Wuchang Fallen Feathers Guide: Tips to Defeat Li Dingo

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers emerges as an enthralling addition to the soulslike genre, seamlessly merging the strategic, methodical encounters reminiscent of Dark Souls with the more kinetic and rapid combat found in titles like Sekiro and Black Myth: Wukong.

Players will confront a diverse array of bosses throughout their journey. Notably, there are also elite adversaries, termed pseudo-bosses, who, while lacking extensive health pools, present a significant challenge to players.

Upon defeating the formidable South General Liu Wenxiu and North General Ai Nengqi, eager gamers might inquire about the whereabouts of the East and West Generals—NPCs encountered en route to Cloudspire.

Eventually, you’ll find yourself facing Li Dingo, an optional boss known for his formidable prowess in direct combat, delivering an epic showdown.

Where to Locate Li Dingo

At first, Li Dingo can be discovered as an NPC beyond Hillswatch while progressing toward Cloudspire. He will reappear at Zhenwu Temple, where if you present him with the Secret Missive key item—obtained from an NPC in Cloudspire Outskirts—you might choose to bypass the duel altogether.

Should you choose to confront him, Li Dingo’s last known location is near the Ferry Overlook shrine, located just past the Boatman at the end of a ravine.

To access the Ferry Overlook, players must first successfully defeat the two-phase boss encounter with the Fierce Tiger and the Sovereign, which will unlock the Zhenwu Altar shrine.

From the shrine, descend through a dilapidated house. If you’ve just dispatched the Fierce Tiger, you may encounter the Storyteller, who will inform you that you’re veering off course and offer to teleport you to Hillswatch.For now, disregard this offer and continue downward.

To your left lies a bamboo grove where wares can be purchased from a panda.Head straight into the cavern to explore.

Within the cavern, you’ll encounter a fork in the path. Proceed straight ahead towards a skirmish between enemies. The alternate path is a dead end but rewards you with the Heavenly Thunder spell upon defeating an elite rebel soldier.

After activating the shrine, continue further down. Here, you will meet the Boatman, who may provide passage to Bai Mansion, leading to an encounter with the Bai Kru boss. For now, bypass him and continue right along the shoreline.

As you near the ravine, you will observe the remains of defeated monsters and Li Dingo poised at the end, against a stunning waterfall backdrop. He will initiate an attack once you close the distance, and notably, there is no mist wall surrounding this boss.

Preparing for the Encounter with Li Dingo

Here’s a breakdown of the loadout I used during my confrontation with Li Dingo:

Weapon	Lashing Whip
Armor	Sovereign’s Felt Hat
	Sovereign’s Dragon Robes
	Sovereign Xianzhong’s Armguards
	Sovereign Xianzhong’s Robe Skirt
Jade Pendants	Tiger Pendant
	Twin Infant Pendant
	Eagle Pendant
Spells	Ethereal Form
	(Any)
	(Any)
	(Any)
Items	Manna Vase
	Temperance
	Health Pill
	(Any)
Temperance Needle	Flame
Notable Impetus Repository Perks	Sword Counter, Sword Saint, Windforce

Li Dingo is a deceptively straightforward boss with no complex mechanics or elemental resistances, meaning players do not need to prepare for special status effects.

Since this duel resembles sword fighting, it is advisable to equip armor with solid Slash and Stab damage mitigation. While I opted for the Sovereign set after defeating the Fierce Tiger, I highly recommend the Centipede armor set, obtainable by defeating the Blightweaver boss in the Mercury Workshop, for superior stats.

If the Centipede armor is unavailable, consider the Ming armor set, dropped by Ming soldiers in the world.

For Temperance, any Stone needles enhancing Strength or Agility are invaluable. As Li Dingo features no elemental resistances, using any elemental Bone needle can enhance your damage output.

In my playthrough, I equipped a Flame Stone Needle, although Leeching might be beneficial for sustaining health during the battle.

Utilizing Benedictions and Jade Pendants, which bolster stamina recovery and damage escalation, will be advantageous, keeping you agile and aggressive. Pendants such as Tiger, Twin Infant, and Eagle will prove beneficial in this duel.

Even though magic builds can be extremely potent against melee foes, many spells have slow casting and recovery times, leaving you vulnerable to Li Dingo’s swift attacks.

During my battle, the sole spell I utilized was Ethereal Form, renowned as one of the game’s strongest spells. It costs merely one Skyborn Might stack and grants a three-second window where all attacks are automatically dodged, allowing you to regain Skyborn Might for each attack successfully avoided.

Ethereal Form is located in Zhenwu Temple, on a corpse lying near two cannons on the temple’s left side, the Zhenwu Antechamber shrine being the closest point of access.

Similar to encounters with other swordsmen, such as Commander Honglan and South General Liu Wenxiu, I recommend adopting a longsword build for this confrontation. My comprehensive guide on this build emphasizes striking enemies with a concise one-two combo, followed by casting the powerful Ethereal Form spell to evade incoming assaults.

Equipped with perks such as Sword Counter, Sword Saint, and Windforce, you’ll maintain at least one Skyborn Might stack as long as you sustain your aggressive attacks and land your combos effectively.

Sword Counter allows you to parry many physical strikes, offering a forgiving window for execution.

Focus on investing points in the longsword skill tree to reach essential nodes like “Sword Counter, ”along with Variants 1 and 2, before allocating the remainder to maximize Agility and Weapon Mastery.

Points in Endurance and Vitality are beneficial as well, especially considering “Steel Resolve”grants a stack of Skyborn Might upon a successful parry when Madness remains above 50%.

I opted for the Lashing Whip due to its excellent scaling with Agility, making it ideal for this setup.

While the focus is heavily on swordsmanship, support spells such as Divine Might and Divine Ward can enhance your offensive capabilities while ensuring survival against Li Dingo’s relentless onslaught.

Understanding Li Dingo’s Moveset and Strategies for Defeating Him

Li Dingo presents a formidable challenge, hitting hard and exhibiting resilience akin to a high-tier boss, though he lacks the intricate movesets of some other foes such as the Bo Sorcerer or the massive health bar synonymous with many confrontations.

To put this battle into perspective, Li Dingo shares aggression and style with NPC summoned allies and Inner Demons, possessing limited yet efficient attack patterns and the ability to heal a few times during the duel.

Notably, Li Dingo can heal himself multiple times, typically doing so when his health drops below half, which is a crucial detail to keep in mind when strategizing your attack.

As you approach him, he will enhance his weapon with dark energy, making this phase particularly dangerous.

When his sword ignites, be wary of powerful energy-infused attacks, comprising wide sword swipes and magical blades unleashed with each stroke. These attacks cannot be parried and must be dodged instead.

For the rest of his offensive repertoire, Li Dingo employs straightforward, well-telegraphed sword combos, including thrusts and leaps, which can be parried. However, caution is required, as he may dodge your counter and retaliate, complicating the encounter.

Unlike many other human adversaries, countering may not always be advantageous; timely casting of Ethereal Form will provide a more effective means of evasion, permitting you to launch attacks between his combo sequences and execute Obliterate attacks from his rear when an opportunity arises.