Dynasty Warriors Origins: Best Gauntlet build guide

The Gauntlet is one of the more unique melee weapons in Dynasty Warriors Origins. With a quick and versatile combo system and powerful Battle Arts, they offer a more agile approach to combat, favoring speed and mobility over range and damage output.

In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about the best Gauntlet build in Dynasty Warriors Origins, including the top combos, Battle Arts, Skills, gear, and more to help you master this powerful weapon.

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How to build the best Gauntlet in Dynasty Warriors Origins

A still from Dynasty Warriors Origins (Image via Koei Tecmo)

Gauntlet weapon overview

Gauntlets in Dynasty Warriors Origins are close-range melee weapons, featuring very high mobility and the ability to produce devastating combos. Their major characteristic is shifting stances — Tiger, Dragon, and Serpent — making them versatile and strong by chaining attacks.

The weapon excels in fast Battle Arts (abilities), meaning you can execute a powerful move nearly instantly, both in terms of offense and defense.

Pros:

1. Quick Battle Arts
2. Counterattack focus
3. Versatile combos

Cons:

1. Restricted range
2. Difficult to execute strong attacks
3. Weak combos

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How to unlock Gauntlet

Gauntlet overview in Dynasty Warriors Origins (Image via Koei Tecmo)

To unlock this weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins, you must complete the Battle of Guangzong. After unlocking, this weapon will begin to drop as loot and can also be bought in the shop.

Gauntlets progression

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Weapon	Grade	Attack
Iron Fists	1	22
Iron Fists EX	2	42
Battle	3	380
Battle EX	4	136
War	5	204
Training	6	300
Fists of Divine Flux	7	326

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Best Battle Arts

Equipment arts in Dynasty Warriors Origins (Image via Koei Tecmo)

In Dynasty Warriors Origins, the best Gauntlet Battle Arts are Wrath of Earth (high-cost AOE with quick damage), Stone Strike Blast (front-facing damage with knockback), and Hurricane Kick (damage in radius while moving). Whirlwind Kick and Dispersion Arrow (charged ranged shots) are also useful for mobility and ranged combat.

For interrupts, [Sp.] Palm Strike (1 Bravery) is quick and cheap, while [Sp.] Power Shot (2 Bravery) is better for tougher bosses. Battle Arts use Bravery, which you can boost with passives, and mastering them reduces costs or increases damage.

Beginner Battle Arts

Input Direction	Battle Art Name	Description	Cost (Bravery)
Left	Elbow Strike	A quick elbow attack that hits multiple enemies rapidly, useful for breaking fortitude.	2
Up	Stone Strike Blast	Delivers a high-damage strike to enemies in front of you and sends them flying.	4
Right	[Sp.] Palm Strike	A special move that channels your bravery into a palm strike, capable of interrupting and staggering foes.	1
Down	Whirlwind Kick	Executes a fast spinning kick, becoming momentarily invulnerable while moving swiftly to close distance on enemies.	NA

Advanced Battle Arts

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Arts	Name	Description	Bravery Cost
Left	Hurricane Kick	A series of spinning kicks surrounding the player, hitting enemies around you.	3
Up	Dispersion Arrow	Fires arrows, with the number increasing as you hold down the button, providing a ranged attack option.	4
Right	[Sp.] Power Shot	A powerful ranged attack that can be launched while mid-air, ideal for interrupting enemies.	2
Down	Wrath of Earth	Slams the ground in a shockwave, dealing area damage to nearby enemies in a wide radius.	6

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Best Skills and Passives

To improve combat, you should invest in the best Skills and Passives. These abilities would support your playstyle for the Gauntlet, making you more efficient in the fight.

Key Skills

• Meat Bun Glutton: You would heal better during long fights with this Skill. If you have maxed this out, you can carry up to six Meat Buns for a mid-fight health refill.
• Perfect Evade: This gives you Bravery when you dodge an enemy's attack, which is very useful for maintaining your combat flow and courage meter.
• Item Investor: This lets you carry additional portable items; this is especially useful for emergency healing or increasing Bravery.
• Extreme Musou Attack: This Passive increases the accumulation of the Musou gauge, so you can use Rage more often and increase damage output.
• Rage Restored: This Skill restores health during Rage mode, healing you as you deal massive damage.

Skill progression

Skill Name	Rank	Description	Skill Points
Whirlwind Kick	Knight-Errant Rank	Perform a rapid swinging kick with incredible speed.	20
Chain Evade	Knight-Errant Rank	Allows for consecutive evades, enhancing mobility.	30
Meat Bun Glutton	Knight-Errant Rank	Increases the capacity for holding meat buns.	50
Perfect Evade	Adept Rank	Grants bravery when successfully evading just as an enemy attacks.	50
Meat Perceiver	Adept Rank	Reveals the location of meat buns when using Sacred Bird.	40
Army of One	Adept Rank	Increases the Musou Gauge after achieving 1,000 kills.	60
Item Investor	Expert Rank	Allows holding one extra portable item.	50
Extreme Musou Attack	Expert Rank	Activates Extreme Musou Attacks when accompanied by allies.	80
[Sp.] Power Shot	Expert Rank	A ranged skill that interrupts with a cost of two bravery.	100
Meat Bun Glutton	Mastery Rank	Allows an additional increase in meat bun storage.	70
Bolster Bravery	Mastery Rank	Enhances bravery gain by 10%.	80
Accessories Artisan	Mastery Rank	Grants the ability to equip one additional accessory.	80
Meat Bun Glutton	Hero Rank	Increases the capacity to hold more meat buns.	70
Item Investor	Hero Rank	Grants the ability to carry one more portable item.	70
Endurance Accumulation Increase	Hero Rank	Increases the rate of Endurance accumulation.	120
Bolster Bravery	Musou Rank	Boosts bravery gain by 10%.	100
Prolonged Rage	Musou Rank	Reduces the rate of rage mode depletion by 5%.	200
Rage Restored Upgrade	Musou Rank	Restores HP when hitting enemies while in rage mode.	200

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Best Weapon Traits

Weapon Traits give you extra bonuses in combat. For the Gauntlets, here are the best traits:

• Boost Musou Gauge: This helps fill your Musou meter faster, enabling you to enter Rage mode more often.
• Grants a Small Chance of Generating a Whirlwind: This self-explanatory trait can be a game-changer for crowd control.
• Increase Drop Rate of Weapons: Perfect for farming materials and upgrading your gear.

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Best Gauntlet weapon combos

Best weapon combos, gems, horses, and accessories in Dynasty Warriors Origins (Image via Koei Tecmo)

The potential of the Gauntlet's combo lies in mastering the Tiger Stance. The key combo is executing three strong attacks in a row followed by a powerful energy release, mimicking the Stone Strike Blast Battle Art. However, executing this combo can be tricky due to the slow activation of strong attacks, leaving you vulnerable.

A successful combo requires precise timing and careful positioning, as a poorly timed attack can leave you wide open.

Though the Dragon and Serpent Stances give extra attack options, they are not as fluid in damage output as the Tiger Stance, which can deliver the most consistent damage. Furthermore, Stances require proper positioning to switch over since the gauntlets are not considered very mobile when switching between them.

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Best Gems for Gauntlet

Gems can really make a difference when it comes to your Gauntlet build. Here are the best Gems for the Gauntlet:

1. Oblivion Gem: This increases your range of attacks so you can close the distance between you and your enemies.
2. Ascendance Gem: This Gem boosts your block rate of officer attacks automatically. It is helpful for greater difficulty settings.
3. Wellspring Gem: This grants HP regeneration for every 100 enemies defeated, making it a great option for larger battles where sustaining health is crucial.

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Best Gauntlet accessories

The Gauntlet's performance can be significantly enhanced with accessories. So, the following are your top choices here:

• Red Dragon's Talon: Boosts Musou gauge accumulation by 10%.
• Dragon's Spleen: Boosts Musou gauge when you are attacked, ensuring you can maintain your offensive pressure.

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Best horse

Birch is the best horse for the Gauntlet build. It increases your charge distance by 20%, which gives you more time to shift positions in battles. When it's summoned, this horse stutters an enemy and increases crowd control, keeping enemies far from you and closer to yourself as you draw near.

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Tactics

• Flaming Volley: The volley of fire arrows is very effective on many enemies.
• Encirclement: This surrounds an enemy before unleashing a devastating attack, and is useful for handling boss battles.
• Mount Charge: This tactic delivers a powerful charge that damages enemies in a wide radius, making it perfect for breaking through enemy lines.

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Portable items for Gauntlet in Dynasty Warriors Origins

Portable items are consumables that can be used only once in a battle to give various effects. Among the best portable items for a Gauntlet build are:

• Incense of Life: It will recover 70% of your health and that of all other surrounding allies' health; an extended battle must not go without this, as you'll definitely need it to survive.
• Spirit Pill: This will recover your Musou gauge, helping you enter Rage more frequently.
• Strength Potion: This will provide a 60% boost on attack.

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Best companion

Guo Jia and Sun Shangxiang are the best companions for Gauntlet builds.

• Guo Jia excels at AOE damage due to his Divine Eagle Dance Battle Art, complementing the Gauntlet's combat style well.
• Sun Shangxiang is a more ranged option with Twin Tiger Blast, which provides a good secondary backup for handling clusters of enemies from a distance.

Also check: Dynasty Warriors Origins: Best Twin Pikes build guide