Hello everybody, this is 阿特. New Daoist friends rejoice, today I bring you an advanced Wu Ce guide for climbing, flex style, to let you break through the bottleneck, and more quickly reach Daoist Immortal.

Stats first, eighteen matches at 5XXX MMR (including high-pressure matches with stream snipers), average placement 2.38 (including a 5th place from listening to chat; normal arrangement could get 4th). Although it's not as impressive as the dozen Duan Xuan Plant Master matches at the same MMR range last time, the advantage is that it's more consistent (four 1st places, five 2nd places; 1st-place rate can be improved by practice); you won't get bottlenecked oscillating between 1st and 8th.

It is following the will of the card dealer; what is dealt is what we play; flexible with more variations, not fixed. In these eighteen matches, eight were Hexagram Thunders, seven Polaris, three Post-action, maximizing the ability to gain rank points.

Frankly, Wu Ce Painter's top-4 rate and 1st-place rate don't measure up to its pick rate. Post-action's main problem is that non-scaling physical damage is countered by big DEF and Weakened. (Other builds can always counter her if they draw the right card, but she has no solution to some decks with big DEF, Thousand Evil.) The high end, with Divination, turn-three kill going second, well, turn-three kill going second is not strong in the current version; Lin Xiaoyue can easily turn-three kill going first, and Five Elements can Circ. + Combine World to counter physical damage; you have trouble being effective in the finals.

The biggest problem is the core, Polaris, Starry Moon, same as Nangong Sheng's UWF, Circ.: if you don't hit when you roll down on Incarnation, you're soon eliminated; when forcing Polaris, it's the same problem with Polaris, Starry Moon. Whereas, our flex style tries to avoid the problem of not hitting Polaris.

I posted two examples of actually getting 1st place with Wu Ce Hexagram Thunders, and many couldn't understand, what's the basis for playing Hexagram Thunders, how can it compare to Tan Shuyan / Yao Ling? Let's consider the logic. Hexagram Thunders is a deck that deals consistent damage: turn-two Heaven Hexagram + Flame Hexagram 40 damage, turn-three Dragonfly + Five Thunders 113, turn-four Thunder Hexagram Rhythm 140+, and Cide and Guard Up Elixir can be inserted; and many lesser substitutions are possible, any Hexagram card, Thunder and Lighting, it's relatively easy to assemble. If you go first, it has a strong ability to get 1st place. And we only need to make sure that in matches where we go first (pursuing Cultivation from Immortal Fates and Talent Elixir; and Hexagram Thunders doesn't necessarily need to play a full eight cards) we can play Hexagram Thunders; if we don't go first, we can still take advantage of the ease of assembly to scrounge rank points. Moreover, Wu Ce Hexagram Thunders has the advantage of 120 Destiny, and earlygame with Perfectly Planned to transit with garbage while saving exchanges. (The bonus Destiny won't get nerfed, will it?)

Earlygame double consumption, combo with Perfectly Planned, transit with garbage, maximizing stats, Talent Elixir (up to +4 Cultivation) to not always go second like Painter, Enlightenment Elixir to improve quality, max HP Elixirs to boost stats, Resurrection Elixir to increase fault tolerance, Ice Spirit Guard Elixir to improve counterplay capability, the current version's strongest side job! Why does my Plant Master get nerfed as soon as its head sticks out, Entangling Ancient Vine, Devouring Ancient Vine, Snow Lotus, three nerfs in a row! Whereas Elixirist is the number one side job all along; I strongly suspect that the Elixirist society covertly bribed the Yi Xian designers.

When to play Post-action, when to play Hexagram Thunders, when to play Polaris, this is the most critical thing. The biggest factor is core cards, Post-action's Divination, Polaris's Starry Moon, Hexagram Thunders' Hexagram Formacide.

Save exchanges, muddle along. Round 1, if your cards are no good, exchange, try to make 20 damage per cycle. Before Virtuoso, combo Elixirist's double consumption with Perfectly Planned making qi and Hexagram. Round 4 example:

1. lv.2 Incessant
2. lv.2 Perfectly Planned
3. lv.2 Flank
4. Small Recover Elixir
5. Small Recover Elixir
6. lv.2 Falling Thunder

Divination, 2 Cultivation, Thunder Tribulation, Epiphany. Fortunes and Luck, standard 1 Cultivation. Immediate battle strength, Max HP, Star Power. Of these, 1-Hexagram Divination is the core of lategame Post-action's ability to turn-three kill.

Hexagram Formacide, Polaris Citta-Dharma, Talent Elixir; with Foundation-phase Divination: Hunter Hunting Hunter. Otherwise draw immediately, to ensure early strength.

Prioritize Cultivation, Thunder Tribulation, Epiphany, standard 2 Cultivation, immediate battle strength, Max HP, Star Power, Recuperate, etc. [TL: "etc." is followed by a full stop] Virtuoso-phase Divination (if no Cultivation offered) [TL: Missing full stop here?] Actually, after choosing the Virtuoso-phase Immortal Fate, you can decide how to play the match; if you got Cultivation in neither Foundation nor Virtuoso, then think no more of getting 1st place, and instead think about how to scrounge rank points.

If you have Post-action's core 1-Hexagram Divination, then it's the same as the standard Post-action build, exchange until Round 8, with two copies of Drag Moon In Sea, break through. If no Drag Moon In Sea, break through give up on Act Underhand, choose Cultivation or Recuperate to scrounge rank points. Round 8 example:

1. lv.max Perfectly Planned
2. lv.2 Starry Moon
3. lv.2 White Snake
4. Astral Move - Hit
5. lv.2 Drag Moon In Sea
6. Astral Move - Hit
7. lv.2 Hunter Becomes Preyer
8. (Normal Attack)

Without 1-Hexagram Divination, exactly whether to exchange at Virtuoso depends on the rank bracket and actual match situation. Wu Ce's strength is that she can muddle along, or she can become an Immortality-phase god of war and exert pressure; if many of the opponents will roll down on Immortality, then we'll choose to exchange, to increase the tempo, and reduce the endgame potential of those who don't exchange in Immortality; if few of the opponents will roll down on Immortality, then we can't exert the pressure by our lonesome, so we'll save our exchanges and battle it out lategame. Cultivation is the critical factor for getting 1st place; if you got Cultivation in neither Foundation nor Virtuoso, then your lategame is weak, so exchange earlier to protect Destiny.

• Many Immortality-phase gods of war: Roll down in Virtuoso; decide according to the outcomes whether to play Post-action [sic] or Polaris.
• Few Immortality-phase gods of war: Exchange once per round in Virtuoso, see if you can hit such core cards as Starry Moon, Hit, Thunder Hexagram Rhythm.
• Weak early: Roll down for one or two rounds to catch up in strength, then save exchanges.
• High-Cultivation opponents: If you got Cultivation in neither Foundation nor Virtuoso, then 1st place is hopeless, in which case you also can roll down in Virtuoso to protect Destiny.
• Low-Cultivation opponents: Even if you got Cultivation in neither Foundation nor Virtuoso, others are also low-Cultivation, so you could save exchanges and battle it out lategame.

Virtuoso rolldown decides the build: Post-action, or Polaris (Star Power Hexagram Thunders)

muddling along

muddling along

With 1-Hexagram Divination and two copies of Drag Moon In Sea from Virtuoso, and in matches where you've decided to scrounge rank points with Post-action, choose Act Underhand.
If you didn't choose to pivot to Post-action, then it's gonna be Polaris or Hexagram Thunders. Prioritize Cultivation, Thunder Tribulation, Epiphany; the priorities of Inheritance of Thunder and Inheritance of Astral Move are increased; then it's the standard 2 Cultivation, immediate battle strength, Recuperate etc. Immortal Fates to scrounge rank points.

Your Immortality-phase Immortal Fate choice pretty much decides whether you're pursuing 1st or scrounging rank points. The most critical factor for 1st place is Cultivation; if not offered at Immortality, unless opponents are low-Cultivation, it's hard to get 1st. Then we can only upgrade our quality earlier to protect Destiny and scrounge rank points.

Post-action: Save exchanges.


With Cultivation: Exchange once per round. If under pressure, OK to save around 15-20 exchanges for Incarnation.


No Cultivation: Roll down for Hexagram Thunders: Hexagram Formacide, Thunder and Lighting, Dance Of The Dragonfly. Become strong in Immortality (advantaged against those who don't exchange), protect Destiny, scrounge rank points.


Star Moon Folding Fan, Cultivation, Destiny.
With core: If Starry Moon, choose Fan; if Hexagram Formacide, choose Cultivation; if Post-action, choose Cultivation or Divination.
No core: Choose Cultivation to play Hexagram Thunders, Star Moon Folding Fan to gamble and roll down for Polaris, or Destiny. Usually I'll choose Cultivation for Hexagram Thunders; Fan costs Destiny, and Polaris can still be played without it, and Cultivation makes it easier to go first, good for protecting Destiny.
scrounging with Recuperate and Solid Foundation

After breaking through, lay out the strongest board you have, protect Destiny, wait for final build assembly.

Post-action: Wait for HHH.




Hexagram Thunders: Wait for Hexagram Formacide, Five Thunders.




Polaris: Wait for Polaris Citta-Dharma, Propitious Omen.




Everyone knows the standard lines, so let me share some counterplay.

Post-action: Absorb your cards to go first and turn-three kill in the final round. Going second, since we decided to play Post-action on the basis of having Divination, against turn-three kills who go first, we can play lv.2 Heaven Hexagram + Strike Twice + Cide. The threat of Cide makes them play turn-four kill, in which case we can win on turn three. In highly unfavorable matchups such as against Nangong Sheng Circ. + Combine World, either you could somehow get to go first with turn-two Cide or turn-three kill, or you could, vs. lv.1 UWF, you can do the usual turn-three Cide to skip Fragrant to deprive him of qi, and kill in six turns (difficult). [TL: As far as I can tell, the upgrade level of UWF doesn't matter until after turn six.]


Polaris: Polaris is turn-four kill. You can use Tiger to defend against the opponent's fast kill, or Cide to skip an important card, such as Hexagram, qi, etc., or cycle and scale with Propitious Omen and full Chase.


Hexagram Thunders: With high quality, Hexagram Thunders is 113 damage in three turns, usually a turn-three or -four kill going first. Counterplay is usually turn-two Cide going first, or Guard Up Elixir, which is easier to deploy than with Polaris.

With flex, I think the most important thing is to be rational in lowering your goals of getting 1st. You can't get 1st every match. How to increase your top-four rate when you don't have good luck in cards is the most important thing, and not be eliminated early; that's what matters in gaining rank points!

Regarding the extension of the flex style: Wu Xingzhi, due to the flexibility of Mark Of Five Elements, is most suitable for flex style; y'all can read 赵郭侠's Wu Xingzhi guide; reading it makes me feel like I can reach 10,000 MMR. But Five Elements players all understand, maximizing in Immortality, the characters with highest top-four rate are all Five Elements, but lategame strength is relatively less, whereas we Heptastar are among the strongest lategame, therefore, Daoist friend, with the esoteric teachings of this Wu Ce guide, I await that the next 10,000-MMR Wu Ce will be you!