I put together this walkthrough for anyone who wants every historical officer in DYNASTY WARRIORS 3: Complete Edition Remastered without grinding through dozens of redundant battles. If you’re chasing the full roster and want the shortest possible path, this is the route I’d follow.
I wrote this up because the historical unlocks are scattered across faction requirements and battlefield-specific conditions, and it’s genuinely easy to play a stage three times for no reason. Getting all 40 officers down to six Musou Mode completions takes some planning — here’s how it breaks down.
Optimized Route Overview
This route gets you every historical officer in only six Musou Mode completions. The trick is picking characters whose campaigns let you stack battlefield-specific unlocks on top of the faction-completion requirements you already need to meet.
Run 1: Xiahou Dun
Run 2: Zhenji
Run 3: Zhao Yun
Run 4: Gan Ning
Run 5: Da Qiao
Run 6: Zhuge Liang
Why six? Because the historical roster ultimately demands 2 Wei completions, 2 Shu completions, and 2 Wu completions. These six campaigns satisfy those thresholds while folding as many character-specific unlocks as possible into normal progression. If you ever find yourself hunting individual officers outside this order, a solid character unlock guide will save you a lot of trial and error.
Run 1 — Xiahou Dun
Xiahou Dun is the ideal opener for Wei because his Musou Mode packs in nearly every major Wei-side battlefield unlock the roster needs. Start here and you knock out a huge chunk in one playthrough.
Obtain During the Campaign
- Zhang Jiao — At Yellow Turban Rebellion, defeat Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and Zhang Jiao.
- Diaochan — At Hu Lao Gate, defeat Diaochan.
- Lu Bu — At Hu Lao Gate, reach 1,000 KOs.
- Dong Zhuo — At Hu Lao Gate, defeat both Diaochan and Lu Bu.
- Yuan Shao — At Battle of Guan Du, personally defeat Yan Liang and Wen Chou before Guan Yu takes either of them down.
- Gan Ning — At He Fei as Wei, trigger Gan Ning’s surprise attack and defeat him.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #1
- Xu Zhu
- Zhenji
- Sima Yi
- Ziluan
Hu Lao Gate Optimization
Don’t waste separate battles on Diaochan, Dong Zhuo, and Lu Bu — all three come from the same Hu Lao Gate run. The clean sequence is to defeat Diaochan first, then Lu Bu, then push your KO count to 1,000 before the stage ends. That one battle hands you all three. Playing Hu Lao Gate three separate times is a total waste of your evening.
Run 2 — Zhenji
Zhenji unlocks right after you finish Xiahou Dun’s Musou Mode. For the historical roster, the entire point of this campaign is to satisfy your second Wei Musou Mode completion.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #2
- Cao Cao
- Xu Huang
There are no mandatory battlefield-specific unlocks you need during this run, so if the historical roster is your only goal, just speed through Zhenji’s Musou Mode.
Why Zhenji?
Honestly, any qualifying second Wei completion would work for Cao Cao and Xu Huang. Zhenji is the smart pick if you plan to go after Nuwa later, because finishing her Musou Mode counts toward Nuwa’s requirements. Choosing her now advances both your historical roster and your eventual mythological roster. By the time this run ends, your standard Wei roster should be complete.
Run 3 — Zhao Yun
Zhao Yun is the best first Shu character because his campaign conveniently contains the major Shu-side unlocks this route depends on.
Obtain During the Campaign
- Pang Tong — At Assault on Cheng Du, keep Pang Tong alive. Defeat Zhang Ren early to protect him.
- Xiahou Yuan — At Mt. Ding Jun, defeat Xiahou Yuan.
- Meng Huo — At Nanman Campaign, defeat Meng Huo at all seven appearances.
- Zhurong — At Nanman Campaign, defeat Zhurong.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #3
- Zhuge Liang
- Ma Chao
- Wei Yan
Nanman Optimization
Get Meng Huo and Zhurong in the same Nanman Campaign battle — don’t rush the enemy commander. Fight through normally, defeat Meng Huo every single time he reappears, and remember he shows up seven times. Take down Zhurong when she appears, and only end the stage once both conditions are met. Leaving Nanman before you’re sure Meng Huo went down seven times means repeating the whole stage, which is exactly the kind of mistake that eats an hour.
Run 4 — Gan Ning
You should already have Gan Ning from Xiahou Dun’s campaign. His Wu Musou Mode is efficient because it consolidates the key Wu battlefield unlocks while opening the path to Lu Xun and Da Qiao.
Obtain During the Campaign
- Zhang Liao — At He Fei as Wu, defeat Zhang Liao.
- Sun Quan — At He Fei, complete the bridge-retreat and counterattack event chain, then let Sun Quan or Sun Jian force Cao Cao’s retreat.
- Lu Meng — At Fan Castle, complete the stage with Lu Meng still alive.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #4
- Lu Xun — arguably one of the strongest carry characters in the game
- Da Qiao
He Fei — The Most Fragile Battle in the Route
The Sun Quan unlock is the most delicate part of this entire six-run plan. Do not charge into Cao Cao’s camp and kill him. Aggressively clearing the field, killing key officers too early, or personally taking out Cao Cao can break the event sequence you need.
For Sun Quan, let the battle develop in order:
- Allow Taishi Ci’s death sequence to occur.
- Allow the Wu commander to begin withdrawing toward the broken bridge.
- Meet the commander and trigger the bridge-jump event.
- Allow Zhang Liao’s redeployment to occur.
- Protect and save the Wu commander during the resulting attack.
- Wait for the Wu counterattack to begin.
- Allow Sun Quan or Sun Jian to enter Cao Cao’s camp and force Cao Cao’s retreat.
You can defeat Zhang Liao in this same battle to unlock him. Just keep in mind: don’t personally kill Cao Cao, don’t speed-clear before the scripted events fire, and don’t assume simply winning He Fei satisfies Sun Quan’s condition. If one battle in this guide rewards patience, it’s this one.
Run 5 — Da Qiao
Da Qiao beats Zhou Yu here because a single campaign accomplishes several things at once. Completing her Musou Mode unlocks Xiao Qiao, counts toward your eventual Nuwa requirement, includes Assault on Wu Territory for Taishi Ci, and serves as your second completed Wu campaign, which unlocks Sun Jian and Sun Ce.
Obtain During the Campaign
- Taishi Ci — At Assault on Wu Territory, defeat Liu Yong before defeating Yan Baihu and Wang Lang. Taishi Ci should then surrender and join Sun Ce’s forces.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #5
- Xiao Qiao
- Sun Jian
- Sun Ce
Da Qiao also becomes one of the four required female Musou Mode completions for Nuwa. At this point your standard Wu roster should be complete.
Run 6 — Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang is mandatory here because Jiang Wei specifically requires completing Zhuge Liang’s Musou Mode.
Obtain Upon Completing Musou Mode #6
- Jiang Wei
- Liu Bei
- Huang Zhong
Zhao Yun was your first completed Shu campaign; Zhuge Liang becomes your second. That single completion does double duty — it satisfies the character-specific requirement for Jiang Wei and hits the two-Shu threshold for Liu Bei and Huang Zhong. At this point your standard Shu roster should be complete, and with Zhuge Liang finished, every historical officer should be unlocked.
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Historical Roster Complete — What About Nuwa and Fuxi?
After running Xiahou Dun, Zhenji, Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, Da Qiao, and Zhuge Liang, you should have every historical officer in the game. Six completed Musou Modes is the requirement, and it comes down to the faction thresholds: 2 Wei completions for Cao Cao and Xu Huang, 2 Wu completions for Sun Jian and Sun Ce, and 2 Shu completions for Liu Bei and Huang Zhong.
Now, Nuwa and Fuxi are not part of this six-run historical route — they’re mythological bonus characters. The good news is this order deliberately gives you a head start on both. You’ve already banked Zhenji and Da Qiao toward Nuwa.
To finish Nuwa, you’d still need to complete Xiao Qiao and Sun Shangxiang. For Fuxi, you’d still need Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian. So after this six-run route, both mythological characters are only five additional Musou Mode completions away.
If you only care about the historical Three Kingdoms roster, you’re finished after Run #6 — go enjoy your new officers.