Having trouble beating one of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers’s toughest bosses? Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Having trouble with her? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, this boss is pretty much why many people have retired from playing any further. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is the latest souls-like title to make it into the scene. Right now, the game is a massive talking point in the souls community, and some of which aren’t for the right reasons.
The name is Commander Honglan, who is a boss who is relentless. A lot of players are struggling to the point where many were strongly critiquing not just the boss design but also Wuchang’s design overall on top of that. Have you spent hours on this boss, and you’re not making much progress? Does it feel like nothing you do is working and that you’re running out of ideas?
Well, I may have the light that you need to reach the end of the tunnel. I was in the same position. Immensely frustrated, not knowing what to do, until I went with a completely different strategy that not only did I now stand a chance against her, but this new strategy also made this boss fight ultimately a breeze. No, seriously, once going in with a new tactic, the difference in difficulty was night and day. The boss fight became so easy that I laughed.
Now, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy; there are many easy and difficult methods to try, but I’m going to give you the tactic that I used that made the experience much easier and finally defeated this tricky boss once and for all.
Reach at least Level 25:
In Wuchang, the higher, the better, but you don’t need to worry about being a very high level to beat her. Preferably, you should aim higher, but if you’re level 25, then you’re ready to fight her.
You might need to respec:
This depends on what you’ve unlocked in the skill tree, but you might need to rearrange your stats by resetting some points. The main reason why you’re struggling against Honglan is because of your current build – it just might not cut it. So, you’ll have to change it, and doing so will make the boss fight much easier.
There are certain upgrades and skills you need to unlock to make the fight astronomically easier. Now, pay attention. You’ll need to unlock the ‘Sword Saint’ skill that’s located at the middle left of the tree, under the ‘Blick Kick’ skill. Unlocking this skill will release other skills for you to unlock.
Then follow these steps:
- Left and right side of ‘Sword Saint’, unlock ‘Vitality’ and ‘Strength’
- Below ‘Sword Saint’, unlock strength’
- There’s another ‘Strength’ skill below it, unlock it
- Below that unlock ‘Windforce’.
After unlocking ‘Windforce’, you can pretty much unlock the skills that you like from there. But you must make sure that the skill that you unlock is ‘Sword Counter’. This is the most important skill for this boss fight because it allows you to deflect many enemy and boss attacks, leaving them vulnerable, giving you an open space to attack. On top of that, you need to unlock ‘Sword Counter Variant I’ and ‘Sword Counter Variant II’. It’s also very helpful to try to upgrade the ‘Strong Blade’ skills to increase your weapon’s lethality.
Equip the Lashing Whip:
I think other swords should be fine, but I equipped the Lashing Whip because this is a powerful weapon that can be used for most, if not all, boss fights. If you don’t know where the Lashing Whip is, it’s located at The Mercury Workshop. To be more specific, from the shrine, you’ll have to go down the Sinyu path in the northeast direction.
Keep going until you see three enemies. One of them is a centipede, and the other two are artroll-like creatures that’ll be shooting at you. It’s best to take them all out, and as you’re on the higher surface, you should see a shiny yellow collectible that’s next to some purple mist, and that, ladies and gentlemen, would be your Lashing Whip. Collect it and it’s now yours.
Sorry, I forgot to mention one thing – in order to unlock the Mercury Workshop, you’ll have to defeat Lu Bingzhang. A boss that’s located at the top level of Shu Sanctum. After beating that boss, you’ll be able to push a lever that opens a hidden path.
Change your Armor:
Your Armor also matters. If you don’t have any of these, go and buy them from the shopkeeper, Tao Qing. He’s located on the bottom floor of the Shu Sanctum.
Buy the following Armor:
- Centipede Hood
- Centipede Carapace
- Centipede Vanbrace
- Centipede Leg Armor
These will increase your slash and stab stats drastically. However, sacrificing a lot of magic, feathers, and so on. But, this isn’t too much of a big deal as the higher your slash and stab, the more damage the enemies take. So, you won’t have to rely on magic. You’ll unlock this Armor after defeating the Great Centipede boss fight that’s located in the secret path.
Discipline
After unlocking the ‘Sword Counter’ skill and its variants, you also unlock the discipline mechanic that features. Acquire ‘Sword Counter’ for your Lashing Whip.
Use temperance:
You can use virtually any temper in this fight. But at this stage, the only one I collected was the Flame temperance that causes more damage to enemies and bosses by inflicting fire attack power.
Have additional health items stored (just in case):
Just having 3-5 heals might not be enough, so to be on the safe side, if you’ve collected them, store health items such as the ‘Steamed Bunny Bun’ that gradually restores health for a certain period, and ‘Health Pills’ that restore some HP.
Just like every other boss in Wuchang: Falling Feathers, Commander Honglan is a little unpredictable in her attacks and strategies, and she also has two phases. The best I can do for you is to advise you on what to prepare for in both phases.
Phase One
In this phase, it’s ideal that you stay by her like a moth to a flame, but at the same time, knowing when to dodge certain attacks. Because you’ve unlocked the counter/deflecting mechanic, this will allow you to counter most of her sword and throwable attacks. Then, you can immediately follow them by giving two strikes maximum, anymore, and it’ll be greedy, leaving you vulnerable to her attacks.
If you’ve played Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you should understand the utmost importance of deflecting in both titles, especially in boss fights. Use that mentality for phase one. The good thing about Wuchang’s parry system is that it’s very forgiving. So, you’ll parry attacks even if you press and hold the party button a little earlier. But her stomp, palm hit, and martial arts round kick attacks can’t be parried, so don’t bother trying.
When you’ve taken at least one third of her health, she will do a jumping back flip and then enter into phase two. But be sure to be careful not to be near her when this happens, because you will take damage if you do. Stay clear and prepare for phase two.
Phase Two
This is where you’ll have to be a little more defensive, keep your distance a bit, and have more patience in this phase. I’d say approximately 70% defence, 30% offence, because this phase is where she takes things up a notch with more kinds of attacks. These include the super-fast slice and dice attack, spinning attacks, and bladed projectiles.
The super fast slice and dice attack can be parried, but you’ll need to spam the parry button between three and four times, but unfortunately, you might sacrifice some damage from doing this. They can be dodged, but it’s quite risky, and again, you need luck on your side. So, it’s a safer bet to parry them. But what can’t be parried are the bladed projectiles. The only way is to dodge them.
Bonus tip #1: Magic:
I didn’t use magic in this fight, but if you wish to use it to make things easier for yourself, use it. They’re in Wuchang for a reason. Don’t be afraid to use them if you have to. You can equip up to four spells.
One spell I like is the ‘Echo of Lu Bingzhang’. You get this spell after beating Lu Bingzhang. This spell will shoot a red spear-like projectile, exactly like the ones that Bingzhang was shooting at you during your fight. You can choose other spells, but make sure this one is equipped.
Bonus tip #2: Stagger her:
You need to know when to attack her enough that she becomes staggered, allowing you to follow it with a takedown, which will take more of her damage. I’d say try to stagger her two times or more.
This might sound like there’s a lot to do, but that goes to show what Honglan is all about. These are the tactics, skills, build, and so on I used that allowed me to cake walk this seemingly impossible boss. I’ve been enjoying Wuchang, and it’s a great addition to not only the Souls genre but also to Xbox Game Pass.
However, it definitely possesses glaring issues, especially on the PC side. Again, this is not a one-size-fits-all, but it might work for you. Give this a try, and I’m confident that your experience with this boss will be a lot more manageable. Good luck.
