At this point in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, you’ll have explored much of Cloudspire and no doubt died to landmines and explosive archers multiple times. Now, it’s time for you to die to Ming General Liu Cheng’en several times too, but hopefully, with the help of this boss guide, it won’t come to that.
Ming General Liu Cheng’en is a troublesome boss. He’s swift, wields a spear, and can inflict a lot of Frostbite, but if you’ve taken down Commander Honglan, you’ll easily take down Liu Cheng’en sooner or later. To help you with that endeavour, however, here’s our WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Ming General Liu Cheng’en boss guide.
WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Liu Cheng’en boss guide
When it comes to taking down Ming General Liu Cheng’en in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, you’ve your work cut out for you. That said, if you’ve managed to take Commander Honglan down already, Liu Cheng’en should be a walk in the park for you; though, this all depends on your build.
Those with swift weapons such as Longswords, One-Handed Swords, and Dual Blades will have an easier time in this fight compared to those using slow-moving Spears or Axes. I’m a halberd enjoyer, personally, but for swift fights such as Commander Honglan and now, Ming General Liu Cheng’en, temporarily respeccing into something a little faster is worth considering. It costs nothing to respec and try out different strategies, after all!
In this Ming General Liu Cheng’eng boss guide, we’ll detail his moveset and how best to manage it, as well as some suggestions of strategies and weapons to try against him.
WUCHANG Ming General Liu Cheng’en moveset
First things first, Liu Cheng’en dishes out Frostbite damage in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, so I recommend eating a Spicy Soup – or any other items that boost your Frostbite resistance – before entering his arena to help prevent Frostbite from being built up on you. It’s not the end of the world if this does happen, but do be careful of your stamina if it does.
During the first half of the fight, Liu Cheng’en will immediately lunge at you and plunge his spear to the ground. He does this three times in a row, and if you dodge each one, you’ll immediately have a stack of three Skyborn Might to attack or spellcast with. Nice!
He repeats this attack often, and the end of the combo is a good opportunity to try and attack him from behind if you’re using a melee build. With some luck, you’ll immediately be able to perform an Obliterate Strike, or at the very least, begin building up his Obliterate Value.
As well as plunge attacks, Liu Cheng’en will perform multiple spinning sweep attacks with his spear, and he can also perform a stomp that will stagger you if you come into contact with it. Again, you want to dodge backwards or to the side when he comes at you with these.
A rather brutal attack to unfortunately get caught up in his stab attack, in which he’ll poke at you with the tip of his spear repeatedly. If you can dodge past the spear and get to Liu Cheng’en’s side, or behind him, you can actually attack him throughout this combo. Just be careful to not get caught in this attack; it will stagger you, and in some very unfortunate instances, he could stab you as you get up again and quickly conclude the fight if you’ve minimal HP already.
At some points during the fight, Liu Cheng’en will remain stationary and wave his spear around, conjuring a cloud of Frost around him. This is your opportunity to move away and heal, or pop any other consumables, and if you’re a spellcaster, this is a good opportunity to cast a spell or two if you maintain tracking on Liu Cheng’en.
Once Ming General Liu Cheng’en reaches approximately half of his HP, he enters the second phase, and fortunately, things don’t change too drastically. He swaps his spear for a longsword now, and will continue to perform spinning sweep attacks at you with it that you’ll want to dodge away from or Clash and Deflect with.
Much like he did with his spear, he will also try to stab at you using his sword. To avoid this, dodge sideways, or as mentioned previously, try to dodge behind him and pull off an Obliterate Strike if you aren’t spellcasting. At some points, he will also wave his sword around and summon a cloud of Frostbite around him again; just like the first phase, move away and wait this one out, and prepare for him to attack as the Frost fades. If you can maintain tracking, this is a good opportunity to throw out a Spell or two, even if you aren’t using a Magic build.
The final attack to be aware of during Liu Cheng’en’s second phase is the arc of projectiles he’ll occasionally throw out; these are just like the throwing daggers Commander Honglan will have thrown at you back at Tang Emperor Palace, but imbued with Frost. Dodge to the side to avoid these, but also don’t worry too much if you’re hit by one. They do a tiny amount of damage.
WUCHANG Ming General Liu Cheng’en strategy
There are a few strategies for taking Ming General Liu Cheng’en down in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, depending on what build you’re using or enjoy playing with.
Parry, Clash, and Deflect
The first strategy is to parry Liu Cheng’en’s attacks as much as possible. You can do this by using the Sword Counter Discipline on a Longsword, or by making use of the Clash and Deflect system on any other weapon (notably, Dual Blades and Axes are my favourite weapons to Clash and Deflect with).
To Clash and Deflect Liu Cheng’en’s attacks, which is easily done once you become accustomed to his moveset, you’ll want to unlock specific Skill Nodes in the Impetus Repository.
Each weapon type will have some Nodes that will unlock the ability for the weapon to Clash and Deflect, but how each weapon does this can be quite different. For example, to Clash with the Axe, you’ll want to use Charged Heavy Attacks at a specific time, or time your Light Attack combos so your second swing meets Liu Cheng’en’s blade.
Obliterate
As a humanoid enemy in WUCHANG, Liu Cheng’en is quite easily Obliterated. Obliterate Strikes are essentially your Critical Hits, allowing you to safely deal a big chunk of damage and even heal – or eat a consumable – while the boss gets back up.
Liu Cheng’en’s Obliterate value can be built up easily by successively (but safely!) attacking. That said, if you’re able to get behind him during one of his combos (the triple plunge combo is a good opportunity for this), you can backstab him and pull off an Obliterate Strike without needing to build up the Obliterate Value.
Aiming to Obliterate Strike Liu Cheng’en, in combination with using Sword Counters or Clash and Deflect where possible, is the best strategy for those taking on Liu Cheng’en with melee weapons.
Magic Spells and Evasive Maneuver
A personal favourite, slightly cheesy build for when things get tough involves the Darkfrost Edge One-Handed Sword and its weapon skill, Evasive Maneuver, in combination with Magic Spells. This build is particularly good for fast foes whose attacks you’re struggling to consistently dodge, as Evasive Maneuver will do a portion of the hard work for you.
Using a single Skyborn Might, Evasive Maneuver performs a side-dodge when used. It will then automatically dodge the next incoming attack for you – making you temporarily intangible – and increasing your survivability. The dodges from Evasive Maneuver will also regenerate Skyborn Might, so not only is it good for staying alive for longer, but it’ll keep Skyborn Might up so you can spellcast too.
For Liu Cheng’en, I personally made good use of the Magic stats from the One-Handed Swords branch of the Impetus Repository and the Burning Flames Spell, as this Spell makes you dodge backwards upon casting and triggers Alacrity (prevents some incoming damage) if attacked when casting.
That said, you can opt for any strong Spell that you enjoy using, or can alternatively put all your Red Mercury Essence into Feathering and make the use of Feathering-specific Spells. It’s up to you completely, but Burning Flames has personally done me very well so far!
WUCHANG Ming General Liu Cheng’en rewards
Upon defeat, Ming General Liu Cheng’en will drop the Wooden Strip item, which can be given to Merchant Tao Qing to expand his inventory. You will also receive the Echo of Liu Cheng’en Spell, and be able to finally progress into Snowfall Palace.
For more on WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, take a look at our boss list to see who you’re coming up against soon and who you may have missed. On top of that, here’s our guide to upcoming boss, Huang Yan, and exactly how Tempering works. Make sure you’re using it!