Wuchang Fallen Feathers: How to beat Vermilion Feathers Honglan

Honglan’s back and even worse than before

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Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/505 Games

Wondering how to beat Vermilion Feathers - Honglan in Wuchang Fallen Feathers? If you thought the normal Commander Honglan was bad news, just wait until you face her second iteration in the endgame. Dubbed Vermilion Feathers - Honglan, this mutated version of the commander that kicked our butts early on is back and somehow even more annoying than before now that the Feathering disease has mutated her.

Vermilion Feathers - Honglan is a completely optional boss, however, so you don’t need to defeat her in order to move forward in the game. But we recommend that you do so if you’re trying to go for 100% in your playthrough or to achieve one of the 4 endings , since defeating her will nab you some solid rewards, including the excellent Echo of Honglan Feathering spell and the Ice Crystal, a new item you can give merchant Tao Qing. In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how to beat Vermilion Feathers - Honglan in Wuchang Fallen Feathers , helping you put her down for the count once and for all.

How to beat Vermilion Feathers - Honglan in Wuchang Fallen Feathers

The first version of Honglan is a hard boss primarily because she occurs so early in Wuchang Fallen Feathers, forcing players to deepen their understanding of the game’s skill trees and weapons systems or face annihilation. Not so with her second incarnation. By the time you reach Vermilion Feathers - Honglan, you’ll be near the end of the game with a full arsenal at your disposal. Even though she’s still very challenging, you can beat her if you tweak your setup and abide by the following tips.

Pile on the Burn

Burn is the most reliable and consistent damage type in Wuchang Fallen Feathers, and Vermilion Feathers - Honglan is highly susceptible to it. You’ll obviously want to use the Bone Needle - Flame to temper your weapon with fire damage, but I also suggest equipping the following:

• Pendants: Demon Pendant, Sun Pendant
• Spell: Burning Flames
• Benedictions: Sheng - Burning Might, Fu - Burning Ignition, Ta - Blazing Burn

The Demon Pendant is great for increasing Fire damage at a slight cost of lower Physical damage. Meanwhile, all of the Benedictions make Burn much more potent at cutting down Honglan’s health over time, making up for any minor reduction in Physical damage that you might suffer.

You can supplement these picks with other gear that matches your playstyle. For instance, as a One-Handed Sword user, I also wore the Eagle Pendant, which amplifies stab power.

Protect against Slash, Stab, and Feathering damage

Vermilion Feathers - Honglan alternates between sword strikes, shooting off energy slashes with her blades, and blasting you with Feathering magic from time to time. I found it relatively easy to dodge the Feathering spells, so my preferred equipement was a mixture of the Centipede and North General armor sets , both of which offer great protection against slash and stab.

If you’re the opposite, try investing in the Clerical, Palace Maid, or Avian Hunter sets, all of which help minimise the damage that Feathering magic inflicts.

Backstab as she levitates

Vermilion Feathers - Honglan always begins the fight with the same attack, levitating in the air and summoning an array of red feathers to hit you. This is a prime opportunity for a backstab no matter what weapon you’re using. Dodge behind her and smash her with a charged up heavy attack. The Obliterate will be instantaneous, and you can take advantage of the knockdown to slam into her a few more times.

She always levitates like this at the start of the fight. Dodge behind her! |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/505 Games

As the combat continues, Honglan will prove to be extremely fast, but whenever she stops for a second to launch her feathers, repeat this strategy. At 50% health, she’ll be surrounded by a red aura which will cause her to grow bigger wings. This is another good chance for a backstab, but if her Obliterate value isn’t high enough, back off, as this is one of the few moments in the fight where you can reliably heal yourself - and Honglan will be much more aggressive in the remainder of the battle.

Be aggressive

Ideally, you want to keep Honglan’s Obliterate value high so you can stun her and increase her accumulated Burn damage . This requires a certain amount of aggression and continuous attacking, which is tough to maintain, but doable if you have Ethereal Form or Evasive Maneuver at your disposal (more on those two below).

If you know what you’re doing and stay on the offensive, you can actually beat Vermilion Feathers - Honglan in less than two minutes. Observe the following video, where I proceed to do just that. Also note the moments when I choose to heal, since as I hinted at before, those instances are few and far between in this fight.

It took about two hours of practice before I could achieve this. But if I can do it, you can too!Watch on YouTube

Use Ethereal Form or Evasive Maneuver

The Ethereal Form spell (obtained from a corpse in Zhenwu Temple) is one of the most useful spells in the entire game, covering Wuchang with charms for a few brief seconds. If an enemy hits Wuchang when she’s got the charms swirling about her, an auto-dodge will result, and you can continue spamming this dodge as long as you’ve got Skyborn Might. Evasive Maneuver, a weapon skill associated with Darkfrost Edge - the first One-Handed Sword you can find in Lightzen Temple - is the same as Ethereal Form, just contained within a single weapon.

Both Ethereal Form and Evasive Maneuver go a long way towards helping you dodge Honglan’s seemingly endless hitstrings. It’s fair to state that this fight is utterly maddening - her attacks seem to go on forever, and there are only small openings in Honglan’s impeccable form. But go ahead and spam these auto-dodge options - doing so will at least ensure that you have a full stack of Skyborn Might available for when those openings do emerge.

If you’ve managed to defeat Vermilion Feathers - Honglan, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. That’s one of Wuchang Fallen Feather’s hardest bosses massacred! If you’re having issues with other combatants, check out our boss list for the complete rundown. We’ve also got a list of tips and tricks , as well as explainers on the Inner Demon and Madness and Red Mercury systems. Last but not least, our guide on how to transmog will ensure that you look cool while fighting Honglan, and if you’re in search of rare weapons and other items on your journey, why not see our guide on how to use Bamboo Shoots to appease a hidden merchant known as the Panda?

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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