The Lone Tyrant, better known as Big Zhao, is one of the toughest story bosses you’ll encounter in Where Winds Meet. Many players reach the Imperial Palace expecting another standard fight only to get overwhelmed by his aggressive attack chains, fast Phase 2 transitions, and relentless pressure.
The good news is that this boss is much more about preparation and pattern recognition than raw damage. Once you understand his moveset and bring the right skills, the fight becomes significantly easier.
After several attempts, many players find that survival tools and healing options are far more important than squeezing out a little extra damage. This guide covers the best skills, Inner Ways, healing preparations, and practical combat tips to help you defeat The Lone Tyrant.
How to Beat Lone Tyrant (Big Zhao) in Where Winds Meet
One of the biggest mistakes players make is rushing straight into the battle without adjusting their build.
Big Zhao deals heavy damage, attacks quickly, and becomes much more aggressive during Phase 2. Because of this, defensive skills and sustain options are incredibly valuable.
Before entering the Imperial Palace encounter, make sure you’ve upgraded your healing options and unlocked at least some survivability-focused abilities.
Golden Body
If there’s one Mystic Skill that can carry players through this encounter, it’s Golden Body.
At Tier 2, Golden Body becomes much stronger than a simple defensive cooldown.
Benefits include:
- Damage reduction
- Self-healing
- Increased survivability during difficult attack chains
The healing effect is particularly useful because it allows you to recover health without relying entirely on consumables.
Whenever you have enough Vitality available, don’t hesitate to activate Golden Body. Over the course of the fight, the extra healing can save multiple potion charges.
For players struggling to survive Big Zhao’s second phase, Golden Body is arguably one of the strongest tools available.
Evening Snow
Evening Snow is one of the most forgiving passive Inner Ways for this fight.
When your HP drops below 60%, the skill automatically heals you.
Benefits include:
- Emergency healing
- Extra safety during mistakes
- Helps stabilize health between attacks
The downside is its lengthy cooldown.
Evening Snow Effects
- Triggers below 60% HP
- Automatically restores health
- 300-second cooldown
Although the cooldown is long, most players only need it to activate once during the encounter to gain significant value.
Heart of Fire
Heart of Fire offers another powerful defensive trigger.
Instead of activating at 60% health, it activates when your HP drops below 30%.
When triggered, it provides:
- Healing
- 20% damage reduction
- Increased survivability during dangerous moments
Heart of Fire Effects
- Activates below 30% HP
- Restores health
- Reduces incoming damage by 20%
- 120-second cooldown
Many players view this as a second life mechanic because it often triggers during situations that would otherwise lead to defeat.
Evasive Charge
Among all recommended Inner Ways, Evasive Charge may be the most valuable.
Big Zhao’s second phase revolves heavily around fast attack strings and frequent dodging.
Because endurance management becomes increasingly important, Evasive Charge can dramatically improve your survivability.
Evasive Charge Effects
- Perfect dodges have a 50% chance to refund endurance.
- Allows more frequent evasions.
- Helps maintain mobility during Phase 2.
The reason this skill is so strong becomes obvious once you start learning the boss.
Big Zhao attacks rapidly, often forcing multiple dodges in succession. Running out of endurance at the wrong moment usually leads to taking heavy damage.
Evasive Charge helps prevent that scenario.
Combining Inner Ways
While each Inner Way works well individually, many players have found success by running all three simultaneously.
Using:
- Evening Snow
- Heart of Fire
- Evasive Charge
creates multiple layers of survivability.
You’ll have emergency healing at both 60% and 30% health while also improving endurance management through perfect dodges.
For players still learning the fight, this setup is incredibly forgiving.
Healing Potions
Healing preparation is arguably just as important as your combat build.
Before challenging Big Zhao, spend time upgrading your Healer profession.
Higher Healer levels allow access to stronger healing consumables that can make a massive difference during prolonged boss encounters.
Evercare Clinic Upgrades
Another preparation step many players overlook is upgrading potion capacity.
Visit the Evercare Clinic in Qinghe and increase the number of healing charges available during boss fights.
By default, players start with only two potion charges.
Increasing this number provides a significant advantage against longer encounters like The Lone Tyrant.
Additional healing charges often mean the difference between victory and a frustrating wipe during the final moments of Phase 2.
Phase 1 Strategy
The first phase is primarily about learning.
Don’t focus entirely on winning during your first few attempts.
Instead, concentrate on:
- Watching attack animations
- Learning dodge timings
- Understanding combo patterns
- Recognizing openings
Big Zhao’s attacks may initially feel overwhelming, but most are highly telegraphed once you’ve seen them several times.
Many players notice dramatic improvement after only a handful of attempts.
By the fifth or sixth try, Phase 1 often becomes much more manageable.
Phase 2 Strategy
Phase 2 is where the real challenge begins.
Compared to Phase 1:
- Attacks are faster.
- Combo chains become longer.
- Recovery windows become shorter.
- Endurance management becomes more important.
This is where Evasive Charge shines.
Successful perfect dodges help maintain your stamina reserves, allowing you to survive the relentless pressure.
Avoid becoming greedy with attacks.
Landing one or two safe hits is usually better than committing to a long combo and getting punished.
Patience wins this fight.
Learning Attack Patterns
One thing that becomes obvious after several attempts is that Big Zhao rewards familiarity.
The fight often feels impossible during the first few tries.
Then something changes.
You begin recognizing:
- Attack startup animations
- Dodge timings
- Combo endings
- Safe punish windows
As this happens, your performance improves dramatically.
Many players report reaching Phase 2 with nearly full health after learning the patterns.
Managing Resources
An underrated strategy is avoiding excessive resource usage during early attempts.
Instead of immediately consuming all your crafted healing items, use your first few runs as practice.
Learn the mechanics.
Learn the patterns.
Learn when you’re getting hit.
Once you feel comfortable consistently reaching Phase 2, that’s when you can start investing your best healing supplies.
This approach prevents wasting valuable resources during learning attempts.
Common Mistakes
Panic Dodging
Many players dodge too early.
Wait for attacks to actually commit before using your dodge.
Overcommitting
Big Zhao punishes greed heavily.
Take safe openings rather than trying to maximize every damage opportunity.
Ignoring Endurance
Running out of stamina during Phase 2 is often fatal.
Always keep enough endurance available for emergency dodges.
Neglecting Healing Preparation
Entering the fight with weak potions and limited charges makes the encounter significantly harder than it needs to be.
The Lone Tyrant is designed to test everything you’ve learned up to this point in Where Winds Meet. The fight can feel brutal at first, especially once Phase 2 begins, but it becomes surprisingly manageable once you prepare properly and start recognizing attack patterns.
Golden Body provides valuable sustain, Evening Snow and Heart of Fire offer emergency recovery, and Evasive Charge helps solve endurance issues during the boss’s most dangerous combos. Pair those tools with upgraded healing potions and additional charges from the Evercare Clinic, and you’ll have a much easier time surviving the encounter.
From personal experience and community feedback, most players who actively learn the fight rather than brute-force it tend to defeat Big Zhao within 5 to 10 attempts. The first few tries may feel rough, but every attempt teaches you something new. Stick with it, focus on your dodges, and before long you’ll be watching The Lone Tyrant fall instead of wondering how to survive him.