The Most Clever Strategies Used By Sung Jin-Woo In Solo Leveling

Summary

• Stop and Analyze – Take a moment to assess, not attack.
• The Eye Pokes – Targeting the eyes as a strategy.
• A Numerical Advantage – Overwhelm enemies with increasing shadow soldiers.

Ever since he earned the ability to keep leveling up, Sung Jin-woo has been fighting every opponent head-on. He is not the type to wait for the right moment or to spend a long time strategizing before entering a battle. He fights them all with whatever skills and weapons that he has at the time.

However, that doesn’t mean Jin-woo doesn’t use his head at all during the fight. On the contrary, one of the reasons he can defeat those strong enemies is because he can come up with great strategies while in the middle of an intense battle. With that in mind, here are the most clever strategies used by Sung Jin-woo in Solo Leveling, ranked based on how interesting they are. To avoid spoilers for those who prefer to only watch the anime, this list focuses solely on the battles that have been adapted into the anime as of this writing.

7

Stop And Analyze

Keep Calm And See The Signs

• Story Arc: D-Rank Dungeon Arc
• Enemy: Giant Statues
• Episodes: Episodes 2-3

This one might seem like common sense, yet it’s surprising how many fighters ignore it in battle. Most will simply power through the enemy while unleashing every skill at their disposal, but sometimes, the smartest move isn’t attacking; it’s stepping back and observing. Taking a moment to assess the situation and find the best path to victory is a strategy that separates reckless brawlers from clever fighters.

Jin-woo has used this simple strategy quite a lot, especially when he was still a lower-rank hunter. In fact, the only reason his teammates survived the Double Dungeon incident was because Jin-woo would stop in his tracks and analyze every bit of information that he had, which allowed him to come up with the right solutions. He also uses this strategy in his fight against the Giant Snake and Cerberus.

6

The Eye Pokes

Attacking The Obvious Weakness

• Story Arc: Dungeon and Prisoners Arc, Job Change Arc
• Enemy: Cerberus, Igris
• Episodes: Episode 7, Episode 11

In his quest to get stronger, Jin-woo has to face numerous enemies who have incredibly tough exteriors, such as Cerberus and its tough hide, or Igris and his sturdy armor. No matter how many times Jin-woo stabbed and slashed them with his trusted daggers, he couldn’t even leave a scratch. In that case, he goes to the only soft part of his opponent’s body, the eyes. He used this simple yet difficult to execute tactic to great success against both Cerberus and Igris.

While eye pokes may sound simple at first, the challenge lies in finding a way to target the eyes accurately when the opponents are much stronger and faster than he is. Jin-woo waits for Igris until the Red Knight’s sword is about to touch his neck. He catches the blade with his left hand and stabs Igris’ eyes with his right hand. For Cerberus, Jin-woo uses the moment the Guardian of Hell sinks its sharp fangs into his body to stab its large eyes over and over again.

5

Choosing His Enemy

One Strong Enemy Is Better Than Countless Regular Enemies

• Story Arc: Red Gate Arc
• Enemy: Ice Bear
• Episodes: Episode 1 (Season 2)

Sometimes, the best strategy comes in the form of something as simple as choosing the right opponent. This is precisely what happens when Jin-woo and several hunters from the White Tiger guild enter the infamous Red Gate. Kim Chul, an A-Rank hunter and the group leader, decides to take the strong members and explore the Snow Plains to look for a way out. Jin-woo, on the other hand, takes the weak members and heads for the woods.

Kim Chul laughs at this decision because he knows the forest is the territory of the terrifying Ice Bear. The fact that the forest is the Ice Bears’ territory is the reason why Jin-woo takes his team into the woods. He knows that no other magic beast will dare to enter the home of such a terrifying predator, which means they only have to worry about the Ice Bears. Kim Chul, on the other hand, has to worry about the Ice Elves, the wolves, and other magic beasts that roam the snow plains.

4

Team Combat

Teaming Up With The Shadows

• Story Arc: Red Gate Arc
• Enemy: Baruka
• Episodes: Episode 2 (Season 2)

Once he gained the necromancer skills to create shadows of fallen adversaries, Jin-woo developed the following strategy: Let the shadow soldiers deal with the small fries while he personally goes for the leader of the pack. In his fight with Baruka, the leader of the Ice Elves, he revised that strategy and decided to work as a team with his strongest shadows.

Baruka is not only stronger than Jin-woo at the time, but they also have similar fighting styles. This means Baruka can pretty much guess Jin-woo’s movements and attack patterns. That’s why Jin-woo forms a team with Igris and Iron and turns the fight into a three vs one battle. Iron defended against Baruka’s attacks while Igris swung his lethal sword at Baruka. At the same time, Jin-woo sneaks in from the enemy’s blind spot and pierces Baruka’s flesh with his poisonous dagger.

3

Turns An Advantage Into A Disadvantage

Kill The Momentum

• Story Arc: Demon Castle Arc
• Enemy: Vulcan
• Episodes: Episode 3 (Season 2)

Vulcan is one of the most unique monsters that Jin-woo has ever encountered. This Demon Lord has the size of a multi-story building and is built like a giant tank. A casual swing from his massive club has enough force to turn a house into rubble, but the most surprising thing about him is the fact that he can move as fast as an assassin. The sheer momentum of that massive body hurtling forward at high speed is nothing short of devastating.

That being said, Jin-woo noticed something interesting during their fight. It stands to reason that anyone who can move at high speed despite their massive size will struggle to come to an abrupt stop. Vulcan is no different. Jin-woo uses this fact to force Vulcan into a vulnerable situation. He baits the demon into chasing him around before suddenly stopping at the side of a skyscraper. Vulcan can’t react fast enough and ends up crashing into the building. Jin-woo uses that precise moment when his enemy is staggered to deliver the finishing blow.

2

Dismounting The Rider

Take Out The Mount To Get To Its Rider

• Story Arc: Return to the Demon Castle Arc
• Enemy: Baran
• Episodes: Episode 8

This one is actually a tactic that was often used in the real world during the Medieval era. When fighting against a mounted warrior, the first thing that needs to be done is to attack the horse and dismount the rider. Once the warrior has lost his mount, he has no choice but to engage in close-quarters combat.

This tactic also works when the opponent is riding a massive wyvern. It’s nearly impossible for Jin-woo to attack Baran while he is still hovering in the air on the back of his wyvern. So, Jin-woo sent Tusk to unleash a powerful fire attack on Baran. While the Monarch of Demons is busy defending against Tusk’s fire, Jin-woo throws Igris’ large sword toward the wyvern and successfully severs its neck. With his mount gone, Baran has no choice but to fight on the ground.

1

A Numerical Advantage

The Longer The Fight, The Bigger The Army

• Story Arc: Hunter’s Guild Gate Arc
• Enemy: Kargalgan
• Episodes: Episode 6 (Season 2)

As mentioned earlier, Jin-woo’s favorite tactic is to use his shadow soldiers to take out the goons while he goes for the boss. Unfortunately, apart from several strong shadows like Igris and Iron, A-rank hunters can still annihilate most of his shadow soldiers with ease. That’s why Kargalgan doesn’t pay much attention to Jin-woo’s shadows. He knows his strong Orc soldiers can handle those shadows without breaking a sweat. What he doesn’t realize, however, is the fact that it is extremely dangerous to send in many troops against Sung Jin-woo.

Jin-woo can revive his shadows over and over again as long as he has mana left. This means the Orc soldiers will be defeated sooner or later. Not only that, as the Monarch of Shadows, Jin-woo can turn fallen enemies into his loyal shadow soldiers, so the longer the battle continues, the more the enemy will lose soldiers while Jin-woo will have more shadows on his side. His ultimate strategy is basically to overwhelm the enemy with his increasing number of shadow soldiers. By the time Kargalgan realizes what has happened, all his Orc soldiers have already become Jin-woo’s shadows. At that point, it’s only a matter of time before he awakens as a shadow as well.