The Phantom Boss fight is one of the hardest skill checks in Where Winds Meet. It is not a single enemy but a long, punishing gauntlet that forces you to defeat four empowered bosses back-to-back with no breaks. If you fall even once, the entire fight resets.
This guide explains exactly how the Phantom Boss works, how to prepare, and how to defeat every phase consistently.
How To Beat the Phantom Boss in Where Winds Meet
How the Phantom Boss Fight Works
You will meet the Phantom Boss in the course of North of the Winds, East of the Worlds quest. The combat is initiated when after sufficient story progression you move to a strange person who is sitting in a pagoda and talking to you.
Once the fight begins, you will have to fight with four at the same time that shown earlier in the game as ghosts. The order of the four Phantoms, which consist of Murong Yuan, Zheng E, Dao Lord, and River Master, is random on every attempt so there is no use in relying on a specific sequence.
The difficulty of each Phantom is superior to that of the original one, has less timing, and their attacks consist of more unblockable ones. The only rule is: if you lose your life during the fight, you will have to start all over again from the first phase.
How to Prepare Before You Start
In this case, preparation is more important than pure aggression. You should see the fight as if it were a long one.
You need to have the best weapons, armor, and accessories fully upgraded for your current level of Progress. The use of weak gear turns even the smallest mistakes into instant deaths.
Choose a hybrid build. Damage-only builds hardly keep up with the fight because it is lengthy. Use a high-damage weapon along with a healing alternative that allows you to restore health during the combat. The fight against the Phantom does not compromise the effectiveness of healing, thus recovery means are very important.
Stock up on healing items to the maximum. Use them only when you make a mistake, not as your main strategy.
Practice perfect parries and clean dodges before attempting this fight. Panic rolling and button-mashing will get you killed very quickly.
How To Beat Phantom Murong Yuan
Murong Yuan is the fastest Phantom and tests your reaction speed.
You should stay mobile and let her initiate. Circle her and wait for her dash attacks instead of chasing. Most of her damage comes from fast multi-hit combos that are meant to bait early dodges.
Focus on parrying her dash chains. Successful parries open short but safe counter windows. Do not overextend after a punish, as she recovers quickly.
Avoid long wind-up skills. She moves too fast and will escape or punish you mid-animation. Stick to quick attacks and resets.
This phase is about control, not speed. If you stay calm and defensive, she becomes manageable.
How To Beat Phantom Zheng E
Zheng E mixes heavy spear attacks with projectile pressure.
You should fight him at mid-range. Standing too close makes his spear strings harder to read, while staying too far encourages more projectile attacks.
Parry his melee strikes whenever possible. Successful deflections drain his Qi quickly, which is the fastest way to win this phase.
When he summons spear rain from the sky, do not try to parry it. Move sideways instead of backing away so you can see the projectiles clearly and dodge with intent.
Avoid spamming dodges. Zheng E punishes repeated evasion with delayed follow-ups. One clean dodge or parry is better than several rushed inputs.
How To Beat Phantom Dao Lord
The Dao Lord is the hardest Phantom to deal with because he inflicts the Blind debuff on you.
Blind makes your vision limited and therefore, it is hard to react-based play. The answer is through proper positioning and keeping the right rhythm.
Stick to his side. At a very close distance, you will be able to see his body and sword movements even in the middle of the Blind spell. Being too far away can turn the debuff into a lot more danger.
Count on timing rather than visuals. Most of his attacks are performed in a certain sequence. Get to know the rhythm and distance between the hits and then parry according to the timing instead of the sight.
Listen very attentively. There are strong audio cues produced by his heavy attacks indicating when to parry or dodge.
Once he gets into the gold unblockable state, step back fast. Those grabs are non-parryable and inflict huge damage.
If you have difficulties in melee, the ranged martial arts might be the way to go to lessen your Blind exposure. However, you still need to master his patterns in case he gets close in the last minutes of the fight.
How To Beat Phantom River Master
River Master might be slower but he sure is very tricky.
His attacks may seem to be delayed or slow before they eventually land. If you counter him too soon, he will hit you hard. Wait for the real impact, not for the start of the animation.
Be very cautious with your stamina. Always keep enough for dodging in urgent situations after his wide area attacks.
When he takes a heavy swing and misses, punish him briefly then withdraw. His recovery time is long, however, if you are greedy, you will be killed.
This phase rewards patience. Calm reactions beat fast hands.
Tips To Beat Phantom Boss in Where Winds Meet
- Treat the Phantom Boss as one long fight, not four separate ones. Your goal is consistency, not speed.
- Use parries as your main tool. Most attacks are parryable unless clearly marked as unblockable.
- When a Phantom’s Qi breaks, unload your strongest combo first. Use Execute only at the end of the exhaustion window to maximize damage.
- Do not rush just because you survived earlier phases. The final Phantom is often where most runs fail.
