Black Myth: Wukong is an action-packed adventure based on the classic novel, Journey to the West, but no matter how well you might know the story of Sun Wukong, this video game adaptation will still challenge you. If you want to be like the Monkey King, you’ll have to master the game’s many mechanics. Here’s everything you need to know to start that journey on the right foot.
Combat Basics
Black Myth is all about the battles, so knowing your combat basics is essential. Sprinting, attacking, and dodging will all cost you stamina, which is represented by a yellow bar beneath your health in the bottom left corner. That yellow meter lasts longer than you might expect, even at low levels, but it can run out. When it does, you’ll move and attack much slower, so keep an eye on that meter and learn how to feather it during your fights.
There’s a floatiness to the combat that makes everything look really flashy, so don’t be afraid to hammer on that attack button when you can, and dodge away when necessary. Your dodge roll is pretty generous, and your aerial attacks are a great way to get in a hit while still dodging a sweeping attack from the enemy.
How to Heavy Attack
Speaking of attacks, your heavy attack requires its own talking point here. Heavy attacks work quite differently than you might expect in this game; you can’t just alternate between light and heavy on a whim.
By doing successive attacks, or executing a perfect dodge, you’ll fill a curved meter in the bottom right and earn yourself a Focus Point. These can then be spent to unleash a heavy attack in the middle of your combo. Alternatively, they can be charged up and released, if you have a window to do so. In both cases, the heavier attack will deal big damage and potentially stagger the enemy.
It’s worth noting too that your heavy attacks will change depending on what stance you’re in. The Smash Stance heavy attack is the strongest of the three and can be charged while moving, but has the least amount of range; the Pillar stance heavy attack does great AOE damage, but is fairly slow; and the Thrust Stance heavy attack does very good single target damage from a great distance away, but it can be easily interrupted, thus losing the charged up focus attack points. All of these stances can be unlocked by reaching the required level, and then placing a single point into their skill tree.
Making Use of Magic
There’s a lot of melee combat to be had in Black Myth, but our monkey is also capable of casting powerful magic. You’ll unlock a handful of spells throughout the game, and it’s worth using each one at first just to get a feel and figure out which one best suits your play style.
For example, Immobilize can hold enemies in place, letting you get in a few free hits while they’re paralyzed. If you’re able to land a strong attack while the spell is still active, like the final hit of a light combo or a heavy attack, you can actually stagger them and land even more hits even after the spell ends. Upgrading this can lengthen the effect and even stack your damage, so more aggressive players might want to consider it. For a stealthier option, you can focus on Cloud Step. This spell leaves behind a decoy while you sneak around with invisibility. This enables you to pop out of stealth for a powerful surprise attack. This can be especially effective when trying to break through a group of archers to ambush them from behind.
Beating (or Fleeing) Bosses
Even with all those tricks up your sleeve, you’ll still have a tough time with some of the bosses in Black Myth: Wukong. The good news is that you don’t have to fight every single one. Yes, there are mandatory bosses that must be beaten, but several are optional, or even avoidable if you run into them in the field. Chapter 1’s Wandering Wight is one such example.
So, just because you see a health bar at the bottom of the screen doesn’t mean you’re locked in. You’re not a coward for running away and coming back later to fight a boss that seemed a bit too strong at the time.
Skill Trees & Sparks
When it is time to level up, it’s super simple: this game lets you do it right from the pause menu. Just choose the Self-Advance tab, and you’re in. There are a ton of skill trees to choose from and advance, including your health and stamina stats, as well as the magic spells mentioned earlier.
Unlocking and leveling any of those up will cost you a Spark, aka a skill point. Fight enemies and bosses, and you get XP. Get enough XP, and you’ll earn yourself Sparks. That’s pretty straightforward. You can even get free Sparks from the scattered Meditation Spots — just pop a squat. As the game goes on, you’ll unlock more and more places to put your skill points. Just note that some branches are locked until you reach a high enough level.
Keeper’s Shrines
Now, if you want to respec, that’s easy enough to do from one of the many Keeper’s Shrines. Resting at one of these will restore all your vitals and respawn most enemies, but they also serve as checkpoints, fast travel locations, and so much more. This is also where you can buy consumable items or sell some of your treasures for Will, wispy in-game currency you’ll find floating around in little green orbs, or from enemies or even pots. The Keeper’s Shrines are always updating too, so it’s worth checking in at each one for new opportunities.
Beyond everything else we just mentioned, the shrines are also where you can craft new weapons and armor. More sets unlock as you beat bosses and clear each chapter. If there is a red dot by anything in the Keeper’s Shrine, that means there’s something new unlocked in that menu. It’s definitely worth spending your materials whenever you can.
Gathering & Crafting
Let’s talk more about that. Gathering resources in Black Myth isn’t like in a survival game; you’re not going out and chopping down trees for minutes at a time. Instead, you’ll spot various mushrooms, flowers, and other items along the road. It’s worth picking them up every time, because there aren’t enough to eat up too much of your time, and you can carry so many of each resource that you’re probably never going to run out of space.
Get into the habit of spending those resources every time you check in at the Keeper’s Shrine, and you’ll be able to stay on top of the best gear as you unlock it. That said, you don’t want to ignore any of the full armor set bonuses if they’re suitable for your play style. You shouldn’t always chase the higher defense or resistance number if it means losing one of those unique bonuses. Grab any and all the plants you see along your path and should have a healthy supply of ingredients for making medicines. Ginsenginling, a monstrous plant-hybrid which likes to disguise itself as one of these resources.
Status Effects
It’s a good idea to pick up antidotes and other consumable items too, because several of the game’s enemies will hit you with nasty status effects. Some of the earliest ones include burning and poison, which should be all too familiar to the gaming crowd. Both will slowly sap your health, but unless you stop, drop, and roll or use an item, it won’t go away.
On the flip side, Black Myth has several items that buff you too. You can increase your resistance to such burns and poisons, and even increase your attack or defense for a short time. Sometimes that can make all the difference in a tough boss fight. As always, make sure you check in at the shrine for its ever-changing stock. In addition to adding new wares over time, each chapter has its own main stock, so if you move onto a new region, fast travel back and buy up any medicine you forgot to grab!
Summoning Spirits
Would you believe we’re still not done with all of the game’s combat tricks and tips? You should be using everything at your disposal in Black Myth, and that includes spirit attacks and transformations. Spirit attacks are like quick summons, letting you replicate an enemy’s attack for yourself. Each one also confers a bonus like higher defense or critical hit chance when equipped.
Beyond those single attacks, you can also fully transform into certain creatures with their own health and stamina bar. This transformation is completely separate from your own stats, so once you run out of health or might, whichever comes first, you’ll just revert back to your regular form. It’s a great way to vary up your combat and keep yourself a little safer during boss fights.
Get Gourd
Speaking of health and stamina, we need to talk about gourds. Drinking from these is how you’ll heal yourself out in the field, but as you can imagine, this healing is limited. One aspect you’ll need to get used to is that your remaining gulps from the gourd are represented by an icon, not a number. The amount of sips doesn’t change unless you upgrade the gourd, so do yourself a favor and memorize how many sips you can actually take before you run dry.
As stated, you can upgrade your gourds and even swap in different ones to get additional buffs. Each one has a different rate of healing as well as bonus effects, and you can further mix things up by adding Soaks, additional bonuses like temporary poison resistance. As with all the other permutations in Black Myth: Wukong, you should find the combination that works best for you.
And with that, we’ve given you a great list of tips before starting the game. Remember that you can always visit our wiki on IGN for more strategies and guides. Good luck on your journey.
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