Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce/Weapons

Here is a list of the many weapons found in Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. Visually, every character wields the same weapons as they do in Dynasty Warriors 6: Special but their weapons can be customized to the player's liking. Unlike Dynasty Warriors 6 and the Special expansion, each weapon for characters with a cloned moveset is different in appearance. This totals up for more than 250 weapons in-game. Though each character favors one particular weapon, any of them can be wielded as a secondary weapon. Tapping (or R2 in the PlayStation 3 version) allows players to switch weapons at will in battle.

Like in Dynasty Warriors 6, they are all divided into three categories: Standard (green border), Power (red border), Skill (blue border). The Standard type lacks the benefit of critical attacks but makes up for it by unlocking a weapon's extra attribute. Power puts more emphasis on pure offense over attributes. Skill, on the other hand, offers extra space for new attributes which gives it an edge in customization over the other types in exchange for losing some attack power. In the first game, players are free to switch categories at their own leisure while the second installment requires them to attach at least three attributes of a specific type on their own weapon at the workshop.

The series compiles these weapons into six sub-groups: Sword, Spear, Pike, Staff, Bow, Tech. The Dynasty Warriors 6: Special movesets are obviously divided into each of these classes. The more complex and unique weapons like Xiao Qiao's fans and Sima Yi's claws are clustered together in the Tech category. Each character starts with at least four weapons. Aside from their weapon of choice, every character has their own compatibility level with each of the six types of weaponry. The proficiency at which a character uses a specific type of weapon ranges on a scale from 1 to 1000, its level is increased depending on how often the character uses that type. The ability statistic sub-groups are - Life, Fury, Attack, Defense, Move, and Resist.

Although each character starts out with two weapons at the beginning, more can be obtained by gathering various materials and forging them together at the blacksmith shop. A material's rank and value mostly depend on its rarity in battle. Common materials are usually dropped by common enemies while rare materials are often obtained from playable officers or large beasts. As the level of the blacksmith shop increases, additional new weapons become available for purchase.

Weapons may also be subjected to a single element like in the main games. But unlike the elemental system used in previous titles, the Strikeforce series makes use of the Chinese classical elements along with the concept of yin and yang as attributes. The first title uses orbs to apply elemental properties on weapons that can be swapped at anytime. In the sequel, however, elements are instead selected by the player before crafting a new weapon at the blacksmith shop. Note that any elemental property chosen cannot be undone.