Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Co-Op: How to Unlock and Use Multiplayer

Soulslike titles are all about dying, learning your mistakes, and overcoming seemingly impossible odds, only to repeat the process all over again. Of course, those games give players plenty of tools to make fights easier, including the option to team up with friends.

Co-op is arguably the largest and most important aspect of any Soulslike game. If someone is having difficulty with a certain boss, they can always ask for help from other players. Or maybe they just want to team up with randoms and record the hilarious results. The latest game in the genre, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, lets players do all of the above, but as is Soulslike tradition, it doesn’t give gamers the ability to cooperate right out of the gate. Like everything else in the genre, players need to earn the right to make the game easier.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: How to Unlock Co-Op

Players can start collaborating with friends early in the game, but how early depends on their skill. If someone wants to co-op because they are having trouble with bosses in Wo Long…well, they will have to wait a while.

Players automatically unlock co-op in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty after defeating the game’s first boss, Zhang Liang. Simply striking him barely chips away at his health bar, but if you can deflect enough of his attacks to stagger him, you should be able to initiate a devastating follow-up attack. Just keep a cool head through both of Zhang Liang’s phases (the second one refills his health), and you should eventually defeat him. After this, a cutscene will play, and the game’s second level, Two Chivalrous Heroes, will unlock. Once you get there, you can start teaming up with friends and random strangers.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: How to Join Co-Op

In Team Ninja’s previous Soulslike series, Nioh, players could only recruit allies at shrines, which served as the game’s bonfire analogs. Wo Long pretty much copies that mechanic beat for beat.

To invite players to join your game, you need to first rest at a battle flag (which are Wo Long’s bonfire equivalents). Doing so brings up a menu that lets you do stuff like level-up and fast travel, but the option we are interested in is “Online Lobby.” Selecting this brings up Wo Long’s co-op menu, which is divided into two options: “Recruit” and “Co-op.” Selecting “Recruit” lets you call in help from a random player or an NPC ally, and, if someone wants to recruit your aid, you can select the “Respond” option to join their game.

If you want to go at it with a friend, you should select “Co-op.” However, the game isn’t privy to your friend’s list, so you will have to instead rely on a password system. Just set a simple numerical code using “Join co-op by set password” and make sure to share it with your friend. Once both of you have the same code, select “Recruit allies” to begin co-op. Although, you aren’t ready to actually start teaming up just yet; you still have one more step to complete.

After you have synced up with your friend, Wo Long will load a co-op menu that lets you select the spells, skills, and equipment you want to use. After your loadout is finalized, all that’s left to do is select the battlefield you want to conquer and wait for your partners to finish their preparations. Once everyone is ready, select “Co-op start” to finally begin teaming up properly.

After you and your co-op allies have loaded into the level, you can play however you want. Will you overpower enemies with sheer numbers or divide and conquer? The choice is yours, but there are a few rules and restrictions you should be aware of.

In order to summon allies in Nioh, you need to sacrifice Ochoko cups at shrines. As we previously stated, Wo Long copies Nioh’s co-op system pretty much beat for beat. This time, you have to sacrifice Tiger Seals at the flags, one seal per ally, but once you do, your friends can stick with you for as long as they like. You don’t even need to use more Tiger Seals after a level; just pick the battlefield you want, and everyone will ride into battle alongside you, free of charge.

As you might expect, teaming up with allies generally makes the game easier since you can gang up on enemies. But more importantly, death is much more forgiving in co-op. Allies can revive you instantly (and vice versa), but only a limited number of times. But don’t assume that you can blaze through Wo Long with a friend by your side. The game automatically levels down more experienced players to better match the host’s stats and keep the challenge fair and constant. 

Is Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Cross-Platform?

Wo Long doesn’t feature cross-platform play. If you own a PlayStation 5 copy, you can only play with PS5 and PS4 owners; Xbox Series X/S can only team up with fellow Series X/S and Xbox One gamers, and PC players can only collaborate with other PC gamers. Team Ninja might patch cross-play into the game at a later date, but as of writing this article, lines have been drawn along the platform boundaries.