesn’t pause time like the best AOE BAs, meaning your target might move outside of the targeted area. With that said, it’s still a good BA that does a good chunk of fortitude damage, and the pikes still have one of the better standard attack strings that’s both effective and easy to use. Hitting the enhanced attack at the end of a strong string is very satisfying. Also, its dash strong attack is one of the best for clearing trash mobs. The heavy attacks coming off a standard string should be avoided in large engagements though, since it roots your character, making it unsafe.
- Single Combat: A
Large Armies: B - Recommended BAs: Battle Roar, Sky Sunder
C Tier
Lance
Preface, I LOVE playing this weapon. It’s a very fun gimmick. You’re supposed to hold the strong attack button to soak up damage and power your attacks but that’s risky to do on UW difficulty. Yes, you won’t be taking as much damage when you’re absorbing, but ideally you should be dodging because dodging generates a ton of bravery, not sitting there and eating damage. The nail in the coffin for its usability is its lack of a good large scale AOE BA. I think the idea of this weapon was to rely on its standard string of powering up your attacks through absorption, but without good BAs, it won’t output enough damage to warrant much use in large engagements. And because your damage output is dependent of being attacked, there can potentially be a lot of downtime when your opponents refrain from hitting you, which makes timed UW challenges hard to complete.
- Single Combat: B
Large Armies: C - Recommended BAs: Inner Fire Fury
Staff
I quite liked this weapon at first, but it hits like a wet noodle. There’s some novelty to an acrobatic weapon where you can just hold down the strong attack button and seemingly attack forever, but it simply doesn’t hit hard enough. Also, its normal into strong attack string is kind of weird. Since your character runs forward, he tends to overshoot your opponent. This problem could be mitigated if it knocked your opponent back, but it doesn’t. There are also some fun aerial combos you can do, but again, it feels like a novelty. Like the lance, it’s also lacking a good large scale AOE, reducing its usability in large battles. It can perform well in single combat. Its held heavy doesn’t do as much fortitude damage as the rapid succession of strikes would suggest, but Furious Tiger Dance is an endgame BA that performs quite well in small engagements.
- Single Combat: A
Large Armies: C - Recommended BAs: Soaring Sky Dance, Furious Tiger Dance
