One of the exciting and most chaotic mechanics in Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the Large Force. Think about hundreds, sometimes thousands, of enemy troops—footsoldiers and officers appearing together in one spot to stomp you into the ground. These massive clusters are usually under the command of a powerful enemy officer, and more often than not, they block your path to completing a mission. As you progress to the end game, you will encounter them guarding key targets or bosses you must take down and continue in the mission.
To make it through the DW: Origins, you need to learn how to deal with Large Forces. They’re no joke—they’ll trap you, overwhelm you, and knock you out if you’re not prepared. But don’t sweat it too much. Once you figure out how these massive soldier groups work and how to disband them, you’ll turn these armies into another challenge to crush. Here’s everything you need to know about Large Forces in Dynasty Warriors: Origins and how to disband them.
Working of Large Forces in Dynasty Warriors: Origins
A Large Force is basically a giant horde of enemies gathered into one area with hundreds of thousands of foot soldiers and strong officers leading the charge. They don’t pop up randomly either, they are usually set up at main locations, like city gates, chokepoints, or places tied to your mission objectives. Most of the time, these formations revolve around a big-name officer, someone who’s tougher than your average enemy you like to fight. In the late game, they came led by your primary target—the commander you must defeat to win the battle. So, you’ll run into these more and more as you progress through the story.
Large Forces can appear in a couple of ways. Sometimes they happen to appear from the start of the mission. Other times, they are the reason for mid-battle, like when reinforcements show up, or when smaller enemy groups on the map merge into one big army. You’ll know when a Large Force has spawned because the game will notify you and their location will be marked on your map.
Whenever a Large Force appears, enemy morale spikes. This is bad news for you because higher morale makes enemies hit harder and it becomes tougher for your allied officers to survive. Further, when you are fighting inside a Large Force, the enemies’ Courage goes up. Basically, they are stronger, more difficult, and harder to defeat among these enemy forces. You should not think to rush straight into the middle of one—especially if the commander or a strong officer is at the center. You’ll just get wrecked.
The key to handling Large Forces is understanding their structure. They’re tightly packed, with weaker footsoldiers scattered along the edges and stronger officers at the core. If you want to survive, you need to dismantle them from the outside in, taking out their support first before going after the officers.
How to Disband a Large Force in Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Rally Your Allies
When it comes to Large Forces in Dynasty Warriors: Origins, fighting them solo is a terrible idea. These fights are overwhelming, especially with officers and endless grunts bombarding you. The first thing you need to do is call in a backup.
Open your map and check where your allied officers are. If they’re already battling for a base nearby, go help them to clear the situation there. First, kill the leader and its surrounding enemies to win the fight, and after that, your friendly soldiers will usually follow you. Having them around makes the battle far more manageable because they’ll take a lot of the heat off you.
Tip: If you’re stuck into the battle and have no teammates left because they were wiped earlier, you can restart the fight and focus on protecting your team from the start. Without allies, disbanding a Large Force is much tougher.
Chip Off at the Edges
When you encounter a Large Force, don’t rush straight into the opponents like you’re invincible. Start on the edges. You’ll see footsoldiers stationed around the perimeter—these guys are your warm-up. Clearing them out will give you breathing room and let you work your way into the center to reach their commanders and kill them to get the victory.
To get control over the enemies, use wide-reaching combos, Musou attacks, or special moves to mow down forces. For example, if you’re using a sword, a string of light attacks followed by heavy ones creates a big aerial slash that wipes out waves of grunts. Alternatively, a triple-powerful strike combo of a spear after a few light ones is devastating. Don’t forget your horse, charge along the edges to trample a bunch of foes at once.
Break Through Shields
Sometimes, you’ll see shield bearers at the edge of a Large Force. These guys act as a moving wall, protecting the core of the formation. To get through, focus your attacks on a small section of their shield wall. Once you stagger them, you’ll see a prompt to “Assault.” Hit it, and you’ll bust through their defense, opening a way for you and your allies.
Inside, keep an eye out for more shield bearers and kill them from behind without alerting the opponents for a safe approach. One hit usually staggers them once you’re past the front line, easy to clear a path.
Target and Defeat Officers
The real way to disband a Large Force is to defeat its officers. The whole enemy formation has a health bar, which you’ll see at the top of the screen. Normal soldiers on the foot barely dent this bar. But each toughest leader you kill knocks off a big amount of stamina, so they’re your main targets.
Before starting a fight with an officer, make sure you’ve cleared enough space around you. The last thing you want is to get surrounded while trying to take down a boss-level foe. Once fighting them, stick to your common approach to combat – parry when the prompt appears, use Arts to break their guard, and attack them when they’re staggered. Don’t sleep on the Assault command when you stagger an officer. Activating it not only deals heavy damage but also gives you a moment of invincibility, which can be a lifesaver if enemies are closing in.
When you have beaten enough officers, the Large Force’s health bar will become zero. At this point, most of the footsoldiers will scatter like roaches when you turn the lights on, with only some officers and enemy squads left behind to clear. From here, it is a straight shot to the Large Force commander, who is usually the mission’s big target to end the battle. Without their army backing them up, these leaders are easy to deal with. Sure, they’ll still put up a fight, but it’s nothing compared to fighting them rather than being surrounded by reinforcements.
