Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an action game from Team Ninja very much in the vein of the studio’s previous Nioh games, but throw in even more direct Sekiro influence into the mix. The result is a challenging yet rewarding action RPG that will occasionally throw a boss at you that will simply stop all progress. You’ll be wondering how to beat the first boss in this one, it’s a real doozy.
One early sign as to whether or not you are going to click with Wo Long is how much trouble you have with its first boss, Zhang Liang, General of Man. The first boss in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty can be a big stumbling block for players. At least, it was for me. But with some patience and know-how we wound up conquering Zhang Liang and, with some pointers, we know you can too. Here’s how to do it.
How to Defeat Zhang Liang, the First Boss of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Like Nioh, Wo Long is a level-based game divided into battlefields. You encounter Zhang Liang at the end of the first battlefield in Part 1 of the game. This boss is tricky for a number of reasons, but namely because he is fast, ferocious, and his attacks require you to master the timing of the game’s parry early on. Oh, and he has two phases — but we will get to that. First off, the basics.
For starters, look at Zhang Liang’s health bar. Now look at the bar below that. This is Spirit Gauge and much like the posture bar in Sekiro it goes back and forth and communicates the flow of power in the battle. Many boss fights, including this first one, are all about focusing on filling the bosses Spirit Gauge in order to stun them. With successful deflects and Spirit Attacks (Y / Triangle) you can make their bar shorter, making it take fewer consecutive hits to stun the enemy.
This first boss fight is all about deflecting Zhang Liang’s critical blows (attacks that glow red). By pressing B / O button right as an enemy attacks you will be able to deflect their blow.
The thing about Wo Long is that you can deflect literally any and every attack, some might just be more difficult than others. What this fight is trying to teach is the importance of deflecting these critical blows to reduce the boss’s Spirit Gauge capacity. But that’s easier said than done. For example, if you tap the deflect button twice you will dodge, and when you dodge at the wrong time you often open yourself up to lethal damage. So here’s what to do.
Zhang Liang’s attacks come fast and hard. If you don’t feel like you can deflect each incoming one, press LB / L1 to block his incoming regular attacks. Try and deflect his critical attacks when they come. In Wo Long, if you are getting the timing wrong I’ve found you are often coming in too late. The parry window on Zhang Liang’s attacks can start a bit before you might think.
The best way to avoid Zhang Liang’s attacks is to be aggressive. We recommend using a Spear or Slashing Spear type weapon and spamming him with a standard four hit combo (X / Square). The last hit of this combo will stagger the boss, allowing you to start the combo over again.
You can rinse and repeat this for the whole phase, pretty much, just watch out for Zhang Liang’s critical blows and attacks from above. Now, the second half of the fight is where things get a bit trickier.
Screenshot by GameSkinny
The first part of the second phase is where the health flasks you saved by cheesing the first phase come in handy. Zhang Liang will now hit you with longer reaching attacks, both from his giant arms and by sending a rock spike your way, and getting close to spam him will be difficult. Instead, we will be playing this round more defensively.
The good news is after you successfully parry a critical blow in this phase, Zhang Liang will stagger and give you a few seconds to get in some hits. Deflecting a critical blow and then following up with a regular four attack combo, and then a Spirit Attack should be enough to get Zhang Liang down in one cycle.
From here, you can do a blow that will take a good chunk of his health. You shouldn’t have to do this more than twice to get him below half health in this second phase. And that is the goal here, because at half health the fight is more or less over.
Once Zhang Liang falls below a certain amount of health, the Blindfolded Boy will tell you that it is time to unleash the power in the Jade emblem he gave you. Do so by pressing ( Y+B / Triangle + O) and this will trigger a cutscene that instantly wins the fight.
For more boss guides, and general tips for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, stay tuned to Gameskinny for all the latest.
Featured Image via Koei Techmo
