Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Team Ninja action RPG, and it’s also one of the most challenging Soulslike games out there, with early boss fights being more difficult than even other titles in the genre’s final boss fights. The first boss fight, against Zhang Liang, in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty occurs very early on in the game and is incredibly difficult, so this guide will explain how to beat him!
Tips to Beat Zhang Liang, the First Boss of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
The zone leading up to the first boss fight in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is quite small and doesn’t contain a whole lot to fight or loot, but there are a few things you can do to make sure the first boss fight goes a bit smoother.
Right at the start in the tutorial area, after your first few enemies you’ll come across this large tree on fire with dead bodies hanging from it. Look to the right of this tree, and you’ll see several crates blocking a doorway; clear the creates and grab the item on the floor inside the house. This will be your first gear upgrade, a Yellow Turban Bandit Garb, which is significantly better for defense, so go ahead and equip that.
Head back out of the house, and across from where you come out, there will be an area between two trees on fire. If run right through this spot, it won’t do much damage. As soon as you’re through, you’ll want to hug the wall to your right and navigate around the demonic-looking tiger beast to the other side. Head around behind the house, and you’ll find a part you can jump onto to climb up onto the roof. Carefully make your way around to an opening on the roof, and you’ll see a chest. Jump down and open the chest to score a massive upgrade in the form of 3-star Lieutenant-General Greaves leg armor — equip those.
Continue making your way through the rest of the starting zone; make sure you initiate any banners that you see along the way and spend any Genuine Qi that you have from killing enemies to gain levels. If you start having trouble with the enemies, it’s important to know that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has a lot of emphasis on parrying attacks. It’s by far the most effective way to play, but it can be difficult to pick up the timing on it, particularly if you’re used to a dodge rolling play style like a lot of other Soulslike games favor.
One thing that can help is to use your block button in conjunction with going for parries. You can hold down your block button and press to parry when an attack is coming in; if you time it right and get the parry that’s ideal, but if you miss, you can save a lot of damage by still blocking.
After making your way to the end of the area, make sure to rest at the last banner before the boss. Spend all your Genuine Qi to level up, and if you’re a bit short of a level, head back and clear out a few more enemies and then come back to rest again. With the first boss being level 10 in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you’ll want to be as near that as possible to have the best chance to beat Zhang Liang.
While most spells won’t be useful for beating the first boss, the Earth spell Enhanced Defense is a great one to pick up. It’ll give you a temporary defense boost when you use it, which will help you mitigate some of the massive damage the boss will be dealing.
The first boss, Zhang Liang, has two phases. In order to get past his first phase easier, it’s best to use a fast-attacking weapon like a sword, so equip the best one of those that you have. This is about all the preparation that you can do.
The key to beat Zhang Liang in his first stage is to rush him down. Using your fast-attacking sword, you’ll want to get in and spam light attacks as much as you can; this will stagger him quite a bit, and you’ll build up your spirit gauge while you’re doing it. Once he starts blocking, if your spirit gauge is in the blue, use your heavy attack to break through his defense and continue your light attack onslaught.
Whenever Zhang Liang gets out of your combo, be ready to parry, especially if he glows red. If you can manage to parry one of his strikes where he glows red, you’ll deal a massive blow to his spirit gauge, and after a few follow-up attacks you’ll set him up for a critical blow that will deal a large chunk of his health.
Once you down him, he’ll transition to his second stage, where he’ll transform and it will be much harder as your attacks will not easily stagger Zhang Liang like in the first phase. Despite that, you’ll want to do your best to keep up the same pattern, getting in light attacks where you can and using a heavy attack when you have built up your spirit gauge into the blue. Keep parrying with your best efforts, especially any glowing red attacks. Unlike with the first phase, you’ll only need to get him down to around half HP, so hang in there!
Once you reduce Zhang Liang’s HP down to around half, a button prompt will appear on screen to press two buttons together to summon a divine beast. This summon will then come in and end the fight for you, so — congratulations, you’ve just beaten the first boss in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty! You’ll earn some good new armor and his weapon as well for beating him.
That’s the best way for how to defeat Zhang Liang, the first boss of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It will likely take a lot of attempts to get through, but keep at it and remember you can always grind out some more levels and come back stronger for another attempt!
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