Hot off the heels of the Aoye fight, you were likely wondering if the next level would feature a boss just as difficult. Thankfully, Zhang Rang isn’t nearly as hard as that fight, but it can still be harder than many of the other bosses in Wo Long. I nearly beat Zhang Rang on my second try because, to put it bluntly, this is a fairly poor fight that focuses on luck. There are definitely strategies that can help to make things more in your favor and, hey, you might get lucky right away and mop the floor with him. Here’s how you can beat Zhang Rang in Wo Long.
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How to beat Zhang Rang and his clone army in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
When you enter Zhang Rang’s battle arena, you’ll immediately notice that it’s populated with his clones. Since Wo Long insisted on using the same camera style it lifted from Demon’s Souls and used on the first Nioh, that means that you need to lock on to an enemy to hit them. When there’s an entire room filled with enemies, that additionally means that there’s practically nothing to stop them from shooting you in the back and slamming you with critical blows while you’re focusing on one at a time. That’s the main reason this fight is so obnoxious.
Here’s the deal when it comes to fighting Zhang Rang. The real McCoy has no tiny red lifebar above his head, so it’s fairly easy to tell which one he is. For every clone you kill, Zhang Rang’s spirit gauge shrinks, making it much easier to to fill the red part up and stun him for a contextual attack of your own. But it’s not a good idea to go after him when all his clones are running around. Doing that will just get you beaten to death before you even know what’s happening.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
I think I’m a clone now
Zhang Rang’s clones are basically just weak enemies. They’ll swing their weapons at you, shoot you with balls of energy, and use critical blows. All of their attacks do small amounts of damage because, again, you’re going to get hit. Probably a lot. When the fight starts, you’ll need to focus on taking them down. I prefer to start with the clone in the corner to your left once the fight gets going. Immediately lock onto whichever one you choose and push him into a corner. Then you can hit him with whatever you like. Keep in mind, if you deflect their critical blows, you’ll be able to instantly take them out with your contextual attack.
If you’d rather go the wizardry route, you’ll probably want to use AOE attacks. Just try to pick them off one by one. Your AI partner will pick up some of the slack, so you might even want to target the clones that are attacking him. What’s important is that you take them down and still have enough healing left for the actual sorcerer. Jumping is also helpful, as it’ll help you avoid any errant strikes or balls of energy. But don’t kill all the clones.
If you kill all of the clones, Zhang Rang’s moveset will change a bit. Most noticeably he gets a spinning attack. If you take too long to get his spirit down and use a critical blow of your own, he’ll resurrect his clones and they’ll attack you in a huge wave that’s very likely to kill you. If you use your critical blow on him and all of his clones are dead, he’ll then resurrect them all anyway. Since killing them lowers his spirit cap, you can certainly take down the next wave of clones and repeat the process. But there’s another way.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Three’s company
As long as at least one clone is still alive, Zhang Rang’s moveset won’t change and he won’t summon any more clones. If your AI partner is alive, I suggest leaving three clones kicking. The arena is large enough that you can still maneuver and, since the clones are so weak, your AI partner will be able to dispatch one or two of them by his lonesome. You really don’t want to have Zhang Rang on the ropes, only for your partner to kill the last clone and cause the room to become filled with the buggers again.
Now that you’re focusing on Zhang Rang, that doesn’t mean things are going to be easy. He teleports around constantly, so you won’t often have much time to hit him. Wizardry spells are a good choice here, as they’re mostly quick, can be used at a longer range, and do a good amount of spirit damage. But you really, really don’t want to hang around him. He uses his weapon, balls of energy, and critical blows just like his clones do, but he’s got two really nasty moves that they thankfully don’t have access to. These are sure to really mess you up if they hit.
The more common of these will see Zhang Rang summon some purple mist which then hurts you if you’re close to him. When you see him do this, try your best to jump out of the way. If you’re not fast enough, it’ll hit you repeatedly. If this happens, I recommend blocking, which can still eat up a big chunk of your health. This is a great reason not to hang too close to him and instead use hit-and-run tactics. Even a single hit at a time is better than starting the whole fight again.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
But then there’s his other move. He summons an electric field around himself. If you’re standing anywhere near this, it’ll hit you. It will very possibly kill you in one hit, so start running in the opposite direction as soon as it happens. You don’t want to mess with this attack. Other than that, it’s a good idea to keep your AI partner alive still, as Zhang Rang will often focus on him and give you some free shots. Just be careful and don’t stay close to him for any length of time and he’ll die eventually. And that’s all you need to know to beat Zhang Rang in Wo Long.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available on Steam and PC Game Pass.
