Musou Rage or Musou Kakusei (無双覚醒; lit. "Unmatched Awakening") is a feature introduced in Dynasty Warriors 5. When players pick up a Musou Token and press the right analog stick, they will receive a 15 second buff which doubles attack and defense stats while greatly increasing attack speed. In addition, the Musou bar is fully replenished, the Way of the Musou's effect is applied, and the character will not flinch from normal attacks. However, players can be subjected to instant death when fighting Lu Bu or a Juggernaut due to taking hits at a more frequent rate without pushback. Those under the effects of Musou Rage radiate a golden glow.
In Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2, a character under the effects of Musou Rage receive bonus experience for defeating an officer. Additionally, due to the absence of Battlefield Items, Musou Rage is now a bar that builds up over time during battle, but not when traveling between different squares.
In Dynasty Warriors: Online, this feature is a unique skill that transforms players into named generals such as Zhao Yun or Lu Bu. While under its effects, the transformation grants access to a general's moveset which may have differences or quirks not found in the movesets made available for users. Players will also receive additional armor levels to help prevent them from being flinched when performing combos. In order to invoke Musou Rage, one must use a spirit item associated with a specific general. They are usually dropped by fallen officers in campaign battles and cannot be used in showdown fights.
Dynasty Warriors 8 brings back this feature in the form of a Rage/Awakening meter that is filled from both inflicting and taking damage like the Musou bar. Once it's full, the player can empower themselves by tapping the right analog stick, gaining enhanced attack, defense, hit speed, and range for a brief period of time and also Hyper Armor throughout. The buff also provides them with immunity to flinching and converts their segmented Musou gauges into a single replenished bar.
Perhaps the most defining aspect of this effect is that it enables a character to perform Rage Attacks with 
. The Rage Attack, or in Japanese the Kakusei Ranbu (覚醒乱舞, lit. "Awakening Wild Dance") harkens back to the style of Musou Attacks used in older titles where players could prolong their assault so long as they held and had enough Musou. If a character has generated a high enough combo with it at any point during its execution, their continuous assault will turn into a True Rage Attack or Shin Kakusei Ranbu (真･無双乱舞, lit. "True Awakening Wild Dance") that does even more damage with fire damage involved. The finishing motion is usually accompanied by a radial shockwave that sends surviving foes flying away. Defeating any enemies, especially enemy officers, with Rage Attacks will have them drop extra bamboo scrolls that help increase experience gains.
Strategy
It is recommended for players to use Musou Tokens when surrounded by a crowd of foes or multiple officers in higher difficulty settings like Hard or Chaos. Extra tokens can automatically be granted by killing 100 enemies with fourth-tier weapons. Furthermore, heavy weapon users benefit the most from the increased attack speed gained by Musou Rage.
AI-controlled playable officers, when in Hyper Mode, usually have a Musou Token on them and will use it after losing enough health. To defeat an officer in a Musou Rage, players can activate their own Musou Rage or run away a short distance and wait for the effect to dissipate. Players must keep them within visible range or the officer will be able to reuse their token. If a player and enemy officer engage one other in a Musou Rage, neither will flinch from attacks until the player jumps, uses a charge attack or Musou. Another viable option to deal with these officers is to juggle them with fire - either by an innate fire-elemental attack or any charge attack with a fire orb equipped.
There is a glitch where some playable officers have a possibility of using the Musou Rage at full health. This is performed by simply camping at the location where the officer will appear. This also applies to the enemy commander if they do not appear at the beginning of the battle.