Zhang Liang is a good spotlight in Wo Long, brutally punishing players who haven’t mastered his basic mechanics yet. The sad reality is that this is also the first boss you have to face. Despite meeting him early in the game, Zhang Liang is more difficult than most later bosses you have to fight. Luckily, once you know what to do and remember to play it safe, defeating him isn’t as impossible a task as it seems.
First, a general rule in Wo Long if you’re unsure of your reaction time is to equip a weapon with a lower deflection difficulty. At this point in the game, you should have a polearm available. Zhang Liang always blocks your attacks, which means it’s hard to land free hits on him. However, he stays wide open if you parry his attacks.
This is another general strategy when playing Wo Long: swerve as much as you can and get a few hits before going back on the defensive.
As a hint, when Zhang Liang lunges at you, there’s actually a heartbeat before his attack happens. Try to wait maybe half a second before deflecting or he will punish you. When reduced to half health, it gains a jump attack. This one is very easy to stop with its simple warning. Just keep an eye on it while it’s in the air. Since he spams, you can end the fight very quickly from this point if you can deflect all of his jump shots. It may sound difficult, but the rhythm of this attack is easier to follow than its lunging motion.
For this fight, the Blindfolded Kid is your ally. It can be a bit awkward, to be honest. This is because he will occasionally snap Zhang Liang out of his attack or dash move. If you’re close enough to take advantage of the opening, that’s fine. But otherwise, you will have lost the opportunity to parry his attack, which is better because you can get close to stun him. The Blindfolded Boy can also get in the way when trying to move around the map if he gets too close to you. So when positioning yourself on the field, make sure to place Zhang Liang between you and the blindfolded boy. This is not only a good pincer strategy to maximize damage, but it also takes your hair out with the blindfolded kid.
Zhang Liang is actually a two-part boss fight. After defeating him in his human form, he transforms into a monster. Luckily, you gain access to the Divine Beast when you reduce it to half health, which will essentially end the fight. If you plan to use the Divine Beast, be sure to check the keybinding before starting the fight against Zhang Liang. You cannot pause this game. Since Zhang Liang can hit from further away in his second form, it may take some time to get used to the deflection times. So I recommend saving two jars of dragon medicine for this part of the fight to play it safe.
Zhang Liang is an exhausting challenge, but if you keep these tips and strategies in mind, you’ll find it a little easier. The rest is up to your luck and how fast you can press the deflect button. By the way, if you die during the second half of the boss fight, you have to start over from the beginning. Good luck!
Wo Long is available on PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.