With elements of action RPGs, action adventures, hack-and-slash titles, and, yes, Souls-likes all mashed together, Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong makes for a compelling experience. It can also be uniquely challenging, especially if you know nothing about Journey to the West. Fortunately, we have a few tips and tricks that can help throughout, whether it’s which spells to favor, where to find certain NPCs and more. Without further ado, let’s jump in.
Explore, Explore, Explore
Even if you’re keen on rushing to the next boss fight, take some time and explore every nook and cranny of an area. You’ll discover plants and other materials used for crafting items and discover optional boss fights. Beat them, and you can earn additional Will and valuable resources.
Staff Crafting
Speaking of the staff, it’s the only weapon type players can yield throughout their journey (not including the weapons unique to Transformations). However, you can craft different kinds of staves, each with unique effects. Some of these, like the Legendary Spikeshaft Staff, allow for continuously generating Focus after Seeing Through an enemy, synergizing quite well with the Smash Stance’s upgrades. It’s also worth noting that some staves have upgrade trees and can go through different paths depending on the resources available, so choose carefully depending on your build.
Focus on Stamina Upgrades
While it may seem like a good idea to invest in the Survival tree for more health or even unlock Mobile Spin from the Martial Arts tree, ensure you focus the better part of your Foundation unlocks in Stamina. Given how vital it can be in combat, especially when running around and dodging, reducing the Stamina cost of both actions is paramount. Other upgrades like more agile dashes, dodging no longer interrupting a Light Attack combo, increasing the Focus gained from Perfect Dodges, and more are also excellent in all scenarios.
Favoring Smash Stance
Players have three Stances to switch between during combat – Smash, Pillar and Thrust. Each offers different techniques and upgrades but focus on Smash Stance first. It’s a strong all-around option, which grants damage reduction with a charged Heavy Attack and provides Resolute Strike, allowing one to see through enemies’ attacks and nullify damage. The latter also makes it easier to stagger enemies.
You shouldn’t outright neglect Pillar and Thrust by any means, but they excel in more specific scenarios (like avoiding ground attacks or poking enemies from a safe distance).
Upgrade Cloud Step
When dealing with super-aggressive bosses, Cloud Step is great for diverting some of that aggro, leaving behind a decoy while the player turns into mist. You can then reposition for an Unveiling Strike or take a breather and recover. It’s also ideal when swarmed by enemies since upgrades like Bait create a shockwave once per second when the decoy takes damage.
Upgrade A Pluck of Many
Another strong spell for making space is A Pluck of Many, which creates multiple Duplicates to engage a foe. Though it has a whopping 120-second cooldown, subsequent upgrades allow for extending the duration, damage, and health of Duplicates. They can even restore some Focus with successive Light Attacks.
Upgrade Immobilize
However, your best tool for taking on the most challenging enemies is Immobilize. It has a 50-second cooldown and stops enemies in their tracks for a brief period. Unlocking further upgrades allows for increasing the damage dealt to immobilized enemies. While it may seem dangerous to use while an enemy is mid-attack animation, another upgrade, Evanescence, turns that into an advantage, extending Immobilize’s duration further and massively increasing the damage they receive.
Upgrading the Gourd
There are a few non-playable characters in Black Myth: Wukong, who can help out in various ways. Shen Monkey, for example, can upgrade the player’s Gourd (used for replenishing health) and also provides Soaks with different effects, like restoring a moderate amount of Mana when at full health. To find him, fast travel to Black Wind Mountain, specifically the Bamboo Grove and Marsh of White Mist. Upon spawning, go straight and take a right into the cave to find him.
Permanent Upgrades
Another important NPC is Xu Dog, located in Yellow Wind Ridge. Fast travel to the Cellar of the Crouching Tiger Temple – he’s right near the essence. If you have enough Will and Mind Cores, he’ll permanently upgrade your maximum health, Mana, Stamina, defense, Stamina recovery rate, and more. Each subsequent upgrade is costlier than the last. Thankfully, respeccing is free, allowing you to redo any stat choices.
Learn Patterns, Exploit Weaknesses
Though Black Myth: Wukong isn’t a difficult game overall, there are some challenging bosses. As with any hack-and-slash title, learning their patterns and when to attack is essential, along with carefully conserving Mana for using spells. Once you discover their weaknesses, taking them down is only a matter of time.
Consumables
While consumables may seem optional, you shouldn’t neglect them. They can provide various effects, from increasing your maximum health to causing all actions to briefly not cost Stamina. Some can significantly improve your damage as well – another even increases your critical hit chance and critical damage for a long period. If that weren’t enough, there are even consumables that can remove negative status effects and provide brief resistance to elemental damage afterwards. Finding the right time to use these will be key in some fights, so keep that in mind.
Armor Crafting
Armor is interesting because many pieces will get unlocked automatically as you progress through the story. You can craft different kinds using Will and resources like Silk and Yarn, with higher tiers requiring rarer materials. Aside from the stats and set bonuses, keep an eye out for Unique Effects. For example, the Pilgrim’s Headband allows for using the Gourd while sprinting, and the Golden Mask of Fury provides a significant amount of Focus after using Spirit Skills and changing back.
Curios
Selecting Curios may not be as taxing as finding the right build, but they have their uses. We recommend the Back Scratcher and Wind Chime in the early going because the former will considerably increase your maximum Stamina (which is always good to have). The latter slightly increases movement speed, meaning more agility.
Cultivate Spirits and Upgrade Transformations
It’s been said before but bears repeating: Don’t forget to upgrade your Spirits and Transformations. Cultivating the former will reduce their Qi cost, allowing you to utilize them more often. Meanwhile, Transformations have Talents, which can provide benefits as well. It’s also worth investing in the general upgrades since they can increase the health and damage of different forms, retain some Might after exiting a Transformation and more.
Be Aggressive
Since the player doesn’t inherently have long-range attack options, close combat is the only way to fight in Black Myth: Wukong. And while there are some options for hanging back or briefly escaping, you’ll still need to get up close and personal to deal with an enemy. Being aggressive is as valid a strategy as retreating – Perfect Dodges can recharge Focus, which can power maneuvers like Resolute Strike to see through attacks.
It also helps to stagger enemies easily, providing a much-needed window to recover or pile on the damage. You could also use that Focus to climb up the staff in Pillar Stance and avoid damage before transitioning into a powerful Heavy strike. Some of the best options are available up close, so use them.
