Zhang Liang, General of Man is the first boss fight in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty and the only boss fight in the Village of Calamity level. The most difficult enemy you have encountered so far will really test your skills and understanding of the game mechanics. Here’s exactly how to beat the first boss in Wo Long, which requires you to respond to the on-screen prompts at specific times. You can’t miss them or you lose.
How to defeat Wo Long’s first boss
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This page serves as a comprehensive breakdown of Zhang Liang, General of Man’s boss fight, including a description of various moves he will perform and the best strategies to ensure victory.
First phase
While Zhang will be by far the most agile and aggressive opponent you’ve encountered yet, his first phase shouldn’t be too much trouble as long as you understand the parry mechanic well.
If you want some free punches, sprint towards him at the start of the fight as soon as he knocks down his mace/mace weapon, and even use a martial arts attack when you’re feeling safe. If you haven’t unlocked and assigned any spells yet, it’s worth doing so at the Battle Flag if you die and need another try at defeating Zhang. While the spells aren’t very effective, you can cast a few spells in the brief moments of distance you can gain in this first phase of Zhang. Even the smallest damage counts!
After each of his attacks (should successfully deflect you) you have a short window to perform a Normal, Normal and Ghost attack combo that can keep him stunned for a short time and if repeated quickly you can do so rapidly deplete his health.
Liang occasionally launches his bat into the air, causing him to hang in the air for a second or two before striking. As usual, hold on to Liang while he does this and don’t get happy with the deflection button. wait until the last moment when he strikes.
In both phases, as with many of the upcoming boss fights in the game, your ace up your sleeve will deflect any critical slam attacks an enemy is performing. The only impediment to this tactic, marked with the red glow, is timing, which comes with studying attacks and likely multiple deaths and attempts.
second phase
At the beginning of the second phase you always have a brief moment of healing, as Zhang always starts with a swing of his demonic arm that will never have the range to hit you from your starting position. This phase is all about patience and attrition, even more so than the first phase. Zhang performs some similar moves, but frequently doubles, which requires multiple back-to-back distractions that have changed the timing. Zhang will use Critical Strike attacks much more freely during this phase, and that’s a good thing, because it only takes a successful Critical Strike Block from him (and maybe a basic attack or two) for him to Stagger him with Ghost Disorder and let you perform a Fatal Strike while defenseless. The Lock-On marker will change color to indicate if you are within the correct distance to perform a Fatal Strike.
Zhang can use his mace to summon rows of stone shards from the ground, which may seem like you can’t deflect them, but you actually can if you have the timing right.
Another move he will use in both phases, but especially in this second phase, is a ramming move with his bat. This will be telegraphed, but the time to distract is later than you might think. There are a few seconds where Liang pulls his bat back before he attacks, which can easily catch you if you distract before he starts running at you.
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A critical strike attack that he often tries (and that you’ll probably want to counter the most) is a grab with his extended demonic arm. He will telegraph this by pulling his left arm back for a brief second (with the usual red glow indicating a critical hit) before the arm springs forward. This has an incredible range, so don’t let your guard down if there’s a little distance between you and Liang. If you distract once the arm reaches you, kick it to the side and slightly pull Liang forward into a staggered state.
If that doesn’t result in Spirit Disruption, he’s only about a hit away at this point. So get aggressive and you can probably pull off a Fatal Strike after just a few more attacks. If you don’t distract him, he’ll grab you and whip you around, dealing significant damage.
Zhang will also become much more acrobatic during this phase, performing a series of somersaults in the air where he lingers for a moment before slamming his demonic arm down.
This airborne launch is preceded by a demonic arm downward slash, so be prepared to perform pairwise deflections during this phase. As previously mentioned, almost all of Liang’s attacks come in pairs, whether it’s air launch strikes that create rows of crags or wide horizontal sweeps. If you keep this in mind during the second phase, you will be far less likely to be caught by a follow-up attack.
Once you get Zhang to around 50% health in his second form, you will be prompted to summon a Divine Beast, which becomes available once the Divine Beast gauge is full. Press the prompts to trigger a cutscene where a divine beast will appear and carry Zhang into the air, defeating him and ending the fight.
Alarm! Double this important information: you must follow the prompt to summon a divine beast that appears on the screen in order to defeat the first boss.
Are you looking for more? Check out our full walkthrough hub page for breakdowns of every single level in the game, as well as our tips and tricks page to give you the best advice as you begin your epic journey.
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