*Spoiler* Tip to saving a certain someone in Chapter 3

[LemonoSharky19]

This guide is for anyone who is familiar with the initial pattern of saving Sun Jian (bypassing all officers and rushing to the western area where Zhang Jiao will appear from a fog). If you're not sure what I mean, there's a map in the steam guide "All of True Ending Condition" that shows you the path you should take to reach Zhang Jiao.

I've experimented with a few ways that people have tipped on reddit, YouTube, etc. on how to defeat Zhang Jiao quick enough to save Sun Jian in your first playthrough and this is by far the most effective method:

Assuming that you are around lvl 29-30 give or a take and have completed every mission, training objective, and every Cao, Liu, Sun quest up until the Battle of Xiangyang, you should have a good chance of doing this on your first playthrough rather than needing to go back on NG+.

There is a few things you would need to set up however:
1. You must turn down your difficulty to historian or else it would be near impossible to save Sun Jian in time (the first comment notes that it is possible on medium difficulty).
2. Equip General's Sword EX, Scorch Gem, Fierce Tiger's Fang, Drum of Zealous Advance.
3. Max out your Falcon Flurry battle art and place it under a button that is most convenient for you (you can remove any other battle art to prevent misclicks).
4. Equip meat bun, stamina potion, strength potion (if you have a fourth slot, it doesn't really matter what you fill it up with).

Things you have to do during your battle with Zhang Jiao:
1. Use the arrow tactic then the charge tactic against Zhang Jiao.
2. You should have rage mode ready by the time you reach Zhang Jiao (if not then this strategy will not work).
3. In rage mode, do NOT use any combos or battle arts. Keep spamming normal attack.
4. After using rage mode, do NOT use any musou, you need that after the battle. Consume your potions immediately.
5. Attack Zhang Jiao using the [xxxyy (xbox)], [squaresquaresquaretriangletriangle (ps)] combo only whenever you're not using Falcon Flurry which you should be able to spam quite often because of the stamina potion.
6. Once you've defeated Zhang Jiao ride your horse towards Sun Jian. You'll encounter some shield soldiers. Use your musou against them and remount. You should be able to reach Sun Jian two seconds ahead of Huang Gai.
7. In case you fail, Origins lets you rewind the battle to just when your battle with Zhang Jiao starts so you can try this over and over without wasting time redoing the entire thing from spawn.

Personally, my first attempt was terrible at lvl28 with only a 92 dmg sword. Zhang Jiao had 1/3 of his hp left when Sun Jian died. Second attempt, I managed to destroy his hp bar but Huang Gai was already 10 seconds from Sun Jian so I didn't make it. Third attempt, Huang Gai was 15 seconds from Sun Jian but I accidentally used up my musou so couldn't get past the shields.

You have a bit less than four minutes to defeat Zhang Jiao and reach Sun JIan before Huang Gai does.

This method is entirely possible. It was from a comment that I saw on YouTube and Reddit with one person claiming that they did it at lvl 28. But parts of the battle is genuinely down to luck and skill. If you get hit by Zhang Jiao's super attack even once, you're better off restarting. People who have more tips can leave their comments below. Thanks.

[Kawalorn]

Originally posted by LemonoSharky19:

1. You must turn down your difficulty to historian or else it would be impossible to save Sun Jian in time.

I actually managed to do it on normal, but it was so tight it's not even funny. Best to lower the difficulty, like you said.

[hyuugashizuka]

From Recreate Battles, I only got less than 3 min to save Sun Jian. It's pretty tough. But thanks for the tip, I made it!!! thanks

[Sensitive_Onion]

Originally posted by hyuugashizuka:

From Recreate Battles, I only got less than 3 min to save Sun Jian. It's pretty tough. But thanks for the tip, I made it!!! thanks

If you're on a NG+ run, you can just hop on the bridge just after the first two officers with a spear or crescent blade that has the air dash and using it in conjunction with the BA that gives you a lot of vertical height. brings you straight to the officer you're supposed to defeat to save Sun Jian and skipping the shadow battle

[Brynub]

I barely managed to do it first playthrough, I think I had literally a second to spare, Huang Gai was RIGHT behind me. Took several tries though. Definitely "intended" for NG+

Not sure how hard the true ending requirements are for the other two routes on first playthrough, since I did Wu route first and was muuuuuch stronger going back to Shu and Wei routes afterward.

[Rexus Draconoid]

Thank you

[limith]

Instead of scorch gem equip the gem that gives you increased damage if the target is in the air.

[Tanathos]

Thank you so much !