Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty features a huge rogues gallery of difficult bosses for players to defeat. These opponents range from giant bloodthirsty beasts, highly skilled soldiers trained in the art of war, and men who have been corrupted by dark powers — transforming them into demigods.
Out of all these bosses, one stands head and shoulders above the rest, the mighty Lu Bu. Lu Bu is a legendary warrior whose size dwarfs most men and has the strength to destroy small armies single-handily. In Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty, Lu Bu lives up to his reputation by being one of the toughest bosses in the game. He hits like a speeding train, has a huge repertoire of martial arts, is relentless in battle, and rides a gargantuan horse called Red Hare, which is just as dangerous as its master.
With such an intimidating foe to face, you might be thinking how can anyone possibly defeat Lu Bu in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty? Fear not, for we have prepared a guide containing all kinds of tips, strategies, and tricks you can use to defeat Lu Bu and thwart his legendary status.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Lu Bu guide: Phase 1
The fight starts with Lu Bu riding his trusty steed, Red Hare. While Lu Bu is astride Red Hare, he will try to kill you with one of the following attacks:
- Lu Bu will fire a volley of arrows, all launched at the same time from his bow. These arrows act like homing missiles that will track and follow their target. You can block the arrows by guarding or deflecting them. If you are confident enough with your dodge timing, you can try dodging arrows at the last second before impact.
- Lu Bu will try to decapitate you with his glaive by performing an overhead swing. This attack can be guarded, deflected, or dodged.
- When Lu Bu starts to glow red, he will begin preparing to unleash a Critical Blow. This is an attack that can’t be guarded against and your only means of defense against it is dodging out of way or deflecting it. If you get hit, you will lose a chunk of your health and your Morale Rank will drop, making you less effective during the fight.
- Lu Bu has two different Critical Blow attacks while riding Red Hare. One involves spinning his weapon in the air before charging toward you to ram you with his horse. The other Critical Blow attack involves Red Hare jumping into the air to crush you with its heavy hooves on the way down.
During this phase, Lu Bu will barely take any damage from your attacks as he is mostly protected by Red Hare so you will need to literally knock Lu Bu off his high horse in order to hurt him. To do this, you will need to wear down Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge (located beneath his health bar) by filling it with Negative Spirit. This is done by attacking Lu Bu incessantly and countering his attacks by deflecting them. Once Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge is completely full of Negative Spirit, Lu Bu will fall off Red Hare leaving him vulnerable to attack.
This is easier said than done, however, because filling Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge with Negative Spirit requires you to be 100% aggressive without taking a break. You will have to deflect most of Lu Bu’s attacks to fill your Spirit Gauge with Positive Spirit so you can perform deadly Spirit Attacks to wear down his Spirit Gauge. Deflecting Lu Bu’s Critical Blows is essential during this phase as the proceeding counterattack you perform afterward will deal a massive blow to Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge.
Make sure you’re not being careless, though, otherwise you will be punished hard as Lu Bu’s attacks can deal a ton of damage to your health bar and your Spirit Gauge. If your Spirit Gauge gets full of Negative Spirit, you will be stunned, leaving Lu Bu an opportunity to finish you off. You also can’t afford to be too defensive either as Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge will quickly reset if you aren’t constantly attacking him.
Once Lu Bu is knocked down, he will become agitated at you for shoving him off his beloved steed and will begin fighting in earnest.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Lu Bu guide: Phase 2
This is where the real fight begins. Every moment can instantly spell your death if you’re not careful. While on foot, Lu Bu will unleash a variety of killer moves with murderous intent:
- Lu Bu will try to fire his arrows at you again while alternating between firing one or two volleys in a row. The good news is that Lu Bu’s arrows can’t home in on you while he’s not riding his horse and you can still guard, deflect or dodge them.
- Lu Bu will perform a mixture of combo attacks where he will swing his glaive wildly while sometimes throwing some stab attacks for good measure. As these are normal attacks, you can guard, deflect or dodge them without too much issue.
- While on foot, Lu Bu will have access to four different kinds of Critical Blow attacks, each one more deadly than the last. He will also try to mix in Critical Blows at the end of his normal attack combos.
- Lu Bu’s first ground-based Critical Blow has Lu Bu using his weapon like a baseball bat to take your head off.
- His second Critical Blow has Lu Bu spinning his glaive then thrusting it forward to impale you on it.
- The third Critical Blow attack involves Lu Bu pole-vaulting into the air using his glaive and performing an overhead strike.
- The final and most brutal Critical Blow has Lu Bu charging towards you while grinding his glaive on the floor to perform an underarm swing.
The worst part about the last two Critical Blow attacks is that they have the added effect of setting Lu Bu’s weapon on fire, granting him a buff that enhances all his attacks with the fire element. This is where Lu Bu is at his most dangerous as his fire-enhanced attacks will deal extra damage and will inflict Burn, a status effect that will slowly drain your health away.
You must avoid guarding Lu Bu’s attacks while his fire buff is active as the extra fire damage will slip past your defensive stance and still be able to inflict Burn. So, you have no choice but to deflect or dodge his fiery outbursts during this state. On top of all that, Lu Bu’s fire-granting Critical Blow attacks also leave patches of fire on the floor for a brief second, giving you less room to maneuver lest you risk being burnt to a crisp.
You can prevent Lu Bu from gaining his fire buff by deflecting his fire-based Critical Blows. This will not only negate the attacks and prevent Lu Bu from getting his fire buff but also fill Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge tremendously with Negative Spirit. However, if you are unsuccessful in deflecting the Critical Blows, you can cancel Lu Bu’s fire powers by using water-elemental Wizardry Spells.
In Wo Long, the elements have the power to cancel each other out, for instance, water-based effects can cancel out fire-based effects. So, in this case, any water-based attack spells like Frost Lance will remove Lu Bu’s fire buffs if they hit him. If you get inflicted with the Burn status effect, you can use any water-based buff spells like Cloud Stance for example, or consume an item called Heatproof Ice to cure yourself of the ailment. Also, using Heatproof Ice and equipping fire-resistant armor will help mitigate Lu Bu’s fire damage.
On a side note, pay attention to your surroundings while fighting as Red Hare will circle the arena you’re fighting Lu Bu in. If you stray into Red Hare’s path, you will get trampled. To avoid this, stick to the center or the edges of the arena so you don’t get crushed underfoot by Lu Bu’s horse.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Lu Bu guide: Phase 3
Once Lu Bu’s health bar is reduced by half, he will whistle for Red Hare and remount his steed. From here, the fight will repeat the same as it played out in Phase 1 with no variation. So, re-use the same strategy as you did in Phase 1 and fill Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge with Negative Spirit to kick him off his horse.
After Lu Bu falls to the ground again, Lu Bu will fight as he did in Phase 2 with some minor differences. Lu Bu will start incorporating Critical Blow attacks in the middle of his normal combo attacks more often. Also, if you deflect Lu Bu’s Critical Blows, Lu Bu will sometimes instantly recover to perform another one of his Critical Blow attacks to catch you off guard.
Aside from that, the fight will proceed as before. So, remember what you have learned, keep a cool head, and maintain a good balance between aggression and evasion. All of this together will allow you to topple the indomitable Lu Bu.
Do you dare pursue Lu Bu?
More than many others in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, this boss fight demands much from the player. It is an immensely grueling battle where your skills are put to the test. You must deflect almost every attack thrown at you to avoid taking too much damage, micro-manage the effects of Lu Bu’s fire attacks, and wear down Lu Bu’s Spirit Gauge to leave him open to attack.
It is a daunting task but once you get into the rhythm of combat and sweep Lu Bu off his feet, the levels of satisfaction you will feel upon defeating him are simply glorious. That sense of accomplishment upon beating what seemed to be an impossible task is one of the reasons why Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is one of the best Xbox Games and one that fans of soulslikes and action RPGs should definitely check out.
