Best Podao Weapon Build in Dynasty Warriors: Origins

This build guide explains the key aspects of playing with the Podao weapon in Dynasty Warriors: Origins (DWO): battle arts, traits, accessories, and gems.

Dynasty Warriors Origins (DWO) is a big game with many things to learn and explore, including 10 different weapons to choose from, determining your build and playstyle. DWO is set in ancient China during the Three Kingdoms era. You play as a hero without a name, on a journey to uncover your identity and help different groups through battles and conversations. Along the way, you’ll slowly learn about essential features like riding horses, using guards, planning tactics, mastering battle arts, and teaming up with companions. This guide will explain how to use the Podao build, what are the best combos, battle arts, skills, and gear.

Podao Weapon Overview in Dynasty Warriors: Origins

The Podao weapon in Dynasty Warriors plays like a “heavy” sword, emphasizing the use of strong attacks. What makes the Podao unique is the ability to charge battle arts and heavy attacks for massive damage. Therefore, the player can time incoming enemies and unleash huge damage. Another strength of the Podao is the versatile battle arts. From mobility to 360 AOE to delay burst, the skills are well-rounded. Moreover, the Podao relies heavily on strong attacks and easily builds bravery, and unloads high-damage skills.

The weakness of the Podao is its reliance on strong attacks. Unlike the Sword, you won’t be using many normal attacks for damage, and the three-button strong attack is your best combo. Moreover, you have long animations, and charging leaves you vulnerable to enemy attacks.

The Podao feels like a slower but harder-hitting Sword. You can charge attacks and defensives and have great battle arts, making it a great all-around weapon.

Podao Build Pros	Podao Build Cons
Quick Bravery	Long Animations
Great Battle Arts	Limited Range
Charged Damage	Strong Attack Dependent

How to Unlock the Podao Weapon in DWO? Explained

To unlock the Podao, complete the Subjugation of the White Wave Bandits battle in Chapter 2. The Padao is a Chinese single-edged infantry weapon with a large blade and longer hilt than a traditional sword. It can produce power attacks with a single blow, which can additionally be charged for even greater power. Once obtained, you can buy improved versions at the store or find them throughout battles.

Weapon	Grade	Attack
Crushing Falchion	1	22
Crushing Falchion EX	2	42
Gnashing Fang	3	80
Gnashing Fang EX	4	136
Sky Splitter	5	204
Training Podao	6	300
Demon Slayer	7	326

Why You Should Pick Podao Weapon Build in DWO?

The Podao a heavy sword-like weapon that is ideal for players who prefer a slower, more deliberate playstyle that rewards timing and precision. It focuses on strong, charged attacks for massive damage. Furthermore, the Podao excels at timing charged attacks, allowing players to unleash huge damage as enemies approach. It also offers versatile battle arts, including mobility, area-of-effect (AOE), and delayed burst damage, making it a well-rounded weapon.

Podao Weapon Build Features and Mechanics in DWO

We will explore all the various components of the overpowered Podao build in Dynasty Warriors Origins. Not all of these variables will be available immediately if you’re a new player. Moreover, you can unlock new content after completing the game, so expect some battle arts, tactics, and gear to come later as you progress. However, we have beginner and advanced setups to guide you through the story campaign. The following list presents all the essential Podao Build Features and Mechanics in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Best Battle Arts
  • Blade Typhon
  • Ardent Aura Slash
  • [Sp.] Power Shot
  • Bounding Earth Strike
• Weapon Traits
  • Boost Musou Guage
  • Grants a very small chance of generating a whirlwind when attacking
  • Increases the drop rate of weapons (farming)
• Best Combo: Triple strong attack
• Gems: Ascendance Gem (block), or Oblivion (range)
• Accessories: Red Dragon’s Talon, and Dragon’s Spleen
• Horse: Birch
• Tactics: Flaming Volley, Encirclement, Mounted Charge
• Companion: Guo Jia, Sun Shangxiang

Best Battle Arts for Podao Weapon

The best battle arts (abilities) for the Podao weapon are Ardent Aura Slash, Blade Typhon, and Dragon Sweep Slash. Ardent Aura Slash allows you to charge an attack (two beeps), and unload a massive energy wave in front of you. This is helpful when you stun, or stagger an enemy and want maximum damage. The Blade Typhon is another powerful ability costing four bravery and acts as a delayed burst tool. You do some damage up front, but the skill persists. Therefore, it allows you to charge a heavy attack and land both nearby for maximum burst.

Lastly, Dragon Sweep Slash is a powerful, low-cost bravery skill. It does damage in front of you and only costs two bravery, making it a helpful fortitude shredder. Also, consider the battle art Bounding Earth Strike if you have mobility issues.

You have two options for interruption skills called special battle arts: [Sp.] Palm Strike or [Sp.] Power Shot. The strength of a palm strike is that it costs only one bravery. Therefore, you always want to have at least one bravery (resource for skills) in the tank to interrupt an enemy if needed. The alternative is Power Shot. This is unlocked in the expert skill tree later in the game. While it costs two bravery, it launches at range and is a better interrupt skill against harder bosses later in the game.

Battle Arts are actions or skills used in combat consuming Barvery, the resource required to use them. Bravery is the octagon icon in the lower left of your screen (orange). You can increase the total amount of Bravery and how you gain it through skill passives, portables, and weapon traits. You can master skills by using them, gaining an additional effect like reduced bravery cost, more range, or increased damage.

Beginner Podao Battle Arts

Arts	Name	Description
Left	Dragon Sweep Slash	Spin kick that knocks enemies into the air
Up	Sharp Fang Flurry	Perform flurry slashes in front of you
Right	[Sp.] Palm Strike	Focus your bravery into a palm strike which can stop and stagger enemies
Down	Whirlwind Kick	Unleash a swinging kick with blinding speed, disappear and invulnerable while active

• Dragon Sweep Slash: Low-cost bravery area damage in front of you (two bravery)
• Sharp Fang Flurry: High-cost single target-focused ability that shreds fortitude (five bravery)
• [Sp.] Palm Strike: Special Battle Art interrupt in melee range (one bravery).
• Whirlwind Kick: Used for mobility, though it can be swapped out.

Advanced Podao Battle Arts

Arts	Name	Description
Left	Blade Typhon	Deliver a slash with energy flares
Up	Ardent Aura Slash	Charge your weapon dealing damage in front of you
Right	[Sp.] Power Shot	Fire one powerful arrow can be done midair and interrupts
Down	Bounding Earth Strike	Charges enemies then slams down

• Blade Typhon: This ability acts as a delay bursted, firing off after a few seconds (four bravery).
• Ardent Aura Slash: High-cost massive damage-charged skill that should be used when enemies are approaching or stunned (seven bravery).
• [Sp.] Power Shot: ranged interrupt that can be done while mid-air (two bravery).
• Bounding Earth Strike: Acts a high damage gap closer rushing a target (three bravery).

Best Podao Skills and Passives

The best skills talents are Meat Bun Glutton, Item Investor, Perfect Evade, Extreme Musou Attack, and Rage Restored. Meat Bun Glutton increases your overall healing potential is and is vital for survivability. Once fully upgraded, you can obtain 6 meat buns per battle and refill them with pots in towns. Item Investor allows you can carry one more portable (consumable) to each battle, and fully maxed gives you four. This is helpful later in the game when you need to heal allies, burst down a boss, or obtain bravery on demand.

The most important skills and combat goal is to boost your Musou meter so you can enter Rage more frequently. Once in Rage form, you can heal while doing damage, become immune to damage, max out your bravery, and are essentially god mode for 15 or so seconds. Therefore, talents that enable you to heal more, like Rage Restored Upgrade, or stay in Rage longer, like Prolonged Rage, are the best. Lastly, the Extreme Musou Attack allows a companion to activate rage simultaneously, giving you twice the effect on a Musou attack.

Skills and Passives List

Name	Tree	Description	Skill Points
Whirlwind Kick	Knight-Errant Rank	Unleash a swinging kick with blinding speed.	20
Chain Evade	Knight-Errant Rank	Enables you to evade repeatedly	30
Meat Bun Glutton	Knight-Errant Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	50
Perfect Evade	Adept Rank	Grants bravery when evading just as the opponent attacks	50
Meat Perceiver	Adept Rank	Allows you to see meat buns with Sacred Bird	40
Army of One	Adept Rank	Boosts Musou Guage after 1k kills	60
Item Investor	Expert Rank	Hold +1 portable	50
Extreme Musou Attack	Expert Rank	Enables Extreme Musou Attacks with Companions	80
[Sp.] Power Shot	Expert Rank	Skill that interrupts at range two bravery cost	100
Meat Bun Glutton	Mastery Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	70
Bolster Bravery	Mastery Rank	Increase Bravery gain 10%	80
Accessories Artisan	Mastery Rank	Equip +1 accessory	80
Meat Bun Glutton	Hero Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	70
Item Investor	Hero Rank	Hold +1 portable	70
Endurance Accumulation Increase	Hero Rank	Increase Endurance Accumulation	120
Bolster Bravery	Musou Rank	Increase Bravery gain 10%	100
Prolonged Rage	Musou Rank	5% less drain in rage mode	200
Rage Restored Upgrade	Musou Rank	Restores HP when landing attacks in rage	200

Weapon Traits for Podao Weapon

The best weapon traits are extending input for parries, boosting damage to officers, increasing Musou Guage, and increasing the drop rate of weapons. Below is a list of our favorite traits for beginners and advanced players in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

Beginner

• Grants a very small chance of obtaining a meat bun from a defeated enemy.
• Boost Bravery Gain.
• Boosts Battle Art strength
• Increase drop rate of Nectar Water (increase bravery).

Advanced

• Grants a 10% chance of not draining bravery gauge when activating a battle art.
• Extends the input window for parries
• Boosts damage to officers.
• Boost Musou Guage.
• Grants a very small chance of generating a whirlwind when attacking
• Increases the drop rate of weapons (farming).
• Boosts attack by 30% after a perfect evade.

Your weapon comes equipped with a grade and a number. The Grade indicates its rarity, with beginning weapons at 1, and epic at 7. You can increase the damage of your weapon by leveling it, and therefore, you will see a +number. Traits are randomly assigned to weapons, and the diamond shape indicates how many traits a weapon can have. However, you can unlock the reforge option at the weapon shop after beating the campaign. This allows you to take unused weapons and repurpose the traits to a more powerful weapon.

Best Podao Weapon Combos in DWO

The best weapon combo for the Podao is triple-strong attacks. Hitting a strong attack once you swing your sword into the ground, then pressing twice immediately following, will generate a three-hit combo with a kick. Additionally, the Podao weapon wants you to charge strong attacks to release a shockwave. You can eventually move while charging as well, so practice timing this mechanic after knocking back an officer.

We suggest not using many normal attacks because the damage and bravery generated from strong attacks outweigh quick attacks.

Best Gems for Podao Weapon

The best gem for the Podao is the Ascendance Gem, which blocks officer attacks automatically. The Oblivion Gem can be helpful if you struggle with mobility or miss a target, as it increases your attack range. The Wellspring gem is helpful when it lacks passive healing or meat buns. Wellsprings gives you health after every 100 kills and is great in large-scale campaign battles.

Gems are accessories that grant special effects to weapon attacks. You can obtain Gems by using Pyroxene, a material found in the open world, to create them.

Best Accessories for Podao Weapon

The best accessories for the Podao build are Red Dragon’s Talon and Dragon’s Spleen because they help with Musou and enter rage more frequently. Red Dragon’s Talon increases your Musou Gauge accumulation by 10% and stacks with other bonuses like portable items granting additional resources. Dragon’s Spleen is helpful because you gain Musou Guage when attacked.

Beginners should consider a health increase accessory or Ravenous Spirit Amulet. This accessory heals you by 5% when defeating an officer. Early in the game, you limited meat buns, and any extra heal can be a lifesaver.

Below are the best accessories for the Podao weapon build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Red Dragon’s Talon (advanced): Increases Musou Gauge accumulation by 10%
• Dragon’s Spleen (advanced): Slightly increase your Musou Gauge when you are attacked.
• Ziluan’s Sash (beginner): boosts health by 3%.
• Ravenous Spirit Amulet (beginner): restores health by 5% when an officer has been defeated.

You can increase your accessory to two via the Accessories Artisan skill passive in the Mastery Rank tree.

Best Horse for Podao Weapon

The best horse is Birch because it increases your charge maximum distance by 20% and staggers enemies when you summon the horse. Ultimately, you want high speed, endurance, and longer charging to reach locations faster. To level your mount, simply select from the equipment menu and take into battles with you.

Best Tactics for Podao Weapon

The best tactics for a Podao build are Mounted Charge, Flaming Volley, and Encirclement. Mounted Charge is a massive damage, cooldown tactic that hits many enemies in a wide radius. This is ideal to open up with when entering from a far distance into a large opening with many enemies facing you. The same strategy can be employed with Flaming Volley, however, with a much faster cooldown of 240 seconds. To trigger this tactic, look for the high ground when entering a large field area. Lastly, the Encirclement tactic is for tough boss challenges requiring a distraction. This will send allies and guards to swarm an officer and harness them. Consider this a flex skill, but essentially in tough boss battles.

Below are the recommended tactics for a Podao build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Flaming Volley: unleash a powerful fire arrow volley, 240-second cooldown.
• Encirclement: Surround the enemy before unleashing an attack, 210-second cooldown.
• Mounted Charge: Perform a fearsome cavalry charge, 420-second cooldown.

To activate a tactic, look for a blue line indicating “Dramatic Success.” Using a tactic with a blue (not white) appearance can lower enemies’ morale and do increased damage. Therefore, when charging into combat, immediately hit Eagle Eye when you see a blue line appear as you approach.

Best Portable Items for Podao Weapon

The best portable consumable items are Incense of Vitality and Spirit Pill. Incense of Vitality heals you for 70% of your health and everyone around you. This includes officers, companions, and allies. Therefore, Incense of Vitality should be used in battles with multiple allies, and survival is required for victory. Pay attention to victory conditions before the battle starts; it’s not just you as a main character. The second best consumable one-time use is Spirit Pill, which grants Musou Gauge resources. Therefore, you can use the Spirit Pill to gain enough resources to enter rage more frequently, granting you god mode for a limited time.

Below are the recommended portable consumable items for a Podao build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Meat Buns: Restore some of your health
• Strength Potion: Increase your attack by 60% for a limited time.
• Incense of Vitality: Restores Health by 70% for you and nearby allies.
• Spirit Pill: Restores some of your Musou Gauge.
• Arbogreen (progression): Increases proficiency gained by 200% until you defeat 100 enemies.
• Crimson Cress (progression): Grants you 20 skill points

Portable items are consumables granting effects and are one-time-use items. You can buy them at stores or earn them through various quests. Additionally, skill passives can increase your effectiveness with meat buns, capacity, and storage of items. These are critical to select as you progress and obtain more portable items.

Best Companion for Podao Weapon

The best companion for Podao build is Guo Jia or Sun Shangxiang. Guo Jia uses a Sword and comes equipped with the Divine Eagle Dance Battle Art. This is a massive 360 radius, and we still deal incredible damage. Therefore, when you swap, you can immediately activate and clear a huge portion of the map or shred officers’ fortitude.

The secondary option is Sun Shangxiang who uses the wheel weapon and has more range than Guo Jia. She comes equipped with Twin Tiger Blast, one of the most powerful battle arts in the game, and even more AOE damage and range than Guo Jia. However, the bravery cost is high, so use it sparingly or the companion will despawn.

Companions can be selected in the battle preparation menu and come with important battle arts and skills. Look for a blue line connecting you to a “Battle Chain Art.” When in range and active, if you cast a battle art (regardless of cost), the companion will follow up with another attack of their own. The battle art UI menu lights up blue, indicating a Battle Chain Art is ready. This is essentially a way to increase damage passively when a companion is near.

Best tips and tricks for Podao Weapon

Below are the top 10 tips and tricks for using the Podao Weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

1. Rage: The easiest way to dominate DWO is via Rage and Musco Meter; when in doubt, always try to build this gauge.
2. Battle Arts Setup: Make sure to have one high-cost, low-cost, and mobility battle art to start the game.
3. Interrupt: Always save at least one bravery in reserve to interrupt incoming battle arts from enemies with Palm Strike.
4. Build Bravery: Don’t automatically use bravery and battle arts; saving up is okay when fighting an easy officer.
5. Mobility: Use a combination of evading, jumping, and Whirlwind Kick battle art to stay near enemies.
6. Weapon Traits: Look for weapon traits that fit your build, not just increase your attack power.
7. Increase Portable: Take skill talents that increase your meat buns, portable items, and healing effectiveness since healing is limited.
8. Combo: Look to stun, parry, or evade an attacker, then perform a six-button long combo, knocking the enemy in the air.
9. Companions: Use your companion’s two most important abilities: Extreme Musco Attack (yellow line) and Battle Chain Arts (blue line).
10. Tactics: Look for a blue line indicating a Tactic can be used for Dramatic Success to increase effectiveness.

Build Summary – Best Podao Weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins

FAQs about Podao Weapon Build Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Is Podao weapon good in Dynasty Warriors: Origins?

Yes, the Podao is a powerful, strong attack-focused sword that has a well-balanced set of battle arts (abilities).

What is the best alternatives for Podao Weapon in Dynasty Warriors: Origins?

Twin Pikes is the best alternative to the Podao because it has the same damage and mobility but better one-on-one damage and stagger potential.

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