Xiao hurts. If you've spent any significant time in the Urban Nightmare or Star of the City tiers of Library of Ruina, you know that name represents a massive, flaming brick wall. She isn't just another boss in Project Moon’s dystopian deck-builder; she’s a narrative and mechanical climax that humbles even the most optimized builds. Honestly, the first time you see that transition into her E.G.O form, it feels less like a fair fight and more like an execution.
She represents the peak of the Liu Association, the section of Fixers who specialize in emotional stability and raw, burning combat prowess. Xiao is the Director of Section 1, and her fight is arguably the most emotionally charged moment in the game’s late-mid-game. You aren't just fighting a high-stat monster. You're fighting a grieving widow with the literal power of a dragon and a set of mechanics that punish you for breathing wrong.
The Mechanics of Burning Out
Xiao is a lesson in pain management. Specifically, Burn management. Most players go into the Library of Ruina Xiao reception thinking they can just out-damage her. Big mistake. Huge.
The fight is a two-stage endurance test. The first act is a warm-up against Xiao and her subordinates, but the second act is where the "Xiao Experience" actually begins. This is where she manifests her E.G.O: Xiao. It’s a complete transformation. She gains massive resistances and starts stacking Burn on your librarians like she’s handing out flyers. If you aren't careful, your entire team will melt before you even get her to half health.
What makes this fight so uniquely brutal is the Power Nullification mechanic. During specific scenes, Xiao will use pages that essentially tell your strength buffs to go away. If you’ve been relying on "The Strongest" or "Myo’s Prowess" to carry you through the game, Xiao is the developer’s way of saying: "Try something else." You have to win clashes with raw dice values or very specific debuffs. It’s a total shift in strategy.
💡 You might also like: Why the GTA San Andreas Motorcycle is Still the Best Way to Get Around Los Santos
You’ve got to watch the "Pu-reum" and "Hwi-ik" pages. These aren't just flavor names. They dictate the rhythm of the fight. If you don't clash with the right dice at the right time, the "Ember" status effect will stack until your librarians are basically human torches. It’s a lot to keep track of. Honestly, it’s a bit much for most people on their first five tries.
Why the Story Hits So Hard
It’s not just the math that makes the Library of Ruina Xiao fight memorable. It's the tragedy. Project Moon is famous for making you feel like a villain, and this reception is the pinnacle of that feeling.
Xiao enters the library to find her husband, Lowell. You already killed him. You probably used his books to burn his friends. Xiao knows this. Her descent into the library isn't a quest for justice; it’s a suicide mission fueled by pure, unadulterated rage and grief. When she finally manifests her E.G.O, it’s because she chooses to hold onto her humanity and her pain rather than succumb to the Distortion.
The music changes. "Iron Lotus" kicks in. If you haven't heard the Mili track for this fight, you’re missing half the experience. The lyrics reflect her mental state—the idea of a flower blooming in a furnace. It’s beautiful and terrifying. You realize that in any other story, Xiao would be the protagonist. She’s the hero fighting against the mysterious, soul-sucking Library. And you? You're the one holding the keys.
📖 Related: Dandys World Ship Chart: What Most People Get Wrong
The Gear You Actually Need
Don't go in there with Urban Myth pages. You need the best of the best from the Star of the City.
- Purple Tear (Iori): Her stance-shifting is almost mandatory for surviving the long haul.
- Nikolai: You need "The Commander" for those sweet, sweet buffs to keep your dice rolls competitive.
- Binah’s Floor: A lot of people swear by the Floor of Philosophy. Why? Degradation. Fairy stacks deal damage that ignores Xiao’s massive defensive resistances. It’s slow, but it’s safe. Sorta.
- Yesod’s Floor: If you want to go the "ungabung" route, the Floor of Technological Sciences with "Myo’s Prowess" and "Dark Flame" can work, but you have to time it perfectly so Xiao doesn't nullify your power during your burst window.
Basically, you need a way to deal damage that isn't just "hitting her hard." Bleed, Fairy, and Burn (if you can somehow out-burn the master of fire) are your friends. But mostly Fairy. Binah is the queen of this fight for a reason.
Common Mistakes People Make with Xiao
The biggest trap is ignoring the "Reverse Scale" mechanic. Xiao has a passive that punishes you for hitting her too much or too little at the wrong times. If you trigger her counter-attacks improperly, she will wipe your board in a single scene. It requires a level of reading comprehension that most gamers (myself included) struggle with when a giant fire dragon is screaming at them.
Another mistake? Not bringing enough light restoration. This is a long fight. If you run out of steam by Scene 6, you're dead. You need a deck that is perfectly balanced between high-cost "nukes" and low-cost "cyclers."
👉 See also: Amy Rose Sex Doll: What Most People Get Wrong
Then there’s the emotional distraction. It sounds silly, but the "Iron Lotus" drop usually makes players play more aggressively. You feel the music, you want to finish the fight, and you overextend. Xiao punishes impatience. She is a slow burn—literally. You have to be okay with taking small wins over twenty scenes rather than trying to win in five.
The Legacy of the Liu Association
After you beat her—if you beat her—you get her Key Page. It is, without exaggeration, one of the best in the game. It allows your librarians to manifest E.G.O, changing their card art and giving them access to massive area-of-effect (AoE) attacks. It’s the ultimate reward for the ultimate challenge.
But there’s a bitterness to it. Using Xiao’s pages feels like wearing a trophy made of someone’s broken heart. That’s Library of Ruina in a nutshell, though. Every piece of power you gain comes from the literal destruction of someone who had a life, a dream, and a person they loved. Xiao just happens to be the one who fought the hardest to keep hers.
How to Prep for the Fight Right Now
If you're staring at the Xiao reception screen right now and feeling the dread, take a breath.
- Stop using auto-battle. Just don't. You need to manually target every single die.
- Read the passives again. Specifically, look at how "Ember" works.
- Check your resistances. If your librarians are weak to Slash or Fire damage, they won't last three scenes.
- Farm the Red Mist first. If you don't have Gebura’s page and the "Red Mist" manifestation, you're playing on hard mode for no reason.
The Library of Ruina Xiao fight isn't just a hurdle; it’s the moment the game asks you if you’ve actually been paying attention to the mechanics. It’s the final exam of the Star of the City. Once you pass it, you’re ready for the endgame. But you'll never forget the smell of smoke and the sound of that flute in the background.
To successfully clear this encounter, focus your deck-building on Passive Attribution. Transfer "Lian" and "Puffy Brume" to your main carries to mitigate the chip damage from Burn. Ensure your Floor of Philosophy has "Tilted Scale" ready to manage the light economy, as Binah’s pages are notoriously expensive. Prioritize clashing with Xiao's "Raging Storm: Love" page using your highest-rolling individual dice to prevent the massive power boost she gains upon a successful hit. Finally, save your own E.G.O pages for the moment her stagger bar is nearly empty; a single wasted turn against her manifested state usually results in a total party wipe.