Zhang Jiao is the fifth boss you face in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and they will test everything you have learnt so far. From knowing when to dodge and parry to knowing when to simply run away - fighting the General of Heaven is a culmination of every strategy you've mastered so far.

As you work through Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you learn more about the importance of learning the rhythm and telltale signs behind an enemy's attacks. Sure, you can ignore this pattern and slash at smaller enemies, but it really does help to learn this for the larger bosses.

We're going to show you how to beat Zhang Jiao in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, some tips on how to prepare for the fight, as well as a breakdown of their attacks and how to counter their unguardables.

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How to prepare for Zhang Jiao in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty

As with every other boss you've faced on your journey so far, preparing properly before facing the General of Heaven will make your fight much easier.

This boss doesn't pull any punches, they're relentless.

There are eight things that we strongly advise you do before you go to face Zhang Jiao:

Get your Morale to 25 - This is the maximum level your Morale can reach, and with so many enemies in the fort that can be attacked from overhead stealth attacks it's easy to get there quickly. Zhang Jiao's Morale level starts between 20 and 21.Get your Fortitude rank to 15 - This is the minimum you should aim for, the higher this is the easier it will be to fight Zhang Jiao.Call in another reinforcement - Sun Jian is already taking up one spot, but you can call in another ally by using a Tiger Seal at a Battle Flag. We recommend doing this, and we called in Zhang Fei.Upgrade your weapon and armor - The Blacksmith is at the very beginning of this level, but we advise that you upgrade your equipment if you can.Level up at a Battle Flag - While farming your Morale, you should gain plenty of Qi too. Use this to level up at the Battle Flag. We were level 29 when we took on this boss, and it was pretty straight forward.Charge your Divine Beast - As you make your way around the Fort, you should almost have a fully charged Divine Beast gauge when you reach Zhang Jiao. If you can, try to get this fully charged before heading through the doors.Have a ranged and long-reach weapon - Getting too close to this boss can prove costly, so having a ranged and long-reach weapon will allow you to attack from a distance.Have a Metal and Water spell equipped - The Metal spell will counter one of Jiao's attacks, and we used the Frozen Spear Trap Water spell to slow him down.

Once you feel like you've prepared enough, it's time to face Zhang Jiao.

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 Jiao in Wo Long Fallen Dynasty

As soon as the battle begins, before you do anything else, make sure you get as far away from the entrance as possible. The starting area of the fight will have you backed into a narrow doorway and Zhang Jiao will box you in here if you're not careful.

Use your tracker to keep an eye on Zhang Jiao, but run as fast as you can to the larger area near the rear of the battlefield. As you are within a building, this battlefield is much smaller than previous ones, but the rear area has enough space for you to move around in to dodge without getting backed into a corner.

Run run run as fast as you can!

For the majority of this battle, you'll ideally want to stay as far away from Zhang Jiao as possible. Their arms have quite a long reach and can inflict serious damage if they catch you, so for most of the fight try to use long-range attacks.

We used an upgraded Polearm Podao, a Crossbow, and Throwing Knives throughout the fight, alongside using multiple Wizardy Spells to break his Spirit level.

Now, it may seem harsh, but taking a step back and letting your reinforcements do the close-quarters attacking will help you out. They will instinctually get close to Zhang Jiao to attack him, which gives you the freedom to move around the battlefield and use ranged attacks to chip away at his spirit and health. Just make sure to revive an ally if they get downed, two are always better than one.

Hang back and chip away at his health when you can.

Don't be afraid to use your Divine Beast either, they come in very handy in such an enclosed space. We had Qinglong equipped, the one you earn from battling Zhang Bao in an earlier level. We waited until Zhang Jiao had half of his health left and when our allies were looking a little drained.

Like fighting the other bosses, once you get Zhang Jiao's spirit down far enough they will be vulnerable for a short period of time. When they are, run up to them and use your Spirit Attack command to unleash a powerful attack on them when the target marker turns red.

However, don't linger near the General of Heaven after doing this. They seem to recover quite quickly, so it's best to back away before you get caught.

Throughout the fight, we also used the Frozen Spear Trap Water Spell on the ground in front of us if we felt Zhang Jiao was getting too close. This inflicted some damage while slowing him down, giving us a few seconds to get away.

Here, we set the spell down when he turned his focus on us.

To inflict maximum damage on this boss with little effort, you should counter their unguardable attacks at the right time to return with a powerful counterattack that often breaks most of their spirit and drains a large chunk of their health too.

However, all of this information is only useful if you learn the attack patterns of Zhang Jiao, including how to anticipate them, which ones can be dodged and which ones are unguardable.

Attacks that you can parry or dodge

Now, Zhang Jiao uses a lot of Wizardry Spells for their attacks alongside a few melee ones. For this fight, you'll want to be selective with how you use your Spirit because dodging their attacks and countering their spells with your own is crucial to winning.

One of the most prominent attacks that Zhang Jiao relies on are Lighting-based spells. There are several variations to watch out for, but almost all of them can be countered with a Metal Spell.

The first marker to look out for is for the ground beneath you to become slightly darker and speckled. This is indicating an impending Lightning-based attack from above, where bolts stream down on top of you. The easiest thing to do is dodge to the side away from the intended attack spot, though you can use a Metal Spell if you wish.

It's an 'electrifying' attack. No, I'm not sorry.

The next marker to watch out for is for Zhang Jiao to start spinning his staff above his head. Then, the ground around you will have several spots where it turns dark. This is indicating another attack from above, where small box-like items will fall from the sky and hit the ground to electrify it. You can dodge this attack or counter with a Metal spell.

Yet another indicator to look for before a Lightning spell is for Zhang Jiao to rapidly spin his staff twice before aiming it at you. As soon as it's aimed at you, it will shoot out four to five of those box-like items directly at you. They're slow enough that you can parry them or use a Metal spell to counter them.

Zhang Jiao can combine all of these Lightning-based attacks into one large one. The marker for this is for Zhang Jiao to stop and swish his staff in large circles above his head. Then, bolts will surround him and electrify the ground around him with a few of those electrified box-like items falling from the sky too.

For this one, we recommend simply running out of the way because it will only impact the immediate area around Zhang Jiao.

Best just to stay away from this one.

Again, you can counter all of these attacks with a Metal spell but we found it much easier and safer to dodge out of the way or parry most of them.

The next set of Wizardry Spell attacks to watch out for have clear indicators and are really easy to dodge by simply jumping or running out of the way. Doing this for these attacks will make sure your Spirit is free for other attacks.

Zhang Jiao will stop and breathe in deeply with a dark brown shadow being pulled in around his face. Once he does this, stand back and get ready to jump. A stream of the dark brown shadow will move across the battlefield from one side to another. All you need to do is jump over it to avoid being hit.

The next attack to watch out for begins in the same way, but Zhang Jiao will hunch forward and shoot waves of the dark brown shadow out of his mouth. When we fought him, these came out in sets of two which could easily be jumped over.

You can't surf these waves.

Also, when Zhang Jiao does small and rapid spins of his staff then slams it into the ground, he is indicating that he is about to make a Tornado spawn where you're currently standing. The easiest thing to do for this attack is to dodge to the side, away from where you were when he began to prepare the attack.

Now, onto his melee attacks. These are brutal but can be dodged and countered if you get the timing right. Also, having your two reinforcements at your side will divide Zhang Jiao's attention which gives you more openings to attack him.

See? They're fine after distracting Zhang Jiao for you.

One of the most damaging attacks he has is a claw swipe, he'll balance himself on his staff and then use his free hand to swipe out at you. This can easily take half of your health down, so make sure you parry it if you know you can't get away in time.

The next melee attack that you can parry also uses Zhang Jiao's free hand. He will make a fist and quickly lift it above his head before slamming it down on the ground.

Unguardable Attacks

The unguardable attacks, also known as red attacks, are ones that cannot be deflected but these are the ones you've been waiting for.

If you time your counter at the right moment when Zhang Jiao is launching an unguardable attack, you will send back a powerful counterattack that often smashes half of his Spirit and takes down a chunk of his health.

Yes, we did feel bad about letting our allies take the force of that one.

One of the unguardables will be one you are familiar with from battling the Warlocks and from fighting Zhang Bao. Yes, Zhang Jiao also uses the red attack where he conjurs a large object before launching it at you. The only difference here is that it's launched from his chest.

The indicator to watch for is for a red glow to be pulled into Zhang Jiao's chest. Then, to counter it, wait until he has launched it and press the counter command when it's halfway to you. This should send it back to Zhang Jiao with some force.

Another return to sender.

Another one to watch for and counter is, yet again, indicated by a red glow erupting from Zhang Jiao's chest. This time, he will lift his staff up slowly and then bring it down to crush you.

To counter this one, wait until the staff head is just above you before pressing your counter command. The timing for this one is harder to get right, so feel free to run away from the attack if you don't feel you can get it right for that particular attack.

The only unguardable attack we don't recommend countering is indicated by Zhang Jiao resting forwards on his hands before starting to glow red. Then, he will send out a wave of red around him and dark red vines will erupt from the ground.

Using a counterattack here isn't as effective as it is with the other two unguardables, so avoiding this attack will reserve your Spirit for countering the other two.

We didn't move fast enough.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Zhang Jiao, General of Heaven rewards explained

Once you finally bring down the General of Heaven, you will get a handful of useful rewards and a new ally to add to your reinforcement roster.

Here's a full list of everything you can get for beating Zhang Jiao:

9,760 Qi (This can vary)6,559 Copper (This can vary)2-Star Wuhan Cavalry Hat4-Star Hairpin Yellow Turban Commander HelmetYellow Turban Commander ArmorChivalrous Swordsman Dual Swordsx2 Rank 2 Steel

Plus, you get a special reward by swearing an oath with Sun Jian.

A new ally has been acquired!

After beating Zhang Jiao, it's time to continue your adventures in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty!

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