Wo Long Weapons Guide | Best weapons, best early weapon, best deflect weapons and all weapon types explained

What are the best Wo Long weapons? That’s what you’re going to be asking yourself as you’re staring down the barrel of Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo’s latest hardcore action RPG that launches on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on March 3. The game is hard, and eschews the ‘turtle-up and wait’ method of play in favour of something altogether more offensive and rapid. Think more Sekiro than Dark Souls, more Bloodborne than Nioh.

There are 13 different types of weapon you can use in the game, and though some of them seem similar (what’s the difference between Dual Swords, Dual Sabres, and Dual Hatchets, for example?) they are all different and have their own unique abilities and uses.

If you’re a heavy slugger that wants to end phases of boss fights in one or two massive blows, this isn’t the game for you. Whilst there are heavy weapons, and those that benefit from long wind-up times, most enemies in Wo Long will be far, far too quick for you. This game is about readying yourself for attacks, and responding with a deflect whenever you see a big attack incoming. Being locked in a hammer animation as that happens is a surefire way to die.

Here’s the expert guide to Wo Long weapons for beginners, experienced players, and pros, split into some easy-to-use headers for your benefit.

• Wo Long: All weapons and what they do
• Wo Long: Best early game weapon
• Wo Long: Best weapons for deflect
• Wo Long: How to get 3-Star and 4-Star weapons

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Wo Long: All weapons and what they do

There are 13 weapon types in Wo Long, but some of them can easily be grouped together because they’re largely similar. Let’s break the weapons down into classifications, then.

Swords

Includes: Straight Sabre, Curved Sabre, Sword, Curved Sabre

Pros: Quick, good deflect utility, easy-to-use

Cons: Lower spirit damage, limited range

The beginner’s best friend. As you’ll read about down below, this weapon class is the easiest and most friendly when it comes to learning Wo Long’s key mechanic: deflect. Combos come out easily and fluidly, and damage is average. Late game, this may be a negative thing as you’ll want to really do good chunks of damage to deadlier foes, but until at least Chapter 4, a good set of swords or sabres will see you through. I don’t find many of the Sword-class Martial Arts that inspired, and the spirit damage isn’t great. A balanced weapon class, overall.

Big Sticks

Includes: Glavies, Halberds, Staff

Pros: High spirit and HP damage, good range

Cons: Slow, high spirit usage for Martial Arts and deflect

A powerful class of weapon that can be used to engage many bog-standard enemies at a range where they can’t immediately counter. Big sweeping attacks and heavy slams do a lot of spirit damage – and HP damage! – and aggressive players will find that a continuing assault can stunlock most field enemies. Just don’t try that on bosses. For more advanced players that can deflect consistently and wield the momentum in their favour. Staffs are a bit of an outlier here, but they fit most closely in this class.

Heavy Weapons

Includes: Polearms, Hammers

Pros: Highest damage output

Cons: Very slow, very cumbersome, outmatched by every other weapon class

There is a space for these weapons in Wo Long: they can do massive spirit damage to foes that like to block, and following up stunned enemies with these is really effective. But they should not be your main weapon – slow, cumbersome, awkward to use, and 90% of the time outclassed in speed by other enemies. Wo Long has a mechanic that boosts damage after a deflect; if you deflect with your Sword, switch to Hammer, and use a heavy attack, you’ll do ludicrous damage – the best combo in the game. Pairing this with the Hammer you can buy from Zou Ci for 7000 Accolades (which lets you find more gear from downed enemies) should be a no-brainer for players that don’t feel the need for a proper slot 2 weapon. Advanced players will enjoy this weapon class.

Spears

Includes: Spears, Slashing Spears

Pros: Quick, good range, handy for interrupts

Cons: Low powered and spirit-hungry

Another nice, quick class of weapon. The spears are great for beginner-to-intermediate players that want something to complement their sword loadout – better range, and at times even faster than their scabbarded brothers, spears can be used to poke and agitate mob enemies easily. Powerful thrust attacks can close gaps on enemies you want to keep at range (like monkeys or tigers) and you can do great spirit damage without opening yourself up too badly. Beginner friendly, but full potential realised in the hands of more experienced players.

Dual Weapons

Includes: Dual Swords, Dual Sabres, Dual Halberds

Pros: Quickest combos, great for affinity damage, easy deflects

Cons: Low powered, low spirit damage

Another good class of weapon for beginners and intermediate players, if you know how to deflect and dodge: quick attacks lets you get out of harm's way quickly, and low-cost special moves and heavy attacks tend to leave you with enough spirit to block or throw out an emergency dodge if you need to. A weapon class all about staying mobile: kiting enemies and dashing forwards and backwards is preferable to guarding. Light armour loads only, with this: you need to be fast on your feet and good at dodging. Not recommended for players that take damage frequently.

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Wo Long: Best early game weapon

The best weapon you can get early in Wo Long is the first Curved Sabre you find: the Podao in Mission 2. This can be found as drops from enemies, or in certain item chests in the area. As you can read below, this weapon is great for learning how to deflect, it has good range, short attack animations that let you combo well, and a few sweeping attacks that can help with crowd control if you’re struggling to keep mobs at bay. This weapon typically has a stat that boosts your HP, too, as well as a move (Star Fall) that lets you get off the ground to hop over some attacks. Just be wary of the wind-up and cooldown on that, and NEVER use it as a replacement for deflect – just as a way to sneak some bonus spirit damage in.

This weapon scales with Metal (a stat that lets you keep accumulated spirit bonuses for longer) and Water (good for stealth), so pumping upgrades into those areas will improve damage of the Podao, and also let you interact with some of the game's deeper mechanics at the same time. If you use the weapon, stay close and keep up the assault – the first attack is a little slow to come out, so you never want to give your foes room to manoeuvre and win back the momentum.

If you’re slightly more experienced with these types of games, I played through the entire game with a Glaive as my lead weapon: I found it balanced, good for deflect, high-damage, and boosts well with the Guan Yu armour set you can get access to very, very early on if you don’t mind grinding out your friendship bar with the bearded NPC. Using the Martial Art unique to the Azure Dragon Crescent Glaive (Soaring Phoenix) also allows you to hop over many boss attacks and give you free HP and Spirit damage if you go in with a good whack of Spirit (which you’ll quickly gain back). It can be used consecutively to really add a lot of stagger to even the hardiest foes.

I breezed through many bosses with this, even into New Game+ – perhaps you can too!

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Wo Long: Best weapons for deflect

There’s one stat more than any other you’re going to want to look for when deciding what weapon you want to use for deflect in Wo Long. On the gear menu, the ‘Deflect Difficulty’ option shows you what percentage of Spirit you’ll use compared to normal with this specific weapon. And some are better than others. As a rule, anything that’s quite quick in the hands (swords, dual-wield weapons) uses less stamina to deflect with, and anything slower and heavier (glaives, hammers) take more.

But there’s more to it than that, too: some weapons have much more generous windows for you to deflect in. It varies weapon to weapon, but that ‘Deflect Difficulty’ stat is worth paying attention to here, too: as a rule, the lower the number, the more trouble you’re going to have getting your timing right.

So, what is the best weapon for deflect in Wo Long? In my opinion, it’s the Curved Sabre. And there’s one specific version – the Qiang Scimitar – that excels when it comes to deflecting. Honestly, though, if you’re struggling with deflect timing, I recommend using any sword or sabre weapon; they’re all quite nifty when it comes to deflect and generous with how much spirit you whiff if you miss one.

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Wo Long: How to get 3-Star and 4-Star weapons

As mentioned above, the best way to get weapons that come with good set bonuses and locked moves (that are actually worth using) is to make friends with NPCs. Maxing out any ally meter at Lv. 10 will confer their entire weapon and armour set to you. This is free 4-Star gear, and even if you don’t end up using it, you can trade this to your hungry panda buddies for other guaranteed 4-Star gear (and maybe even 5-Star gear in New Game+).

Otherwise, you have two options:

• Trade Accolades for 3-Star or 4-Star gear

After a certain part in the story (only a few missions in), you will meet Zou Ci, and he will allow you to trade any accumulated Accolades for ‘loot box’ weapons that will drop at various rarities. Select ‘Accolades’ from the Zou Ci menu (he can be found behind you when you spawn into the Hidden Village), and tab over to the ‘Gold Box of Armour’ menu.

Here, you can spend 2800 Accolades for a random drop of any weapon type at 3-Star or 4-Star rarity. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, but if you’re desperate for better weapons (and have already got that lovely 7000 Accolades hammer), this is a good place to go. Sometimes you’ll get weapons corresponding to armour sets you haven’t even unlocked yet, too, making this ideal if you’re dead stuck and eager to try something totally new.

• Farm missions

Going back into the field and playing through levels, you’ll notice that they’re much easier the second time through. You’ll also notice that you can re-attain items found in chests and treasure boxes, so you’re going to want to sniff out absolutely everything you can – higher rarity items are often found in the most obscure enemies, and drop from the most powerful foes. Playing through levels and making a B-line for the chests is an easy way to farm good drops. Just try to remember what you’re after and the locations of items types you need.