How to Bond With Zhang Jiao in Dynasty Warriors Origins

Dynasty Warriors Origins has a character bonding feature, where the original protagonist Ziluan can build close friendships with most of the game’s unique characters. The Yellow Turbans’ leader Zhang Jiao is also included in the list, but the method players must perform to bond with him will be different from other characters in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

The game’s bonding system formally appears when Sima Hui invites you to the Shui Jing Retreat in Chapter 2. But when you check the bondable character list, it includes Zhang Jiao who is already dead and grayed out with the starting “Acquaintance” level.

It turns out that increasing the bond level for Zhang Jiao is only possible in the Dynasty Warriors Origins post-game mode. As such, be advised that the guide below will contain post-game content spoilers.

Once you have reached an ending with game credits in Dynasty Warriors Origins, the post-game mode will unlock story restart points where you can move back to the beginning of any chapter among others. If you want to start raising your bond level with Zhang Jiao, you should restart the story from either the Prologue or Chapter 1.

Play through the early game segments until you finish the first two Skirmish stages. When the gate separating the You and Ji Provinces opens, you will spot someone who did not exist in your first playthrough. That’s right, Zhang Jiao will be there and you can watch his first bond event.

After the first event concludes, Zhang Jiao will give you a set of training missions. Just like other characters, clearing two of the three missions will let you increase the bond by another level.

You can repeat the sequence twice within Chapter 1, but you will eventually notice that you won’t find Zhang Jiao anywhere after you have reached Bond Level 4. It turns out that to get his final bond event and level, you will have to move forward to a much later period in the timeline. When I moved the storyline to an endgame branch in Chapter 5, I somehow noticed Zhang Jiao appearing in the mountain village near the city of Ye. You can talk with him right there to finally max out his Bond Level.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.