Everything in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has led up to this fight. On this epic stage of battle, the player finally comes head to head with the Taoist in black, Yu Ji.
Over the course of Wo Long’s narrative, Yu Ji has plagued the land with the corruption of Qi. He has perverted the minds of skilled warriors and irreparably damaged the land. Finally having the chance to kick his teeth in is just as satisfying as it sounds, but unless the player is prepared for a formidable foe, Yu Ji will pull several tricks out of his sleeve that may offer a difficult challenge.
How to Beat Yu Ji
After the introductory cutscene, Yu Ji usually likes to begin the fight by demonstrating his most irritating ability: hitting and getting away as fast as he possibly can. As the chief antagonist in the story thus far, Yu Ji has made it a bit of a habit to mess something up and get out of dodge, so it’s only natural that his boss battle reflects those same core tenants. This can make Yu Ji a bit frustrating, but there are ways to control the flow of this fight and exploit the times when he is within range.
For one, anticipating Yu Ji’s special moves are a must. One of his favorites is a variation of the same Qi energy ball power-up that the player will have seen from other bosses up to this point. Dodging with precision here will send this energy back at Yu Ji and leave him exposed to additional damage.
Because Yu Ji spends a lot of time levitating around this deceptively large arena, he may try to catch the player off guard with a special move that usually begins with him doing a few floaty twirls before spinning directly at the player, sword first. The other special move he tends to gravitate towards is a grab, where he lets his sword droop while he raises his left hand before lunging fast at the player. This move can be dangerous as it is considerably more powerful than a large majority of Yu Ji’s other moves.
Precision in the dodge timing is key. If the player is able to perfect-dodge these moves, it not only works to massively deplete Yu Ji’s spirit gauge, but it also leaves him vulnerable for a few moments to get some hits in for big damage before he darts off again.
As for his more traditional moveset, Yu Ji tends to employ a lot of elemental attacks. From time to time, he will get distance and launch ice, fire off some electric beams, or scatter some poison throughout the arena. These elemental attacks are relatively easy to get around. What becomes difficult is Yu Ji’s insistence on following them up with a swift combo of moves from his sword. His sword spin tends to strike in patterns of three.
Once he’s up close and personal, he may try to power up one of his special moves or telegraph an AOE attack. Yu Ji uses these moves to force the player to back up, but do not take the bait. Lay into him for as long as possible because the player can interrupt Yu Ji’s spellcasting. Inflicting damage is key to diminishing his spirit gauge in a timely manner to ensure the player has enough resources to carry this fight into its second phase.
How to Beat the Embodiment of Demonic Qi
The second phase of this battle is led in by a lengthy cutscene in which Yu Ji becomes something far more imposing. The Embodiment of Demonic Qi can be an obnoxious fight as it works to use its massive size to keep the player at a distance.
The key to this fight is getting directly under its head. This fight is disorienting because the enemy is obscenely large, and the lock-on can be finicky at best. The Demonic Qi’s most threatening attacks come from the AOE moves that they inflict while the player remains at a distance. Staying directly under the head will limit this boss’s moveset considerably.
So long as the plan is working, the Demonic Qi will rely heavily on several slashing moves with the stack of swords. When it grows tired of the player inflicting damage on it, it will try to fly in circles above before using one of its special moves. At least one of these special moves involves the Demonic Qi essentially floating over the arena and chomping. This can be awkward to dodge as the timing largely depends on the distancing, which can get incredibly messy in this phase of the fight due to the poor lock-on once the enemy is airborne.
If the Demonic Qi begins to sort of body roll, more than likely, it is about to strike with its tail. No matter what special move is coming, just aim to dodge right at the point of contact. If hit, simply recover and resume the strategy of getting under the Demonic Qi’s head. If this fight ever gets too chaotic, feel free to drag in reinforcements to help carry the load.
This fight can be merciful in how easy it is to stack the Demonic Qi’s spirit gauge. When stunned, maneuver up to its head to inflict massive damage and keep the pressure on as much as possible. Eventually, even this giant will fall at the hands of your blade (or club, or hammer, or spear, or other).
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.