Players will be trying their hands at Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty in a variety of different ways. Part of what makes the game so engaging compared to others in the genre is how player styles can be incorporated. Not every player will use the same weapons or spells and therefore they will have individual priorities when buying virtues.
Player preference and experience will always take precedence over cold recommendations. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the rule rather than the exception to this. Still, there are some virtues that the community is having much more success with when investing in them.
Wood (Get This First)
- Increases damage with swords.
- Greatly increases HP.
- Increases spell duration.
- Increases spirit defense.
- Increases wood affinity.
- Increases earth resistance.
- Slightly decreases metal resistance.
While all virtues will increase player health, only the wood virtue increases health substantially; more than double what the other virtues do. While all builds are valid, most players would recommend a solid wood investment early on in the game for this reason alone.
When upgrading weapons and armor, wood investment is still core to most builds. For swords, it's absolutely imperative. Swords are popular due to their speed over other weapons. In a game largely about reaction time, this becomes a big deal.
Earth
- Increases damage with glaives.
- Increases HP.
- Increases equipment carrying weight.
- Increases spirit gained when deflecting.
- Increases earth affinity.
- Increases water resistance.
- Slightly decreases wood resistance.
Equipment carrying weight may not sound exciting in a game where players can pick up everything. But it makes a massive difference once understood. Players can wear heavier armor without having their speed reduced with a high earth virtue.
Gamers may be proud of the character creation codes they've found and may not want to wear armor, but against the game's toughest bosses, a full metallic protection suit goes a long way. Additionally, more spirit gained when deflecting allows players to unleash stronger attacks more frequently. Deflection is core to the gameplay, earth virtue turns this defense into quick offense.
Fire
- Increases damage with straight sabres.
- Increases HP.
- Reduces martial arts costs.
- Increases spirit gained when attacking.
- Increases fire affinity.
- Increases metal resistance.
- Slightly decreases water resistance.
The biggest perk for the fire virtue is the spirit gained from attacking. Filling the spirit meter for a special attack doesn't take too long even with no fire investment. Still, with a few points, players can fill up their meters in a single flurry of blows, enabling them to use special attacks more frequently.
Straight sabres might not be a player's favorite weapon, yet switching melee weapons quickly and using one when a boss is stunned may be a good idea with a significant fire investment. Players using other weapons will still enjoy that martial arts moves don't penalize them as often.
Metal
- Increases damage with curved sabres.
- Increases HP.
- Reduces spellcasting cost.
- Decreases natural spirit loss.
- Increases metal affinity.
- Increases wood resistance.
- Slightly decreases fire resistance.
Figuring out spirit loss will be among many burning questions gamers have. Most of the time, spirit is effectively depleted as soon as a battle ends. Aggressive players who chain fights together might find that they can keep their meter full with some help from the metal virtue.
Players who opt for a primarily spellcasting build will want to go all-in on metal virtues. This enables them to cast more spells before breaking the meter and getting themselves stunned. Such a build would likely not work until later in the game, but a respec at that point with loads of metal points could theoretically work well.
Water
- Increases damage with dual swords.
- Increases damage with ranged weapons.
- Increases HP.
- Increases stealth.
- Decreases deflect cost.
- Increases water affinity.
- Increases fire resistance.
- Slightly decreases earth resistance.
Water is the only virtue that bolsters two kinds of weapons. One of those is the ranged weapons, so gamers looking to strike from afar primarily will want the water virtue to be their highest attribute. Deflect cost reduction is also another perk that every build can utilize.
Stealth builds aren't really viable because they don't work against bosses, but the additional stealth provided here can be handy when farming up morale points and finding a local save spot. Getting a quick instant kill instead of restarting long fights can be a time-saver.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.