Shu

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy

“	Take the reins of the Kingdom of Shu and fulfill Liu Bei's dream of restoring the Han dynasty. The Shu unique units are the White Feather Guard, an infantryman that slows down units it attacks, and the War Chariot, a vehicle that fires barrages of bolts from a large repeating crossbow.	”
—In-game description

Shu is an East Asian civilization introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms, based on the Shu Han kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period.

Characteristics[]

Unique units[]

White Feather Guard: Infantry whose attack slows enemies
War Chariot: Cavalry siege unit with two attack modes replacing the Scorpion-line
Liu Bei (hero): Infantry hero with a build limit of 1 which heals nearby units

Unique technologies[]

Coiled Serpent Array: Spearman-line and White Feather Guards gain additional hit points when near each other.
Bolt Magazine: Archer-line,^{[note 1]} War Chariots, and Lou Chuans fire additional projectiles.^{[note 2]}

Civilization bonuses[]

Lumberjacks generate 0.7 food for every 10 wood.
Archery unit technologies at the Archery Range and Blacksmith cost -25%
All land siege units and Lou Chuans^{[note 3]} move +10/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Age

Team bonus[]

Foot archer units except Skirmishers +2 Line of Sight

Overview[]

Changelog[]

The Three Kingdoms[]

Upon release, War Chariots had 0.8 speed and a reload time of 8. With update 147949, the War Chariot's speed was increased to 0.9, and its reload time was reduced to 6.5.
Upon release, War Chariots cost 50 food, 90 gold. With update 153015, they cost 65 food, 90 gold.
Initially, the Lumberjacks food generation rate was 10% of wood collected. With update 153015, it was reduced to 9% of wood collected.

Chronicles: Alexander the Great[]

With update 162286, Lumberjacks generate food in addition to wood civilization bonus reduced from 9% to 7%.

Campaign appearances[]

They have a dedicated campaign, Liu Bei. They also have the following appearances as AI players:

Liu Bei[]

Heroes of the Realm
- Tao Qian - Ally
- Tao Qian's Villagers - Ally
- Lü Bu - Ally → Enemy

The Scholar and the Sandal Maker
- Liu Biao - Ally
- Sleeping Dragon - Ally
- Zhao Yun - Ally
- Conspirators - Enemy

The Great Escape
- Jing Province - Ally
- Jiangling - Enemy → Ally

The Battle of Red Cliffs (Liu Bei)
- Zhuge Liang - Ally
- Chinese Villages - Ally
- OR
- Chinese Villages → Lü Bu - Ally → Enemy

Cao Cao[]

Emperor In All But Name
- Liu Bei - Enemy
- Tao Qian - Neutral → Enemy
- Lü Bu - Enemy (Possible Ally)

The Battle of Guandu
- Guan Yu - Ally (Possible Enemy)

The Battle of Red Cliffs (Cao Cao)
- Liu Bei - Enemy
- Zhuge Liang - Enemy

Sun Clan[]

The Imperial Seal
- Liu Biao - Enemy

The Conquest of Jiangdong
- Liu Yao - Enemy

The White Tiger
- Liu Biao - Enemy

The Avenger
- Liu Biao - Enemy
- Liu Biao's Navy - Enemy
- Liu Biao's Vanguard - Enemy

The Battle of Red Cliffs (Sun Clan)
- Liu Bei - Ally → Enemy

In-game dialogue language[]

The Shu use the same voice lines as the Chinese. Historically, the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period would have spoken Eastern Han Chinese alongside different dialects such as the extinct Ba–Shu Chinese spoken primarily at Sichuan.

Villager

Military

Monk

King

AI player names[]

Liu Bei (刘备/劉備): The founding emperor of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.
Liu Shan (刘禅/劉禪): The last emperor of Shu Han.
Liu Feng (刘封/劉封): Liu Bei's adopted son, who was executed after his defeat because he ignored Guan Yu's request for help.
Guan Yu (关羽/關羽): Liu Bei's sworn brother, one of the Five Tiger Generals, was later called the Lord Guan.
Ma Chao (马超/馬超): One of the Five Tiger Generals, descendant of Ma Yuan and general Fu Bo of the Han dynasty.
Ma Dai (马岱/馬岱): General of Shu Han, cousin of Ma Chao.
Huang Zhong (黄忠/黃忠): One of the Five Tiger Generals, he served Liu Biao and joined Liu Bei after the Battle of Chibi.
Jiang Wei (姜维/姜維): Originally a defector general from Cao Wei, he succeeded Zhuge Liang as the main commander of Shu Han in its final years.
Liao Hua (廖化): A general of Shu Han who served the empire loyally for nearly 50 years.
Pang Tong (庞统/龐統): A strategist as famous as Zhuge Liang, known as the "Fledgling Phoenix"; died while fighting for Liu Bei in Yizhou.
Wei Yan (魏延): An important general of Shu Han, he fought bravely but was never appreciated. He was killed after he rebelled out of jealousy.
Zhang Fei (张飞/張飛): Liu Bei's sworn brother, one of the Five Tiger Generals.
Zhao Yun (赵云/趙雲): One of the Five Tiger Generals, he is most famous for his exploit at Changban.
Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮/諸葛亮): The strategist known as "Sleeping Dragon", chancellor and de facto regent of Shu Han.

History[]

“	As warlords battled for dominance throughout China, one man was committed to reestablishing the once-great Han dynasty: Liu Bei. Despite being a distant relative of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Bei came from humble beginnings. His father died when Liu Bei was young, so to support his family Liu Bei helped his mother make straw sandals. He soon grew into a formidable young man and, when learning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE, he was eager to fight for the empire. He became sworn brothers with two other men, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, in the legendary 'Oath of the Peach Garden'. The three men remained dedicated to one another for their entire lives, first serving as volunteers against the Yellow Turbans. It was during this rebellion that Liu Bei first made a name for himself: he was appointed assistant magistrate in Pingyuan in recognition for his accomplishments. Liu Bei served under a variety of warlords, including Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, and Liu Biao, throughout the tumultuous period between the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the founding of the Three Kingdoms. After the death of Tao Qian, the governor left his title of Governor of Xu to Liu Bei. He then came into conflict with Yuan Shu, which led to an alliance with the infamous warlord Cao Cao, a man who controlled the puppet emperor. Liu Bei and Cao Cao also fought together against the notoriously fickle Lü Bu, who had once been an ally of Liu Bei's. Liu Bei eventually turned against Cao Cao and in 200 CE, Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei and his companions, forcing Liu Bei to turn to Liu Biao for protection. While staying with Liu Biao, Liu Bei met and formed an alliance with the famous military strategist Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang, who has become a legendary figure, was credited with inventing a crossbow that shoots multiple bolts at once as well as writing Bazhentu (八陣圖) or the Eight Elements Battle Formation, a text that describes the importance of the interaction between chariots, crossbows, cavalry, and infantry in battle. Liu Biao died in 208 CE, leaving Liu Bei in an unsafe position: to escape Cao Cao's wrath, he fled south and sought an alliance with Sun Quan. The two successfully defeated Cao Cao at Chi Bi (the Battle of Red Cliffs) later that year, mostly due to the strategy of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. Liu Bei then married Sun Quan's sister and became the Governor of Jing Province. A few years later, Liu Bei successfully captured the Yi Province from Liu Zhang and suddenly held a large portion of territory: he had 'borrowed' part of the Jing province from Sun Quan in 210 CE, and now refused to give it back. After conquering Hanzhong, Liu Bei officially named himself the King of Hanzhong in 219 CE. Now the ruler of a large swath of territory in the modern day Sichuan province, Liu Bei named himself emperor in 221 CE in response to Cao Pi's deposition of Emperor Xian the previous year. Convinced that Emperor Xian had been murdered by Cao Pi, Liu Bei claimed that he sought to reestablish the Han empire. He established the Shu Han capital at Chengdu. Despite establishing an empire, Liu Bei didn't enjoy any peace: Sun Quan and the Wu armies had retaken the Jing Province and killed Liu Bei's sworn brother Guan Yu. Protected by his White Feather Guard, an elite infantry unit, Liu Bei fought against the Wu kingdom in 221 CE, but he was ultimately defeated. Liu Bei died in 223 CE from illness, leaving his most trusted advisor Zhuge Liang as regent over his heir Liu Shan. Zhuge Liang ruled until his death in 234 CE: the regency was then passed to Jiang Wan until 246 CE when Liu Shan finally took over as full emperor. Liu Shan was never able to live up to his father's reputation, and he surrendered Chengdu to the Wei in 263 CE, ending the brief Shu Han empire.	”
—In-game history section

Trivia[]

The civilization icon/crest of Shu and the player color in the Shu campaign is green, which is the common association for the Shu faction in the Dynasty Warriors franchise.
The user interface emblem of the Shu depicts a jade dragon from the Warring States period.
Shu is the only civilization without access to Iron Casting, as well as being the only civilization to have access to Hei Guang Cavalry while missing Bloodlines, resulting in overall poor cavalry.
- Historically, after the Battle of Yiling, Shu Han had depleted much of Liu Bei's veteran northern cavalry and had limited success replenishing its losses, being unable to secure sufficient horses either in quality or quantity to compensate for the remainder of its existence.
The Shu are the first civilization to be classified as an archer civilization since Rise of the Rajas, and the second civilization introduced in the Definitive Edition to have fully upgradable Arbalesters.
The Shu are the third iteration of a Chinese civilization to have access to a chariot unit (the others being Shang and their Tale of the Dragon counterpart).
- Shu's access to chariots is anachronistic and geographically inaccurate. While chariots were used during the Three Kingdoms period, their use was mostly limited to transportation and command posts, since chariot warfare was phased out in favor of ranged and shock cavalry during the Warring States period. Additionally, the mountainous and riverine geography of the region is ill-suited to chariot warfare.
The Shu Castle is based on the wubao, a castle-like manor built from the Han Dynasty period to the Northern and Southern Dynasties period to resist barbarian invasions.
Before update 144358, the name of the civilization was translated to "Kingdom of Shu" in the official French version and was the only civilization in this language version with more than one word in its name.
Despite the kingdom being historically landlocked, Shu has a very potent navy with every single unit and upgrade available except Fast Fire Ship. This is justified from geographical and historical standpoints, as the present-day Yunnan and Sichuan provinces have many major rivers that flowed through the provinces and are better suited for various medieval warships (one of the rivers being the Yangtze River where Liu Bei participated in the Battle of Red Cliffs where an alliance with Sun Quan decisively defeated Cao Cao's forces).

Gallery[]

Introducing- The Shu! Three Kingdoms Testing - AoE2- DE

Notes[]

↑ Secondary projectiles identical to those of the Chu Ko Nu
↑ Said units fire +2 projectiles. Lou Chuans and War Chariots in Barrage mode fire another.
↑ Despite the bonus stating that it affects siege warships, only the ones normally available to the Shu are affected.

v • d • e Civilizations in Age of Empires II
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Return of Rome	Romans
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The Three Kingdoms	Jurchens · Khitans · Shu · Wei · Wu

[1] Secondary projectiles identical to those of the Chu Ko Nu

[2] Said units fire +2 projectiles. Lou Chuans and War Chariots in Barrage mode fire another.

[3] Despite the bonus stating that it affects siege warships, only the ones normally available to the Shu are affected.

[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]