The staff is one of the community's favorite weapons in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. In the Soulslike genre of games, the tendency is for big, hard-hitting weapons to be slower than molasses while weapons of minuscule damage attack at lightning-quick speeds.
The staff breaks these rules with a base damage that hits harder than a hammer and an attack speed quicker than most swords. If players are looking for the best overall build in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, it's not a stretch to say that the staff could easily be the main weapon to focus on.
Virtue Spread
Virtue | Level |
Wood | 60 |
Fire | 10 |
Earth | 10 |
Metal | 10 |
Water | 60 |
Each virtue has its own purpose and shouldn't be entirely neglected. With low soft caps on most of these virtues, there is more reward to leveling up each virtue a little than there is from ignoring some virtues entirely while maxing others out.
Wood and Water are the main two contributors toward the best staff in the game; putting 60 in each attribute gets all the +3 and +4 levels invested. Splitting between the rest is appropriate as the build only dabbles in these other territories. Keep in mind a Metal value of at least 2 is required to maintain an A rating for agility while wearing the best light armor for the build.
Weapons
Slot | Item |
Melee Weapon 1 | Golden Staff of King Yufu |
Melee Weapon 2 | Any |
Ranged Weapon 1 | Bamboo Repeating Crossbow |
Ranged Weapon 2 | Any |
Normally builds have a heavy-hitting weapon in their second melee slot for when a boss gets stunned. But factoring in virtue buffs, the Golden Staff of King Yufu has no weapon that hits harder per strike while using this build. Only the staff is required as it's the quickest and hardest-hitting weapon available for the build.
The Bamboo Repeating Crossbow is also atop the weapon tier list as it's both repeating and has the highest damage per strike of any ranged weapon, making bows and crossbows obsolete. The damage is based on the Water virtue and this build delivers plenty of that.
Armor
Slot | Item |
Head | Dong Zhou Soldier Cap |
Chest | Dong Zhou Soldier Armor |
Wrists | Dong Zhou Soldier Bracers |
Legs | Dong Zhou Soldier Footwear |
Armor set bonuses are tempting but they take up embed slots. Ultimately, the benefit from customized embeds outweighs the set bonus. The Dong Zhou Soldier set gives players a defense that is higher than some heavy armor, the highest physical resistance of all light armor, a great spirit defense, and gives this build an A in mobility, allowing it to dodge, block, and parry with minimal or no cost.
It might take a while to beat the game, but thankfully this armor can be farmed very early on. Try to get 4-star varieties of each until getting into New Game+ mode.
Embed Priority
Best Weapon Embeds | Best Armor Embeds |
Staff Damage | Melee Attack Power |
Melee Attack Power | Melee Attack Damage |
Melee Attack Damage | Damage |
Damage | Damage Received |
Restore HP | HP |
Luck, Qi Obtention, and Copper Obtention are all top-tier embeds for farming up and leveling. This guide is covering the best build for a staff in combat but it's not a bad idea to have a set using this same loadout that is dedicated to acquiring the best gear.
Players should learn to embed early on in their journey as it dramatically changes the game. With every piece of equipment synced up, played can do more damage and tank better than they can get from a perfect virtue investment. Sync up the accessories to really push the advantage.
Spells
- Absorb Vitality
- Lightning Weapon
- Heaven's Rage
- Enhanced Defense
Spellcasting is only a secondary effect of this build. Unless players boost morale and fortitude to maximum levels, they usually aren't worth the spirit cost. The staff should be the focus and so the selection of spells is less about damage and more about support.
Casting Absorb Vitality, Lightning Weapon, and Enhanced Defense when entering a fight gives the character some buffs and lifesteal, perfect for a staff that delivers rapid blows. Heaven's Rage is a relatively cheap damage spell that should be used against bosses if they think they are safe outside of melee range.
Divine Beast
- Qinglong
As the second one that can be received, unlocking and using this Divine Beast can happen early on in the game. It's often considered the most overpowered Divine Beast in the game because its restoration of life in an area is the equivalent of total immunity for several seconds.
Passively, Qinglong adds health and gives players some life back for every hit. As these are also recognized as extremely powerful embeds, getting even more from the passive Divine Beast buff reinforces their power.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.