Chapter Six: Allocation of Attribute Points

Among the two main categories of player attributes, the value of the political attribute is the average of the sub-attributes: scheming, prestige, management, diplomacy, culture, and propaganda. The military attribute is the average of command and individual combat. In turn, the command value is the average of strategic analysis and tactical execution, while the individual combat value is the average of physique, marksmanship, close combat, and stealth.

Within the political category, scheming determines the loyalty of subordinates. The higher your scheming, the faster your subordinates’ loyalty rises and the lower the chance of betrayal. Conversely, a low scheming value means loyalty improves slowly or may even drop, making betrayal more likely. If a player wants to be a leader, having a high scheming attribute is essential; otherwise, you’ll have to watch helplessly as your subordinates keep turning against you. There is, of course, one special situation where a leader need not worry about scheming: according to the official guide, there is an S-tier special ability called “Benevolent Rule” under scheming, which ensures the loyalty of all subordinates in your faction never decreases. With this top-tier skill, betrayal ceases to be a concern.

Prestige determines how many NPCs are willing to join you. The higher your prestige, the more outstanding NPCs will seek you out. After the Xinhai Revolution, if a player’s prestige is high enough, it may even trigger an election mission where NPCs vote you into a leadership position—another attribute political players must prioritize.

Management is the archetypal “prime minister” skill. If you aim to be a right-hand man rather than the main leader, management is your most important attribute. Once you possess territory, your income is directly tied to the management abilities of those you appoint as administrators—the more capable they are, the greater the prosperity and returns your territory will enjoy.

Diplomacy affects interactions with NPCs. A high diplomacy value means a greater chance of successfully persuading NPCs. For example, if after developing a base you wish to recruit local bandits and you happen to have a highly diplomatic subordinate, you can send them as your envoy to negotiate terms, potentially winning over the bandits without a fight.

Culture determines a player’s learning ability. Most new players overlook this attribute, but in truth, it is highly significant. Aside from attribute points awarded by the system upon leveling up, players can only gain additional points through special opportunities or by attending various schools. Without sufficient culture, even if you receive a mission to enroll at the Whampoa Military Academy and know it would greatly boost your attributes, you’ll be unable to complete the task.

Cultural attribute points don’t require luck; you simply need to find an NPC teacher and study diligently. However, it does require a large investment of time.

Chen Hao was indeed shrewd. The first time he entered the game, he sensed that culture would be important, so he allocated all twenty of his political free attribute points to culture. After entering the game, Chen Hao encountered a famed scholar in Penglai County, Shandong. Because of his high culture value, he triggered a learning mission and followed the scholar for three months.

After three months, Chen Hao’s level barely increased, and he had spent a vast amount of time on culture—becoming the butt of jokes among his classmates and friends. At that time, his lack of confidence got the better of him, and he followed their advice to abandon his studies and focus on leveling up. As a result, the scholar took on another player as a disciple. After six months of study, this lucky individual triggered a mission called “Senior Brother.” A former student of the scholar visited, met the player disciple, and, being a student at Baoding Military Academy, naturally recommended his junior to join the academy...

Once a player received a military school mission and was admitted, the importance of the culture attribute became obvious, leaving Chen Hao regretful for a long time. Whenever he sighed about how wise his initial choice was, those who had advised him otherwise accused him of being a hindsight sage, a master of after-the-fact wisdom.

The last political attribute, propaganda, is easy to understand: it’s a supporting attribute. If you become a leader and want to boost your own or your base’s reputation, you can enlist someone with high propaganda to help. A player with a high propaganda attribute can even run a newspaper in-game, serving as the voice of a regional leader.

In the military category, the command skill splits into strategic analysis and tactical execution. If you aspire to be a general leading troops, both these attributes must be high. Strategic analysis strengthens your sense of the big picture; a high value here helps you better judge the flow of war. The game’s wars are all managed by the AI “Genesis.” With high strategic analysis, when facing a complicated battle, “Genesis” may stimulate your mind with a flash of insight, making it easier to find the right way to respond. Conversely, no matter how much real-life military theory you know, if your strategic analysis attribute is low, “Genesis” will use psychological suggestion to nudge you into making mistakes in complex battles.

Tactical execution is primarily your ability to lead troops in combat. Weak tactical execution manifests directly as poor control over your units, reducing their fighting effectiveness.

Legendary NPC generals in the game never have low values in either strategic analysis or tactical execution. Those with only tactical execution and no strategic analysis can never rise above junior officers. Conversely, those with only strategic analysis but lacking in tactical execution are only fit to be advisers, not field commanders—much like Ma Su from the Three Kingdoms.

After recruiting NPCs, players must assign them wisely, placing them where they fit best. Every historical figure has a unique loyalty value, so when appointing positions you must consider both their abilities and their reliability—the decision can’t be made on ability alone.

Unit proficiency directly reflects how well an officer can command their troops. For example, if an officer’s infantry proficiency is D, he may only be able to get fifty percent efficiency out of a hundred infantrymen. But if his proficiency is A, the unit’s combat power could reach full potential.

Individual combat is divided into four aspects, with physique hiding several sub-attributes. High physique means greater endurance, speed, resistance, and recovery. While important, this can be improved through good diet and exercise, so Chen Hao never wasted free attribute points on it.

Marksmanship is, simply put, your shooting ability—the higher it is, the more accurate your aim. Since “War” is a shooter game, any player focused on individual combat cares about marksmanship. Chen Hao hoped to draw a skill that would enhance his aim, which would let him add his free points to marksmanship.

Close combat refers to melee ability. The higher it is, the better you perform in bayonet charges and hand-to-hand fighting. This attribute is less valued abroad, but in the China server, where firearms and ammunition are scarce, specializing in melee combat early on is a viable choice.

Traditional Chinese martial arts are also present in the game. If you’re lucky enough to encounter masters like Ip Man or Huo Yuanjia and learn a special martial art while having high close combat, you’ll be formidable in the early game. If you also draw an advantageous melee combat skill, you’ll be a cut above the rest.

Stealth is self-explanatory. If your stealth attribute is low, you’re likely to be the first discovered when lying in ambush. High stealth makes you ideal for sabotage and surprise attacks—an essential attribute for would-be special forces operatives or spies.

Players only have political and military attributes, but since military can be developed along the lines of either individual combat or command, in reality, there are three development paths: political—becoming a leader or administrator; general—commanding troops in battle; or individual combat—being an elite soldier or junior officer, or even the all-powerful “king of soldiers.”

Since “War” uses a leveling system, players on the political path who lack a steady group to help them level up cannot neglect their individual combat stats entirely. Similarly, players aiming to be generals should ideally assign their free attribute points to strategic analysis or tactical execution, but early leveling will also require assistance.

Given the choice, everyone wants to be well-rounded. Players who intend to become leaders, while they could rely on NPC generals to command their armies, usually want to try their hand at leading troops themselves. Generals, meanwhile, hope for strong individual combat skills to avoid mishaps on the battlefield.

Chen Hao was never content to serve under others. Now, armed with ten years of future memories, his goal was to become a regional warlord. Without a fixed group of helpers in the real world, he couldn’t rely on others to help him level up in the early game. Therefore, he decided to assign all twenty of his crucial military free attribute points to individual combat.

He put all twenty points into close combat, because his special skill was a melee combat ability called “Bloodbath.” With twenty points in close combat at level zero, and coupled with “Bloodbath,” he was bound to excel in early leveling.

As for strategic analysis and tactical execution, Chen Hao couldn’t worry about them for now; he’d have to find a way to improve them once he got into military school.

Having already regretted his past mistake, he didn’t repeat it with his political attribute points: he assigned all twenty to culture. Choosing to be born in Penglai County, Shandong, he intended to find that renowned scholar and study under him long-term to raise his culture attribute, enter military school as soon as possible, and secure the patronage of a famous modern general.