Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a compelling soulslike game that masterfully infuses the deliberate combat style reminiscent of the renowned Dark Souls franchise with the adrenaline-fueled boss engagements found in contemporary soulslike titles. Players can expect an array of exhilarating encounters, from perplexing challenges to deeply satisfying victories.
What better way to raise the stakes than by battling a twisted version of yourself? The game introduces a fascinating feature called the Inner Demon. This mechanic summons a malevolent replica of your character at the spot of your demise, fully charged with Madness.
Your Inner Demon is a persistent threat throughout your journey, wielding the same abilities with alarming effectiveness. Each confrontation with your Inner Demon culminates in a fierce, albeit optional, duel against the formidable Nightmare Demon.
Let’s explore effective strategies to defeat the Nightmare Demon once and for all.
Finding the Nightmare Demon
The Nightmare Demon can only be encountered in Chapter 4, specifically at Worship’s Rise in Ruins, making this a crucial moment in your exploration.
Your quest to locate the Nightmare Demon is relatively straightforward. Begin at the Annalum, where various NPCs—such as He Youzai, Wu Gang, and Tao Qing—assemble. Proceed downhill and traverse the plant bridge, where you’ll face Avian enemies and Ming soldiers; it’s up to you whether to engage these foes.
Beyond the Ming soldiers lies a staircase leading to a vast gate, marked by the burning Shu Sanctum to your right. Notably, this location is identical to where you previously battled the Gluttonous Monstrosity. Ascend the stairs and pass through the gate to initiate the boss encounter.
Preparing for the Nightmare Demon
Here is my setup for facing the Nightmare Demon for the first time:
| Weapon | Lashing Whip |
|---|---|
| Armor | Fang Ling’s Hairpin |
| Fang Ling’s Wedding Dress | |
| Fang Ling’s Bracelet | |
| Fang Ling’s Silk Wraps | |
| Jade Pendants | Gourd Pendant |
| Eagle Pendant | |
| Tiger Pendant | |
| Spells | Vorpal Blade |
| Echo of Dhutanga | |
| Infernal Flames | |
| Echo of Lu Bingzhang | |
| Items | Manna Vase |
| Temperance | |
| Crimson Lantern Fruit | |
| Bone Whistle | |
| Temperance Needle | Flame |
| Notable Impetus Repository Perks | Sword Saint, Sword Counter, Windforce |
The Nightmare Demon will utilize three different weapons, transitioning from Dual Blades to an Axe and finally to a Longsword. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritize armor that reduces slashing and piercing damage.
Keep in mind that the number of Inner Demons you’ve defeated during your playthrough does not influence the Nightmare Demon encounter.
As the Nightmare Demon shifts her weaponry, it is important to adapt to different damage types; her weapon, Li Jiao’s Fang, can unleash cannonballs that inflict fire damage and cause a Burn status effect. Additionally, her longsword attacks can deal Feathering damage, making gear that mitigates these effects essential towards the end of the battle.
From my experience fighting Commander Honglan, I suggest confronting weapon-wielding foes wielding a longsword while utilizing the Sword Counter ability as your Discipline. This move allows you to parry most weapon attacks and features a surprisingly lengthy parry window.
In my previous notes on the South General guide, a longsword build proves to be exceptionally effective when you allocate your skill points wisely, targeting the “Sword Counter”node and its two variants, while distributing remaining points in Agility, Strength, and Weapon Mastery.
Investing in Endurance and Vitality is also beneficial, along with “Steel Resolve, ”which grants a stack of Skyborn Might upon a successful parry when your Madness exceeds 50%.
I always enter boss battles with 100% Madness. While this is a high-risk strategy, the potential rewards far outweigh the frustrations of sustaining damage, as many nodes—including Alacrity, Health Siphon, and Fury of the Skyborn—become active at 50% or 90% Madness levels.
For my playthrough, I opted for the Lashing Whip due to its superior stats compared to Cloudfrost’s Edge.This choice allowed me to concentrate on mastering timing for parries and executing straightforward combos.
Emphasize the use of Temperance needles to boost Agility, paired with a Bone Needle that grants elemental damage of your preference. However, based on my experiences, employing Temperance is generally not necessary unless you struggle significantly with outputting damage.
Similarly, while Benedictions and Jade Pendants can be useful, focusing on amplifying physical attack power while ensuring survivability through healing and damage mitigation is ideally the right approach.
Even though this build centers on melee combat, support and defensive spells, like Divine Might and Divine Ward, can greatly enhance your performance during intense one-on-one engagements against the Nightmare Demon.
For players who prefer spellcasting, I recommend checking out the Magic build guide.
If you struggle to predict the Nightmare Demon’s attacks and time your dodges effectively, consider utilizing the game’s powerful spell, Ethereal Form. This spell grants automatic dodging abilities, renders you invisible, and refunds a stack of Skyborn Might upon enemy strikes. This effect functions similarly to the Evasive Maneuver associated with the one-handed sword, Darkfrost Edge.
Ethereal Form can be located in Zhenwu Temple, positioned by a corpse next to two cannons on the left side of the temple; Zhenwu Antechamber serves as the nearest shrine.
Understanding the Nightmare Demon Moveset
First Phase
The Nightmare Demon mirrors your moveset precisely, employing the same Disciplines, Weapon skills, along with inherent visibility to dodge and heal.
At the outset of your duel, she will engage with a pair of Dual Blades, known specifically as the Bandit Blades, which enables her to block and parry your assaults, leaving you vulnerable to her lethal combinations. Expect her attacks to be swift and fluid, capable of draining your health if caught in an extensive combo.
Given that the Nightmare Demon possesses your moveset, we can accurately label the skills she employs, in addition to her basic light attack combos. According to information from the Impetus Repository, she can execute the following moves while armed with Dual Blades:
- Sudden Strike – A rapid sword strike followed by a spinning kick that has the potential to knock you down.
- Whirling Flurry – A swift series of attacks performed while advancing forward.
- Shadow Lunge – A series of lunges and stabs capped off with a powerful thrust.
- Blade Dance – An intricate flurry of strikes featuring a quick windup.
Second Phase
Once her health dips to approximately half, the Nightmare Demon will switch to an axe, specifically Li Jiao’s Fang, which you can obtain after defeating Bai Kru at Bai Mansion and speaking with the Boatman at Ferry Outlook.
She possesses the capability to unleash Discipline and Weapon skills rapidly, ensuring that she won’t adhere to any predictable patterns.
Li Jiao’s Fang poses a significant threat due to its capacity to discharge powerful cannonballs via the Draconic Bombard skill, which inflicts Fire damage and builds up Burn status, dealing substantial damage if not addressed with caution.This move cannot be parried.
Much like any heavy weapon, the Nightmare Demon can unleash devastating damage with her axe. While slower than her Dual Blade attacks, any hits will stun you momentarily. Her basic light combo can be particularly challenging to read.
In addition to her standard Axe light attacks, she can execute the following skills:
- Earthshatter – A powerful AOE move that can launch you upward while granting her Resilience to make her attacks harder to interrupt.Note: Cannot be parried.
- Whirlwind – A series of three axe swings concluding with a downward strike. This will inflict additional Poise buildup upon hitting.
- Rampage – A brutal uppercut with a slow windup.
- Colossal Smash – A formidable strike with a delayed windup.
Third Phase
When her health reduces to a third remaining, the Nightmare Demon will take a step back to switch to the longsword while consuming a healing flask, effectively restoring her health to half.
At this juncture, the fight escalates in intensity. The boss will likely wield the Serpent Fang, allowing her to execute feathering attacks such as Feathering Windstrike, a rapid wave of energy cutting through the air.This attack cannot be parried and will illuminate her blade in purple.
During this phase, she will employ the following Discipline abilities, along with her basic light and heavy attacks:
- Blink Kick – A challenging maneuver to anticipate, as she performs a low kick that cannot be parried.
- Crescent Arc – A counterattack executed while dodging your assault, delivering a lunging strike.
- Corrosive Flurry – Inflicts Feathering damage alongside buildup of Corruption, aided by her glowing purple blade.
Surprisingly, she avoids using Sword Counter or Crescent Moon during this phase.
Strategies to Defeat the Nightmare Demon
By this stage, the experience gained from defeating your Inner Demon will be invaluable, as the Nightmare Demon mimics the mechanics of all Inner Demon confrontations, albeit as a boss-level threat. She can be knocked down through heavy attacks, parries, and counterattacks, although she will recover almost instantly.
Unlike past human bosses, you cannot initiate Obliterate attacks to punish her after completely filling her Stagger meter or striking her from behind. Instead, she will kneel briefly before reigniting her assault.
Effective parrying remains the optimal strategy against the Nightmare Demon. While being assertive and self-assured will serve you well, there is no shame in maintaining a defensive approach—wait for her to close the distance before executing parries at key moments.
Additionally, knocking her down with a counterattack grants you several free hits, simultaneously stacking your Skyborn Might for later use.
During her Dual Blade phase, the Nightmare Demon’s attacks may be less straightforward to read; however, her ranges remain limited. In contrast, her axe yields significant damage and can release projectiles that are slower but equally impactful. Watch out particularly for her second hit in the basic combo, which can disrupt your flow.
Once she switches to the longsword, her attacks become less predictable, with both the Blink Kick and Feathering Windstrike being un-parryable.
If you feel overwhelmed by her assault, casting Ethereal Form as an emergency measure can grant you some breathing room, allowing you to recuperate and distance yourself to heal.
Considering that almost all of the Nightmare Demon’s assaults can be parried, this encounter stands out as one of the most manageable late-game boss fights in Wuchang.
Rewards for Defeating the Nightmare Demon
- Everlight Stone Needle – Continuity – Prolongs the effects of Tempering.
- Bo Blood – Enhances the Maddening Incense item.
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