It's difficult to name a single best Gourd in Black Myth Wukong. You obtain several options as you progress your Journey. Some of them are specialized and others work the same regardless of the situation. But with that said, some Gourds are definitely better than others.
Best Early Game Gourds
Early game here refers to Chapters 1 through 3. If you pre-ordered Black Myth Wukong, you can use Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd starting in Chapter 1 where it's a great option. But if you didn't pre-order the game you get this Gourd late in Chapter 3. At that point, you should have already obtained the superior Jade Lotus Gourd.
During the early game, you don't have a ton of Gourd options. But there's one that stands out as the best, the Jade Lotus Gourd which has 6 uses by default. For 3 Luojia Fragrant Vine Fragments, you can upgrade it into the Jade Guanyin Gourd and increase the uses to 8. In addition, it heals the duplicates from your A Pluck of Many Spell. You purchase the Jade Lotus Gourd from Shen Monkey after completing Chapter 2. If you're specifically going up against an enemy who inflicts Chill, swap to the Fiery Gourd.
Your starting Gourd is also a solid option. You should use and upgrade this until you get something better. When fully upgraded it has 10 charges, which is the most out of any Gourd. However, fully upgrading it requires you to reach Chapter 5 and obtain quite a few Luojia Fragrant Vine Fragments. If all you need is healing this continues to perform well for the rest of the game.
Best Gourds
But what Gourd is the best when your options aren't so limited? Chapters 4 through 6 give you several new options, and entering New Game+ adds one more Gourd to the list. That said there are 3 which stand out for different reasons.
First up, the Stained Jade Gourd because it increases your drinking speed. This makes it much easier to drink in the middle of a fight, especially the more hectic ones. If this is the difference between needing to heal once or having to heal twice because you got hit this Gourd is unmatched. While 7 charges is a bit low, the effect is powerful enough to make it well worth using!
On the other hand, if you're good at avoiding damage, you can use the Immortal Blessing Gourd. This Gourd reduces the healing in exchange for providing an Attack Boost. You can combine this with Drinks like Jade Essence or Loong Balm, then toss on some Soaks like the Turtle Tear and Tiger Relic to buff yourself even more with every sip!
Then you have the Qing-Tian Gourd which is exclusive to New Game+. This provides the most consistent healing over the course of a long fight. It has 1 charge that regenerates over time. Alternatively, you can combine it with Jade Essence and Turtle Tear to regularly recover your Mana throughout a fight. While this effect is very powerful, it's a double edged sword. You can't use your Gourd twice in a row and for short fights that unfold over a couple minutes, you get more uses out of the Supreme Gourd and more utility out of the Stained Jade Gourd. That said, there are plenty of fights in the 4 to 7 minute range where the Qing-Tian Gourd shines.
Check out our Gourds, Drinks and Soaks Guide to learn about all the Gourds available in Black Myth Wukong and where to get them.
Summary
Learn the best Gourds to use in the early game and what more powerful options are available in later Chapters. The early game list focuses on options like the Jade Lotus Gourd which are easy to get and have higher charges. Whereas, the overall list focuses more on special effects, like the drinking speed increase from the Stained Jade Gourd. There are, however, a few other options to consider as well.
Written by: Tenkiei
