If you’ve spent any time in the brutal, soul-crushing world of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you know that Team Ninja doesn't exactly believe in "taking it easy" on players. They thrive on the struggle. But even by their standards, the Ordeal of the Nine Gates is something else entirely. It's a gauntlet. It's a marathon. Honestly, it’s basically a test of how much emotional damage you can take before your controller ends up embedded in your drywall.
Most people stumble into this end-game content expecting a typical boss rush. They are wrong. It’s not just about killing things fast; it’s about survival under conditions that feel, frankly, a bit unfair at times. You’re dealing with the Thousand-Mile Journey, a massive DLC expansion that introduced this specific gauntlet as the ultimate threshold for players who think they’ve mastered the game’s deflection mechanics.
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Why the Ordeal of the Nine Gates is the Ultimate Skill Check
So, what is it? Simply put, the Ordeal of the Nine Gates is a series of consecutive battles found within the Thousand-Mile Journey. You don't get to rest. You don't get to refill your pots in the traditional sense between every single scrap. You are locked in.
The game forces you to face waves of enemies and bosses with mounting difficulty. The "Nine Gates" title isn't just flavor text. It represents the stages of descent into a combat hell where your Morale Rank—the lifeblood of Wo Long's combat system—is constantly being messed with. If you lose your cool and start button-mashing, you’re dead. Period.
The difficulty spikes here are legendary among the community. One minute you’re parrying a standard soldier, and the next, Lu Bu is galloping across your screen trying to turn you into a pancake. It’s this unpredictability that makes it so much harder than the base game’s missions. You have to be a generalist. If your build only does one thing well, the Nine Gates will find that one thing you suck at and exploit it ruthlessly.
The Morale Rank Trap
In the Ordeal of the Nine Gates, Morale is everything. You probably already know that higher Morale means you deal more damage and take less, but in this gauntlet, the game actively tries to keep you at a disadvantage.
You’ll often start a "gate" with a Morale deficit compared to the boss. This means every hit you take is potentially a one-shot. You have to play perfectly. Or, at least, you have to be very, very good at timing your Deflects. There is a specific psychological pressure that kicks in when you’re on Gate 7 or 8 and you see that Morale gap. It makes you play timidly. And in Wo Long, playing timidly is the fastest way to see the "Crushed" screen.
The game wants you to be aggressive. It rewards the "Spirit" system—breaking the enemy's posture. But when you're in the Ordeal, the risk-reward calculation changes. If you miss a parry on a Critical Strike (those red glowing attacks), your Morale drops even further, making the rest of the gauntlet a nightmare.
Build Diversity: Don't Get Married to One Element
A lot of players get through the main story by stacking Wood Virtue for health or Fire Virtue for raw damage. That won't work here. The Ordeal of the Nine Gates features enemies from every elemental phase. If you are a pure Fire build and you run into a heavy Water-based boss in the middle of your run, you’re going to have a bad time.
You need a "Swiss Army Knife" build. This usually involves:
- Diverse Wizardry Spells: You need at least one spell from each element to counter the enemy’s buffs.
- Healing on Hit: Because your Dragon’s Cure Potions are limited, having gear that restores HP when you deal damage or perform a Fatal Strike is mandatory.
- Spirit Stability: You need to be able to block when you can’t deflect. If your Spirit bar is always in the red, you’re a sitting duck.
I’ve seen people try to glass-cannon their way through the Nine Gates. It works for the first three gates. Then they hit a boss with high resistance to their main element, and the run ends in thirty seconds. It's better to be a "B" grade at everything than an "A+" at just one thing.
The Boss Rotation Nightmare
The bosses you face aren't just the human ones. You’ll fight the demonic versions too. Facing Zhang Liang or Blindfolded Boy in this environment is a different beast because of the arena constraints. Some of the "Gates" take place in cramped spaces where the camera becomes your second biggest enemy after the guy with the giant sword.
The rotation is semi-random, which is the "roguelike" element of the Thousand-Mile Journey. You might get lucky and get a string of bosses you’ve mastered. Or, you might get the "oops, all demons" special. The Ordeal of the Nine Gates tests your memory. You have to remember the parry windows for enemies you haven't fought in fifty hours of gameplay.
Strategies That Actually Work (And Some That Don't)
Let's talk about the "Grace" sets. By the time you’re tackling the Nine Gates, you should be looking at 6-star or 7-star gear. The Grace of Fuxi or Grace of Nuwa sets are popular for a reason. Nuwa, specifically, gives you incredible sustain. Since the Ordeal of the Nine Gates is an endurance test, being able to heal just by hitting the enemy is a game-changer.
- The Nuwa Strategy: Focus on high damage per hit to maximize the lifesteal. Use a heavy weapon like a Glaive or Great Hammer.
- The Fuxi Strategy: This is for the players who want to tank. It increases your damage reduction based on how much higher your Morale is than the enemy’s. This requires you to play flawlessly early on to build that lead.
Avoid the "Status Effect" trap. While poison and burn are great, many bosses in the later gates have massive resistance or can cleanse themselves. If your whole build relies on stacking "Heaviness," and you pull a boss that’s immune to it, you’ve basically handicapped yourself.
Managing Your Hoofprints
The Thousand-Mile Journey uses a currency called Hoofprints of the Chimerical Beast. You use these to buy buffs between stages. In the Ordeal of the Nine Gates, don't spend them all on "increased drop rate." That’s greed talking. Spend them on "Refill Dragon's Cure Pot" or "Increase Morale Rank." You can’t use the loot if you’re dead.
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Common Misconceptions About the Nine Gates
People think this is just for the "pro" players. It’s not. It’s for the patient players. I’ve seen incredibly fast, twitchy gamers fail the Ordeal because they got frustrated. Meanwhile, "average" players who just focus on the rhythm of the deflects and don't over-extend their combos tend to clear it more consistently.
Another myth is that you need a specific "Meta" weapon. While the Twin Blades are great for fast spirit building, a simple Sword or Staff can carry you through if your fundamentals are solid. The Ordeal isn't a gear check as much as it is a "did you actually learn how to play this game" check.
What to Do Before You Start Your Run
Before you dive into the Ordeal of the Nine Gates, you need to prep. This isn't just about your gear; it's about your mindset and your inventory.
- Check your Divine Beast: Make sure you have a beast that complements your survival. Yinglong is a literal lifesaver because it can revive you if your gauge is full. In the Nine Gates, that second chance is often the difference between a successful clear and a total wipe.
- Optimize your Quick Slots: You should have your elemental cleansing flakes ready. Getting hit with a "Slow" debuff in Gate 9 is a death sentence.
- Respec if necessary: Go to Zuo Ci in the Hidden Village. If your stats are spread too thin, tighten them up. Focus on the stats that scale with your primary weapon, but don't ignore Wood (HP) and Earth (Equipment Weight/Deflect Spirit consumption).
The Ordeal is a grind, but it’s the most rewarding part of the Wo Long endgame. The loot drops are significantly better, and the sense of accomplishment when you finally clear that ninth gate is massive. It’s the closest the game gets to a "prestige" mode.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Attempt
To actually beat the Ordeal of the Nine Gates, you need to stop playing it like the campaign.
- Prioritize Spirit Damage: Use Martial Arts that deal heavy Spirit damage. Breaking an enemy’s posture stops their aggression and gives you a window to breathe.
- Master the "Perfect Rest": If the game gives you a choice between a chest and a Morale boost, take the Morale boost. Always.
- Watch the Red Attacks: In the later gates, you cannot afford to miss a red parry. If you aren't 100% sure of the timing, it is sometimes better to dodge away than to fail a deflect and lose 5 Morale ranks.
- Swap Spells on the Fly: Keep your menu navigation muscle memory sharp. If you see a boss buffing with Ice, you need to be able to swap to a Fire spell to cancel it out immediately.
The Ordeal is basically Wo Long's way of asking, "Do you really want to be the Dragon?" It's frustrating, it's long, and the rewards are buried under layers of difficulty. But for those who want to see everything the game has to offer, there is no better way to prove your mastery. Just remember to breathe. The tenth gate isn't there, even if it feels like the ordeal never ends.
To move forward, focus on farming a complete 7-star set with the Nuwa Grace before your next serious attempt. This lifesteal capability fundamentally changes the math of the encounter, turning a desperate survival situation into a manageable, albeit intense, combat loop. Once you have the sustain, the psychological pressure of the Nine Gates becomes much easier to handle.