Competitive Modes (Warriors Orochi)/Strategy Cards

For all intents and purposes, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at the strategy cards used in the new Duel Mode feature of Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper. These cards, when used in battle, yield all kinds of special effects that serve to aid the user, harm the opponent, or both at the same time. After forming a team of three characters, players are given the task of choosing four cards and determining their button placement to create a usable deck.

Tapping the corresponding button for each card will trigger their effects, causing them to consume battle points (BP) and undergo a period of cooldown time (CT) before they can be played once more. Battle points, in particular, are gradually accumulated by players as the duel goes on. Cards can be used at any time during a battle, even when a character is stunned, frozen, or in the middle of performing or being hit by a combo. Cards also fall into one of four unique categories: Attack, Impede, Support, and Special.

If a card contains multiple effects, the effects resolve in the order in which they appear on the card. For instance, Dian Wai's normal card Do or Die reads, "Reduces your officer's Life; increases Attack" thus your officer's life is reduced first, followed by an increase in attack. Also, some cards perform an animation before the card's effect triggers. For example, Liu Shan's normal card Panda-moniuim reads, "Summons a panda to restore your officer's Life". A panda appears, performs an animation, then your officer's life begins to regenerate.

Many cards contain the same text ("Attacks Opponent", for example) but the attack itself (style, speed, range, damage, etc) differs from card to card. A card that restores life or musou may do so gradually or instantly.

Normal cards are usually gained by unlocking additional characters in Story Mode; therefore, by fully completing the story mode, all normal cards are subsequently unlocked. Golden cards, on the other hand, are acquired through more varied means. They can only unlocked be by performing specific achievements done in Duel Mode or in the main game.
 * Win three survival matches in a row to obtain a random golden card. Players must be able to best their current score in order to gain new ones. Players gain a golden card for every 3 wins up to 33 total cards. Note: after winning 33 golden cards in survival mode, more golden cards cannot be unlocked with this method.
 * Defeat other players online or offline in a duel while using a specific character as part of their team.
 * Maximize the proficiency level of certain characters in Story Mode.
 * Clear character-specific side stages under Hard or Chaos. Since not all characters have specific (Gaiden) stages, not all golden cards can be unlocked via this method.

Attack Cards
Highlighted in red, these cards are mainly used as an alternative way of dealing damage similar to R1 special attacks. Most of them have a secondary effect that may influence the user or target in some way.

Impede Cards
Symbolized by the color blue, these cards affect the opposing team indirectly by lowering their stats or restricting certain abilities. May serve to weaken foes from a distance before facing them head on.

Support Cards
Colored in green, support cards offer a myriad of beneficial effects that serve to aid the user. Their effects range from purely restoring health to enhancing certain stats for a duration of time.

Special Cards
Represented by the color yellow, special cards have the distinction of yielding special effects that don't fall under any of the previous card categories. If used improperly, these cards may end up hindering players instead.