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When you’ve forced your way forward throughWuchang: Fallen Feathers, you will eventually encounter Liu Cheng’en on a snowy battlefield. His arena reflects his moveset and always looks to inflict frostbite on his enemies. Liu Cheng’en has an easy-to-read moveset, but every attack has the potential to take you down quickly if you aren’t careful.
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Even more aggressive foes await you as you push forward.
Liu Cheng’en Phase 1
A more traditional fight that pits you and a master against one another.
When you enter the arena, Liu Cheng’en will start the fight with animmediate jump attack. He will launch himself into the air and land at your position, repeating this actionthreetimesin total before he has to recover from his attack. You can do one of two things for these attacks:dodgeto your right every time ordeflecteach strike. Dodging to the right, especially after the final string of this attack, will guarantee that you will be behind the boss for a perfectly timed heavy attack. This willstunhim instantly and allow you to perform an early Obliteration Attack on the boss.
Afterward, you are met with the majority of his phase 1 moves, which are a series ofstrikesfrom his polearm. Each one of these has a different timing to them on when they strike, and if you are hit, you’ll suffer fromfrostbite buildup. There won’t be anything overly special about the phase 1 moveset here; each attack is either athrustor asweepattack that will come at you frommid to close rangefrom Liu Cheng’en. If you are a fan of the longsword, you should consider using theSword Counterskill. This will negate almost every attack he will throw at you if you’re confident and comfortable with the timing.
Liu Cheng’en Phase 2
In phase 2, the fight truly starts to become a challenge.
When Liu Cheng’en has had around a quarter of his health taken away, he will start his second phase. To mark the phase transition, Liu Cheng’en willslamthe bottom of his polearm into the ground, spinning his weapon and kicking up the snow todisable your lock-on. When the mini-snowstorm is over, he will have traded his polearm in for a one-handed sword. This will now give him an entirely new moveset for the remainder of the fight between you two.
With his new weapon at the ready, Liu Cheng’en willcharge at you instantly. Regardless of where you stand in the arena, he will perform ajumpthat will position him right on top of you. However, every attack with his sword can also bedeflected, just like his polearm. While using a longsword for either phase isn’t completely necessary, it does interrupt his attack strings and cut them short while opening the boss up for extra damage.
Regardless of whether you dodge the long sword combos or deflect them, there are plenty of other attacks that you will need to keep an eye out for. One of these attacks will be a ground stomp where the boss will raise one of his legs and stomp, creating a fairly large area of damage right in front of him. This will create a cloud of snow that will obscure his next flurry of sword attacks, which will have5 strikes total. These attacks are also ones that can be interrupted by a well-timed Sword Counter.
There are a few more attacks that will be classified as filler attacks of sorts; they are there to surprise you and mess with your timing during the fight. The boss can and will use ice kunai regularly during the fight to mask a two-swing sword combo that will follow. Another move in this category will be a stomp that will kick up acloud of snowthat will masktwo stab attacks. These attack combos are easily avoided with backstep dodges and gaining some distance from him, allowing you to completely counter the moves with just a few steps.
Uninterruptible Attacks
In terms of attacks that you cannot interrupt with a Sword Counter, there are two total. One of these will be when Liu Cheng’en creates another cloud of snow in his vicinity. Unlike the prior version, used during the phase transition, you can still attack him with spells and lock on to him while he is casting. When this attack is done, there will be ice orbs on the outside of the circle of snow that will explode. The best way to deal with this attack is to back off just outside the area of effect and use any spells you have equipped to deal some damage and ensure his stance meter doesn’t reset during the attack.
The final uninterruptible attack will be a command grab that will warn you with a sharp sound before it connects. Liu Cheng’en will perform a jumping spin kick, before kicking you to the ground and dealing a large amount of damage to you if it does connect. Despite how hard the attack hits, it is easily dodged if you react to the sound notification fast enough. If you can dodge and position yourself behind him as the move passes by you, you can land a charged heavy attack to stun and backstab.
This fight is going to punish you if you’re too focused on trying to kill the boss too quickly. You are in a battle of timing and patience; if you lack either, you will be punished with devastating moves that can kill you almost instantly if you aren’t careful. Liu Cheng’en is a difficult boss if you aren’t patient with both yourself and the mechanics of the game. Keeping a stance meter from depleting is very important, but putting yourself into a dangerous scenario is also not ideal. Wait for your moment to strike with charged heavy attacks when his back is turned, and use every resource at your disposal to defeat Liu Cheng’en.
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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
