Black Myth Wukong Beginner’s Guide

Welcome to the Black Myth Wukong Beginner's guide, as you start your journey there's a lot to learn. You play as the Destined One, following the Journey to the West to reclaim 6 powerful relics. There are 6 chapters to explore as you follow the game's linear narrative. Along the way you encounter a few friends, and many many enemies. The game features around 100 boss fights in addition to numerous smaller enemies. There's a huge focus on different gameplay systems and blending them together for a combat experience that balances skill and spectacle.

Black Myth Wukong contains multiple progression systems which are slowly revealed as you play through chapters 1 and 2. You get a lot of tools, but you get them one at a time and then the game gives you some time to use them and learn which keeps the experience from being overwhelming. By the end, you have your gear (armor, weapons, and Curios), Spells, Stances, Spirits, Vessels, Relics, and consumables each of which enhances the Destined One in a slightly different way.

Introduction

The game opens with a battle between Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen, the Sacred Divinity. During this tutorial, you have plenty of time to get comfortable with the game's controls or sit back and enjoy the narrative. This is a fair bit more powerful than you are at the very start, but by the endgame, you easily feel this strong (at least if you time your dodges well.)

After the battle you take control of the Destined One and explore the Forest of Wolves, learning more about the game's various systems throughout Chapter 1. The Keeper of Black Wind Mountain guides you through the first chapter, appearing to give you helpful tips and unlock new abilities like the Immobilize Spell.

Combat Basics

You're going to face a lot of enemies in Black Myth Wukong, most of the early enemies found out in the world are trivial, they go down in a few hits and have attacks that are easy to avoid. But when you encounter a larger enemy with a name and a dedicated health bar that's when you need to pay more attention. Most of your moves in combat require resources, attacking, dodging, and sprinting consume Stamina, whereas Spells are fueled by Mana and have a cooldown. In general, your Stamina regeneration is very generous, and you can attack while out of Stamina but you do reduced damage. Let's over the basics of combat in Black Myth Wukong now, then move on to more advanced features in later sections of this beginner's guide.

Controls

Here's the basics of your combat toolkit:

• Light Attack, these aren't particularly damaging and have low stagger buildup but they have a fast animation. Your sequence ends in a Light Finisher.
• Heavy Attack, is a slower strike that hits harder and is much more effective when it comes to staggering bosses. You can charge your Heavy Attack and expend Focus for more damage.
• Dodge, tap the keybind or combine it with a direction to move out of harm's way. This has a short window of invulnerability, if you Perfect Dodge right as the attack would hit you then you're rewarded with some Focus.
• Sprint, steadlily consumes Stamina to increase your movement speed. This adds a lot of mobility which helps a lot when fighting bosses.
• Staff Spin, the Destined One consumes Stamina to spin his staff deflecting projectiles. This is quite nice as you don't really have range attacks.
• When you need to heal, take a sip from your Gourd. Healing in combat is difficult because the Gourd has a long animation and limited charges so do your best to avoid unnecessary damage.
• Spirit, spend Qi to transform yourself into a Yaoguai to execute a single attack. There are over 50 Spirits each with a different attack and passive bonus.
• Spellcasting, as you progress your Journey you gain access to Mysticism, Alteration, Strand, and Transformation Spells. The first 3 cost Mana whereas Might powers Transformation Spells.
• There's a variety of consumable Medicines on offer, these remove statuses or provide buffs. Like with the Gourd, there's a pretty long animation to use these which makes it difficult in combat.
• You can change between Smash Stance, Thrust Stance, and Pillar Stance. Each changes your attack pattern and unlocks new combos.

Sparks and Leveling

As you defeat enemies you gain Will and Experience. Spend your Will at various vendors, or use it to craft new weapons and armor at a Shrine. You can also use Will along with some materials to enhance your Spirits through Cultivation. When you gain enough Experience to level up you get a Spark, these are skill points. Spend them under the Self-Advancement menu to enhance your various abilities.

Exploration

Black Myth Wukong is a linear game, but some areas do offer a few branching paths to explore. If you're trying to complete the main story it's pretty difficult to get lost for long. Most of the enemies you encounter, especially in the early chapters aren't a serious threat, but they do get more dangerous as the game goes on.

Keep an eye out for meditation points. Resting at these provides a nice break from the action and rewards you with a Spark. Also keep an eye out for Celestial Medicines, these offer one-time permanent stat increases.

If you see a golden trail glittering through the air, this means you're near a Keeper's Shrine. These are your rest points throughout the game. When you rest at a Shrine, your resources are restored and most basic enemies respawn. Bosses and some more powerful enemies do not respawn once killed. You can do a few more things at Keeper Shrines.

• Travel between all of the Keeper Shrines you've unlocked.
• Self-Advance, change your Spells, reignite Sparks (respec), or Cultivate Spirits (spending resources to increase their stats).
• Craft weapons or armor.
• Brew, change the effect of your Gourd, and add bonuses via Soaks.
• Buy or Sell a selection of items.
• Make Medicines. (once unlocked by progressing the story)
• Reclaim Spirits, use this if you defeated a Spirit-granting enemy, but did not collect it.

Boss Fights

There are 100 boss fights in Black Myth Wukong and most of them are unique. Some bosses are quite easy with simple patterns and low health. For these, you can often overpower them by resting at a Shrine and then committing your resources. On the other hand, Chapter bosses and Secret bosses tend to be much more difficult. Some of these are epic battles which can take dozens of attempts as you build muscle memory, internalize their patterns, and correctly time your dodges.

For example, the Wandering Wight is an optional boss found in Chapter 1's Forest of Wolves. In comparison to the other things you fight in this area, he is brutally difficult! With a single strike, he can easily take off a third of the Destined One's health. Many of these difficult optional bosses are very rewarding, learning the Wandering Wight's patterns helps you against Elder Jinchi, a secret boss found later in Chapter 1. In addition, you gain the Wandering Wight as a Spirit after progressing the story a bit more. Most of the time, the optional bosses are more difficult, especially the ones found in secret areas. On the other hand, the main story bosses have cutscenes and spectacle along with more narrative weight but tend to be easier as you can use Vessels to counter their most dangerous mechanics. After you finish the Beginner's guide, if you want to look into specific bosses in more details, head back to our Black Myth Wukong section and select "Bosses" up top!

Gear

As you defeat bosses and complete quests you gain access to new weapons and armor sets. Weapons have attack rating and often provide critical strike chance. Armor provides defenses and often gives you resistance to one of the four Banes (negative statuses like burning and poison). Equipping multiple gear pieces from the same set provides additional bonuses, you can either use a full 4pc set or combine multiple to mix and match. In addition, some gear pieces have unique effects. If there's a low level set you really like, you can level it up later through gear crafting, this unlocks after you encounter the Yin Tiger Blacksmith by completing Cheng Loong's quest to access the Zodiac Village in Ruyi Scroll.

There are a few other things you can equip as well. First up, Curios, these give a small bonus similar to trinkets or talismans in other titles. Second, you can change the contents of your Gourd to provide different healing effects, including adding Soaks for further bonuses. As you level up your Gourd and drinks these effects become more potent. Then lastly you equip a Yaoguai Spirit to use in combat and a Vessel which you can use to turn the tides of combat in your favor. Most of these can be changed on the fly, but to swap your Gourd you need to Brew at a Shrine.

Stances

The Destined One can switch between three different stances. Smash Stance is unlocked from the start of the game, it focuses on mobility and is the only stance where you can charge your Heavy Attack while moving. Pillar Stance unlocks at level 5, it specializes in defense allowing you to hop up onto the top of your staff and avoid certain attacks. Then Thrust Stance unlocks at level 20 and provides tremendous reach along with the ability to instantly execute a charged Heavy Attack after reaching 4 points of Focus. As you level up and put more points into your Stances, you unlock additional Focus Points and new talents. There are also some Generic Stance points which enhance your attacks. The first generic talent heals you when you consume Focus making it an excellent thing to pick up!

There are two important mechanics which interact with your Stances. Focus and Varied Combos. Focus is a resource that builds up as you strike enemies in combat, alternatively, it can be built up by holding down your Heavy Attack key to charge. Spending Focus increases the damage of your Heavy Attack and sometimes adds new effects. Varied Combos refers to a sequence where you start with Light Attacks, then interrupt your combo by executing a Heavy Attack. Each Stance has its own unique Varied Combo. For example, with Smash Stance you can execute a Varied Combo right as an enemy attacks you to See Through their attack completely negating damage. The more points you invest into a Stance, you're able to pull off increasingly complex sequences when using a Varied Combo.

Spells

The Destined One acquires a wide variety of spells along his Journey, most spells have a Mana cost and a cooldown. These are split into 4 broad categories you can only use 1 spell from each category at a given time. You obtain several spells by defeating secret bosses and completing quests, check out our Black Myth Wukong quest guides after you finish reading the Beginner's Guide to learn more.

Mysticism

The first spell you acquire is Immobilize, you get this from the Keeper of Black Wind Mountain as part of the game's tutorial. This spell is from the Mysticism tree making it mutually exclusive with Ring of Fire and Spell Binder.

Alteration

Your Alteration spells are defensive in nature. The first one you acquire is Cloud Step, gain stealth and travel a distance, leaving a clone behind to distract enemies. During Chapter 2 you obtain Rock Solid, where the Destined One turns to stone deflecting an enemy strike. You can use these Spells to completely negate some enemy mechanics.

Strand

Your main Strand Spell is A Pluck of Many, the Destined One creates multiple duplicates who independently attack and damage enemies. These duplicates do significant damage but the spell has a huge Mana Cost and a long animation. Only use it when you know you aren't going to be interrupted by a boss attack! This spell is great for burning through boss health to spend the least amount of time possible in dangerous phases near the end of the fight.

Transformation Spells

Transformations work differently from your other spells. Instead of spending Mana they use Might, a resource you build up by attacking. When you cast a Transformation, you take on a Yaoguai form and gain new moves. In this form you gain a separate health bar, meaning if you die while Transformed you simply revert to your normal form, making this a potent way to negate dangerous enemy attacks!

Each Transformation has a unique Light Attack, Heavy Attack, and Special Move. To use Red Tides as an example; the Light Attack is a series of strikes that light the enemy aflame, the Heavy Attack is a dash strike, and after building up Focus, execute a Dodge into Heavy Attack to unleash a more powerful attack similar to a Charged Heavy Attack.

You collect these Transformations by defeating optional bosses, completing quests, and exploring secret areas. Because Might is a resource you recharge by attacking enemies, this is renewable so use your Transformation frequently.

Spirits

You unlock the ability to harness Spirits by speaking to the Wise Master in the Bamboo Grove, Chapter 1. Spirits are fueled by Qi, a resource that builds as you participate in combat. There are over 50 Spirits to collect along your journey. Some of them are found by defeating bosses, but others come from stronger versions of normal enemies found throughout the world. Use your Gourd to collect the Spirit after defeating your foe, since there are so many different Spirits you should experiment whenever you get a new one to find something that fits your playstyle.

Spirits offer a passive bonus and an active effect. For example, the Wandering Wight passively increases your defense when equipped. Spend your Qi to activate him, temporarily taking his form to slam your head down damaging (and likely staggering) any unlikely foes caught in the strike. Some Spirits are interrupted when you take damage, so you need to position carefully when you use them. Others like the Wandering Wight are difficult to interrupt, and some defensive spirits like Non-Void give temporary invulnerability. Spend Will and materials at Shrines to enhance their effects through Cultivation.

Good Early Game Spirits

Here are a few good Spirits to keep an eye out for as you go through the game's first 2 chapters.

Vessels

Vessels are a special type of item that provides highly effective, yet situational bonuses. The first Vessel you obtain is the Fireproof Mantle, this gives Burn resistance and allows you to avoid damage from environmental fire effects. The active component gives you Burn immunity and is highly effective against the Chapter 1 boss, Black Bear Guai. You obtain the Fireproof Mantle by completing Elder Jinchi's questline. There are several other Vessels to collect in the later chapters, each of which uniquely counters a specific boss. After that, they remain useful for countering enemies with similar skills.

Relics

As you defeat chapter bosses you obtain the Relics of Sun Wukong. These offer you customizable passive bonuses. The first, Craving Eyes is obtained when you defeat Black Bear Guai. Each Relic lets you choose different bonuses, some of these are generic and make the Destined One more powerful. Others are specific to a certain Spell or playstyle. But if you ever change your mind you can always respec at a Shrine by selecting Relic in the Reignite Sparks menu.

Medicines

You come across a variety of Medicines on your journey. Some of them provide temporary bonuses in combat. Tiger Subduing Pellets, for example, increase your attack. Others, counter enemy statuses. Shock-Quelling Powder is a good example of this as it removes the Shocked state and significantly boosts your resistance for a short duration. Using a Medicine in combat takes about as much time as drinking from your Gourd, so be careful when doing this. You unlock the ability to craft Medicines after encountering Xu Dog in Chapter 2 and completing his quest.

Xu Dog can also craft Celestial Medicines if you defeat powerful Yaoguai and bring him Mind Cores. These are permanent stat bonuses! You can increase Health, Mana, Stamina, Defense, Stamina Recovery Rate, Chill, Burn, Poison, and Shock Resistance. Some of these cost more Mind Cores than others, but if you change your mind you can respec using the Remake Celestial Medicines option.

Video

Learn more about getting started in Black Myth Wukong, or the game's various systems with this Beginner's Guide video by Tenkiei!

Summary

Our Beginner's Guide for Black Myth Wukong covers the basics of combat and the many progression systems you interact with along your journey. Learn the difference between different stances, how to craft gear and weapons, and what to expect from the game's many bosses.

• Combat consists of combining Light Attacks, Heavy Attacks, Dodging to avoid damage while weaving in Spells and other special moves.
• Black Myth Wukong unfolds over 6 chapters, each of which has a variety of unique environments and enemies.
• The game has 100 bosses for you to fight and defeat, many smaller bosses are quite easy. But there are also epic battles at the conclusion of each Chapter and downright brutal secret bosses!
• Once you defeat some bosses you get new sets of equipment and weapons to help you with the challenges ahead.
• Swap between three different stances, Smash Stance which focuses on mobility, Pillar Stance which is more defensive and Thrust Stance which excels at reaching far away foes.
• Use a variety of Spells to turn the tides of combat in your favor, including powerful Transformations which completely change your gameplay.
• Collect the Spirits of powerful foes and optional bosses then unleash them in combat with devastating effect!
• Vessels are rare and powerful items which can completely negate some boss mechanics.
• After you defeat each Chapter boss, you obtain a Relic of Sun Wukong, increasing your power.
• Last but not least, craft Celestial Medicines to enhance your stats, or Mortal Medicines to give yourself a temporary boost.

Good luck on your journey, and be sure to check out our other guides to learn more about how to progress and succeed in Black Myth Wukong!

Written by: Tenkiei