Playing as Liu Xie/Han Emperor Xian in Total War: Three Kingdoms
Although you can restore the Han Empire in Total War: Three Kingdoms, your faction will still be known as the Kingdom of “X” (i.e., Wei, Wu, Shu-Han, Xun, Song, and the like). Still, you can check out a ton of bonuses from Emperor Xian/Liu Xie who’ll become your new faction leader.
Emperor Xian is a non-deployable character (just like Emperor Liu Hong and Empress He in Mandate of Heaven). Here are his skills/perks:
| First Column | Second Column | Third Column | Fourth Column | Fifth Column |
| Understanding +8 expertise Industrial Exploitation assignment +1 starting rank for all recruits | Calculating +8 cunning +15% trade influence +1 trade agreement | Imposing +8 authority -5 morale for enemy forces that are attacking +3 morale for your forces when defending | Abundance Replenish Supplies assignment +5 food production (administered commandery) | Flexibility +8 resolve -25% redeployment cost +5% replenishment (when commanding) |
| Clarity +8 authority -10% building upkeep +50% campaign line-of-sight | Calm +8 resolve +10% character experience +10 public order | Dignity (default perk) +8 instinct +10 faction support | Imperious +8 authority +50% income from family estates +25 relations with Han Empire factions -15% corruption | Discretion +8 expertise -10% chance of discovery for spy actions -10 cover cost for spy actions |
| Stability +8 authority Counteract Corruption assignment +2 public order | Diligence +8 expertise +5 melee evasion for melee infantry (own retinue) +25 bonus experience for units each season | Modesty (default perk) +8 authority +15 satisfaction -15% character salary | Reach +8 instinct +1 available armies +25% campaign movement range (when commanding) | Nobility +8 authority +1 available assignments Enables: Encourage +20% ranged block chance for melee cavalry (own retinue) |
Emperor Xian starts out with five skill points that can be distributed. My advice would be to choose skills/perks that’ll greatly improve domestics (i.e., Calm, Calculating, and Imperious). You’ll also notice that, similar to Emperor Liu Hong and Empress He, Liu Xie still has a few army/command-related perks (i.e., own retinue/when commanding). I guess these are just oversights. At the very least, he doesn’t have actual combat abilities that’d become absolutely useless.
Oh, and don’t forget that you can give Emperor Xian/Liu Xie assignments, too. Combined with school buildings and a bit of RNG with Faction Council XP boosts, he’ll eventually be able to obtain most of his perks.
What about your court, family, and allies?
So, you’ve restored the Han Empire in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided, what about the other stuff? Well, since Liu Xie is your new faction leader, the previous one will end up without any rank. You can just make this character your Prime Minister or heir (via adoption).
Funnily enough, the old heir you had remains the same (i.e., Liu Xie’s heir will be Yuan Shang if you played as Yuan Shao, or Cao Pi if you played as Cao Cao).
Emperor Xian still retains the mechanics of your chosen faction. Still, be aware of adverse effects. For instance, Cao Cao as Duke starts the 200 CE campaign with four pawn slots for his schemes. If you switch to Emperor Xian, he’ll only have two pawn slots (seen below).
As for your vassals, they’ll still be around. However, they don’t appear under the alliance grouping in the diplomacy panel. Moreover, even if you did restore the Han and gain relationship bonuses, you can’t automatically confederate with the loyalist warlords (i.e., Liu Bei). I guess Lord Benevolence is probably a hypocrite.
How exactly do I manage to have him as my faction leader?
As mentioned earlier, you’ll want to pick Cao Cao or Sun Ce if you’re campaigning in the 200 CE start date. Yuan Shao also has a shot at this, but only if you’re extremely fast. Watch out for Gong Du advancing towards Cao Cao’s capital (turn 8 to 15) and when Sun Ce becomes King (turn 20 to 25). The idea when playing as Yuan Shao is to quickly swarm Cao Cao’s territories, construct prestige-boosting buildings, and annex Yuan Tan for his settlements.
You may also pick a different start date (i.e., 190 CE from the base game or 194 CE from A World Betrayed). You’ll be playing “hot potato” with the Han Emperor, though, so just be sure that he’s under your control when you declare yourself as King.
Just to add, I’ve tried playing as other warlords in the 200 CE start date (i.e., Liu Bei and Liu Zhang). Unfortunately, Sun Ce’s expansion is just too rapid to counter (at least not without getting mauled from all sides). AI Cao Cao is also too pre-occupied with a lot of things; Sun Ce will beat him to the punch, thus forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate. Alternatively, it’s AI Gong Du who’ll end up capturing Cao Cao’s capital.
Lastly, I’ve tried playing as Lu Bu (194 CE start date). The “hot potato” here is crazy, but, with some luck, you could keep the Han Emperor with you. Apparently, once Liu Xie takes over from Lu Bu, the game will ask you if you want your Personal Victories counter to reset. Since Lu Bu was just replaced as the faction leader, the game will think that he “died,” so you’ll be asked if you want to continue his legacy.
Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
