Guan Yu
Skills
Skill 1Saint of WarDirect skill damage on up to three marches in a fan that silences them for three seconds; the factor is halved when he is secondary.
Skill 2Five Tiger GeneralsAttacking a city or stronghold, his march deals more normal attack damage, and its attacks may briefly cut the target's attack.
Skill 3The Slaying of Hua XiongHis infantry gain attack and march speed, and some lightly wounded troops recover whenever the march leaves combat.
Skill 4Green Dragon Crescent BladeSaint of War may add a second direct hit, a heavier one on his current target when the fan struck several marches.
AwakenedLone RiderAfter gaining a shield his march deals more skill damage for a moment, and leaving a building gives a short burst of speed.
Community builds
Builds for Guan YuPairings
- Scipio Africanus Prime · as deputy
Scipio Prime's shields and damage reduction buy Guan Yu the uptime his slow, heavy AoE needs, on matched infantry buffs.
- Sargon the Great · as deputy
Sargon adds a second infantry skill-damage lane so the march still hits hard between Guan Yu's big actives.
- Ragnar Lodbrok Prime · as primary
Ragnar Prime's troop-agnostic leadership kit adds a second skill lane while Guan Yu supplies the heavy infantry AoE.
- Leonidas · as deputy
Leonidas' defensive infantry front keeps Guan Yu alive to cycle his expensive AoE into the packed troop counts of a rally.
Counters & matchups
Infantry holds the edge over cavalry and gives it up to archers, whatever the scenario.
Best matchups
Open field · Marches meeting on the map.
- Alexander Nevsky · CavalryS+
Infantry over cavalry; Guan Yu's heavy active hits the cavalry harder than Nevsky's burst hits back.
Rally · Leading a rally into their garrison.
- Pelagius (Legendary) · CavalryS
A infantry rally lead (Conquest talents) into a cavalry garrison: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- David IV · Cavalry
A infantry rally lead (Conquest talents) into a cavalry garrison: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Eleanor of Aquitaine · Cavalry
A infantry rally lead (Conquest talents) into a cavalry garrison: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Jadwiga · Cavalry
A infantry rally lead (Conquest talents) into a cavalry garrison: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Jan Zizka · Cavalry
A infantry rally lead (Conquest talents) into a cavalry garrison: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
Countered by
Open field · Marches meeting on the map.
- Hermann Prime · ArcherS+
Archers over infantry, plus a silence that can cancel Guan Yu's active before it lands.
- Qin Shi Huang · ArcherS+
Archers over infantry, nuke against nuke from the favoured side of the triangle.
Garrison · Leading a rally into their garrison.
- Hayam Wuruk · ArcherS
An archer garrison against an infantry rally: the troop triangle favours the garrison.
- Yi Seong-Gye · ArcherS
A archer garrison (Garrison talents) against a infantry rally: archers hold the edge over infantry. By troop type.
Favoured, not guaranteed: equipment, talents, skill levels and troop counts decide real fights. Rows marked “by troop type” come from the troop triangle and each commander’s talent trees; the rest are written by hand. Checked against the meta on 2026-09-23.