Zuo Ci/Movesets

All the movesets for Zuo Ci in the Warriors franchise.

Ground Moveset

 * undefined: Swats his deck forward to release an orb that later explodes. Press undefined once to produce an orb of fire, or tap twice to release an orb of ice. Will instantly explode if they impact walls.
 * , undefined: Knock opponent upwards with cards spiraling around.
 * ,, undefined, (undefined), (undefined): Surrounds opponents with a circle of cards, impales them and the cards surround the opponent from the other side then in-and-out per each input, then at the end Zuo Ci throws cards forward spiraling in a circle. Final blow stuns.
 * ,, , undefined: Cards surround Zuo Ci and then Zuo Ci gestures into a focused stance to send lasers from his cards in all directions.
 * ,, , , undefined: Zuo Ci blasts his cards spiraling forward, in the form of a black horizontal wind tunnel, knocking anything in front of him skyward.
 * ,, , , , undefined, (undefined): Zuo Ci sends his cards at the ground creating an explosion, knocking everything upwards, then creates another as a misty dark shockwave that scatters opponents in every direction.
 * ,, , , , : Swings cards in a stack outward to the right, thrusts cards forward in a row, swings card stack upward-right, card-stack-swing to the downward left, card-stack swing horizontally right in a near-full circle, then palms cards forward in a row that knocks back. Zuo Ci takes a step forward per each blow and levitates his cards while doing so.
 * ,, , , , , , , : After the fifth input, Zuo Ci restarts his C4 chain.
 * Cards spiral around Zuo Ci as he walks forward in a praying gesture damaging opponents, then lightning rains down around him with a finishing gesture.
 * (True): The finishing move involves Zuo Ci performing casting motions to first summon a spread of five fireballs shot (he flings them forward underhanded), then another one with five ice balls (turns around and shoots them from his palm), then floating into the air with thrusting out his body to summon a finishing lightning storm.


 * , : Downwards slash with his cards in an inward slash revolution.
 * , undefined: Palms with cards in an array downward in-front while airborne, which fires a continuous spray of flames as he rides downward at an angle. Flight path can be controlled.
 * Dashing : Separates his deck and, while spreading his arms out into a brake, he hurls a black horizontal wind tunnel forward.

Horse Moveset

 * undefined: Spins cards for one revolution.
 * ,, , , , : Three swipes to the right side, three swipes to the left.
 * A string of side-alternating swipes, followed by one card spin. Ended when the Musou gauge empties.

Gains the ability to air dash, jump cancel and two Combination Arts. Removes bow moveset from previous games.
 * Warriors Orochi
 * ,, , , , undefined, (undefined): Same as before, only the second explosion is a normal fire-based one.
 * , undefined: Same as before, but instead fires three cutting waves in random paths each time. Warriors Orochi 2 changes them to be shadowy spheres similar to his Art 1 instead.
 * , : An airdash that makes him temporarily invincible. Zuo Ci spins himself forward.
 * R1: Sends five magical orbs forward. Temporarily weakens any foe's durability hit by this attack.
 * Direction + R1: Sticks his cards on his head like a talisman to cast a charm on himself, which gives him a temporary buff, and thus surrounds himself in an aura. Grants increased attack damage and attack speed.
 * Direction + R1 + : Briefly after casting the charm on himself (and while the cards are still stuck onto his head), Zuo Ci rears back and instantly punches forward a distance with energy on his fist. Sends foes flying away a small distance with some deceiving range and Zuo Ci is invincible during execution. Unlisted move. Comes out a lot slower and does less damage in Warriors Orochi 2.


 * Warriors Orochi 2
 * Triple Attack 1: Shoots a wave of powerful gusts.
 * Triple Attack 2: Releases several lightning bolts simultaneously.
 * Triple Attack 3: Unleashes bolts of lightning radiating from the user while levitating in the air.

Character Type changed from Speed to Technique. Loses the ability to air dash and jump cancel, but gains the ability to sidestep, sidestep-dash attack and to critically hit. Also gains a new Type Action.
 * Warriors Orochi 3
 * undefined: Same as before, but only sends out the fire orb instead. Can now pass through walls.
 * , undefined: Same as before, but sends out three wind orbs instead. Interacts with destructible objects.
 * Same as before, only with Mystic-styled Musou Attack startup graphics, and only has a set duration that cannot be extended.
 * R1: Readies his deck to levitate in front of himself with a praying focus gesture, then thrusts forward his left palm to gesture his cards to launch upward in a cone in front of him. The cards then fly back to Zuo Ci's hand.
 * , R1 (Ultimate only): Rushes forward at a descending angle with his cards in a focused energy spiral (similar to his jumping charge) and conjures a launching field of mystical energy as he lands (where his deck flies up all at once and returns to his hand). If no control over movement is applied, then Zuo Ci will move forward at a very fast speed during the dive. Can hit downed targets on any part of the attack.

Fighting Style
He starts off with the strongest character stats in the game. Using a deck of cards he controls, he can manipulate fire, ice, and lightning. He's a very effective crowd clearer, as well as a good officer killer. His C4, and C6, and C3-2 attacks are all superb for crowd clearing, with the latter being the most devastating. It repeatedly attacks a group of enemies in front of the player. This makes it useful for killing enemy generals, especially when the player and enemy are alone. For enemies to get full force, players are recommended to step a bit back before using it.

The C6 string causes two explosions to set foes on fire, though it takes a long time to activate. Troops can easily interrupt the attack. Much like the rest of the cast, heavy weapons leave Zuo Ci vulnerable in between attacks and a is a clear weakness; using a light weapon is recommended. His normal musou is just as good as his true musou, making the Way of the Musou a generally unnecessary item for him.

He keeps the same weaknesses from Dynasty Warriors 5 in the Warriors Orochi series, but can be fixed with the addition of layers of Agility. In Warriors Orochi, Zuo Ci is significantly buffed compared to his incarnation in Dynasty Warriors 5. He is classified as a Speed-type character, and can therefore execute multiple combos with ease. With his special attacks that use no Musou, Zuo Ci is godly in power. The attack basically strengthens Zuo Ci in speed and power, at the cost of a small frame of vulnerability. After, all of his attacks go by fast, and enemies don't have a big gap to counter.

A hidden attack was placed in Zuo Ci's moveset without an in-game notice. After activating the attack buff, pressing will make Zuo Ci strike with a powered palm, known by most as the "God Hand" technique. The strike goes incredibly fast, and is only used right after the buff. However, in Warriors Orochi 2, Zuo Ci has been nerfed, and the special attacks take a significantly longer time to activate. The third and final special attack has Zuo Ci send out multiple spheres that, when contact occurs, decreases enemies' defense significantly. This can be used in coordination with the God Hand technique, or a combo string, making all attacks, especially element-activated ones with damage-inflicting attributes, especially effective.

Most all elements can be applied to Zuo Ci's weapons to increase potency, but recommended ones are Brave, Air, and Agility. The latter is to combat Zuo Ci's speed weakness. Depending on the player's playing style, Brave can be used to multiply the power of his C3-2 to fight generals, especially on harder difficulties. The Air element can be added to those players who utilize Air Dash to juggle enemies.

In the third title's Ultimate expansion however, Zuo Ci is a likely candidate for combo generation via the Echo, Aggression, Bastion and Alacrity attributes, due to his new air R1 Type Action allowing him to both rack up damage and combo with back-and-forth juggling, provided the player can control the diving angle effectively.

Dynasty Warriors 8
Zuo Ci is affiliated with the paper talismans 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 1:, undefined, (undefined), (undefined): Zuo Ci's original Direction + R1 + secret Combination Art from the first two Warriors Orochi installments, but with an altered animation. Grants himself a temporary buff that increases his attack power, attack speed and movement speed in a focused stance that knocks enemies up in the air slightly while also breaking guards. If undefined is pressed again just after the stance, Zuo Ci inflicts crashing knockback via a rushing right-fisted energy punch. Activating this move will not allow the final blow (that inflicts slow status) of the talisman cards C2 to come out.
 * EX Attack 2 (Xtreme Legends only):, , , , undefined, undefined: Swats his cards forward and downward to fire a purple laser beam that pierces through enemy lines as it travels within a straight trajectory.
 * Musou - Bound Deck (結符): : Paces forth surrounded by moving talismans that eventually scatter to create a shockwave. Acts very similar to his original Musou Attack.
 * Alternate Musou - Triple Deck (剛符三連衛): R1 + : Grapples the closest enemy and knocks them back with a talisman after-image combo.
 * Aerial Musou - Chaotic Deck (乱符):, : Causes talismans to swarm in various directions before launching a ball of mystic energy on the ground.
 * Awakening Musou: Surrounds the user within a pair of magically chained talismans. In the end, the user gathers the talismans back and causes them to spin around at full-speed. The extended version causes these weapons to change their attack pattern by having the user twist them into a large ring used for tackling foes and releasing gusts of wind, eventually altering their movement once more to resemble a wave-like halo for the purpose of lifting surviving opponents up into the air.