Wo Long: How to beat Aoye

In the early parts of Wo Long, most of the bosses aren’t really that much of a problem. You might have thought that was going to persist, but that is very much not the case. Aoye is the first truly demanding boss fight Wo Long throws at you, and to beat it takes a lot of learning and a serious dose of patience. This guide will break down its moves, when it’s safe to attack, and how you should go about doing your damage. It’s also worth noting I’m playing the game with a martial arts build and not focusing on wizardry, so this guide is going to center around that.

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Time to beat Aoye in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

When the fight starts, Hong Jing is going to be by your side — for a little while, at least. Unlike previous boss fights where the AI helpers mostly held their own, Aoye can take Hong Jing out in just a couple of attacks. This might seem kind of annoying, but it’s actually a good thing; she’ll only get in your way. As such, I recommend not focusing on her. Wasting precious moments to revive her will add up over time and you’re better off having her tap out so that you can focus on the big guy yourself.

Aoye has about a dozen different moves to beat in Wo Long, so there’s a fair amount to learn. Its most common attacks involve its arms, which it either sweeps along the ground or slams into you. It’s quite clear which is going to be used by observing it, but the sweeps take a good deal longer to get to you than the slams do. Now, you can definitely go through the fight parrying these attacks and, yes, they’re blockable, but attempting to block will only lead to your spirit running into the red and leaving you vulnerable.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Might as well jump

The best way to avoid most of Aoye’s attacks, as you’ve likely surmised from the above header, is to jump. You can easily leap over the sweeping attacks and, if you’re in the air, the slamming strikes aren’t likely to hit you. To be extra safe, before it slams the ground, leap towards Aoye’s side that isn’t striking. If you do that, it won’t hit you. But you don’t want to just jump, of course. Being airborne is a great time to use your basic attack to do some chip damage and reduce Aoye’s spirit as well.

As with other boss battles in Wo Long, you’ll do most of your damage by stunning Aoye by depleting its spirit and then using your contextual attack once the red dot shows up. Next up on Aoye’s moves for the first half of the fight are its side slams. You’ll notice strange hair tentacles on its back. It will slam these to the side and towards its back. If you’re in the way when it does this, dodge backward. You can attack them from the front side and from directly behind it without getting hit by these attacks.

Similar is an attack where sharp icicles grow out of its face and it uses it to stab at you repeatedly. This attack is deflectable, but the timing is tricky. While I don’t recommend blocking most attacks, that’s definitely a good option for this. Even better is to dodge to the side and immediately run up to Aoye’s sides and attack it until it stops. Much like the hair slams, it’s completely vulnerable while doing this. Whenever it’s vulnerable, use a martial art and then hit it with your basic attack once or twice to replenish some spirit. But make sure to pick a weapon with a martial art that doesn’t last too long or put you in danger.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

How to beat Aoye in Wo Long – Critical blows

Aoye has three critical blows, two of which it uses during the first half of the fight. In these, it either charges at you or uses one of its arms to jab you. As with any critical blows, you’re going to need to deflect. Practice the timing, because you’re gonna need to get it down pat. You’ll be dying even more if you don’t get good at dealing with them. After deflecting one of these attacks, Aoye will fall and give you a window to use a martial art, so run up as soon as you can and use it.

Using martial arts whenever you have the opportunity will do a lot to fill up the red part of Aoye’s spirit gauge, meaning you’ll be able to use your own mortal attack on it while it’s in spirit disruption. When this eventually happens, you’ll have enough time to hit it with another quick martial art or basic attacks before the stun gauge runs out, so hit them right before using your contextual attack. Once you’ve used this, the red part of your spirit gauge will empty and return to normal.

This is another good time to use another martial art. Speaking of which, immediately after Aoye gets back up, it goes through a little animation where it roars and then shoots ice in random patches in the arena. But you’re safe if you stand right up next to it so, you guessed it, use another martial art before some more basic attacks to refill your spirit. On occasion, you’ll get pushed away when you attempt this, but that doesn’t happen most of the time and that doesn’t even hurt when it does, so don’t be afraid.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Ice to see you

Believe it or not, there are still several more moves that you’ll see in both phases of the fight. When there’s distance between you and Aoye, it’s got several methods of closing in on you. The most common move is that it’ll launch itself into the air try to body-slam you. Don’t run. Instead, deflect it. The impact from hitting the ground will leave it vulnerable just long enough for you to use a martial art. It also uses its charging critical blow to slam into you. If it does, deflect it as always. It also uses that when you’re right next to it, which can make it very hard to deflect.

Aoye’s other method of getting up in your business is to slam its arms into the ground as it moves toward you. You can either dodge backward or jump in the air in time with these to avoid damage. It also does this goofy little pivot where it slides to another position. You’re probably going to get clipped by this from time to time but the damage isn’t that bad, at least. The worst is yet to come.

Once Aoye’s down to half health, it gets its two most dangerous moves. The more common of these is that you’ll see its mouth fill up with ice. When it does this, it’s about to shoot ice at you. This is very hard to dodge, so you may just want to hold the block button. Alternatively, two quick dodge rolls to the side might get you through without taking damage. Finally, it uses its third critical blow; this one is a fake out. Its mouth glows red and it appears that it’s about to grab you with its weird face tentacles.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

But it’s a trick! Aoye will then move closer to you and then use the face tentacles to grab you. Make sure to deflect on this second one and not the first. If you get hit by this, you’re probably just going to die. And unless I’m forgetting something, that’s all of its moves. How much time you have to attack between its animations is going to vary based on what weapon you’re using, so you’re obviously going to have to figure that out. But don’t get greedy. This is all you need to know to take this big, ugly bastard down. And that’s what you have to do to beat Aoye in Wo Long.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available on Steam and PC Game Pass.