How does the deflect mechanic work in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty?

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the brand new Souls-like title by Team Ninja, has recently released a demo version of the game, with the full version set to come out on March 3. As it happens, the demo version provides a detailed look into the game's combat mechanics.

The combat system primarily revolves around deflecting the enemy hits, similar to how it was in Sekiro. The game rewards players for well-timed deflects and punishes those who try to dodge everything. Hence, a brief guide on how the deflect mechanic works has been discussed in this article.

Remembering that there is no shortcut to learning the deflect mechanics is important. This is something that players will learn through practice and by investing time into the game.

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A brief guide to deflects in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Deflect in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, as showcased in the demo version, is quite an interesting mechanic. Unlike Sekiro, the deflect and block options were tied to the same key. In Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, blocking and deflecting are two different keys; players can opt for whatever they are comfortable with.

However, it is important to remember that deflecting is rewarded much more than blocking. At the same time, players also get punished if they cannot pull off the deflect properly.

This is because as soon as players press the deflect key, the animation for the same happens instantaneously. Unfortunately, the animation is short, and if players mistime it, they will be open to enemy attacks.

However, a perfect deflect will fill the spirit bar of the enemy instantly. Now, enemies usually have two kinds of attacks. These attacks are basic, and then there are perilous attacks (denoted by the enemy glowing red while launching an attack).

Deflecting two such perilous attacks stuns the enemy by filling up their spirit gauge and opens up the opportunity for a fatal blow that deals massive damage to the health bar. However, just as enemies have a spirit gauge, players do as well.

Whenever players tap the deflect button in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, they will notice that the red side of the spirit gauge in the bottom half of the screen will fill up a bit. The amount that it fills up depends on the kind of weapon that someone might be using.

Every weapon has a stat called Deflect Difficulty with a percentage attached. This stat denotes how much of the spirit gauge the weapon will consume upon pressing deflect.

Lower the Deflect Difficulty in weapons, the more spirit it consumes (Image via Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty)

A weapon such as a katana consumes very little, while something such as the polearm will consume a lot. Messing up multiple deflects and taking hits from the enemy will fully consume the spirit gauge of the player and leave them vulnerable to attacks.

Now, the spirit gauge has two ends: a red and a blue side. The red side denotes the amount of spirit consumed while deflecting, while the blue side denotes the amount gained. The blue end can be filled by aggressively attacking the enemy and launching perfect deflects.

The higher the spirit a player gains, the more damage they will do with their fatal strike. Lastly, the amount of spirit gained or consumed can be enhanced by leveling up the Earth and Water Attributes within Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.