Recommended Free Tools
The safest way to win your first Total War: SHOGUN 2 campaign is to learn the campaign loop before chasing territory: complete the Chosokabe tutorial, check income and public order every turn, recruit only an army you can sustain, and expand along one defensible front. Chosokabe is a forgiving first clan if you like farms and bow units; Shimazu suits players who prefer cheaper katana samurai and a more secure home province.
Your ultimate objective is to overthrow the shogunate, capture Kyoto and hold it for four seasons. Expansion eventually triggers the political crisis known as Realm Divide, so the winning plan is not simply “take land quickly.” Build enough income, diplomatic awareness and military reserves to survive the reaction to your success.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Total War: Shogun 2 | $11.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Total War: Shogun 2 Gold - PC | $28.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Total War: Shogun 2 - PC | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Total War : Shogun 2 | $10.85 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai, Limited Edition - PC | $12.95 | Buy on Amazon |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Start with the tutorial and learn the two game layers
If you have never played a Total War game before, the best place to start is with the game tutorial, according to the Total War: SHOGUN 2 manual by Feral Interactive. Choose the Chosokabe Campaign Tutorial. It introduces the decisions you make on the campaign map and takes you through land and naval battles without requiring you to understand every system at once.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Use the in-game Encyclopaedia as your reference whenever a term, unit, building or button is unfamiliar. Contextual information panels link directly to relevant entries, which is faster and more reliable than guessing what a symbol means. You do not need to memorize the entire technology tree or every unit statistic before starting a normal campaign.
#1 Best Overall
- Choose from 9 different clans and compete online and offline for the undisputed supremacy of Medieval Japan
- Play through the Main Campaign in single player or invite a friend online to play competitively or cooperatively in Campaign Multiplayer mode
- Developed according to Sun Tzu's principles in the Art of War, the Artificial Intelligence constantly analyzes its situation
- Build and govern cities, recruit and train troops, conduct diplomacy and manage your agents
- Improved land and naval battle gameplay, now with the ability to combine forces and attacks
SHOGUN 2 is two connected games:
- Campaign management: You control provinces, armies, agents, diplomacy, construction, research and finances in turns.
- Real-time battles: You command armies and fleets when forces meet. The result determines whether the money spent on recruitment and buildings becomes lasting territorial power or disappears in a defeat.
A profitable province cannot help if an unsupported army loses a battle, and a brilliant victory can still damage your campaign if its upkeep leaves the treasury empty. Evaluate every military decision as an economic decision too.
Which clan is easiest for a beginner?
The Total War Wiki lists both Chosokabe and Shimazu as Easy initial challenges. “Easy” describes their opening pressures and advantages, not a promise that every campaign will be simple. Both clans still face neighboring enemies, difficult expansion choices and the same late-game political escalation.
| Clan | Why it helps a new player | Pressure and trade-off | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chosokabe | Increased farm income and strong, cheaper bow units. | You must still decide where to expand and protect a relatively exposed campaign as borders grow. | Players who want a farming economy and prefer ranged support. |
| Shimazu | Reduced recruitment and upkeep costs for katana samurai; Satsuma is described as a secure home province. | Nearby conflicts and attractive expansion targets can pull you into several wars if you expand without a plan. | Players who want durable katana-centered armies and a safer initial base. |
Choose Chosokabe for an economy-led opening
Chosokabe’s farm-income and bow advantages reinforce each other: developed farms can support recruitment, while cheaper or stronger bows let you add ranged power without immediately building the largest possible army. Keep the benefit in perspective. Farm income does not remove the need for public order, garrisons or a treasury reserve, and bow advantages do not make every battlefield favorable.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Choose Shimazu for lower katana costs
Shimazu’s reduced katana samurai recruitment and upkeep can make a sustained early army easier to afford. A secure home province gives you a useful fallback while you decide which neighboring conflict to pursue. “Secure” is not the same as invulnerable: once you add territory, your borders and diplomatic obligations become the problem you must manage.
Your first-turn routine
Use the following loop at the beginning of every turn. It is a practical recommendation, not an official mandatory build order; adapt it to the income, public-order forecast and threats shown in your campaign.
- Read the treasury and projected income. Note your current cash, expected next-turn balance and recurring army costs before clicking recruitment or construction.
- Inspect each province. Check public order, available building slots, local wealth and any special resource or strategic position. A building that is excellent in one province may have a poor payback in another.
- Read the public-order forecast before changing taxes. A temporary cash increase is useful only if the province can absorb the stability cost. Do not raise taxes while ignoring a predicted revolt.
- Set one immediate military purpose. Recruit to defend a border, take a specific nearby settlement or replace expected losses. Avoid creating several half-sized forces that cannot win separately.
- Choose one or two construction priorities. Favor buildings that support the next military or economic decision. Do not spend the entire treasury on upgrades simply because slots are available.
- Review diplomacy. Check existing wars, threatened allies, trade opportunities and the clans bordering your intended route. Opening another front can turn an affordable war into a financial emergency.
- Move armies and agents deliberately. Keep a force near a vulnerable settlement, use agents when their action has a clear purpose and avoid marching into unknown territory without an escape route.
- End the turn only after checking the forecast again. Make sure the next-turn balance remains positive after recruitment, construction and expected losses.
How to make money in Shogun 2
The manual describes land development and administration as the means of generating money to fund conquests. In practice, your economy has three linked questions: how much a province earns, how much you spend every turn and how much reserve you keep for emergencies.
Separate income from cash flow
A profitable province is not automatically a profitable campaign. Recruitment, army upkeep, agent actions, construction and emergency replacements draw on the same treasury. Before approving a new unit, ask whether the projected income remains positive after its recurring upkeep. A force that you can recruit but cannot maintain is a delayed bankruptcy.
Rank #2
- Brand New in box. The product ships with all relevant accessories
Develop provinces for a purpose
Use farms and other economic improvements where their local returns support your campaign plan. A market, farm, gold mine or other income building is an investment: it costs money now and repays that cost over future turns. The correct choice depends on how long you expect to hold the province, whether an enemy can capture it and whether you need military infrastructure immediately.
Chosokabe’s farm bonus makes agricultural development a natural part of its opening. Shimazu can use its katana savings to direct more of the early budget toward armies while still improving the home economy. Neither bonus means you should build every economic upgrade everywhere.
Use trade and strategic resources carefully
Trade agreements and trade nodes can add income, but they also create diplomatic and military commitments. A trade route is most useful when it supports a stable relationship and a defensible position. Do not start a distant war solely to claim a node if the expedition will leave your home provinces exposed.
Consider agents as economic tools
The community guide by u/MrSmartDonkey (published under a 2019 title and edited in 2020) recommends selective use of markets, farms, gold mines, trade agreements, trade nodes and metsuke agents rather than upgrading every building immediately. It also reports that a level 3 metsuke may increase tax in a town. These are player-authored strategy claims, not verified universal income formulas; results can vary with difficulty, campaign stage and your wider administration. Treat a metsuke as an investment whose value you check against its cost and the province’s actual forecast.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Taxes, growth and public order
Taxes are a lever, not a permanent setting. Raising them can produce immediate cash while reducing growth or public order; lowering them can protect stability and future development at the cost of short-term income. The game’s own forecast is the authority for your current province.
A community tax model, with its limits
u/MrSmartDonkey’s community analysis proposes alternating very-high-tax turns with normal-tax turns instead of keeping taxes very high continuously. In the author’s hypothetical example, a town has 2,000 wealth and 20 growth. The model says normal taxes would take 78 turns to catch up with the comparison based on very-high taxes, while minimum tax would take 200 turns. Those figures are the author’s illustrative calculations, posted in 2019 and edited in 2020; they are not official game-wide statistics or a guaranteed optimal routine.
You can use the idea as a decision test: take extra cash during a safe turn when the public-order forecast remains acceptable, then return to normal taxes before unrest or lost growth threatens the province. If a settlement is close to revolt, has a valuable building under construction or sits on an exposed frontier, preserving stability is usually more important than squeezing out one turn of income.
Rank #3
- Choose from 9 different clans and compete on and offline for the undisputed supremacy of Medieval Japan. Gain experience to level up your own character-warlord as well as your generals and agents.
- Play through the Main Campaign in single player or invite a friend online to play competitively or cooperatively in Campaign Multiplayer mode.
- Developed according to Sun Tzu's principles in the Art of War, the Artificial Intelligence constantly analyzes its situation and reacts to your every move with greater precision and variety.
- A streamlined User Interface makes management of your kingdom much easier. Build and govern cities, recruit and train troops, conduct diplomacy and manage your agents - each feature is now introduced with comprehensive tutorials
Keep a reserve
Do not spend down to zero merely because a building or unit is available. Reserve cash pays for emergency recruitment, damaged armies, a diplomatic settlement or a sudden defensive battle. The size of the reserve depends on your number of fronts and army costs; the essential rule is that the treasury must survive a bad turn without forcing you to disband the force protecting your capital.
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhat should you build first?
There is no single official build order that fits every faction, difficulty and map position. Use this priority framework to decide what belongs in the next slot.
| Priority | Build or action | Choose it when | Check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate military support | A border is threatened or you have a clear, affordable conquest target. | Upkeep after recruitment and the public order of the province supplying the army. |
| 2 | Income improvement | The province will remain safe long enough to repay the construction cost. | Projected income, existing administration costs and expected holding time. |
| 3 | Faction-strength improvement | The upgrade directly supports your chosen style, such as farms for Chosokabe or katana infrastructure for Shimazu. | Whether it advances the next campaign objective rather than merely adding a future option. |
| 4 | Public-order or defensive support | Unrest, recent conquest or a vulnerable frontier threatens the province. | Whether a tax change, garrison or army position solves the problem more cheaply. |
| 5 | Optional growth and specialist upgrades | Your core income, army and stability are already reliable. | Payback time and whether the province may change hands before the benefit arrives. |
This ordering favors useful recruitment and expansion over filling every slot with upgrades, reflecting the emphasis in the community economic analysis. It is a recommendation, not a game rule. If your current army is safe and your treasury is thin, an income building can be more valuable than another unit; if an enemy is marching toward a settlement, survival takes priority over payback time.
Recruit armies the economy can sustain
Recruitment is an upfront expense; upkeep is the recurring one. Start with a force that can complete a specific task and still leave money for construction and defense. Add units when the next battle, garrison requirement or border length justifies their continuing cost.
Avoid the “many small armies” trap
Several weak forces create multiple upkeep bills without guaranteeing a victory. Concentrate enough strength to win the operation you have chosen, while keeping a second force or garrison where an enemy can reach a valuable settlement. If you open two wars, make sure each front has a defensive answer before you recruit for an offensive one.
Let battles protect the investment
Use the tutorial’s land and naval battles to learn positioning, terrain and the consequences of committing an army. A campaign victory is not just a sequence of captured provinces: it is the preservation of the troops and generals that your economy paid for. After a costly battle, pause expansion long enough to rebuild income and replace losses if the next target is not essential.
Expand without creating an unwinnable map
Early expansion should simplify your borders, secure useful income and give your armies a reachable next objective. A settlement that creates a second exposed frontier may be less valuable than a poorer settlement that closes a border.
Rank #4
Choose one main direction
At the start of a campaign, identify the neighboring clan or province that best matches your current army and economy. Finish or stabilize that operation before committing to a distant front. Diplomacy can buy time, but treaties are not a substitute for a garrison and a reserve.
Expect administrative pressure
The community economic analysis warns that building returns change as the number of provinces and administrative costs increase. More land can therefore produce less immediate benefit than its headline income suggests. Before taking another settlement, compare its expected income and defense cost with the army upkeep and construction needed to hold it.
Use a pause after conquest
After capturing a province, inspect public order, repair needs, available construction and neighboring diplomacy before launching the next attack. A short consolidation turn can prevent a revolt, repair an army and restore the treasury, making the following conquest cheaper and safer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Prepare for Kyoto and Realm Divide
The single-player objective described in the Feral manual is to become shogun by overthrowing the shogunate based in Kyoto and conquering the required provinces. The Total War Wiki’s getting-started guidance says Kyoto must be captured and held for four seasons. Your campaign’s displayed victory conditions can vary with campaign length and faction, so read the conditions shown in the campaign interface rather than relying on a generic checklist.
Realm Divide is an escalation, not a surprise victory condition
The Total War Wiki describes Realm Divide as the stage in which other clans may turn against you if you become too powerful or go to war with the shogun. It is a political and military escalation that can make every border more dangerous. Treat it as a planning deadline: build a financial and military cushion before the endgame push instead of assuming that the income from newly captured provinces will immediately pay for universal defense.
Before the Kyoto campaign
- Keep enough treasury for several turns of recruitment and emergency repairs.
- Finish avoidable wars or secure the borders that do not lead toward Kyoto.
- Position armies so a sudden declaration of war cannot reach your richest or most important provinces in one move.
- Check that your income remains positive after the forces needed to hold captured territory are counted.
- Read your campaign’s victory conditions, including the required provinces and the Kyoto holding period.
Do not stop expanding solely because Realm Divide is possible. Expand when the new land improves your strategic position and your reserve can absorb the diplomatic reaction.
A practical Chosokabe opening
Choose Chosokabe if you want the clearest connection between agriculture, income and ranged support. On the first turns, protect the home province, inspect nearby threats and make one affordable military objective. Improve farms or another income source when the forecast shows a reasonable payback, recruit only enough troops for the chosen operation, and use bows where they support a manageable battle rather than replacing every other battlefield role.
Best Value
- The American, British and French nations played an important part in the story of the Boshin war and your relations with these foreign powers will be integral to unit recruitment and to advancing your technology trees.
- Thirty nine new land units, including modern ranged units - such as the Gatling gun and Armstrong gun - controllable in a new third-person mode.
- New port siege battle type, this new battle type triggers when attempting a naval assault on an occupied enemy port. The attacking fleet must sail into the harbour and capture the port, running the gauntlet of coastal gun defences.
- New land and sea unit interactions, during a land battle, armies can call in offshore artillery support barrages.
- Campaign map bombardments: offshore naval units can bombard armies and cities in adjacent coastal areas on the campaign map itself.
Once the first province is secure, pause to check public order and treasury. Continue along a route that keeps your borders compact. The clan’s bonuses make a farm-and-bow economy attractive, but the campaign still ends in the same Kyoto and Realm Divide problems as every other clan.
A practical Shimazu opening
Choose Shimazu if you prefer to build around cheaper katana samurai and want a secure home province while learning the campaign map. Use the katana recruitment and upkeep savings to field a focused force, not to create multiple armies before your income can support them. Resolve or contain the nearby conflict, then decide whether the next province closes a border or merely adds another direction to defend.
Develop the economy behind the army so the reduced katana costs remain an advantage after expansion. A safe starting province is valuable because it gives you time to stabilize taxes, construction and diplomacy; it does not justify ignoring public order or treasury forecasts.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesTroubleshooting common beginner failures
“I have land but no money.”
Count recurring army upkeep and administrative costs, then inspect whether your newest provinces are actually producing income. Stop optional recruitment, return taxes to a stable level, and choose one income improvement with a plausible payback. Avoid selling your future for a short cash spike unless the public-order forecast supports it.
“My province revolts after I raise taxes.”
Read the public-order panel before changing the tax level. Lower taxes, move or recruit the force needed to restore order, and delay construction that does not address the immediate threat. A temporary very-high-tax turn is only sensible when the province can withstand it.
“Every clan is declaring war on me.”
You may have expanded into the political conditions associated with Realm Divide or opened too many fronts. Secure the most exposed borders, stop unnecessary offensives and rebuild a reserve. The answer is not automatically to abandon expansion; it is to make the next province and army serve a defensible route.
“My army wins battles but the campaign still collapses.”
Compare battlefield success with campaign cash flow. If the army’s upkeep exceeds the income from the territory it protects, victories cannot be sustained. Consolidate after battles, repair and replace losses selectively, and delay another war until the treasury forecast is positive.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
“I do not know what a building or unit does.”
Open the contextual information panel and follow its Encyclopaedia link. The manual specifically presents the Encyclopaedia as the first place to seek help, so use it instead of guessing from an unfamiliar icon.
Your first-campaign checklist
- Complete the Chosokabe Campaign Tutorial if Total War is new to you.
- Choose Chosokabe for farm income and bow-focused play, or Shimazu for reduced katana costs and a secure home province.
- At every turn, read treasury, projected income and public order before acting.
- Recruit for a defined defense or conquest and include the recurring upkeep in the decision.
- Build selectively; judge economic upgrades by payback time and the chance you can hold the province.
- Use taxes temporarily when the public-order forecast permits it, not as a blind permanent setting.
- Keep expansion on a route you can defend and avoid opening several fronts at once.
- Before moving on Kyoto, create a cash and military cushion for Realm Divide.
- Capture Kyoto and hold it for four seasons if that is the requirement shown for your campaign, while checking the complete displayed victory conditions.
A successful first campaign comes from repeating this disciplined loop: understand the forecast, fund a focused army, secure the province it takes and expand only when the next step improves your strategic position. The clan bonus changes how forgiving that loop feels; it does not replace it.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
