Cao Ren/Movesets

All the movesets for Cao Ren in the Warriors franchise.

Dynasty Warriors 4

 * R3: Releases wisps of light that stun enemies within range. Aura may change color in Free Mode to match the user's chosen side.

Ground Moveset

 * undefined: Steps forward with a grab. If it connects, Cao Ren will lift his foe up with both hands and toss them to the ground. One of the faster grabs in the game.
 * , undefined: An uppercut swing of the detached buckler blade.
 * ,, undefined, (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined): Shoots out fire balls from his buckler blade like an arm gun. The fire balls do no actual fire damage and the last one stuns the foe or inflicts crashing knockback on air hit (and also puts Cao Ren in an airborne state). Also unlike normal fire balls, they also can penetrate through units, but the final one does not count towards filling the musou gauge (and still needs a full gauge for elemental activation). With lower ranked weapons, undefined can be tapped for one extra shot to extend the chain just for a bit.
 * ,, , undefined: A bear hug of sorts. Smashes away his opponent by crushing them with his free hand and buckler. Inflicts crashing knockback.
 * ,, , , undefined: Uppercuts his foe. If undefined is pressed again, Cao Ren pursue his target will do a punching-motion meteor slash in midair on them.
 * ,, , , , undefined: Runs over enemies with shield and slowly slides to a stop.
 * ,, , , , : Slashes inward with a punching motion, then an outward slash, hopping shield crush (with buckler in front of Cao Ren like a wall, and puts him in an airborne state), outward swat, inward strike, then a rushing bash by one step with a buckler bash.
 * Multiple slashes via an inward upward slash and an outward one (both involving the buckler blade sticking out further to increase the attack reach), then a spinning leap slash followed by a ground-shaking stomp in a turn. The true version adds in his third normal attack and first weapon attack chain finisher as additional blows.


 * , : Downward diagonal slash to the right in an inward hooking punch.
 * , undefined: Flips and falls downward with his buckler blade causing a quake.
 * Dashing : Runs/rams forward with his buckler with its blade removed for a while as he knocks back foes a bit, then does an outward drawing slash with his buckler as he brakes from his running.


 * R1, : Shoots a normal arrow.
 * R1, undefined: Shoots a paralyzing bolt.
 * R1, : Unleashes a barrage of arrows.


 * L1, undefined: Counterattacks with C4.

Horse Moveset

 * undefined: Cao Ren slashes at both sides.
 * ,, , , , : Three attacks to the right side, three to the left.
 * Repeating slashes to all sides until the Musou gauge empties.

Fighting Style
Cao Ren, though with a mediocre attack speed and initial below-par reach, makes up for his weaknesses with his superb defense and officer-killing abilities, especially since his attack strings can be hard to interrupt. Cao Ren is also relatively slow in terms of his running speed, but his dash attack makes him travel far in a short amount of time. The fourth weapon in Cao Ren's array has a weak attack, so it is recommended to upgrade its Attack, Charge, and Base Attack attributes.

One good stalling attack is his C3. As with every other third charge, the attack's last hit stuns enemies. With added-on elemental orb items, the attack chain can swiftly defeat officers, and either clear or spread out surrounding crowds. His dash attack is also a great crowd entry move. However, the final shot does not build musou, nor does it have any elemental damage on its own.

Ground Moveset
Remains the same with the following additions/changes:
 * undefined: A blue-tremor stomp that trips enemies.
 * ,, undefined, (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined): Same as before, but shoots out sonicbooms instead, which move slower than the original fire balls it fired.
 * ,, , , undefined: Turns around to lean downward and slams the ground sending enemies skyward with a ground punch. Causes a blue ground-flashing quake.
 * ,, , , , , , , : After the fifth part of his chain, he then restarts his C4 chain.


 * (True): A wide outward turn slash to launch opponents, then follows with a powerful stomp that emits out a ring wave.
 * , undefined: Cao Ren jumps, then performs a flip onto the ground, stabbing his buckler into the ground to create a ground flash wave.
 * L1, undefined: Counterattacks with the final blow of his 2nd weapon chain, where he removes the buckler blade from his shield and slashes outward with it.

Gains a C2-EX-Special and an Extra Counter. Removes bow moveset from previous games.
 * Warriors Orochi
 * ,, undefined, (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined), (undefined): Same as before, but shoots out faster moving blue cutting waves instead. Warriors Orochi 2 has the final shot fire three waves in a spread at once, as well as giving it elemental activation (along with nerfing its base property damage).
 * , R1: Dashes forward with his shield up front to grab an enemy with his free hand. Once it connects, Cao Ren ends with a rising uppercut with the buckler blade that emits a dark misty shockwave, a graphic shared with Cao Cao's C5. Launches enemies away.
 * His original C2-EX-SP Type Action in Warriors Orochi 2 no longer is a grab-based move, and instead has a hitbox via his buckler swat during the initial move forward in order to trigger the finisher. Also carries elemental activation.
 * ,, R1: Same as his C3, only he fires a spread of three waves at once per shot instead, with the final input firing five waves. Only in Warriors Orochi 2. Again, the projectile nerfs have been applied like with the original C3.
 * R1 (Counter): Quick slice forward with the buckler blade while pushing forward with a rushing shield lean. Creates a horizontal slash effect


 * Warriors Orochi 2
 * Triple Attack 1: Creates a large pillar of air by thrusting weapon unto the floor.
 * Triple Attack 2: Stomps on the ground to produce a massive column of wind.
 * Triple Attack 3: Hurls a fierce gust of wind forward.

Dynasty Warriors
Cao Ren has not changed much, but most of his moves have gained a slight improvement, as his C3 seems to have an increased field of range. The Wei general is one of the many characters that has a stomp attack that knocks over enemies, which is his C1. Though it has bad range, it can give time for Cao Ren to flee. On a horse, Cao Ren has excellent reach. He also cannot flinch to normal attacks while he is attacking. This ability is unique to him and Xing Cai in Dynasty Warriors 5 and also to any character with a heavy weapon in the Extreme Legends expansion.

Warriors Orochi
As Cao Ren is a Technique-type character, he has access to Enhanced Strikes and one special attack. His Enhanced Strike allows him to counter in a wide arc in an invincible state. In the C2-EX special attack of Cao Ren, Cao Ren in the original Warriors Orochi would only use a very small amount of his Musou gauge, and would do a high of damage to all units. In the second installment, the Musou gauge cost for using his special attack increased dramatically, using about half of his initial level one Musou gauge. However, the damage also increased, and the initial strike now carries weapon elements.

In Warriors Orochi 2, Cao Ren gains a C3-EX special not listed in his move set. After, , and an R1, instead of shooting single waves repeatedly, he will blast out a six-round spread shot barrage. All rounds activate weapon elements.

To make up for Cao Ren's speed and range weaknesses, enhancing his weapon with Agility, Range, Flash, and high-damaging elements. In the first Warriors Orochi game, Cao Ren's C3 attack was noticeably weaker to Dynasty Warriors 5 and its expansions, especially its C3-EX version only giving it a boost in attack speed and no other boosts. However, in the next installment, its damage done to every unit of soldier was greater than past attacks only with the proper elements and with its C3-EX version, especially since several projectile nerfs were applied in that game.

In the first Warriors Orochi, its recommended to give Cao Ren Air element due to the critical hit function. Cao Ren has the most number of ways in which he can repeatedly use the elemental Stomp C1 against officer over and over again, as such, this move can be used as his main offense against anything.

In the second game, Cao Ren can forgoes the use of Flash, thanks to its C3 that is never blocked by officer and peons alike. His gameplay consist of using his two massively powerful Enhanced Strikes, and as a result, it is recommended to put highly damaging elements such as Slay, and Air alongside Absorb to self sustain his Musou usage.

Dynasty Warriors 6
He shares his moveset with Lu Meng, Xu Huang, Guan Ping, and Ling Tong. See Polearm Movesets for more details.
 * Special attack: Swift Attack: immediately boosts Cao Ren's Renbu gauge up to the Infinite Renbu and grants higher attack and defense power. When used at low, red health, the effects of Swift Attack increase.

Fighting Style
In Dynasty Warriors 6, Cao Ren was remodeled to wield a large trident and has a polearm moveset. The new moveset Cao Ren has focuses on wide-range attacks, accompanied by linear energy waves with a lightning effect, stunning enemies. His Musou attack also ends with a giant arrowhead shockwave that travels quickly in a straight line.

His abilities to enhance his Swift Attack are Overawe (which causes enemy defenses to be reduced), Rage and Wild Rage (in which overall damage from Swift Attack is increased). Along with Special Start, a skill that makes Cao Ren start with one Tome every battle, Cao Ren's Officer Skills mainly focus on buffing up his defenses. Skills like Fire Resist, Lightning Resist, Ice Resist, and Arrow Guard help him resist elemental attacks and decrease damage taken from long-range arrows.

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce
Cao Ren mainly uses the polearm moveset in this title.

Dynasty Warriors 7
Cao Ren is affiliated with the flail in this appearance. When he is equipped with it, he can perform a unique attack exclusive to him. Upon performing his Musou techniques, he will automatically use the weapon in his attacks.


 * EX Attack:, , , undefined, undefined: Grabs the nearest opponent and drains some of their life.
 * Musou - Charging Bull (廬山): : Bulldozes forward while surrounded by a powerful aura, finishes with a jump and ground smash. Classified as a Multi-strike Musou in Next.
 * Alternate Musou - Grapple Smash/Cascading Falls/Surprise Assault (瀑布): R1 + : Sends his mace forward to catch an opponent. While still attached to the mace, he swings his victim several times around before slamming them into the ground. Used in Warriors Orochi 3.


 * Dynasty Warriors Next
 * Speed Musou - Whirlwind: Tap both sides of screen: Cao Ren spins around while swinging his flail about to produce a tornado. Following the attack's movements causes the tornado to expand and create slash marks hitting affected enemies even more.


 * Warriors Orochi 3
 * , undefined: Strikes the ground to produce a minor impact.
 * R1: Entangles the enemy in chains and slams them into the ground.
 * , R1 (Ultimate only): Uses flail to latch unto an enemy and slams them down hard while landing.

Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires
His weapon affiliation changes to the spiked shield in this appearance. When he is equipped with it, he can perform a unique attack exclusive to him. When he performs his musous, he will automatically use the weapon in his attacks.


 * EX Attack:, , , undefined, undefined: Conjures a shield-shaped afterimage that damages nearby foes upon contact.
 * Alternate Musou - Chi Surge (驚浪): R1 + : Impales nearby target before hurling them back with pure force.

Dynasty Warriors 8
Cao Ren keeps the same moveset from the previous title with the following additions.


 * EX Attack 2 (Xtreme Legends only):, undefined, undefined: Jumps into the air and rockets himself toward ground in a spiraling motion.
 * Aerial Musou - Mountain Gorge (幽谷):, : Stomps on the ground twice to produce two massive shockwaves.
 * Awakening Musou: Eviscerates enemies with diagonal slashes done back and forth. For the final phase, he immediately stomps the earth with enough might to unleash a large burst of energy. The extension of this attack has him ramming shield at high-speed before thrusting blade a few times near the end.