How the five Virtues work in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

The action-adventure title Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has a few unique mechanics that shake up a greying genre. From consistent parrying and defense, finally retiring a necessity for endless rolling in the Souls-genre, to a unique level-up system based on the five Virtues. Your equipment also interacts with your Virtues selected in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, but it can be a bit confusing when you’re starting off. Here’s how the five Virtues work in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.

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How to level up in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Level-ups in Wo Long are done by players upgrading one of five distinct virtues, which determines your character proficiencies, at a Battle Flag. These five virtues all control unique attributes, similar to how players would level individual attributes in Elden Ring or the Dark Souls franchise. Here are all five Virtues:

• Wood Virtue
  • Controls HP and the quantity of Spirit lost when hit.
• Fire Virtue
  • Controls how much Spirit players get when successfully attacking, and the Spirit expended by Martial Arts.
• Earth Virtue
  • Determines equipment weight limit and Spirit gain on attack deflection.
• Metal Virtue
  • Controls Spirit expended by Wizardry, and how long you can maintain a high level of Spirit.
• Water Virtue
  • Determines how easily you’re spotted by enemies, and Spirit consumed while deflecting incoming attacks.

Leveling any of these attributes will only control their governing statistics, such as total health with the Wood Virtue, but they also have another interaction.

Related: How to defeat the first boss Zhang Liang in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

How gear affects Virtue in Wo Long

When you’re browsing your inventory to look at the equipment, you may have noticed that equipment also holds a level of the five Virtues. This is displayed in a graph below the weapon, with letter-grades showing what Virtues offer what bonuses to using that weapon. Matching your favored Virtues with weapons will help ease some of the more egregious difficulty spikes in the game — if your damage isn’t where you want it to be, checking this should be your first step.

Countering magic through the five Virtues of Wo Long

Finally, it’s imperative to note that the five Virtues serve as a basis for magic in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Each element can overcome a different element, similar to Pokémon’s elemental-based battling. In Wo Long, the following elements advantages are implemented in gameplay:

• Wood beats Earth
• Earth beats Water
• Water beats Fire
• Fire Beats Metal
• Metal beats Wood