Way of the Musou

The Way of the Musou (真乱舞書, onyomi: Shin Ranbu Sho, lit. True Wild Dance Writing) is an item in Dynasty Warriors 3 through Dynasty Warriors: Online. It lets players use a character's True Musou regardless of the condition of their health bar.

How to Unlock

 * Dynasty Warriors 3 - Play as Guan Yu in the stage, Guan Yu's Escape, and defeat Xiahou Dun.
 * Dynasty Warriors 4 - While playing as Wei in the same stage, pass Guan Yu and enter the fifth gate before him. Head back to the fourth gate and defeat the supply captain.
 * Dynasty Warriors 5 - At the Battle of Mt. Ding Jun with the Shu forces, slay Xiahou Yuan before Cao Cao appears.
 * Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends - Ou Xing's Rebellion Legend Mode, defeat all enemy main generals while keeping all villages safe.
 * Dynasty Warriors: Online - Crafting chance (craft and get "better results"). Award from Game Masters.

Suggested Use
Most characters should equip the Way of the Musou, because of the fire that is imbued with the strikes, and the ending, which usually covers a wide range, useful for crowd clearing. However, some characters' True Musous lift opponents off the ground, making the musou deal half damage due to a long-series damage reduction against juggled victims, while their regular musous make enemies stay planted, dealing full damage. Thus, those with True Musous that lift enemies off the ground while their regular musou doesn't should avoid using this item or at the very least, use the Ice Orb in conjunction with their True Musous to avoid as much juggling as possible.

Though for the most part, the AI in Dynasty Warriors 3 isn't afraid to instantly counter with their own Musou Attack should they be hit with past a 5-hit combo while still taking grounded hitstun, often forcing the player to "de-sync" their attacks on them to allow for more damage. As a result, there are times where the percentage fire damage and longer duration of attacks tends to make up for lack of grounded-hitstun damage; though the AI's tendency to counter with Musou Attacks while in hitstun is toned down in later installments, making True Musou Attack abuse not as much of a necessity as well as the addition of other items to allow for a variety of playstyles.

In Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends however, characters with shockwave/energy blast-based Musou Attacks should make full use of this item to proc elements for major effect, often in tandem Master of Musou if they have enough room in order to make their True Musou Attacks or Musou Attacks in general guard-break against block-heavy targets (and of course, if they have enough item slots).

In Dynasty Warriors: Online this item disappears after one use and is used mainly to take down an enemy quickly with a musou. Its effects can be dampered by rain, but this is an uncommon occurrence. There is also an ability in game that acts like this item, but every single attack does twice the damage.