Dynasty Warriors 6/Weapon Movesets

Cloned Moveset refers to the attacks that are used by several characters in Dynasty Warriors 6. It is seen as a fault by players who are looking for unique movesets. In Dynasty Warriors 6: Special, six characters' movesets were changed. Technically, Sun Shang Xiang and Sun Ce have unique movesets in this game.

Cloned Warriors

 * Spear: Ma Chao, Sun Ce, Zhang He, and Taishi Ci
 * Polearm: Guan Ping, Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Xu Huang, and Cao Ren
 * Sword: Sun Quan, Yuan Shao, and Cao Pi
 * Dao: Huang Zhong, Zhou Tai, and Xiahou Yuan
 * Mace: Wei Yan, Huang Gai, Dong Zhuo, and Xu Zhu
 * Bow: Yue Ying and Sun Shang Xiang
 * Whip: Zhen Ji and Diao Chan
 * Staff: Pang Tong and Zhang Jiao

Changes made in Dynasty Warriors 6: Special

 * Spear: Sun Ce
 * Ma Chao has been given a great sword.
 * Zhang He has been given claws.
 * Taishi Ci has been given dual rods.


 * Polearm: Guan Ping, Lu Meng, Xu Huang, and Cao Ren
 * Ling Tong has been given a triple-sectioned staff.


 * Sword: Sun Quan and Yuan Shao
 * Cao Pi has been given a longsword.


 * Bow: Sun Shang Xiang
 * Yue Ying has been given a bladed crossbow.

Properties
The following movesets use the default settings for the Playstation ports. Here are the Xbox equivalents to each button
 * X - Normal attack
 * Y - Charge attack
 * B - Musou
 * A - Jump

Spear
Spear wielding fighters are mobile mid-ranged warriors who are versatile for many situations. Their normal attacks use both ends of their weapon and are more prone to stabbing during later Renbu levels. Their charge attacks spin the character forward, and the running version is useful for breaking down obstacles. While they may take time to get used to, their grapples are very useful for close-ranged encounters. Compared to the polearm users, these fighters work best by being offensive with their reach. The main downside to the style may be their need for running space; performing their charge attacks while near a cliff may not be the best idea. Also, their charges leave them open for an attack as they cannot react until they have landed from their spins. They also do not possess many anti-air defenses and are left open to many aerial opponents.

Their Musou ends with them spinning their weapon before performing a forward stab enhanced with a small damaging aura. Sun Ce projects a larger wave of energy in front of him, Zhang He poses with a final shockwave, Taishi Ci emits a large burst of energy during a pose, and Ma Chao has a small ground explosion as his finale.

Zhang He's unique trait during his charge chain is that the final attack is decorated with pink petals and a purple aura.

Polearm
Similar to the spear, polearm users are user friendly, mid-ranged fighters who can use the range of their weapon to close in on their foes. Warriors in this style, however, use less movement during their attacks and are slightly slower during their strikes. Their grapples also have a shallower starting range than the spear, making them slightly harder to time during confrontations. To compensate for their drop in speed, many of their attacks have a longer range than the spear fighters, making them strong defensive fighters with various poking mind games. Their running charge attack can either be used to break an enemy's guard during duels or to clear a small crowd of guards. They continue to share the spear's cons regarding attacks from the air and also require a longer time to continue their combos.

When their Musou is activated, the warriors perform a hastier chain of attacks and end their assault with three decisive swings. They hop and deliver an overhead strike to the ground as they land. Guan Ping is surrounded by a large damaging aura, Ling Tong is surrounded by a freezing current, Lu Meng hits the ground for an energy explosion, Xu Huang's blow unleashes rocks into the air, and Cao Ren hurls a small air wave.

Xu Huang's running charge is unique in that he pounds the ground and damages his enemies with the flying soil. Other users in this style either hurl a slice of energy (Ling Tong and Cao Ren) or emit a small damaging aura from the point of their weapon (Guan Ping and Lu Meng).

Sword
Sword users are comparable to "fencers" as many of their strikes are calculating stabs and swings. While the range of their attacks are shallower than others, they are executed quickly and capable of pressing a relentless offensive with standard combos. Users of this style are granted with ranged Special Attacks to better corner their enemies. These characters work best with patient players who can judge the enemy AI well. Unless they hit higher Renbu levels, characters in this style may experience difficulty while fighting in crowds and may lose to quicker, long ranged fighters.

The finale of their Musou has the men hurtle forward twice and land with their arms outstretched while kneeling on one knee. Sun Quan is surrounded by an exploding aura on his impact while Yuan Shao and Cao Pi's poses emit a shockwave.

Dao
Warriors who use the dao have wider arcs in their attacks than the sword class and usually hurl more air waves during higher Renbu levels. Their charge attacks can be used to pressure an officer and can double as a good crowd clearer. Agility wise, dao users are slightly slower than sword users but quicker than the mace characters. Their moveset is easy to use and a good choice for players testing short ranged fighters for the first time. Their greatest flaw is that they lack attacks to cover their rear defenses and their slow recovery time from their dashing charge.

As their Musous finishes, the characters spin with their weapon held close to their hip, slice once, and then slash their blade downward as they settle. Huang Zhong freezes his foes, Xiahou Yuan emits an exploding aura, and Zhou Tai sends a straight wave of energy from his sword.

Huang Zhong also has a natural ice element during his charge chain.

Ground Moveset

 * string (Renbu ∞): Two horizontal swings and two overhead swings. While the mace is lowered, he rams the head of the weapon twice. As he rises, he swings his weapon upwards and spins it around his head four times. He stretches his arms out and whirls around in a circle seven times, hitting any foe within his weapon's reach.
 * undefined string (Renbu ∞): Smashes the ground five times. Add anticipation on the last bash.
 * undefined (held): Wide swing.
 * Whacks his enemies and spins his weapon on his shoulders during the climax. The finale has the character pound the ground or swing his mace like a bat.


 * , : Downwards swing. Angles his body to face the ground and simply swings his weapon once.
 * , undefined: Hovers slightly into the air and smashes his weapon into the ground.
 * Dashing : Short diagonal swing that starts from his left shoulder and travels downward.
 * Dashing undefined: Rolls forward. Repeated rolls increase with button taps.


 * Grapple attack : Short downward attack that travels in a vertical path. If it connects, he smacks the handle of his weapon into his opponent's face twice.
 * Grapple attack undefined: Shifts his weapon into his right hand and grabs with his left hand. If he connects, he lifts his foe off their feet and walks in a quick circle with them in his hand. He throws them high into the air before he hits them with his mace.
 * Deadlock attack: Bashes the ground twice with his mace, sending his foe flying onto his back. Flings them off of him with his shoulder strength.

Horse Moveset

 * string: series of swings to the right. Number of strikes is determined by the Renbu gauge.
 * undefined: balances the mace to his left before he smashes it on the ground to his right.
 * faster version of the string that ends with undefined.

Fighting Style
Characters wielding maces are powerful close-ranged fighters. Lacking speed and range, they work best by constantly pressuring their enemies. They have mighty grapples and power guards and their attacks cover most of their defenses. Charge attacks double as a solid anti-air and officer killer. Their running charge attack is a hard-to-aim rolling attack that is good for minor crowd control. To emphasize their assets, all characters with this moveset have the Swift Attack special, which boosts attack and grants Infinite Renbu. Though useful for solo encounters, they have difficulty retaining Renbu at a constant rate and may lose to enemies with a longer reach.

During the Musou finale, Huang Gai emits a mini explosion, Wei Yan hurls a wind-based energy wave, and Dong Zhuo and Xu Zhu have a rainbow aura swing.

Bow
Archers have attacks with the longest range and good ground control. The majority of their attacks are stationary and covers the range of vision in front of them. As long as the player can judge distances well, they will likely win most of their battles against generals and crowds. The held charge attack is especially useful for clearing close ranged enemies and obstacles since it is quick and multi-hitting. The general style, however, has a weak deadlock attack and somewhat inconvenient grapples. They are usually used to gain more ground for the archer. They also do not posses many anti-air attacks and have difficult to use mounted attacks.

The Musou attack has the archer continuously fire strings of arrows that are able to phase through enemies and ends with the archer kneeling after a spinning split kick. Sun Shang Xiang is additionally surrounded by a short flurry of overhead arrows. Yue Ying has a beam of light aimed at her to ward off enemies. It is a good juggler and combo dealer.

Ground Moveset

 * string (Renbu ∞): Several alternating whips that are followed with two spinning one-legged kicks. Performs a forward handstand that has her legs explode as they hit the ground. When she stands upright, she slowly walks forward and whips the ground seven times in front of her.
 * undefined string (Renbu ∞): Spins in a floral tornado that launches her opponents into the air. She whips them onto the ground twice and follows with two more flowery tornados.
 * undefined (held): Anticipated 180 degree swing. She pauses to let the whip safely wrap around her torso.
 * She whips several times, slides on their knees while spinning their whip above them, and casually tosses her hair as she rises. Their final act emits a final shockwave.


 * , : A quick swipe that travels in a 180 degree radius in front of her.
 * , undefined: Rises high into the air in a graceful twirl. Lands spinning with her arms stretched upwards.
 * Dashing : Smacks the ground in front of her, creating a mini explosion.
 * Dashing undefined: Throws a floral tornado forward.


 * Grapple attack : Snaps her whip forward. If she connects, she latches her whip onto her opponent's neck and follows with two other swings.
 * Grapple attack undefined: Angles her whip to hit low. If she connects, she latches her whip onto her opponent's foot and throws them high into the air. When they land face flat, she smashes her whip onto them.
 * Deadlock attack: Rapidly twirls her whip and beats her opponent into submission. They grovel involuntarily as they stumble face first into the ground.

Horse Moveset

 * string: series of swings to the right. Number of strikes is determined by the Renbu gauge.
 * undefined: spins her whip to deliver a hard swing to her right.
 * faster version of the string that ends with undefined.

Fighting Style
Ladies who use the whip have an overall balanced moveset that works well in most encounters. Their attacks cover most of the area around them and have excellent reach. All of their charge attacks help with crowd clearing and dueling officers. Great combo dealers, they can easily reach and maintain higher levels of Renbu. Whip characters, however, need time to perform their attacks and may leave themselves open to quicker attackers. Their normal dashing attacks are limited in their uses to break down obstacles. While their evade animation is unique, it has a shorter traveling distance than others and is difficult to use consecutively. Therefore, they are strong mid-ranged fighters who excel in higher level difficulties.

During their Musou, Zhen Ji freezes nearby opponents while Diao Chan clears them away from her.

Staff
Staff fighters are akin to "mage" characters. Like Zhuge Liang, their moveset emphasizes sorcery and has fanciful levitating grapples. Their moveset is an eccentric mix of short to mid ranged attacks, allowing players to comfortably adapt to most situations. Their charge attack chain is good crowd control and their held charge is good for dueling officers. Similar to the mace characters, however, they lack speed and range during their normal attacks. Veteran players may handle this class the best.

Their Musou attack consists of several whacks of their staff before conjuring several blasts of magic. Zhang Jiao summons fire while Pang Tong possesses wind element attacks.