Koei Tecmo put the fourteenth entry on Steam on 15 January 2020 and added English language support on 28 February that year. The map covers 46 cities and roughly 340 regions of Han China, and territory is tracked by painting individual hexes in your faction colour, which is simultaneously how income, ownership and supply are calculated. More than 1,000 named officers carry over 150 different traits between them.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Hex painting and region control
Marching an army across neutral land converts those hexes to your colour, and an officer's Conquer Land value decides how quickly that happens. Painted hexes feed income and support any friendly unit standing on them, so land is not decoration.
Supply lines from the origin city
Every army draws supplies back along a coloured chain of hexes to the city it deployed from. Cut that chain behind an advancing enemy and their morale falls, status ailments set in, and a superior force can collapse without a single pitched battle.
Thirteen formations and unit types
Field formations such as Fish, Crane, Awl, Goose, Snake and Ring each favour different terrain and roles, while Siege Tower, Battering Ram and Catapult exist purely to break bases. Naval combat uses Ship, Assault Ship and Roofed Boat, and Awl units cannot use tactics at all.
Officer traits and battle tactics
Deployed officers carry tactics that fire during combat to gut enemy numbers, confuse units or buff nearby allies, and officers with high affinity can chain their tactics together in the same action. Traits also drive non combat work, with Debater raising diplomatic success and Planner improving plots.
Diplomacy, plots and submission
Goodwill payments of gold, supplies and specialties push a rival force toward an alliance that runs up to 24 months, or 72 turns. Plots run in parallel: Hidden Poison wrecks regional security, Estrange erodes officer loyalty, Placation flips territory, and Dual Destruction sets two rivals against each other.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cao Cao | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Liu Bei | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Sun Quan | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Lu Bu | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Yuan Shao | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Formation | The dependable default. | Open ground engagements where you expect a straight fight rather than a manoeuvre |
| Crane Formation | Decent defence and good mobility, and it occupies more hexes as it moves than a compact formation does. | Painting newly taken land and widening a supply corridor behind an advance |
| Awl Formation | The fastest way to move an army, at the cost of real combat strength, and units in it cannot use tactics at all. | Racing to an undefended city or repositioning across a province between turns |
| Ring Formation | A defensive formation built for attrition rather than damage. | Holding mountain passes and river crossings against a numerically superior force |
| Battering Ram | One of the three siege formations alongside Siege Tower and Catapult. | Cracking a defended city once the field army protecting it has already been beaten |
Fish Formation: The dependable default. It balances attack and defence with average mobility and holds up on plains where nothing about the terrain favours either side. Most armies should be in it unless there is a reason not to be.
Crane Formation: Decent defence and good mobility, and it occupies more hexes as it moves than a compact formation does. That makes it the tool for converting territory quickly rather than for winning battles.
Awl Formation: The fastest way to move an army, at the cost of real combat strength, and units in it cannot use tactics at all. It exists to arrive somewhere before the defender does.
Ring Formation: A defensive formation built for attrition rather than damage. Parked on a chokepoint hex it forces an attacker to grind through while your supply line stays intact and theirs stretches.
Battering Ram: One of the three siege formations alongside Siege Tower and Catapult. Its damage applies only to the siege attack, so a ram unit caught in the open by cavalry is close to defenceless.
Full breakdowns in our ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Luoyang | Contested from the 184 Yellow Turban scenario onward | Central position, high income, and legitimacy for a ruler chasing higher court rank |
| Chang'an | Key in the 190 anti Dong Zhuo period | A defensible capital and a staging point for campaigns into Liang and Yi Province |
| Chengdu | Central from the 214 period through the 227 Chu Shi Biao scenario | Strong agricultural income, mountain defence, and a base for northern campaigns via Hanzhong |
| Jianye | Central from the 208 Chibi period onward | Naval dominance on the Yangtze and a secure base for pushing west into Jing Province |
| Xiangyang | Contested in every scenario from 200 onward | Access to Jing Province officers and a forward position against two neighbours at the same time |
Luoyang: The Han capital in Sili, sitting at the junction of the routes east to the plains and west to Chang'an. Whoever holds it controls the centre of the map and inherits every border problem that comes with it.
Chang'an: The western anchor of Sili, reached through defensible approaches that make it awkward to attack and awkward to leave. Dong Zhuo moved the court here, and factions holding the west treat it as their gateway east.
Chengdu: The seat of Yi Province, ringed by mountains that funnel any invasion into a handful of passes. It is the safest capital on the map and the slowest one to expand out of.
Jianye: The Wu capital on the lower Yangtze, defended by the river more than by its walls. Naval formations deployed from here can reach most of the southeast faster than a land army can march half that distance.
Xiangyang: The hinge of Jing Province, wanted by every one of the three major powers because it opens routes north, east and west at once. Expect it to change hands more often than any other city in a long campaign.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Check the coloured hex chain behind every army before you commit it. An army whose supply route runs through a single undefended corridor can be beaten by a smaller force that simply walks onto that corridor and waits.
- Send officers with the Debater trait on diplomatic missions and officers with Planner on plots. Success rates on both are tied to traits and to the Politics stat, not to how famous the officer is.
- Assign a governor with high Politics to every captured city immediately. Development, security and recruitment all stall in a city that is technically yours but has nobody competent running it.
- Alliances last up to 24 months, which is 72 turns, so time them around a campaign rather than signing them the moment a partner is willing. An alliance that expires mid siege leaves you fighting two wars.
- Duels resolve automatically over five matches and a lost duel can wound, capture or kill your officer while gutting the unit's morale. Only initiate one when your officer's War rating is clearly higher.
- Morale is the real health bar. A unit at zero morale is annihilated regardless of troop count, which is why cutting supply and winning duels beats grinding down troop numbers.
- Use Crane formations on any army whose job is to hold newly taken ground. The wider hex coverage turns a single march into a permanent supply corridor instead of a thin line you have to defend later.
- The Campaign command becomes available at Duke rank and higher, letting you order several armies out of several bases with one instruction. Push for court rank deliberately, because it changes how many fronts you can realistically run.
- Before invading, run Hidden Poison on the target region to wreck its security and spawn bandits. You arrive against a city that has already been spending its turns dealing with internal problems.
- Recruit constantly even when you have nobody to fight. Officer count caps how many armies you can field at once, and a faction with fifteen average officers out manoeuvres a faction with five excellent ones.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Marching a strong army deep into enemy land while leaving the hex corridor behind it completely unguarded.
- Sending the highest War officer on diplomatic missions instead of an officer with Politics and the Debater trait.
- Building siege formations before beating the field army, then losing the rams to cavalry in the open.
- Using Awl formations in a fight and wondering why no tactics ever trigger.
- Capturing four cities in one year with no governors assigned, so income and security collapse across all of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV in English?
Yes. The Steam release went live on 15 January 2020 with Japanese, Korean and Chinese support, and Koei Tecmo added English on 28 February 2020. The store page now lists English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
How big is the map?
It covers 46 cities and roughly 340 regions across Han China, with more than 1,000 named officers carrying over 150 distinct traits between them.
Do I need the Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack?
Not to play, but it adds War Chronicles mode with five short scenarios: the Anti Dong Zhuo Coalition, the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle for Jing Province and the Battle for Wuzhang Plains. They are far shorter than a full campaign, which makes them good for learning the systems.
Which scenario should a first time player pick?
One of the later scenarios where the map has already consolidated, such as the 227 Chu Shi Biao start. Fewer independent forces means fewer simultaneous borders to manage while you learn supply lines and formations.
What actually decides a battle?
Formation, terrain, supply line integrity and officer tactics, roughly in that order. Troop numbers matter, but a supplied Ring formation on a pass regularly beats a larger force that marched in on a cut supply route.
More ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Guides
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Best Builds
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Tier List
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Walkthrough
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Beginner's Guide
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Tips & Tricks
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Weapons Guide
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Combat Guide
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Boss Guide
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Maps & Locations
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Crafting Guide
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Classes & Characters
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