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Preparation
Recommended Skills
- Enhanced Water Flow
There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to fighting Eigong: Water Flow, or Full Control. Both of these Qi Blast styles are viable, but your windows for counter attacking, and which Jades you’ll want to take change pretty dramatically depending on which Qi Blast you decide to use.
Personally, I think you should use Water Flow. It immediately cashes out all of the internal damage that you’ve accumulated on Eigong, and is less error prone than Full Control. Hitting a full 5 charge Qi Blast can be fairly finicky timing wise, and you’re afforded fewer windows to actually do it as the fight progresses which negates the main benefit of using Full Control. By comparison, Water Flow allows you to continue defending yourself immediately after attaching a talisman, so you can chip down Eigong’s massive health bar a lot more frequently. Plus, you’re able to defend yourself in the event that you commit to an ill-timed Qi Blast.
For the record, I have beaten Eigong using both styles of Qi Blast. I just found it a hell of a lot easier to slowly, and safely chip her down with Water Flow.
Recommended Jades
- Quick Dose Jade
- Hedgehog Jade
- Qi Blade Jade
- Breather Jade
Quick Dose: Still the MVP, and my go to Jade of choice. This speeds up the use of your Healing Pipe by roughly 40%, which allows you to use it more liberally throughout the fight against Eigong. Trust me when I say that using this Jade substantially reduced the amount of times that I’d die while trying to heal during my different playthroughs of Nine Sols.
Hedgehog: One of the best damage boosting Jades against bosses, provided you can reliably perfect parry. Hedgehog applies internal damage whenever you perfect parry a melee attack. Eigong is going to force you to sit, and parry for the overwhelming majority of the fight. Hedgehog will allow you to turn all of that time spent parrying into internal damage, which will increase the damage of your Qi Blast once you’re able to find an opening to attach a talisman to Eigong.
Qi Blade: Uses 2 Qi charges to buff the third, and final hit of Yi’s standard melee combo. The buffs include increasing the damage of the attack by a factor of 10, and increasing the range of the attack. This makes using melee attacks a lot more valuable, and synergizes nicely with Enhanced Water Flow, which only costs a single Qi charge to use.
Breather Jade: Striking an enemy with a melee attack will recover some of your internal damage. The amount recovered is about ~2% of your max health. Personally, I find Eigong’s attacks a little challenging to consistently perfect parry, so having the ability to quickly restore internal damage throughout the fight is helpful. Breather also synergizes nicely with Qi Blade as you get additional value out of using your melee attacks.
If you’re struggling a lot with Eigong, you can also swap out Qi Blade for Iron Skin. This will decrease the damage you take by converting some of it into internal damage, which can be recovered with Breather.
I strongly recommend against using Recovery, Medical, or Revival during this fight. Those Jades may seem useful on paper, but they don’t work very well while fighting Eigong.
Recovery: Eigong attacks so often that you’re not really going to benefit from Recovery unless you’re consistently perfect parrying her attacks. If that’s the case then you’re activating the skill Breathing Exercises anyway, which recovers a portion of your internal damage whenever you perfect parry. As such, it’s better to spend the 2 Computing Units on another Jade.
Medical: My reason for not liking Medical is similar to why I don’t like Recovery – you don’t really get much value out of it because Eigong constantly attacks you throughout the fight. It’s better to take your healing in a quick, single dose so you’re ready to keep fighting. Medical makes your healing more valuable, but you lose that value whenever you’re hit, making it a lot less useful while you’re fighting very aggressive bosses.
Revival: If this Jade provided an invulnerability window upon activation then I’d recommend that every struggling player should use it. Unfortunately, Revival doesn’t offer any protection, so you can be revived in the middle of a combo attack, and die immediately. As such, I’m of the opinion that this Jade is a trap, and you shouldn’t ever waste the slots to equip it.
Recommended Equipment
- Cloud Piercer X
- Level 8 Healing Pipe
- 8 Max Health Upgrades
- 6 Computing Units
- 3 Azure Sand Upgrades
If you’ve read the rest of my guide thus far, then there shouldn’t be any surprises here.
I’m assuming that you followed the warning that you were provided before hitting the point of no return, and combed through the remainder of New Kunlun to find the remaining Health, Healing Pipe, and Computing Unit upgrades.
The same goes for all of the Azure Bow upgrades, though I only think that you need the Cloud Piercer arrow for Eigong. As with so many other bosses, Cloud Piercer X does a huge amount of burst damage, and temporarily stuns whatever it hits. This can provide you with the opportunity to interrupt Eigong while she is in the middle of a combo so that you can heal. It can also help you to shut down certain attacks if you’re not comfortable defending against them. Granted, you only have 5 shots, so use them wisely.
How to Fight Eigong
Phase 1
Eigong is by far the hardest boss in Nine Sols. However, if you’ve made it this far then I’m certain you can beat her. Let’s go over her different attacks (there are a lot of them) because I find that knowing what Eigong can do helps to make the fight a lot more manageable.
Overview of Phase 1 Attacks
| Attack Name | Short Description |
|---|---|
| 2 Strike Combo | Eigong performs 2 quick melee strikes using her beam sword. |
| Thrusting Combo | Eigong attacks by thrusting her beam sword at Yi between 2, and 3 times. |
| Dash Combo | Eigong performs an overhead strike before dashing through Yi with an attack. Despite how it may look, you parry both attacks while facing forward. |
| Dash Attack | Eigong dashes through Yi. After a short delay, 3 slashing attacks happen behind her. Similar to the Dash Combo, you need to continue facing forward to parry this attack. |
| Crimson Talisman | Eigong dashes at Yi, and attaches a talisman to him. She then performs a Qi Blast for massive damage. You must jump, and use a Tai-Chi Kick to defend against this attack. |
| Crimson Bomb | Eigong charges up a red orb, leaps into the air, and slams the orb on Yi. This causes a massive explosion. |
| Crimson Plunging Attack Combo | Eigong teleports above Yi, and performs a crimson plunging attack. Immediately afterwards, Eigong performs a Dash Attack. There is a (not insignificant) chance that Eigong will use this attack immediately after you successfully Tai-Chi Kick to defend yourself from a Crimson Talisman. |
Here’s what all of that looks like:
Tips for Phase 1
Patience is key while fighting Eigong. It’s not going to feel like you’re making a lot of progress, but using the Hedgehog Jade will ensure that you’re always chipping down Eigong’s health (with internal damage) while you parry her unyielding assault.
Always assume that Eigong is going to use the 3 hit version of her Thrusting Combo when you’re parrying this attack. If she only does the 2 hit version, there will be a brief pause where she winds up her next attack. This means that you can’t be punished for committing to a third parry, and have time to properly respond to whatever is coming next.
You can cash out your internal damage by attaching a talisman to Eigong after the following attacks:
- Dash Combo
- Dash Attack
- Crimson Plunging Attack Combo
- Crimson Bomb
I strongly advise against trying to attach a talisman to Eigong during her Crimson Talisman attack. It’s possible, but there’s a chance that your hurtbox collides with the lingering hitbox on this move, and she’ll grab you out of thin air. It’s better to simply use Tai-Chi Kick, which deals a hefty chunk of internal damage.
After successfully using an Unbounded Counter against Crimson Bomb, you can go for a full melee combo. If you’re running Qi Blade then this will score a hefty chunk of additional damage.
While it is certainly possible to use an Unbounded Counter against Eigong when she uses her Crimson Plunging Attack, I’d advise against it. It’s more trouble than it’s worth, and you get a perfect opportunity to use Qi Blast on her after she performs the follow-up Dash Attack.
Thanks to Quick Dose, you should be able to heal any time that you’d normally attach a talisman to Eigong. You can also heal in moments where Eigong momentarily stops attacking to reposition.
Phase 1 is the best place to practice if you’re struggling with your perfect parry timing. She’ll continue using her different melee combo attacks throughout the whole fight, and perfect parrying all 3 combos can accumulate a ton of chip damage via Hedgehog.
Also, don’t forget to take breaks. Eigong is a very challenging fight because she has so many different attacks. Give yourself some time to really absorb, and process all of that information instead of trying to force a win. I took several breaks between shooting the videos, and writing this guide, and it paid off in spades.
Phase 2
Overview of Phase 2 Attacks
Good job on making it through phase 1. All of Eigong’s attacks carry through to phase 2, but she has a few new tricks for phase 2. This includes 3 different combos that she can perform after you successfully Tai-Chi Kick (or evade) her Crimson Talisman attack, and a brand new combo that she always uses at the beginning of phase 2.
| Attack Name | Short Description |
|---|---|
| Crimson Charged Strike Combo | Eigong performs a 4 hit combo that begins with a Charged Strike, followed by 2 standard sword attacks. The final hit of the combo alternates between being another Charged Strike, or a Dash Attack. She’ll always do the Charged Strike ender at the start of phase 2. The Charged Strikes must be parried with an Unbounded Counter. |
| Crimson Plunging Attack Combo (aka Talisman follow-up #1) | The Dash Attack that Eigong does after the plunging attack is now optional, meaning this is no longer always a combo. Just like in phase 1, Eigong can use this attack after you successfully Tai-Chi Kick to defend yourself when she tries to attach a talisman to Yi. |
| Single Uppercut Combo (aka Talisman follow-up #2) | This is another combo that Eigong can do when you successfully avoid a Crimson Talisman. Eigong performs a combo wherein she does a Rising Uppercut, Crimson Plunging Attack, and then a Crimson Bomb. Despite ending in a Crimson Bomb, Eigong can attack almost immediately after you Unbounded Counter, so don’t overextend if you counterattack here. |
| Double Uppercut Combo (aka Talisman follow-up #3) | Visually, very similar to the Single Uppercut Combo. After trying to attach a talisman to Yi, Eigong performs a combo wherein she does a 2 hit Rising Uppercut, and then ends the combo with a Crimson Plunging Attack. |
Here’s how all of the new attacks look:
Note: Again, if it wasn’t already clear, Eigong carries forward all of her attacks from phase 1. That means that she can still perform all 3 melee combos, Dash Attack, and Crimson Bomb throughout phase 2.
Tips for Phase 2
Similar to the Thrusting Combo, you’ll want to over predict when Eigong does a Rising Uppercut. There’s no visual distinction between the 2 different Rising Uppercut attacks until after she’s used them. To that end, you should always assume Eigong is going to use the 2 hit Uppercut, and parry twice. You can actually see me doing this during the attached footage (slow it down on YT if you’re having trouble seeing it). Then you can reactively airdash if Eigong only does the single hit Uppercut. I’m reacting to the number of parry sounds for this, but you can do whatever is easiest for you.
If you’re struggling to parry the Rising Uppercut, then you can simply dash away from Eigong instead of trying to parry the attack. You score less chip damage this way, but you’re also safe from taking any damage yourself. This is also what I did the first time I cleared Eigong. I only learned to parry all of her attacks during my second playthrough while writing this guide.
You can attach a talisman to Eigong after both the Single Uppercut, and Double Uppercut Combo. There’s a chance that she goes straight into her next attack though, so be ready to react if that’s what happens.
When Eigong does the Dash Attack variant of Crimson Charged Strike Combo, you need to dash away from her, and then attach a talisman. You don’t move far enough to evade the attack if you only do 1 or the other.
Eigong always starts phase 2 with a Crimson Charged Strike Combo that ends in a Crimson Charged Strike.
Don’t forget that Cloud Piercer X arrows will stun Eigong temporarily, so use them if you desperately need to heal. You have 5 shots, so that’s 5 opportunities to emergency heal throughout the fight.
Phase 3
Overview of Phase 3 Attacks
Eigong only adds 1 new combo with 2 flavours to her repertoire in phase 3. She can also continue using almost all of her attacks from phases 1 and 2. Eigong won’t use Crimson Bomb, or Dash Attack outside of a combo, but everything else is still on the table. Though, she’ll probably stick to using the new Wooshy Blade Combo if my numerous recordings of the fight are anything to go by.
| Attack Name | Short Description |
|---|---|
| Wooshy Blade Combo | Eigong vanishes and performs 2 fast attacks from alternating directions, followed by a third attack after a short delay. It’s best to parry this attack from the air so you don’t have to think about which direction Eigong is attacking from. This combo is followed by a Dash Attack, or Crimson Talisman that is timed to catch Yi while he’s descending out of the air. |
| Crimson Wooshy Blade Combo | Visually indistinct from the other version of this combo until the third attack, which is a crimson attack instead of a standard attack. If you’re hit by the crimson strike then you take damage twice, and the combo ends. If you avoid the crimson attack, then Eigong can either continue to attack with the Wooshy Blade Combo, or end the combo with a Dash Attack, or Crimson Talisman. There is a slight pause between both Wooshy combos if Eigong decides to chain them together. |
| Crimson Charged Strike Combo | Eigong gains a third option to end the combo: Crimson Wooshy Blade Combo. She’ll continue to alternate between the Charged Strike, Dash Attack, and (newly added) Crimson Wooshy Blade Combo. She’ll always use Crimson Wooshy Blade as the combo ender the first time that she performs this combo attack during phase 3. |
Here’s what that all looks like:
Tips for Phase 3
Eigong always starts phase 3 with a Crimson Wooshy Blade Combo.
The overwhelming majority of the times I fought Eigong (it was a lot – trust me), she would chain both Wooshy Blade combos together. I didn’t even realize they were separate attacks until I captured footage of her ending the combo after missing the crimson strike of the combo.
I already mentioned it above, but I find the Wooshy Blade Combos easiest to deal with by jumping, and using aerial parries. There’s a brief pause after she disappears, so you have time to reactively jump.
Make sure you save your double jump for the third attack in the Wooshy Blade combo. Getting hit by the crimson attack does so much damage, and can instantly ruin a perfectly good run of Eigong when you’re so close to the finish line.
The newly added combos may look really complicated, but the parry timing for them isn’t too different from Eigong’s phase 1 melee combos. If you took the time to practice those, use the same muscle memory here, and you should be fine.
Again, shoot a Cloud Piercer X arrow if you need to pause the fight to heal. You can also use the last several shots to chip down the remainder of Eigong’s health. Each shot does about 5% of her total health.
Don’t give up. You’re so damn close. If you made it to phase 3, then you can win.
Example Fight
As always, I’ve included a video of me doing the boss fight while employing many of the tips that I’ve outlined above. I hope that helps to iron out anything that I’ve failed to communicate clearly, while also demonstrating when, and where your openings are within the fight.
Editor’s notes: just ignore that bit at the end where I completely mistimed my Azure Bow shot, and overlapped it with the stun following the Unbounded Counter. I didn’t want to reshoot the whole fight to correct 1 very obvious mistake.
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