Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: Best Virtue to Level Up First

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is not an easy game. Hey, it’s a Soulslike title (for the most part). That comes with the territory. That’s why it’s important to always level up your character’s primary stats (known in this game as “Virtues”). When it comes to which Virtues you should level up first, though…well, that’s where things get tricky.

While the Virtues you choose to invest in will ultimately depend on your desired character build, some Virtues seem to be a little more valuable in the early part of the game than others. As such, here’s a better look at how to spend some of those early character points a bit more wisely.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: How to Respec Your Character

To respec your character in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you’ll first need to complete the Chapter 3 mission “In Search of the Immortal Wizard.” Once you’ve finished that mission, you’ll unlock the Hidden Village hub area. There, you’ll find a character named Zuo Ci. That NPC can not only “Reset Your Parameters” (respec your character), but he can change your character’s base physical appearance as well.

Here’s the fun part. Since there are no restrictions or resource requirements for respeccing your character in Wo Long, you can change their stats as often as you want. That allows you to experiment with different builds as well as ensure that you won’t have to worry about investing points in the “wrong” Virtues early on.

Since it will be a little while before you unlock that ability, though, here’s a look at what each Virtue in Wo Long does and which ones you should prioritize in the early parts of the game.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: What Does the Wood Virtue Do?

Wood is an incredibly useful Virtue that offers the largest HP buffs per level. That attribute alone makes it one Virtue that most builds will need to focus on at least somewhat throughout the game.

The Wood Virtue also reduces the amount of Spirit you lose when you get hit and increases the duration of your spells. The former attribute is obviously valuable, but the latter is sneakily useful as well. Because most of the Wood-based spells are actually powerful buffs, it’s incredibly beneficial to be able to make those potent buffs last a little longer.

Finally, Wood increases your Earth resistance while slightly decreasing your Metal resistance. It also generally scales well with Swords, though the stat spread across all gear tends to be pretty varied.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: What Does the Fire Virtue Do?

Fire is a fun little Virtue that greatly increases the amount of Spirit you receive from your regular attacks. It also reduces the Spirit cost of your Martial Arts abilities, which obviously makes Fire a favorite among aggressive melee-focused players.

However, you shouldn’t overlook Fire’s magic capabilities. Fire spells are some of the most potent damage spells in the game, and even magic users will need to perform some basic attacks occasionally. As such, they also benefit from the extra Spirit gains.

Interestingly, there are quite a few heavier items that seem to scale quite well with Fire, as do several swords. Generally speaking, the more you use melee attacks, the more valuable Fire becomes.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: What Does the Water Virtue Do?

Water is a strange Virtue in Wo Long. Its marquee feature (the ability to remain undetected for longer while in stealth), probably won’t seem that useful at the start of the game. Truth be told, it can be pretty niche.

However, Water includes a few sneaky benefits that are incredibly valuable. Namely, it greatly decreases the amount of Spirit you consume while you’re deflecting. Among other things, that means that you’re “punished” less often for rolling around (a common drain on the Spirit meter). Water also scales incredibly well with ranged weapons.

Some of the high-end Water spells are also shockingly powerful (one pretty much turns you invincible), though they’re not necessarily the best damage abilities in the game. Overall, Water is incredibly valuable for stealth players and shouldn’t be ignored by heavier melee characters.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: What Does the Metal Virtue Do?

Metal is definitely the most magic-focused Virtue in Wo Long. While the actual Metal spells largely consist of poison and curse debuffs, leveling up your Metal Virtue also decreases the amount of Spirit you use when you cast any spell in the game. That makes it pretty much impossible to build any kind of sorcerer character in Wo Long without investing most of your points in Metal.

Much like the other Virtues, though, Metal isn’t meant for just one kind of playstyle. Because Metal also increases your Spirit sustainability (which means that your Spirit gauge naturally depletes much more slowly), pretty much every character benefits from it. After all, Spirit is the most important part of Wo Long‘s combat, and you’ll want as much of it as possible as often as possible.

So while you don’t need to invest heavily in Metal if you’re not using a lot of magic, it’s honestly a more useful Virtue than you might give it credit for.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: What Does the Earth Virtue Do?

The Earth Virtue is primarily used to increase your maximum equipment load. In other words, anyone looking to equip the heaviest armor will need to invest quite a few points into Earth. That mostly makes it a “Tank” stat, though you’d be surprised by how quickly you reach max weight without a few Earth points regardless of armor type.

Crucially, Earth also increases the amount of Spirit you gain when you deflect attacks. Every type of character will be deflecting attacks throughout the course of the game, and every type of character will want extra Spirit from those deflections. Between that benefit and the equipment load benefit, it’s hard not to invest a few points in Earth at some point in the game.

Try to be surprised, but Earth scales well with heavier types of gear and weapons. Earth spells can also be useful, but tankier players will definitely get the most out of those large defensive abilities.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: Which Virtue Should You Level Up First?

Most Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty players will want to level up the Wood Virtue first. Not only does the Wood Virtue offer a massive HP buff every time you level it up, but it greatly reduces the amount of Spirit you lose in the early part of the game. It also increases your spell durations, which means that Wood actually offers the most “universal” benefits of any Virtue in Wo Long. Wood spells are also useful for pretty much the entire game regardless of build. You can’t go wrong by investing in it early.

From there, the stats you choose to invest in will entirely depend on what kind of build you’re going for and what kind of gear you want to use. However, I would probably recommend the Fire and Earth Virtues to uncertain players. The Fire melee attack benefits offer some of the best Spirit generation options in the game, while Earth offers greater Spirit returns on the deflects you’ll always be using. You don’t have to go heavy into either early on, but they’re both pretty great. Choose Fire over Earth if you can’t decide between the two.

Water and Metal are the odd Virtues out for early players. Metal is fantastic for spell casters, but its supplementary benefits aren’t powerful enough to justify more than a few early points for other kinds of builds. Water is even more niche. Stealth can certainly come in handy in Wo Long, but it won’t do much for you during boss fights, and Water’s supplementary benefits and spells aren’t as noteworthy. Stay away from it in the early part of the game unless you’re committed to a stealth build.