Where Winds Meet's toughest enemy isn't a legendary warrior, it's a particularly aggressive goose

It's a lovely day in 10th-century China, and you are face to face with a horrible goose. You've sliced up legendary swordsmen and gone sword-to-staff with ferocious witches, but this foe strikes true fear into your heart. Yes, a large percentage of the Where Winds Meet community, myself included, are struggling to defeat a simple goose. The white-browed goose can be found in Qinghe, close to the Moonveil Mountain fast travel point, but make sure you're prepared for battle if you head on up there.

There are no shotguns in 10th-century China, so you'll have to go goose hunting with your blade, umbrella, or other era-appropriate weapon. Unfortunately, this brutal goose has an inordinate amount of health and deals savage blows in return. It doesn't matter if you're a master of parrying, this goose will prove a challenge.

However, in true Where Winds Meet fashion, you can use the power of Tai Chi to throw the goose into the water, killing it instantly. There's a reason people are calling this one of the best MMORPGs of the year. Full disclosure: this is a bug because swimming hasn't been implemented yet, and the 'true path' involves dying to the goose, reviving near the martial practitioners who teach you how to freeze it in place so you can steal its treasure unscathed. However, that doesn't unlock the achievement and the ability to summon the invincible waterfowl as an ally in boss battles.

However, maybe Where Winds Meet should be known as Titled Goose Game, as there's yet more feathered content in here. As well as fighting the bully of Heaven's Pier, you can aid an ailing goose which may or may not be a demon. If you succeed in saving its precious eggs, you unlock a follower. Yes, it's another goose. However, this one just follows you around and doesn't deal serious damage like the feathered beast from the north that you can summon into boss battles.

Fans have taken this to the next level, though. Players describe crossing the road to avoid alerting geese as if they're hoodlums in a dark alley, and others are creating Dark Souls-style memes in honor of the bird's uncanny combat abilities. "Undoubtedly the strongest beings in the WWM universe," writes one Reddit user, as others plea for help in defeating the winged menace.

Even though I know Tai Chi (it's basically in the tutorial), I'm steering well clear of the geese in Where Winds Meet. Maybe it's childhood trauma of a flock of Canada Geese honking at me and stealing the bread intended for some lovely ducks, or maybe I just can't be bothered with a tough fight that will actually test my reflexes. Either way, if I see a goose, I'm turning the other way and finding a new mission instead.