While WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers has plenty of difficulty spikes, it’s safe to say that Commander Honglan can be considered a real wall for most players, and one that will force you to really think about your build. Acting as the final boss of Chapter 1, Honglan will put your skills to the test, so keep reading to learn how to effectively take her down.

Table of Contents¶

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Commander Honglan Location¶

As mentioned at the top of this page, Commander Honglan is the final boss at the end of Chapter 1, and as such, you’ll need to make your way through the Tang Emperor’s Palace. Once you’ve drained the water in the Lotus Pond, you’ll need to head back to the Palace Hill Shrine and head across the nearby rooftop to find a ladder.

Take this ladder down and then head to the right around the building to find yourself back in front of the Lotus Pond. Make sure you’re prepared, and then drop down below to begin the battle.

Commander Honglan Preparation¶

How you prepare for Commander Honglan is almost half of the battle, as while you could have coasted through by brute-forcing a lot of the bosses, that won’t work here. Instead, you’ll really have to consider what kind of build you want to use that is effective against her. At the very least, make sure you have the Centipede armor set equipped, as the extra defensive bonus against physical attacks will help against most of her attacks.

Beyond this, you’ll want to take a look at one of three styles we’ve earmarked for this battle below:

Magic Build¶

Especially in the early stages of WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, magic is incredibly potent thanks to early access to the Biding Time skill on the One-Handed Sword skill. With this, you’ll passively accrue Skyborn Might which allows you to stay back and hit Honglan from range. With this in mind, consider the following setup:

• Weapon: Astral Blade
• Jade Pendants: Bird Pendant, Twin Infant Pendant, Gourd Pendant
• Benedictions: Bu - Skyborn Ward (Oath), Ren - Skyborn Vigor (Memory), Wei - Skyborn Magic (Wisdom)
• Spells: Infernal Flames, Divine Ward
• Key Impetus Repository Skills: Biding Time, Unbroken Focus, Fiery Embers

With this in mind, you should have an effective magic build for this stage of the game to deal with Honglan.

Longsword Deflect Build¶

The next alternative is to make use of the Longsword Deflect build, as hinted by the hint just before you begin this battle. The goal here is to use the Deflect build to parry Honglan’s attacks and perform counterattacks, building the Obliterate gauge in the process. You’ll want to consider the following setup for this Build:

• Weapon: Cloudfrost’s Edge or Lashing Whip
• Discipline: Sword Counter
• Jade Pendants: Twin Infant Pendant, Gourd Pendant, Luduan Pendant
• Benedictions: Bu - Blocking Clash (Oath), Ren - Skyborn Vigor (Memory), Wei - Counter Force (Wisdom)
• Spells: Divine Ward
• Key Impetus Repository Skills: Sword Counter and Variants I and II, Sword Saint, Steel Resolve

This will give you a powerful Deflect build for this stage of the game that will generate Skyborn Might upon successful Deflects too.

Dual Blades Clash Build¶

The final style you can apply effectively against Honglan is a Clash build, as also hinted by the game as you approach the battle. Your two options for a Clash build are with Axes or, as we recommend, the Dual Blades. In fact, if you get used to the Dual Blades Clash build, it can carry you through most of the game’s toughest challenges. For now, however, consider the following setup against Honglan:

• Weapon: Firearm Blades
• Discipline: Blademaster
• Jade Pendants: Eagle Pendant, Twin Infant Pendant, Gourd Pendant
• Benedictions: Bu - Blocking Clash (Oath), Ren - Skyborn Vigor (Memory), Wei - Skyborn Disciple (Wisdom)
• Spells: Divine Ward
• Key Impetus Repository Skills: Feather Chaser, Unmatched, Swift Warrior, Wave Breaker, Blademaster

This will let you power through the majority of Honglan’s attacks in the hopes of causing an Obliteration on her.

Commander Honglan Phase 1¶

The battle against Honglan is a grueling one that will take you many attempts to get her patterns down before you can even focus on beating her. While the first phase isn’t too hard to deal with once you learn the few attacks she has against her, this becomes increasingly difficult in phase two. As such, you’ll want to get to the point that you can beat the first phase without losing too much health.

Honglan’s first phase has a few attacks for you to worry about, and you can learn about them all below:

Thrust Attack¶

When at medium range, Honglan will dash toward you and thrust ahead with her sword. You can avoid this by dodging at the last minute or performing a Deflect with the Longsword, this is the best opening when using that build as you can follow-up with a counterattack.

Stomp¶

When Honglan gets close to you, she will stomp the ground, dealing damage in an area around her, this can be very difficult to avoid. Honglan will often use this after you deflect her Thrust Attack too, so be prepared to not over commit.

Kunai¶

Honglan can leap backward to gain some range while also tossing some Kunai at the same time, these will fan out. You can avoid this by dodging or using a Deflect, although that can be a bit trickier to time.

Punch Combo¶

Honglan will approach you at speed and perform a punch combo that more often than not, ends with a stomp. It’s important to note that both Clash and Deflect will be ineffective here, this is often the attack that will deal the most damage as it can catch you off guard.

It may not seem like a lot of attacks to deal with for phase one, but she can chain these together very quickly, which, if you’re not careful, can make for a very short battle. The largest issue here is the Punch Combo, however, as no matter what build you bring into the battle, it can easily catch you out when you’re trying to bait her Thrust Attack. If you see her approach you instead of dashing in, expect this attack and look to back away to avoid it.

With that said, you want to bait the Thrust Attack as much as possible in phase one, as this is when she’s open the most. For those of you running a Longsword Parry build, you can Deflect this attack and follow-up with a powerful counterattack that will deal heavy stagger damage, eventually opening her up for an Obliterate. While she’s down on the ground, remember to follow-up with a flurry of attacks to deal even more damage.

This is also true for Clash, and as for Magic, dodge to the side and then take one backstep and you should have time to get off a cast of Infernal Flames. That’s pretty much it for the first phase, once you get down how her attacks work, you shouldn’t have too many issues of bringing her to around 60% HP and phase two, where the difficulty increases massively.

Commander Honglan Phase 2¶

Honglan begins this phase by performing a leap back (which will deal damage if you’re close to it) and then gain access to energy wave attacks. These massively increase the complexity of the battle and give you very little openings against her. Honglan’s second phase has a few more attacks for you to worry about, and you can learn about them all below:

Energy Waves¶

From range, Honglan will shoot out one-three large Energy Waves, you should dodge these at the right time to gain some easy Skyborn Might charges. She can also use these at any point throughout this phase.

Leaping Slash¶

Honglan will dash forward with a flurry of slashes, then leap into the air and come crashing down, wait until the last minute to dodge behind her and create an opening.

Spinning Slash¶

Honglan will dash toward you and spin her swords through the air, dealing massive damage should she connect. Do not be fooled into trying to parry this attack, as you’ll take more damage than you might expect, instead, look to dodge it.

This is where the true battle begins, as Honglan will become relentless in this phase, hardly pausing to give you a chance to even heal. With that said, you’ll need to really focus on learning how to deal with her attacks now, and when you can find that opening you’re looking for. Interestingly, Clash builds have the easiest time here, as she will often use a flurry of sword-based attacks allowing you to use Clash to its fullest by retaliating, just watch out for an Energy Wave or Punch Combo.

If you’re going the Parry or Magic route, however, then you’re going to have to really work for those openings. For the most part, you’re still best off keeping at around mid-range and baiting her Thrust Attack, she’ll use it less here, but it’s your best chance to create an opening. The name of the game here is to not get greedy as if you over commit, she can easily kill you in a moment’s notice. Likewise, if you need to heal, work for an opening and use it then instead of just popping it, as more often or not she will rush you down.

Video Guide¶

If you’re eager to see how all this plays out in visual form, check out our Video Guide below:

There you have it; Commander Honglan is the first real wall in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers and remains one of the games biggest tests. Hopefully, the builds and strategy here will help you get through and continue your journey to Cloudspire.