Eigong is the final boss of Nine Sols and by far the hardest boss in the game. She might as well be the hardest boss in all of gaming, period. You will have to give everything you got and then some to make it out alive from this encounter. Without further adieu, we will cover everything Eigong-related in this guide and make this fight more manageable for you to endure.
Related: How to Beat Kanghui in Nine Sols
Eigong in Nine Sols
Eigong is the ninth and last Sol holder, Seal of Knowledge, that Yi has to face in Nine Sols. She is the leader of the Tiandao Council and rules over the New Kunlun Control Hub at Root Pinnacle. If you go for the true ending, she’ll have three phases of blazing fury. The normal ending has only two phases, though.
To unlock her third phase, you’ll need to 100% finish the game for the most part, or at least finish the Village and Shuanshuan’s quests. You’ll then receive an alternate dialogue from Kuafu, and that’ll unlock the true ending. Don’t worry if you missed it; the game will reset you to the point before facing Eigong, so you can tick these boxes later, too.
This sphinx wields a red lightsaber with unmatched ferocity. She has the most number of attacks out of all the bosses in Nine Sols and adds newer ones into the mix in later phases to keep you on your toes. Her speed and attacks get progressively more challenging to read since there is little time to breathe.
The first two phases involve a mix of swordplay and the occasional use of a Talisman (yes, she has this attack, too), red orb explosions, and sword slash projectiles.
Her mutation will take over once she reaches the third phase, and the fight will become something out of an anime. With her unrelenting attacks, she’ll be dashing all over the screen, trying to cut you into pieces like a fruit.
Prepare to die a ton and memorize her every move to stand any chance against her. Even then, you’ll have to go the extra mile!
Tips For Facing Eigong
First and foremost, this is my recommended build to use against Eigong in Nine Sols:
- Hedgehog Jade: Since you’ll be parrying constantly, you might as well inflict Internal Damage with each hit you block.
- Reciprocation Jade: You’ll be using the Unbounded Counter to block her crimson attacks, and this jade will transfer your internal damage to the boss.
- Iron Skin Jade: This jade will convert some damage you receive into internal damage while also boosting your survivability. This will come in handy when paired with the Reciprocation Jade.
- Quick Dose Jade: Since you get extremely short windows, you can heal quickly with this jade equipped in these fleeting moments.
- Azure Bow – Cloud Piercer X: This attack can stagger Eigong out of some lethal attacks.
- Talisman:
- Water Flow if you struggle with manual detonation and want to focus only on the fight (better for the third phase).
- Qi Blast, if manual explosion is easier to pull off for you, and its final upgrade will drop arrows for you so that you can continue to use the Azure Bow.
- Transmute Unto Life: To play safe and receive some HP for every Talisman explosion.
Here are some essential tips to keep in mind when facing Eigoong:
- Keep your eyes on her and not yourself.
- For the most part, she’ll only receive damage from Talisman attacks, but using the jades above, she will also take internal damage from successful parries, resulting in more damage done once you manage to plant a Talisman.
- She does not have many openings to plant Talismans, so you’ll need to be patient and only plant them during specific windows of opportunity.
- She has a ton of unique attacks in total and will generally cycle through them in any random order.
- You must learn and observe how to mitigate each attack, which will take time and practice.
- Each attack has a rhythm, but mastering specific attacks that appear in Phase 2 and Phase 3 will take many attempts.
- You do not want to be aggressive here; instead, react accordingly.
- You don’t need to move much; just let her come to you
- Every time she rushes through you, there will be an opening to plant a Talisman, so watch for when she crosses through you.
- Always face her. She tends to bounce around all over the place, but if you’re not facing her, your parries won’t work, and she’ll strike you from behind.
Eigong – Phase 1 Boss Strategy
Since Eigong’s attacks don’t have a particular pattern, it is best that we don’t discuss each move but rather what you need to identify.
First, she has a High Stance Long Slash with delayed attacks. At max, this chain has four attacks. In this instance, her sword generally points upwards. All attacks can be parried if you get the timing right. There’s a Talisman opening when she dash-attacks past your position or through you, so keep an eye out for that, as that’s one of your few windows in this phase to do any damage.
Next, she’s got a Low Stance with quick attacks. Her sword points to the ground as she attacks in quick succession. You can spam-parry these and make it out generally unscathed. However, there are no openings to counterattack here, so deflect only and wait for other opportunities.
She has a Slide Slash attack where she dashes through you as she sheaths her blade, followed by three quick attacks behind her. Block the attacks if you’re in the rear danger zone or dash away from her, then turn back quickly to hit her with a Talisman. There’s always an opening here to do that, so practice landing the talisman.
Eigong has a Red Talisman attack, similar to Yi’s talisman explosion when hit. Whenever she raises her finger to conjure a Red Talisman, you must jump and perform a Tai-Chi Kick to stun her. She’ll often do this multiple times in a row, so be prepared in advance.
She has a Crimson Orb attack that winds up like the Red Talisman attack. Instead of dashing afterward, she’ll jump and slam down the orb, leading to a massive explosion. You must quickly charge the Unbounded Counter and then release it as she lands to deflect. This is a guaranteed stun, giving you an opening to plant a Talisman.
Lastly, she jumps in the air and descends with a Crimson Fire Down Slash, which leaves lingering fire on the ground. She will always pair this with a Slide Slash attack in this phase. When you see this attack, dash away from her, jump, and continue dashing away. Try to time it so that you’re mid-jump when she lands and slash dashes toward you, then Dash over her head and plant a Talisman while avoiding the strike behind you.
Know that these two moves are always paired in the first phase; they can be performed interchangeably in the second and third phases.
Take advantage of the few windows of countering, and you’ll soon proceed to the second phase.
Eigong – Phase 2 Boss Strategy
Once Eigong’s first health bar is depleted, she’ll quickly get back on her feet to start the next phase, so there will be little time to relax. She’ll continue using all her previous attacks while adding new ones to her repertoire.
The second phase starts with her new move, the Four-Wave Slash Attack. It sends out four projectiles from her sword: an initial delayed crimson wave, then two regular quick white waves, and a final delayed crimson wave.
While you can try to use the Unbounded counter against the red waves, it might be easier to jump over the red ones and parry the white ones. After jumping over the first red wave, you should be able to parry the subsequent two white waves while falling. Once you land, immediately jump again to avoid the final red wave.
This attack also has a variation where she’ll fire three instead of four waves. It starts with a crimson wave, then two white ones, followed by the Slide Slash attack with the three slashes behind her. If her sword isn’t glowing red after the third wave, she will do this attack instead. This has a talisman opening at the end, so exploit it.
The Red Talisman attack from phase one also gets two new variations here if you Tai-Chi Kick deflect it:
- Eigong will follow it with a sword uppercut, then performs a variation of the Crimson Orb attack that creates a pillar of fire instead of an explosion and then the classic Crimson Orb attack.
- Counter: After deflecting the first upward strike, dash out of the way of the next crimson attack. A column of fire will rise up from the ground once she lands. Wait until after this animation to start charging the Unbounded Counter and release it as she lands on you with the Crimson Orb attack, leaving her stunned and open to a Talisman strike.
- She will follow it with a sword uppercut, then an airborne sword down slash, ending with the Crimson Fire Down Slash.
- Counter: Parry the initial uppercut and quickly parry the down slash. This should propel you towards the ground. Then, charge the Undounded Counter and release it as she lands using the crimson attack. This will stun her for a brief moment where you can land a talisman.
- If she doesn’t perform the following sword uppercut, she will instead teleport in the air and use the Crimson Fire Down Slash, usually followed up by the Slide Slash attack with the delayed three-strike slashes attack.
- Counter: Dash to the side to sidestep the crimson down slash. Jump as she dashes under you, then dash forward before planting a Talisman.
She has a few minor variations to her attacks and chaining random attacks from the previous phase—those you already know how to tackle. Continue to exploit the open windows, and the third phase won’t be far.
Eigong – Phase 3 Boss Strategy
When Eigong’s second health bar is exhausted, she’ll kneel, and her mutation will become visible. Again, this phase has all the attacks as before, but a couple of new ultimate attacks could end you if you don’t counter them precisely. There are two new such attacks for which to remain vigilant.
She’ll always start phase three by disappearing and doing some combination of three screen-wide attacks, where she flashes across the screen, slashing anything in her path all anime-style.
It will either be three blockable white slashes or two white attacks with a third crimson slash. In some instances, there will be six screen-wide attacks in total, but generally, there will only be three. When this happens, you want to parry, parry, and dash, or jump, dash, if you’re in the horizontal line of fire.
This attack will then transition into any of her phase two attacks, though it usually is the Red Talisman attack phase two chains. As soon as you move past the screen-wide attacks, you must immediately perform an airborne Tai-Chi Kick to fend off the Red Talisman and follow the rest of the rhythm, depending on the combo.
The only cue you’ll get that she’s about to do the screen-wide slash is that she disappears. Keep an eye on her at all times, and remember to parry, parry, dodge. Ideally, you want to be in the air at the end of the last strike, as you’ll almost always need to counter a red Talisman attack as you land.
She does not have many openings in either the second or third phase, but one good way to catch her consistently is after a Red Talisman attack, where she leaps into the air, doing the two white attacks followed by a Crimson Fire Down Slash. Once she lands on the ground, she will always pause. This is your chance to either heal, hit her with an arrow, or Unbounded Counter her, followed by a Talisman Strike.
By now, you must have died enough times to memorize Eigong’s moveset and how to counter them. The last phase is all about playing extra safe and choosing only the most opportune time to strike. Couple that with the correct method of surviving her ultimate attacks, and you should come out victorious.
If you thought Sekiro’s Isshin was hard, you have no idea what Eigong is capable of in Nine Sols. When I first faced her, I had to lower the enemy damage output slider from the game’s settings. I went on to train with her and died countless deaths until I was confident I could take her on the intended way. I soon did, and there hasn’t been anything more satisfying than slaying this boss. There is no shame in doing what I did!