Wu Zetian is a legendary commander in the Rise of Kingdoms. She is one of the best commanders who specializes in various troops, while focusing on providing the best form of defense against enemy invaders. Wu Zetian focuses on leadership, garrison and support.
Wu Zetian |
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Title: The Eternal Female Emperor |
Civilization: China |
Base Power: 1,200 |
Rarity: Legendary |
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Wu Zetian Summary:
- Deals 1,000 damage to target and heals her army for 500 health points.
- Increases damage done by 10% and extra 10% against rallied troops when serving as the garrison commander.
- Increases all troops defense and health by 10% under her command.
- Has a small chance to silence targets for 2 seconds.
- Reduces skill damage taken by 15% and increases defense by 20%
- Increases counterattack damage by 20%.
- Has a 10% chance to instantaneous deal 500 damage upon countering the attacks
Why Wu Zetian is the Best Commander?
- Extremely formidable defensive commander.
- Silences even the most powerful nukers on the battlefield.
- Amazing self-healing capability.
- Strong self-defense damage skills.
- Bolstered defense which greatly reduces amount of damage taken.
Background Information

Wu Zetian was the first Empress of China to rule the country herself. Given a good education by her father, she started as a consort to the Emperor, and slowly worked her way up to Empress.
She effectively became the actual ruler when the Emperor had a stroke. When her husband died, she either killed or exiled most of her sons, preserving the throne for her youngest, most easily-controlled child.
Eventually, her son gave up the title of Emperor, and Wu Zetian, at last, became supreme ruler in name as well. She became known for her ruthlessness, creating a secret police force which eliminated many corrupt officials and conspirators who wanted one of her sons on the throne.
While many historians remember her as cruel, she is also to be remembered for major expansions of China’ s territories, and for making Buddhism the new state religion over Daoism. She famously left her tombstone blank, saying that history would decide her true legacy.
Introduction
Welcome to our in-depth Rise of Kingdoms guide for Wu Zetian. This informative guide was created to help provide an overview of Wu Zetian skills, talent trees, gameplay, strategies, and guides in Rise of Kingdoms. The purpose of this overview guide is to help new and experienced players understand how to play Wu Zetian right and maximize strategic advantages.
Wu Zetian is a legendary commander that made the debut in Rise of Kingdoms. She becomes available after 120 days in your kingdom and is exclusive to the Lost Kingdoms, Season 2. Wu Zetian has the nationality of China and is a much more powerful defender compared to Sun Tzu, on the defensive side. Although, she is largely stuck as the primary garrison commander due to her skill set focusing on boosting the stats while defending your city.
To summon Wu Zetian, you need to get 10 Wu Zetian sculptures and navigate to the commander selection screen. You will see a title that says summon, tap on it to bring Wu Zetian to your commander roster. That being said, we are going to give you an overview of what we will talk about in this commander guide. Stick around with us to learn more about her skills, best talent builds and of course pairs.
Best Wu Zetian Skills
Unlike other commanders, Wu Zetian is one of the fewest legendary commanders who has a decent skill set designed for defensive wars only. She is equipped to do moderate amounts of damage, while healing her troops to sustain long battles and wearing them out. Which makes your city defenses and the strength of watchtower even more valuable at high tier battles. Below is a list of Wu Zetian skills:

Mandate of Heaven |
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Rage Requirement: 1000 Deal direct damage to a single target and heal a portion of your army’s wounded troops. Upgrade Preview: Direct Damage Factor: 500 / 600 / 700 / 800 / 1000 |
Mandate of Heaven is an active skill which does direct damage and heals troops. A good, yet simple active skill that helps out the fact Wu Zetian being a garrison commander.
Lion Rider |
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When commanding the garrison, all garrison troops’ damage is increased, and the damage caused rally attacks is increased. Upgrade Preview: Damage Bonus: 2% / 4% / 6% / 8% / 10% |
Lion Rider increases damage towards single enemy targets by 10% and an extra 10% damage bonus towards rallied army. Which really helps out a lot given the fact that rallied armies do massive damage and Wu Zetian is able to shed off portion of the damage.
Tears of Blood |
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Increase the HP and Defense of troops under your command. Your troops’ attacks have a 10% chance to silence their target for 2 seconds. Upgrade Preview: Defense Bonus: 2% / 4% / 6% / 8% / 10% |
The health and defense bonus is small, yet a nice bonus in addition to silencing the enemy for 2 seconds. Which will cause headaches for enemy nukers.
Legacy |
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When commanding the garrison, incoming skill damage is reduced. Your troops have a 50% chance to increase their Defense for 3 seconds when they take skill damage. Upgrade Preview: Skill Damage Taken Reduction: 3% / 5% / 8% / 11% / 15% |
Legacy further increases the defense by another 20% and reduces skill damage taken by 15%. A solid passive skill that will neutralize enemy nukers.
Brightest Sky |
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Counterattack damage +20%. Incoming attacks have a 10% chance to deal damage to the attacker (Damage Factor 500). |
Brightest Sky is a new passive skill that adds some fighting capabilities to Wu Zetian’s arsenal. Under her leadership, troops will do 20% more damage when countering the attacks. In addition to that, they have a small chance to deal 500 direct damage. A nice skill to have in the tool set.
Best Wu Zetian Talent Trees
There’s quite a few suitable talent builds to craft for Wu Zetian. Depending on your gameplay, preferences and what your goal is with this legendary commander. She can play any of these best talent builds as long as she remains the garrison commander. In this part, you have three choices to choose from: Garrison, Anti-Nuker and Counterattack talent builds.
Garrison Talent Build

This is one of the most popular talent builds for Wu Zetian. Basically, it focuses on building rage fast enough to dish out moderate amounts of damage, while healing her troops. Additionally, the healing effects are increased by approximately 20% which means the standard 500 healing points becomes 600. A nice boost to her combat capabilities. Good talent build for those who want a tanky garrison commander with expanded troop capacity.
Anti-Nuker Talent Build

This talent build ignores the troop capacity bonus and the +10% healing bonus effect in exchange for a greatly reduced damage taken from skills. We know how annoying these nukers can be sometimes when they just plow through your defenses easily. So, why not build an anti-nuker Wu Zetian with this build? This build will ultimately reduce the overall skill damage taken by roughly 55% which is a really massive boost to her defense capabilities and leaves the nukers to bite the dust.
Counterattack Talent Build

If you prefer to maintain expanded troop capacity and increased army strength. Then you will like this talent build because it takes advantage of improved rage generation speed and healing effects. At the same time, she gains a small shield that helps her shed off some of the incoming damage while healing her troops. A solid talent build for players who want accelerated rage generation and increased troops damage using mixed armies.
Star Level & Talent Point Upgrade Priority
In the next part of our Best Wu Zetian commander guide, I am going to talk about star level & talent point upgrade priority to maximize your commander’s combat potential. Here’s how to prioritize your Wu Zetian effectively:
Garrison Talent Build:
- Keep Wu Zetian at 1 ⭐ until you max out her first skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 2 ⭐ until you max out her second skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 3 ⭐ until you max out her third skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 4 ⭐ until you max out all of her skills.
Anti-Nuker Talent Build:
- Keep Wu Zetian at 1 ⭐ until you max out her first skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 2 ⭐ until you max out her second skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 3 ⭐ until you max out her third skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 4 ⭐ until you max out all of her skills.
Counterattack Talent Build
- Keep Wu Zetian at 1 ⭐ until you max out her first skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 2 ⭐ until you max out her second skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 3 ⭐ until you max out her third skill.
- Level Wu Zetian to 4 ⭐ until you max out all of her skills.
Best Commander Pairs
Wu Zetian is a good commander to play with, but to maximize her combat capabilities, you want to pair her with another strong commander who excels at defense and can deliver major punches at the same time. We have assembled a list of the best commanders to pair with Wu Zetian, here’s our recommended commanders below:
Constantine I

With this pair, Constantine I takes the position as primary commander. Wu Zetian will have no problem working along with him due to her flexible skill set. Best of all, both are solid defensive commanders which will pretty much stop any nukers from demolishing your city with ease.
One of the main advantages that Constantine I has over other commanders is his massive healing boost. Every hour, he will cast healing that recovers a lot of troops back to alive on the battlefield. Which means you use less resources and stand a fighting chance against nukers. It’s also worth mentioning that he debuffs the attacker, reducing their attack by 40%. A hefty debuff.
Charles Martel

There’s a reason why I don’t recommend pairing Alexander the Great with Wu Zetian, but Charles Martel instead. This is because Charles Martel is another solid defender who can put up a shield and deal a moderate amount of damage. Plus, infantry gain 20% defense, health and march speed which is a good bonus.
Counterattack damage is also increased by 20% that adds on the top of Wu Zetian’s already strong countering strength. Charles Martel gives a 10% bonus to watchtower and garrison attack that will transform this pair into a formidable defensive force.
Yi Seong-Gye

Coming up next is Yi Seong-Gye and he can work well with Wu Zetian. He is one of the most powerful anti-nuker thanks to his already strong active skill damage. In addition to that, one of his passive skills increases the damage of active skill by 50% which will be a huge boost to Wu Zetian’s active skill.
Yi Seong-Gye restores rage at a much faster pace and has a chance to increase the damage of archers by 100%. Which not only makes him a popular choice to pair with, but a deadly defensive commander who is capable of dishing out heavy blows. If you don’t have him yet, Hermann is a good defensive commander who also can silence enemies.
Eulji Mundeok

Lastly, if you don’t have any of these legendary commanders yet. Then you can pair Wu Zetian with Eulji Mundeok. He is a good commander who specializes in infantry and is equipped with solid defensive capabilities. Just like Sun Tzu, he is a good early commander to provide protection against attackers.
He has a small chance to increase the damage of troops by 100% on the next turn. Along with several buffs to the infantry’s defense and attack value, he is capable of handling heavy blows. Your next choice is Sun Tzu if you don’t have Eulji Mundeok in your roster either.
Best Wu Zetian Strategies and Tips
We have assembled a comprehensive list of best Wu Zetian strategies and tips to maximize this commander’s combat effectiveness in Rise of Kingdoms. Be sure to take advantage of our strategies and tips:
- Use 3 or more troop types to gain attack and defense bonuses.
- Pair with El Cid or Hermann to extend silence timer.
- Her active skill damage and healing is increased by skill damage bonus from Yi Seong-Gye and even Sun Tzu.
- Keira’s skill damage doesn’t improves Wu Zetian’s healing as it is only applied to the target.
- Whenever someone sends a nuker to raid your city, pair Wu Zetian with any garrison commanders as she will be able to reduce damage taken from skills.
- Thanks to Wu Zetian’s adaptive leadership, she can counter any type of troops with ease.