Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Guide | How To Beat Commander Honglan

With the right strategies, this brutal duel is quite manageable indeed.

Game Guide by Faviyan Mustafiz on Jul 26, 2025

Facing Commander Honglan in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an actual test of skill and precision. This guide equips you with everything you need to overcome her relentless assault. You will learn how to keep the pressure on her, take advantage of her weaknesses, and master the critical parry and counter mechanics.

You will also learn about the best builds to use and how to prepare for both stages of the fight properly. Learn the skills and gain the confidence you need to beat one of the game's most challenging bosses by reading on.

Preparation

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Focus on improving your defensive and offensive skills before going after Commander Honglan. After you equip the Long Sword and fully improve the Counter Ability, make sure that both deflect levels are open. This dramatically lowers the damage that comes at you when you block, giving you more room to move and attack.

Wear the armor with the highest protection against both slash and stab moves, as her melee attacks can quickly overwhelm you otherwise. Invest a Temper to boost your overall damage output, and feel free to respec at any time if you wish to redistribute skill points—for example, moving points from Blink Kick into Counter Ability to enhance your parry window.

Phase One Strategy

The fight begins the moment Commander Honglan dashes toward you. Use this as an opportunity to parry immediately with the counter button. As she recoils, follow up with a light slash; if your Counter Ability is fully upgraded, this will stagger her. While she is stunned, hold down the heavy slash to charge the attack.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, PC, Gameplay, How To Beat Commander Honglan, Screenshot, NoobFeed

Charging is crucial because she may either dodge or perform a heal stomp—a move that cannot be parried. If she dodges, the charged slash will track her and stun her again; if she stomps, the charged slash will interrupt the attack and build substantial poise break. Should she attempt a second stomp too quickly, she should dodge and reset.

Throughout this phase, maintain proximity. Staying near Commander Honglan forces her to use melee attacks—which you can parry—rather than spamming ranged projectiles. Whenever she jumps backwards, she unleashes a kunai volley.

You can parry these projectiles as well, then lunge in for additional poise break damage. Be cautious of your positioning, though; if you are too far, your lunge may miss.

Boss Breakdown & Counters

Understanding Commander Honglan's moveset is key to controlling the flow of battle. When she places her sword behind her back, she prepares for two unparryable melee punches followed by two sword strikes. Dodge the punches—either all four attacks for safety or time your dodge and counter for maximum aggression.

Her wind slash projectiles and melee lunges require timely dodges; you cannot parry these, so rely on the generous dodge windows. Always initiate counters slightly early rather than late: if you press counter too soon, you will block and still take reduced damage, whereas a late counter will miss entirely.

Phase Two Strategy

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Upon reaching half health, Commander Honglan enters her second phase with new wind projectiles and rapid slash combos. She will always start by launching two wind blasts—dodge twice in quick succession to evade both.

Her new quick slashes can be countered, but they will not stagger her; instead, spam the counter button repeatedly to deflect each strike. Her jumping attack is straightforward to avoid: dodge forward, and she will pass harmlessly by.

Watch for her dash strike; avoid excessive strafing when anticipating this attack, as missing the counter window can leave too much distance between you and the boss.

In this phase, selective dodging rather than attempting to parry every attack often proves more consistent. Once you master the rhythm of her wind blasts and quick slashes, you can dominate the fight by staying aggressive and punishing every opening.

Staying Aggressive and Close Range

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The overarching secret to defeating Commander Honglan is relentless pressure. Do not allow her to regain distance or breathe; closing in immediately after every parry or dodge denies her the chance to spam projectiles.

Aim to break her poise at least twice—each poise break accelerates her transition to the next phase or brings her closer to defeat. After a poise break, you can chain light attacks and finish with a charged heavy slash to trigger the execution animation, inflicting maximum damage and setting up further follow‑up strikes or a quick heal if needed.

By combining tight spacing, well‑timed counters, and charged slashes, you will transform a brutal duel into a manageable—and ultimately victorious—encounter.

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