Players who go with fire builds in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are likely looking forward to casting spells that deal immense cones of channeled damage to their enemies. That is indeed a great strategy, but it's draining on the spirit meter and can be next to impossible to use in boss fights.
The fire build is still perfectly viable, it just means that gamers will have to invest in melee and ranged physical weapons to beat the toughest encounters in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Some of these weapons are flat-out designed for those who invest in the fire virtue, so don't hesitate to use them.
Primary Melee Weapon: Straight Sabre (Dire Tiger)
The fire virtue benefits the style of the straight sabre more than other weapons. Because of this, it's best to try and find a good straight sabre and stick with it. Getting the fire virtue might not be the most important virtue to level up first, but its benefits to martial arts and increased spirit gain mean a character with the straight sabre will be making many extra special attacks.
Of all these primary weapons, the Dire Tiger has the best benefits from levels in the fire virtue. Therefore, it will have more damage than other straight sabres in the long run on a swing-by-swing basis.
Secondary Melee Weapon: Halberd (Sky-Piercing Halberd)
The straight sabre is nice for a quick weapon but it's not exactly the hardest-hitting armament out there. Gamers will find that the Sky-Piercing Halberd has the best boost from fire levels of any weapon in the game, perfect for taking advantage of stunned combatants.
Master switching melee weapons quickly. Use the straight sabre to drain the enemy's spirit bar and, when they get stunned, pull out the halberd to deliver a massive lethal blow. This is far superior to just using the straight sabre to deal such blows. Failing to switch leaves damage on the table.
Ranged Weapon: Bow (Flying General's Bow)
Only two ranged weapons in the game use an attribute other than water. One of them is the Flying General's Bow which has a maximum damage gain from the fire virtue. This means that, with the right build, a heavy-fire virtue investor could easily use this bow as its main weapon.
Still, there is ammo to deal with. And most other ranged weapons until this one only rely on the water virtue. Until unlocking this bow and getting further into the game, plan on using an early game build.
Thrown Weapon: Fire Pot
Because most other builds will be using a repeating crossbow to deal with groups, the fire build will want to use a fire pot to handle these situations. Appropriately, fire pots are thematic with the virtue and will handle mobs that may be tough to deal with in a melee situation.
Stick to the melee weapons and bows in boss fights as tossing a fire pot in the middle of a big battle is tough to pull off. Instead of fire pots in these situations, pull off an effectively timed Divine Beast cast to handle scarier targets.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.