Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty instantly throws gamers into the gauntlet with its first boss, and though you may really feel disheartened now, don’t fear: Defeating Zhang Liang isn’t straightforward for many.
I contemplate myself a gaming veteran of unimaginable proportions, particularly relating to Soulsborne and titles of its ilk, but this primary boss took me eight tries earlier than I emerged victorious. This isn’t an unusual state of affairs for Crew Ninja, as I additionally confronted comparable bother towards Nioh’s first boss.
No variety of how-tos can fully subvert the final word problem of Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty, as you’ll must be considerably competent to win. However there are many useful ideas that may make this expertise much less irritating for you.
Aggression will make issues simpler
Whereas video games like Darkish Souls or Elden Ring anticipate the participant to be affected person as they alternate blows, Wo Lengthy gives a bonus to those that are extra aggressive in fight. Sure, you’ll be able to steadily chip at Zhang Liang’s well being whereas remaining on the defensive, however not solely does that improve room for error, however the mechanics themselves favor those that are aggressive.
That is similar to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the place bosses have different meters past their well being bar that can go down quicker if the participant is attacking them in fast succession. In each Sekiro and Wo Lengthy, when that meter is full, you’ll be able to execute a strong strike that can take out a considerable quantity of the enemy’s HP.
My finest runs towards Zhang Liang are those the place I’d not let up my assault, to the purpose the place I used to be capable of get by sure phases at an alarming tempo as a result of how beneficiant crucial blows could be.
Know when to parry and when to dodge
You may need observed the slight awkwardness of the dodge and parry perform occupying the identical enter, however they’re drastically completely different mechanics, each of which function distinct makes use of. Zhang Liang has sure strikes that it is best to completely parry, indicated by whenever you see a pink shimmer across the enemy.
Parrying pink blows additionally takes an honest chunk out of the enemy’s posture and well being bar, so it’s a good way to make the struggle extra approachable. Parrying most of Zhang Liang’s assaults normally is a good suggestion, however just a few can be inconceivable to deflect, like his twister assault within the second part. Simply dodge that one!
Parrying can be important to chip on the enemy’s posture meter, which, as acknowledged within the earlier tip, will make it simpler to execute these crucial blows. It’s much better to be quick and aggressive quite than reserved and affected person on this sport, however it doesn’t imply you’ll be able to simply spam assaults. It’s essential to parry and dodge when the sport asks, in any other case you’ll die.
Steadiness heavy and light-weight assaults
Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty already explains this throughout the tutorials, however when you’re something like me, you won’t be the perfect reader relating to intrusive tooltips. So perceive this fastidiously: Gentle assaults improve your Spirit Gauge, heavy assaults or particular strikes scale back your Spirit Gauge. Getting hit whereas Spirit Gauge is low will end result within the participant being shocked for an extended whereas. That is very dangerous!
You need to guarantee your Spirit Gauge is at all times within the optimistic by using a wholesome variety of gentle assaults, and check out your finest to solely use heavy assaults or particular strikes whenever you don’t anticipate the enemy will go on the assault. However you can too achieve Spirit Gauge by deflecting assaults efficiently, which implies even when you’re within the adverse and are about to get hit a ton, you may get by it efficiently with good timing.
Verify your stock and experiment with completely different weapons
Whereas this may increasingly appear apparent, it’s a system that I fully ignored after I first went by Nioh. I used to be three bosses into the sport and obtained my butt whooped by Nue so badly that it appeared as if I didn’t have an opportunity in hell to defeat them. That’s after I went into my stock and realized that I had tons of recent armor and weapons that may improve my energy, alongside offering electrical energy resistance to make that boss quite a bit much less irritating.
Ethical of the story is that it is best to completely verify your stock and be sure you have your finest gear geared up. Alongside that, don’t be afraid to experiment with completely different weapons and see which one fits your playstyle the perfect. Not solely can doing so make your journey a little bit simpler, however it’s plenty of enjoyable to check out new armaments.
Backside line
If all else fails, you may return into the remainder of the extent and discover fastidiously, searching for further gear you may need missed and gaining some expertise from the enemies so you’ll be able to attain just a few extra ranges. However these ranges aren’t the world. Sure, they’re completely helpful, however training and understanding the mechanics of the sport is considerably extra vital.
By the endgame of Nioh 2, I’ll always remember being 100+ ranges beneath the advice for the principle story as a result of I had little to little interest in grinding out the facet content material, however I made do by getting higher on the sport itself. Merely consider in your self, relax, rethink the methods, experiment with new concepts and gameplay kinds, and you’ll kick Zhang Liang’s butt!
