It will be great if we knew what influences cetain WoLs so it makes it easier for us to get what we want!

http://www.trueachievements.com/a198093/many-ways-to-live-achievement.htm

this should help you, it certainly helped me. its a list of all the ways of life and how to achieve them.

Originally posted by Jeosutin:

http://www.trueachievements.com/a198093/many-ways-to-live-achievement.htm

this should help you, it certainly helped me. its a list of all the ways of life and how to achieve them.

It does for me. Makes the game more enjoyable.

Seriously some WoLs are too specific to make sense. Like, if you want to be an unparalelled strategist, you need to make your character suggest a course of action to the ruler. 5 times. Succesfully. That's off the top of my head. But what else do you need to do? Rebel. Wait what? What does that have to do with an unparalelled strategist?!

I kind of just wish you could select what WOL your custom characters get when you make them so I don't have to do entire playthroughs of them just to get a WoL that may not even fit their character anyway.

Example, my character I made uses the voicelines of Lu Bu (I think) he is huge, deep voice, hates defense, loves offense, always talks about crushing foes and such, but I got one of the highest good-doer WoL, so now if he appears in a single player game, he acts super friendly and nice to his kingdom, but goes insane when he gets to the battlefield

Originally posted by Mr.Person:

I kind of just wish you could select what WOL your custom characters get when you make them so I don't have to do entire playthroughs of them just to get a WoL that may not even fit their character anyway.

Example, my character I made uses the voicelines of Lu Bu (I think) he is huge, deep voice, hates defense, loves offense, always talks about crushing foes and such, but I got one of the highest good-doer WoL, so now if he appears in a single player game, he acts super friendly and nice to his kingdom, but goes insane when he gets to the battlefield

i completely agree. my character was intened to have the same WoL as Zhenji (seductive beauty, i think) but after i move to the 5th kingdom, chin was 3/4's united and i didnt have the time to raise my virtue to good because the game end

Originally posted by Jeosutin:

Originally posted by Mr.Person:

I kind of just wish you could select what WOL your custom characters get when you make them so I don't have to do entire playthroughs of them just to get a WoL that may not even fit their character anyway.

Example, my character I made uses the voicelines of Lu Bu (I think) he is huge, deep voice, hates defense, loves offense, always talks about crushing foes and such, but I got one of the highest good-doer WoL, so now if he appears in a single player game, he acts super friendly and nice to his kingdom, but goes insane when he gets to the battlefield

i completely agree. my character was intened to have the same WoL as Zhenji (seductive beauty, i think) but after i move to the 5th kingdom, chin was 3/4's united and i didnt have the time to raise my virtue to good because the game end

I managed to make a stalemate between kingdoms, and go from there in the latest scenario I'm doing. But yea, that can and will happen. Hopefully you can use quests to lower and raise virtue.

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that you have to complete a playthrough with a character to obtain his WoL is a good thing. I mean, that way at least, you create a sort of link between you and your CaW and you tend to want to make it look better/be more playable.

The real problem for me are the stratagems. Yesterday, I have done a whole playthrough to replace the All Encompassing of my main so that she has the stratagems I want. (And this tier is long. Very very long.) The problem is that by turn 50 or so, I had one stratagem that I did not want in the final build. (My playthrough lasted for nearly 400 turns)

Guess what? This stratagem was registered on the character and at the end of the playthrough, I discovered that I had done all this for nothing.

Originally posted by Fuzen:

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that you have to complete a playthrough with a character to obtain his WoL is a good thing. I mean, that way at least, you create a sort of link between you and your CaW and you tend to want to make it look better/be more playable.

The real problem for me are the stratagems. Yesterday, I have done a whole playthrough to replace the All Encompassing of my main so that she has the stratagems I want. (And this tier is long. Very very long.) The problem is that by turn 50 or so, I had one stratagem that I did not want in the final build. (My playthrough lasted for nearly 400 turns)

Guess what? This stratagem was registered on the character and at the end of the playthrough, I discovered that I had done all this for nothing.

How do you know what stratagem gets registered though? Maybe I should look at that guide...

That's the problem. You don't. Until you finish a playthrough, save your character and see what he has as a NPC, there is no telling what gets registered at which moment.

Basically, if you don't touch your six stratagems from the beginning to the end of a playtrough (minus the quests I recommend to do at the very beginning, since you can't have all your stratagems during these) these six will get registered and two will be replaced by the Ability-specific ones. (More informations are present in my guide if you are interested.)

But if you change something between these two points… I just don't know. I can't figure out how and when the replacement of the registered stratagems works.

All I can more or less tell is that it happens everytime you get a new WoL. But the whole six stratagems are not refreshed. It's somehow progressive. (For instance, if you finish a playthrough as “Ordinary Man”, no stratagem will be saved.)

And – apparently, since it's hard to test it… –, there is a point where it does not get updated anymore. I hypothesize that it has some connection with the WoL rank but I'm not sure at all.

Well, if someone figure it out, I would love to know. xD

What I noticed from my tests:

When you finish a playthrough, your CAW will keep the 4 stratagems you used the most. And he will also get 2 stratagems depending on his "ability/stats":
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/11/1426071168-caw-stratagems.png

Also, you need the CAW to have spend at least 20 years in order to inherit 4 stratagems (under 20 years, he will only inherit the 3 most used stratagems).

It seems (I'm not completely sure about that) that having a stratagem equiped but not using it counts somewhat. But using them is a sure way to get what you want.

What I think is best, unequip all stratagems during a whole playthrough, save before capturing the last region, use the 4 stratagems you want to inherit while capturing the last region (or before during a raid) and save your CAW.

One last point, you can edit such saved 6-stratagem CAW and change his "abilities/stats" to change the 2 stratagems tied to his "abilities/stats". For example, I had a sloth CAW inherit Fire Strike, Linghting Strike, Bowman Turret and Archer Turret. Sloth gave him Indomitable and Inmovable but I changed him to Balanced in order to get Ice Strike and Fire Attack and end up with:
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/11/1426071873-caw-6-stratagems.jpg


What I would like to know though are the benefits from the ways of life (aside from the fixed strataegy), as they seem to give some bonuses during negotiations and the likes, maybe they also give bonuses during battles?

Originally posted by busards:

*snip for length*

From what I remember, the stat growths is what WoL also affects. I'm not entirely sure though.

however, this is great information. I tend to finish games before the 20 year mark. Also, waht counts as a stratagems use? Having it with you in battle or using it during that fight?

What I had figured out was that stats gained per level were linked to the rank/position:
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/10/1425575642-dw8egrowth.png

Originally posted by busards:

What I noticed from my tests:

When you finish a playthrough, your CAW will keep the 4 stratagems you used the most. And he will also get 2 stratagems depending on his "ability/stats":
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/11/1426071168-caw-stratagems.png

Also, you need the CAW to have spend at least 20 years in order to inherit 4 stratagems (under 20 years, he will only inherit the 3 most used stratagems).

It seems (I'm not completely sure about that) that having a stratagem equiped but not using it counts somewhat. But using them is a sure way to get what you want.

From my own tests, I don't think it works this way. I'll explain.

I use Unity A LOT. Way more than any other stratagem except Bowman Turret. Still, I nearly never get it at the end of a playthrough. In other words, it does not seem to be usage-related.

Plus, on a strategist playthrough and on a normal playthrough with the same stratagems, it is always the same that get registered. (The only exception was with the setup [Fire Strike, Mystic Fog, Bowman Turret, Fire Attack, Unity, Summon] where Fire Attack was replaced instead of Unity)

I somehow deduced a system of stratagems priority but it seems that I didn't figure it out completely since I had the Fire Attack incident. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=403480580
You don't need to spend 20 years. Most of my playthrough last around ten years. With my CaW Anya, it lasted three years, still she inherited of all of hers stratagems, with two replaced with the ability-related ones, of course. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=406149766

Originally posted by busards:

What I think is best, unequip all stratagems during a whole playthrough, save before capturing the last region, use the 4 stratagems you want to inherit while capturing the last region (or before during a raid) and save your CAW.

I should try it soon. I had not yet thought about this possibility. Is it just a guess or does it actually work?

If that's the case, I am even more confused about how they are registered. To be honest, I also thought of an usage-related registering when I started my tests but with some setups, despite not using any stratagem except the one I wanted (Cf. Unity), I could not end up with it.

But now that I read hickwarrior's message, just having it in battle may be enough indeed. I had a character where I changed Explosions for Blast around halfway and I ended up with the two on my saved CaW. >< But on the other hand, I had a CaW with false orders until turn 50 or so, and for the 350 remaining turns, I did not have it anymore. Still, it got registered in the final build. --''

Originally posted by busards:

What I had figured out was that stats gained per level were linked to the rank/position:
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/10/1425575642-dw8egrowth.png

Nice work! Thanks.

First thing first, I have the PS4 version which is still (apparently) on 1.00. So there may be some differences between versions.


Anyway, I made a new serie of tests and here are my results:

Playthrough:
Swift-Footed CAW (Advance, Swift Raid)
Timeline:
- Unequip all stratagems
- Invasion 4 times (no stratagem equiped nor used)
- Note: Stupidly, I deployed Sima Yi during those invasions and I have no idea how many times he used his stratagems!
- Marry Sima Yi (Unparalleled Strategist; Wind Altar, Archer Ambush, False Orders, Inferno, Hailstorm)
- Threaten everything else except one region
- Build 6 academies and buy all stratagems
- Child is born but hasn't joined the fight yet
- Date when all is done: November 4
When I invade the last region, I get the my 5th invasion and my Way of Life changes from General of the Land to High Spirited Commander. If I threaten though, the Way of Life doesn't change.


And here are the various resulting CAWs and children depending on what I do (stratagem used):

CAW's stratagems are the 4 ones used in the last invasion.
Child gets 3~4 stratagems from Sima Yi, 0~1 from CAW.

Equiping only doesn't work.
Child only has 5 stratagems (like Sima Yi).

Usage seems to be a factor in what the CAW gets.
CAW got Taunt, Inspire and Summon (used 5 times) and one of Fire/Thunder Strike (used 4 times).
Child also got more stratagems from CAW, less from Sima Yi.

CAW got Inspire and Summon (used 2 times in 2 battles) and Fire Strike and Taunt (used 3 times in 1 battle) but not Ice/Thunder Strike (used 3 times in 1 battle as well).
Maybe the number of battles in which a stratagem is used is what matters first, and only after that the total number of uses?

More "usage" seems to mean more stratagems from the CAW to the child (and less from Sima Yi).
But it seems somehow random how many exactly he gets from who and which ones he gets.

I have no idea what happened with Archer Ambush (maybe I should have lured someone to trigger Base Traps before using it)!
Still, Child only gets 5 stratagems. Like the Way of Life, the childs seem to inherit the highest value between the parents.

Child only got 1 stratagem from my CAW and 3 from Sima Yi. Total usage definitely didn't matter here!

I wonder what would be the result if I hadn't deployed Sima Yi ever (no stratagem usage for him).
Maybe I would have been able to choose the stratagems for both CAW and Child, killing two birds in 1 stone.

Woah! Thanks for the input! I am conducting more tests myself and here is what I have found so far:
http://i.imgur.com/eTvI4QS.png
(Orange ones are those that get overwritten by ability stratagems.)

All these test were conducted in a single battle and the playthrough was completed at Year 1, Month 1, so there is just this battle, nothing else.

One thing I noticed:
— The WoL has no impact on the number of registered stratagems, though it may have some on which get registered but I lack of tools to try this right now. (I had Raging Commander, tier 2. It's the lowest I could get.)

Now… with what we have with both your observations and mine.

What we know for sure:

• Using no stratagems during a fight does not add a value to some “no stratagem” variable, so you can wait the last battle to equip them and they will be registered and not overwritten by “blank” stratagem.
  
• If you only use 4 stratagems during the whole playthrough, these four are guaranted as long as you used them at least once. The two coming from abilites will add to these four, and not replace them.
  
• You have to use a stratagem at least once for it to count. (Traps must be triggered, LSS must be completed.)
  
• If you have used more than four stratagems during the playthrough, six will be registered and two will be overwritten.
  
• With equal usage of each stratagem, there is a priority inter-category that acts.
  
• Using a stratagem more than the others does not guarantee that it will not get overwritten/registered.
  
• More stratagem usages from the CaW means more stratagems for the child

What we are not sure about:

• (Concerning your test 8) Either does it depend of the number of battle, indeed; but since having simply the stratagems equiped does nothing, I'm not sure about it. Either is it because of the inter-category priority.
  
• Childs seem to inherit the four random(?) stratagems from parents + his/her two ability stratagems.

What we don't know:

• How the hell does the priority works when you use stratagems more than once? That's the point I'm totally unable to understand. It seems totally random somehow, but when I think about this Unity I never get at the end of a normal playthrough, it would be strange for it to be random.
  
• What determines the amount of stratagems the child gets?

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to conduct all these experiments. I feel like it's a bit more obvious now.

(By the way, do you mind if I use these informations to complete my guide?)