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11 Retainers are recruitable named characters in Huaxia: Warring States. The Early Access roster numbers around eighty figures, drawn from the historical and legendary record of the late Warring States era. Retainers function as combat companions on the personal layer, as named generals and advisors on the strategic layer, and as marriage partners and household members in the long-term clan loop.
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33 Inspired, Not Biographical
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55 The named retainers borrow heavily from real historical figures, but their stats, personalities, recruitment requirements, and storylines are creative interpretations. The game folds in mythological elements, alternate-history what-ifs, and fictional framings that do not map cleanly onto the historical record. Treat retainer pages as in-world characters with shared names rather than as biographies.
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88 Recruitment Loop
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1010 Most retainers will not join you on first meeting. They have their own goals, allegiances, and conditions that you must satisfy. The game offers several social verbs to move recruitment forward.
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1212 VerbEffectStudy withApproach a learned candidate as a student; raises affinity through shared learningGiftOffer money, goods, weapons, or rare items aligned with the candidate's interestsPersuadeUse eloquence checks to argue for your cause; gated by traits and schoolingBribeDirect payment for compliance; lowers ethical-school standing if witnessed
1313 Roles a Retainer Can Fill
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1515 RoleWhere It MattersCombat companionStands beside you in personal melee; covers ranged, defensive, or technical roles you have not specced intoField generalLeads detachments on the strategic layer; their stats determine pre-battle bonuses, retreat penalties, and unique tactical ordersAdvisorProvides counsel in homestead, county, and clan management; sometimes unlocks unique policiesDiplomatConducts diplomacy with rival factions; eloquent retainers are decisive in alliance negotiationsPartnerMarriage and children are part of the long-term clan loop, and some retainers are eligible marriage partners who become part of the household over the long term
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1717 Affinities and Schools
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1919 Many retainers are aligned with one or more schools of thought. A Confucian-leaning retainer values rite, hierarchy, and study; a Mohist retainer values frugality, defensive war, and craft. Aligning your own school choices with your retainer's preferences increases their affinity and unlocks unique events. Recruiting a retainer aligned with a school you oppose is possible but slower and requires sustained social investment.
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2121 Combat Pairings
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2323 On the personal layer, pair retainers whose elemental and trigram affinities cover gaps in yours. A water-element melee retainer balances a fire-element character; a yin-leaning patient retainer balances a yang-leaning aggressive one. The same applies on the strategic layer: cavalry-specialist retainers excel in open terrain, defensive-specialist retainers excel in siege defense.
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2626 Loss and Permadeath
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2828 Retainers can be lost in battle, can leave you over conflicting choices, or can die in story events. Several have permanent or semi-permanent loss triggers; once they are gone, they are gone. Save before high-risk story decisions involving named retainers if you want to avoid an irreversible parting.
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3030 Notes for Early Access
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3232 The retainer list grows and shifts between updates: existing retainers get rebalanced; new ones are introduced; rare ones are sometimes restructured. Articles for individual retainers will be created as their roles stabilize. Until then, the canonical roster lives in-game on the recruitment screen.
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3434 A balance pass during Early Access raised the starting skill level of the historical heroes so that every state has access to characters with high-tier (level 5) skills, making recruited martial arts talent more even across factions than it was at launch. Hero supplies are also drawn from your treasury on a fixed cadence alongside soldier pay, so a large retinue carries an ongoing upkeep cost.
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3636 Party management was refined in the June 5 update. When you remove a retainer from your party, they now return to their clan's homestead rather than reappearing in Yiyang or wandering the open world, which makes it easier to find and re-recruit them later. Recruiting prisoners as retainers now correctly updates their profession on joining. The developer has also named a planned feature that will let you teach new concepts to recruited retainers, deepening how much you can shape a companion after recruitment.
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38-A July 2026 update let retainers draw on the clan's new Collection Library. Books and recipes learned by any member are stored to the shared library and can be used across the clan rather than only by the protagonist. A dedicated system for teaching school philosophy directly to retainers was named as a later addition and is not yet in the build.
38+A July 2026 update let retainers draw on the clan's new Collection Library. Books and recipes learned by any member are stored to the shared library and can be used across the clan rather than only by the protagonist. A dedicated system for teaching school philosophy directly to retainers was named as a later addition at the time; it shipped on August 28, 2026 as Teach Philosophy and Teach Skills.
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40-The July 18, 2026 update roadmap set a dedicated retainer-development phase for the July to August 2026 window. Its headline additions are retainer dispatch, which sends clan retainers out on their own to travel, trade, and run missions, and a training path that branches retainers into civil and martial specialists for tailored squad builds, plus a side-by-side equipment comparison screen. These remain announced rather than shipped, so treat them as roadmap intent until a patch confirms them. See Early Access Roadmap for the full dated schedule.
40+The July 18, 2026 update roadmap set a dedicated retainer-development phase for the July to August 2026 window. Its headline additions are retainer dispatch, which sends clan retainers out on their own to travel, trade, and run missions, and a training path that branches retainers into civil and martial specialists for tailored squad builds, plus a side-by-side equipment comparison screen. Of these, the training and teaching path and the equipment comparison screen shipped on August 28, 2026. Retainer dispatch was not itemised in that patch note or any later one through September 20, so treat it as roadmap intent until a patch confirms it. See Early Access Roadmap for the full dated schedule.
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42-On July 31, 2026 the studio previewed what that phase will contain. A retainer cultivation system will combine philosophies, equipment, and talents so a retainer can be pushed toward a specific military role or weapon proficiency instead of levelling as a generalist. Alongside it, players will be able to teach skills and philosophies to clan members, rename them, and hand out rewards for good service. The stated target is to ship the batch before September; until a patch confirms it, treat the whole set as announced rather than in the build. A closing preview on August 22, 2026 put a shape on the teaching half of that work: a dedicated interaction panel for teaching philosophy and teaching skills, feeding philosophies collected while wandering down to retainers and clansmen. The studio frames a finished build as a combination of philosophy, ambition, talent and gear, and gives raising a cavalry squad from your own retainers as the worked example, pairing the teaching panel with the mounted combat pass landing in the same batch. The rollout was put at August 28, 2026.
42+On July 31, 2026 the studio previewed what that phase will contain. A retainer cultivation system will combine philosophies, equipment, and talents so a retainer can be pushed toward a specific military role or weapon proficiency instead of levelling as a generalist. Alongside it, players will be able to teach skills and philosophies to clan members, rename them, and hand out rewards for good service. The stated target was to ship the batch before September. A closing preview on August 22, 2026 put a shape on the teaching half of that work: a dedicated interaction panel for teaching philosophy and teaching skills, feeding philosophies collected while wandering down to retainers and clansmen. The studio frames a finished build as a combination of philosophy, ambition, talent and gear, and gives raising a cavalry squad from your own retainers as the worked example, pairing the teaching panel with the mounted combat pass landing in the same batch. The rollout was put at August 28, 2026, and the teaching features shipped to the main build that day. Renaming characters and handing out rewards were not itemised in the patch note.
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4545 Unique Hero Traits
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47-On August 8, 2026 the studio set out how it intends to separate renowned historical figures from the generic characters that fill out a roster. Each named hero gains one or more unique traits of their own rather than drawing from a shared pool. The examples below were published with the announcement and reached an opt-in test branch on August 14, so treat them as announced values that a main-build patch still has to confirm, and expect the numbers to move.
47+On August 8, 2026 the studio set out how it intends to separate renowned historical figures from the generic characters that fill out a roster. Each named hero gains one or more unique traits of their own rather than drawing from a shared pool. The system shipped to the main build on August 28, 2026: every legendary general now has unique ambitions and exclusive traits, missing entries in some ambition lists were filled in, and collection-type ambitions now name the items they need. The example values below were published with the August 8 announcement and were not restated in the patch note, so check them in the current build and expect the numbers to move.
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4949 HeroTraitEffectMeng AoMeng Clan Family PreceptsOther Meng clan members in the same clan gain Ancestral Blessing: all attributes up 3 percent and experience gain up 20 percent.Han FeiTreatise on the Five VerminEvery clan member draws 12 percent less salary and works 12 percent more efficiently.Zhang LiangFive-Generation Minister of HanThe party gains 30 percent more reputation with the state of Han, and Han unit upgrades cost 20 percent less gold.Gai NieTai-A Pacifies QinWhile the sword Tai-A is equipped, melee damage rises 12 percent and critical hit chance rises 10 percent. See Weapons.Wei WujiThree Thousand RetainersWith three or more retainers in the party, the whole group gains 20 percent more skill experience and 20 percent more favour.
50-The studio said further traits will arrive in later patches, and that it will avoid heavy balance reworks at this stage unless a value proves badly out of line. Alongside the traits, an intelligence screen is planned so a player can browse a figure's abilities before deciding who is worth pursuing, which removes some of the guesswork from the recruitment loop described above.
50+The studio said further traits will arrive in later patches, and that it will avoid heavy balance reworks at this stage unless a value proves badly out of line. Alongside the traits, an intelligence screen was announced on August 8 so a player can browse a figure's abilities before deciding who is worth pursuing; it was not itemised in the August 28 notes or any later patch note through September 20, 2026.
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5252 Teaching Skills and Philosophies
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54-Book recipes unlocked by any clan member are already shared across the whole clan. The August 2026 revision extends that to teaching: philosophies and skills can be passed directly to retainers and clansmen, characters can be renamed, and rewards can be handed out to individuals. Combined with traits, equipment, and talents, this is what lets a retainer be pushed toward a specific troop proficiency or a specific civil office rather than staying a generalist. See Talents and Skills for the eighteen arts a character can be taught, and Hundred Schools of Thought for the philosophy side.
54+Book recipes unlocked by any clan member are already shared across the whole clan. Since August 28, 2026 the same reach extends to teaching: Teach Philosophy and Teach Skills let the player pass mastered philosophies and skills directly to retainers and clansmen. Renaming characters and handing out rewards were previewed alongside it but were not itemised in the patch note. Combined with traits, equipment, and talents, this is what lets a retainer be pushed toward a specific troop proficiency or a specific civil office rather than staying a generalist. See Talents and Skills for the eighteen arts a character can be taught, and Hundred Schools of Thought for the philosophy side.
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5656 An August 8 fix addressed a related problem: captives recruited as retainers were failing to join the party immediately, leaving them impossible to find afterwards.
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5858 See also: Combat System, Hundred Schools of Thought, Character Creation, Factions.