Zhuge Liang
mage / archer nuke
Skills
Skill 1Burning of XinyeFire around him scorches up to five nearby marches and leaves them dealing less damage for a few seconds.
Skill 2Borrowing ArrowsArchers gain health and a little damage; on the map he can shrug off a control effect and strike back at its source.
Skill 3Longzhong PlanAn all-archer troop deals more skill damage, and basic attacks sometimes fire up archer attack for a few seconds.
Skill 4Marquis ZhongwuAn active cast grants the Marquis damage bonus; the next cast by an all-archer troop spends it on a strike at up to three enemies.
AwakenedChu Shi BiaoHe opens each fight with the Marquis bonus, and his fire and Marquis strikes refill some rage.
Community builds
Builds for Zhuge LiangOverview
High skill-damage nuke usable as primary or deputy.
Pairings
- Boudica Prime · as primary
Boudica Prime's rage engine shortens the gap between Zhuge Liang's expensive nukes while both stack skill damage.
- Hermann Prime · as deputy
Silence plus two stacked skill-damage passives: the enemy nuke gets cancelled and yours does not.
- Henry · as primary
Henry's archer support anchors the rally while Zhuge Liang's nuke rides the deep rally rage pool.
- Gilgamesh · as deputy
Gilgamesh's healing reduction stops a garrison from healing back what Zhuge Liang's nuke takes off.
Counters & matchups
Archer holds the edge over infantry and gives it up to cavalry, whatever the scenario.
Best matchups
Open field · Marches meeting on the map.
- Ivar the Boneless · InfantrySS
Archers over infantry; skill damage from range against Ivar's melee smite.
- Scipio Africanus Prime · InfantryS+
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Bai Qi · InfantryS
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Liu Che · InfantryS
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Alexander the Great · InfantryA
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Cheok Jun-gyeong · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
6 more
- Leonidas · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Pyrrhus · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Ragnar Lodbrok Prime · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- Sargon the Great · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- William Wallace · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
- City Keeper · Infantry
Archers over infantry, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). By troop type.
Countered by
Open field · Marches meeting on the map.
- Alexander Nevsky · CavalryS+
Cavalry over archers; Nevsky's burst trades well against a skill-damage archer march.
- Hermann Prime · ArcherS+
Zhuge Liang is a skill-damage nuke first, so a well-timed silence takes away most of his output.
- Arthur Pendragon · CavalryS+
Cavalry over archers, and both are built for the field (Versatility talents). 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.