Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Zhang Bao boss tips and strategy
How to beat the General of Earth and tips for outsmarting their powerful attacks.
Zhang Bao is the fourth boss you fight in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and arguably one of the harder bosses since the first. Zhang Bao, the General of Earth, primarily uses magic attacks to catch you off guard and weaken your Spirit before going in for heavy melee attacks.
Luckily, you are not alone for this fight in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Two brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are with you for the entire battle which gives you the back up you need to make your own powerful attacks.
As this boss can be tricky, we're going to show you how to beat Zhang Bao in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, tips on how to prepare for the fight, as well as a breakdown of their attacks and how to weaken the General of Earth.
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How to prepare for Zhang Bao in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty
By this point in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you're probably very aware that preparing yourself before entering a boss battle is one of the main things you need to get right in order to beat the boss themselves.
In the case of battling Zhang Bao, we recommend that you do six things before approaching the General of Earth:
- Fill up your Dragons Cure Pots - Having little extra health boosts on hand will help you survive the fight.
- Get your Morale to 20 or more - Zhang Bao's Morale is anywhere between 17 and 18 when you enter the fight. If your Morale is 20 or higher, you will notice that the fight is significantly easier. There are plenty of banner flags and enemies around for you to farm this quickly.
- Have a Ranged Weapon and ammo - Fighting this boss at a range will make the first half easier, especially when it comes to avoiding their attacks.
- Upgrade your own weapon - Visit the Blacksmith earlier in the level and upgrade your weapons if any of them have a damage stat lower than 150. It is possible to beat the boss with a lower-level weapon, but a higher damage stat will make it easier.
- Have at least one of each type of Wizardry Spell - Magic attacks are one of the main ones that Zhang Bao uses, so having your own magic to counter them is key.
- Use Battle Flags and Marking Flags to increase your Fortitude Rank - Having a higher Fortitude Rank will make battling Zhang Bao easier.
Once you feel that you have prepared enough, it's time to battle the General of Earth.
If you need help getting started in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, then check out our beginner's tips and tricks. When it comes to bosses, we have strategies for Zhang Liang, Zhuyan, Fengxi, Zhang Bao and Zhang Jiao. Don't forget to take a look at our Marking Flag locations, Vengeance Flags and how to feed Shitieshou guides too.
How to beat Zhang Bao in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty
Beating Zhang Bao begins with learning their attacks and attack patterns in order to wear their Spirit level down, then using that knowledge to bring their health down. As with battling the previous bosses, you'll want to wear Zhang Bao's spirit bar down and then attack them.
For the most of the battle you'll ideally want to keep your distance from Zhang Bao as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei go in for their attacks. This gives you a window to use your ranged weapon (we used a Crossbow) to chip away at Zhang Bao's spirit and health or to heal up if needed.
That being said, when they're ready, release your Divine Beast on the General of Earth. At this point, we had Qilin from the fight with Zhuyan.
The most important thing to know is that Zhang Bao can teleport around the battlefield and end up almost on top of you to attack you if you're not careful. We strongly recommend that you use your target tracker throughout the fight to keep an eye on them. Even if they teleport, the tracker will pick them up so you can know where they are at all times.
Also, halfway through the fight they will summon four Warlocks that will appear in the corners of the battlefield. At this point, pull back from Zhang Bao and let the brothers attack them while you deal with the Warlocks. Take down every Warlock quickly because they will cause you serious problems.
As you did with fighting the other bosses, if you get Zhang Bao's spirit and health down enough they will briefly be vulnerable. As soon as this happens and you see the red circle appear on them, use your Spirit Attack to remove a chunk of their health.
Now, all of this is only useful if you know how to anticipate the incoming attacks and learn which ones to parry, dodge, counter, as well as which ones are unguardable.
Attacks that can you can parry or dodge
These are all of the attacks that Zhang Bao uses that you can dodge, counter, or parry. Once you know the basics of them and how to deal with them, you can avoid them while chipping away at the General of Earth's Spirit.
One of the attacks they use the most is a Fire-based one where they send out rings of fire around them in waves. These are easy to dodge by jumping at the right time, but you can counter them with a Water Spell.
Fire seems to be a favourite for this boss, because they can also send it out in several straight lines in front of them. Again, they are easy to avoid by jumping over them or by using a Water Spell.
The next attack is a 'Spinning Blade' one. This is where Zhang Bao will suddenly, and very rapidly, spin around while holding their weapon out to slice you. You can parry this attack but it's a safer option to dodge out of the way and wait for an unguardable before you make your move.
Another magic attack that they use will actually tell you it's coming. If the ground beneath your feet begins to glow, quickly use your dodge and dash to get out of the circle. This is indicating that a magic attack from the ground or above (it can be either) will be coming in a few seconds, so you have to react quickly to get to safety.
Zhang Bao will also use another magic attack that will send out red orbs around them. These orbs appear in a semi-circle and they will track your location, so even if you move they will follow you. We advise that you parry these or dodge if you have enough Spirit. If you don't have a lot of Spirit, dodging these can leave you vulnerable so choose wisely.
Unguardable Attacks
These are the unguardable (red) attacks that Zhang Bao uses in the fight. You cannot Parry these, but if you counter them at the right moment you can launch a powerful counterattack on Zhang Bao. These are the attacks that will help you bring them down.
If you've fought a Warlock earlier in this area, then this magic attack should be familiar to you. Zhang Bao will stop, their hand will glow red briefly and then launch a large object at you.
Just before the object hits you, use your counter command to send it back to Zhang Bao with some force. This will substantially damage their Spirit and health bar if timed right.
The next unguardable is a bit tricker for getting the counter timing right, but if you manage it then it will help you bring the General of Earth down very quickly.
Zhang Bao will almost entirely glow red and then suddenly disappear. They will then reappear in a different direction to the one you are facing before charging at you to grab you. If they get their hands on you, it's pretty much the end of your fight as they can take down over half of your health with one move.
To counter this attack, you need to wait for them to reappear. This is where the tracking feature comes in handy, as it will show you exactly where they are and you should have enough time to turn to them.
As soon as Zhang Bao appears from the void, press your counter command to send a counterattack. If timed right, they'll briefly have their back to you and you can get a few good heavy hits on them before they regain composure.
The only unguardable we recommend avoiding is where Zhang Bao stands still, glows red, then brings large dark red spikes up from the ground. If you're caught in these they will pierce you and countering them offers little benefit compared to the other two unguardable attacks.
Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Zhang Bao, General of Man rewards explained
After you beat Zhang Bao, you'll be rewarded with several high-tier items alongside Copper and Qi. Here's a full breakdown of everything you can get for defeating the General of Earth:
- x4 Rank 1 Steel
- x3 Rank 2 Leather
- x1 Yellow Turban Champion Helmet
- x1 Yellow Turban Armor
- 5,700 Qi (This can vary)
- 4,456 (This can vary)
- 4-Star Ritual Sword of Chaos
Also, you swear an oath with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu which grants you an extra special reward.
With Zhang Bao officially defeated, you can continue your journey in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.