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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long First Boss: How To Beat Zhang Liang

By
Shane Williams

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty launches Friday 3rd, March 2023. As you may already know if you played any of Team Ninja’s previous games, such as Nioh & Nioh 2, the bosses are no joke and Wo Long doesn’t shy away from that as the first boss you come across, Zhang Liang is arguably one of the toughest in the game, as you have no good companions and you can’t do coop, so you’re on your own! This page will take you through all the attacks and how to best deal with them.

Zhang Liang is the first boss you’ll face in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Best Way To Defeat Zhang Liang First Phase

You’ll face Zhang Liang at the end of the first mission Village of Calamity and he is Morale Rank 10. Before going into the fight you’ll want to make sure you get all of the Battle / Marking Flags to increase you Fortitude Rank to 10, so if you die your Morale Rank cant go any lower then 10. You can find all of the Village of Calamity Flags on this page: All Village of Calamity Flag Locations in Wo Long. You’ll then want to farm the enemies by going back and forth between the two flags until your Morale Rank is at least 15, but if you want to go higher, then it’ll just make the battle slightly easier.

Be Aggressive

Next up, you’ll want to equip the Enhanced Defense and Repression Crush Wizardry Spells, as these will allow you to take less damage/prevent flinching and slow down the Spirit Disruption recovery. Once you’ve done all of the above, drop down into the boss arena, then you’ll immediately notice that he is very aggressive, but you can counter it by being equally as aggressive, as it’ll cause him to be stun-locked into position. However, if you let off for even half a second, then it’s very easy to be overwhelmed by his attacks and trying to get the upper-hand again will be very difficult.

(1 of 2) Watch out for the Swinging

Watch out for the Swinging (left), and Uppercut Critical Blows. (right)

Deflect Critical Blows

The best way to deal with this first phase is by using Enhanced Defense and rushing him from the beginning, then repeatedly do the following combo: DualSense-ButtonSquare + DualSense-ButtonSquare + DualSense-ButtonTriangle on Playstation or Xbox-ButtonX + Xbox-ButtonX + Xbox-ButtonY on Xbox, as this will allow you to stun-lock him which means you’ll avoid the majority of his attacks. However, whilst you’re just repeating the above combo he’ll still be able to pull off a Critical Blow which is indicated by glowing read aura. When this happens you’ll have two options: dodge out of the away or alternatively press DualShock4-ButtonCircle or Xbox-ButtonB at the right time to parry.

However, the point of this first boss is to teach you how to increase the Spirit Gauge, so you’ll want to deflect all of his Critical Blows where possible, as it will increase the Spirit Gauge quickly, so you’ll be able to press DualShock4-ButtonTriangle or Joy-Con-ButtonY to perform a Fatal Strike which will deal a large amount of damage. In Phase One Zhang Liang has two Critical Blows in his arsenal. The first is where he’ll drag his Club along the ground and perform an uppercut and the second will involve him lunging towards you and performing a swinging attack.

Best Way To Defeat Zhang Liang Second Phase

If you thought the first phase was difficult, then you won’t be ready for the second phase, as he has now mutated which means he is a lot more aggressive and will deal a lot more damage. However, this time around you’ll want to use a different strategy to the first, as you won’t be able to stun lock him. The goal of the second phase is to increase your Divine Beast Gauge, so you can summon your Divine Beast by pressing DualSense-ButtonTriangle + DualSense-ButtonCircle on Playstation or Joy-Con-ButtonY + Joy-Con-ButtonB on Xbox. This is done by successfully deflecting his Critical Blow 2-3 times.

Be Defensive

(1 of 2) Watch out for the Punch

Watch out for the Punch (left), and swinging Critical Blows. (right)

Right, so for the second phase you’ll want to be constantly on the move to avoid his constant barrage of attacks, but make sure you’re still relatively close by, so you can deflect his Critical Blow which will involve him launching his mutated arm at you. Successfully pulling this off, will pull you and Zhang Liang together, then you can perform a Fatal Strike. Zhang has another Critical Blow which is where he’ll slash his arms in quick succession, but this is best avoided as it’s very difficult to time the deflect.

Use The Divine Beast

Whilst waiting for him to perform Critical Blows, use Repression Crush to slow down his recovery, then if you manage to deflect any of his normal attacks whilst dodging, be sure to get a couple of hits in to increase his Spirit Gauge a bit more. Keep repeating the above, then activate your Divine Beast and a cutscene will playout which means you’ve successfully defeated Zhang Liang. Congratulations!

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Koei Tecmo
  • Platforms,
    PS4, PS5, Steam, XB One, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    1 March 2023
  • Last Updated
    21 March 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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A dark fantasy set during the Three Kingdoms period. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the follow-up game to the much acclaimed Nioh Series developed by Team Ninja. Wo Long promises to be more accessible than what Nioh was giving the players aid during the missions with the help of the Reinforcement companions system. This guide will cover everything you need to know about Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty including the following:

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