Cao Cao was renowned as a wily and cunning general, able to manipulate and trick rivals to gain an advantage. Here’s our guide to help you with Cao Cao’s schemes and credibility mechanics in Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided.
Note: For more information, check out our Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide is based on Romance Mode playthroughs with VH/VH difficulty selected.
Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided – Cao Cao’s Schemes and Credibility
Just to be clear, the rework to Cao Cao’s credibility mechanic and inclusion of schemes are part of a free update that coincides with the release of Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided. You don’t actually need to own the DLC to try these features.
Still, picking the 200 CE start date (made available via the DLC) does give Cao Cao a leg up when it comes to his schemes. This is due to the “pawn slots” which show the number of schemes that have been used and are on cooldown. If you choose an earlier start date, Cao Cao’s lower faction rank would limit you to just two pawn slots. In the 200 CE start date, however, he’s already a Duke who has four pawn slots. With all the active schemes you can have at the same time, your campaign to eliminate Yuan Shao should be a breeze.
As for credibility, the mechanic has been around since the vanilla days of Total War: Three Kingdoms. Back then, credibility increased gradually each turn, and it was primarily used for proxy wars and manipulation. Thanks to the free update that goes live alongside the Fates Divided DLC, the credibility mechanic has been reworked.
Now, the proxy wars and manipulation choices via the diplomacy tab are still there. But, there’s also an option to “trade credibility.” This lets you use these excess points to gain positive factors in diplomatic wranglings.
Likewise, the rework means that credibility decays/decreases over time, though higher values and thresholds increase your Imperial Favor.
Note: Speaking of Imperial Favor, you can combine both the “trade credibility” and “imperial decree” options in a diplomatic deal to really push the AI to agree to your demands. Just remember that using an “imperial decree” is only possible if Cao Cao controls the Han Emperor.
So, what exactly affects credibility gains and losses? Well, for that, we’ll go back to discussing schemes. There are four categories denoting what the schemes affect. Schemes also have a particular requirement before you can activate them, a cooldown, and a value that represents whether you’ll gain or expend credibility.
The idea in your Cao Cao campaign is to use schemes when necessary, oftentimes considering when you have to trick an enemy versus when you need to boost other factors. It’s a balancing act since you want to stay at higher thresholds to avoid Imperial Favor drops. You may also take a look at various parts of the HUD, such as army nameplates, settlement nameplates, or the character list to see if any schemes can be used at that given moment.
Target: Character Schemes
Target: Faction Schemes
Target: Commandery Schemes
Target: Army Schemes
Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
