Dynasty Warriors Origins: How to beat Lu Bu (Battle of Xiapi)

In terms of enemies, Dynasty Warriors Origins’ Lu Bu stands above all as the most frustrating gatekeeper of the game. He’s one of the few true bosses the game has, alongside Zhang Jiao. There are plenty of ways to fight this boss, depending on what weapon, rank, and skills you’ve unlocked. This is the way I fought the boss, after being defeated by him for multiple hours. No matter the difficulty level, he appears to have the exact same tactics, as well.

This fight will test the full limits of your combat mastery; if you haven’t at least mastered dodging or parrying, you’re going to be in for a very bad time. This foe has more attacks than he did in the demo for Dynasty Warriors Origins; however, if you’re struggling, here are some tips for defeating Lu Bu.

---

How to beat Lu Bu at the Battle of Xiapi in Dynasty Warriors Origins

Lu Bu, styled Fengxian is the single greatest warrior in not just Dynasty Warriors Origins but arguably the entire Late Han Era. While he was ultimately defeated and executed, it took more than just one general to take him down. You must spend time parrying and dodging, though. Parrying breaks a piece of his guard, and Dodging increases your Bravery, so use them as needed.

It's worth pointing out if you ever see an attack with a large red slash, don't try to guard it — unless you're on Historian difficulty. Otherwise you'll eat damage.

As a point of fact, this has nothing to do with beating Lu Bu during the Battle of Xiapi. You are typically free to ignore him as he rampages across the battlefield, but it does make time a bit of a factor. After you complete the stage, you’ll have to fight Lu Bu one on one - sort of.

All the other generals will come with you, but they really don’t contribute too much. They’re just bodies to tank hits for you, and little else. It also helps to have at least one, preferably two abilities that counter-hit, such as the Stunning Palm or Arrow attacks. Some of Lu Bu’s attacks can be interrupted this way, so watch for the prompts.

The Lu Bu fight changes a few times, once you start breaking down his defenses and landing powerful assault attacks. Phase 1 is exactly what you experienced at Hulao Gate and Battle of Xiapi. He just rides around on his horse, charging and swinging his weapon.

If you see a chance to stun him - take it! It means less time getting beat up (Image via Koei Tecmo)

Any multi-hit weapon/attack is going to pay big dividends in this fight. Personally, I prefer the Wheels for its fantastic multi-strike abilities. When I beat him the first time though, I used the Guandao. For now, just dodge his attacks and keep breaking down those shields until he’s stunned.

You can hit him with Stunning Palm right before he charges and starts swinging his polearm, but the timing is pretty intense. This stops him and makes it much easier to deal free damage to Lu Bu during this Dynasty Warriors Origins boss fight. When you get through the first half of his shields, Lu Bu will acknowledge you, and leap down from his steed, Red Hare. He has several devastating attacks he uses in this phase, which must be parried or dodged through.

• Explosive Wave: Lu Bu creates lines of red energy that splash out in front of him. You can parry or dodge forward to survive this without taking damage. This can be countered with the right ability - you’ll see a prompt if you’re close enough.
• Dashing Strike: After glowing red briefly, Lu Bu charges forward and does a single, huge strike. Probably better to dodge this.
• Melee Strikes: Lu Bu has a few huge melee strikes in this phase, which can be guarded, parried, or dodged.
• Diving Strike: Lu Bu jumps in the air, and after a delay, dive bombs down at an angle. You definitely don’t want to get caught in it. The right attack can counter it, though.

The goal is to use his attacks as a way to build Bravery, and land multi-hit strikes on Lu Bu in Dynasty Warriors Origins. That way, you can break down his guard and land an assault strike. In Phase 2, most of his melee strikes have that huge red arc to them, and he combos them together for longer chains of strikes. Any time you can stun, interrupt, or dodge him, use these to wear him down.

Assaults may not hurt very much on your first playthrough, but they do push the fight forward (Image via Koei Tecmo)

Phase 3 felt very much the same, though I spent most of the fight parrying his attacks, not allowing him to build momentum. Having Tactics like Cavalry Charge and Fire Arrows do a number on him, so take advantage of these to help break down his guard. After you break his guard again, he’ll resume his dashing attack, which now has a Grapple Mechanic — it hits a lot harder now.

He can also now use an AoE explosion and leap into the air for a powerful charge attack. Just jump and strike the bubble in front of him to destroy this attack; this is incredibly easy to foil. However, Lu Bu isn’t done yet in Dynasty Warriors Origins. Just keep breaking down his shields with multi-strike hits and Tactics.

In Phase 4 of Lu Bu in Dynasty Warriors Origins, his dive attack now goes straight down, instead of at an angle. The splash damage also hits much harder. His melee strikes also now shoot long arcing beams of energy out that you can dodge/parry. The end of this combo is the familiar Explosive Wave. You can block them, but you gain nothing for it.

This infinite musou nonsense is the most frustrating thing in Dynasty Warriors Origins (Image via Koei Tecmo)

He also begins glowing red and charging across the stage repeatedly here at the end of the Lu Bu fight. This hits incredibly hard, but not nearly as painful as his final, last desperation attack. When Lu Bu gets to about 5% health, he’ll stop taking damage, and his shields will replenish.

He has that red Musou Meter you’ve probably seen before. If you don’t break his guard before it fills up, he activates his True Ultimate Musou and will probably one-shot you unless you’re a very high level. He will keep doing this over and over until you beat him. Success means you’ve finally bested Lu Bu, once and for all, and can continue with the story of Dynasty Warriors Origins.

---

Dynasty Warriors Origins releases on January 16, 2024, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms. You can learn more about it in our in-depth review.