Ancient Sutras — Black Myth: Wukong Hints and Tips!

Like many, many, others, I have been playing quite a bit of Black Myth: Wukong. While I’m not sure if it’s the epic boss fights, the beautiful scenery, or simply the joy of adventure that has me so hooked (so much so that I went and bought a copy of Journey to the West just to understand the references), I have collected some useful tidbits of knowledge and crumbs of wisdom to help out any new pilgrims on the Destined One’s path. Note! I will do my very best to avoid spoilers here, but I will have to talk about some mechanics and features. With that out of the way, let us cloud somersault to the list!

1. Don't infer or be deceived by appearances (It’s NOT a soulslike)

At first glance, and stated to be as such by many, Black Myth: Wukong has many of the signs of a classic soulslike: challenging combat, a limited-use restorative item that refills at checkpoints, and a world set in the seeming end of an era. However, I’d argue that the game is, in fact, not a soulslike at all, but an action-adventure RPG! Now, this designation, as most genre definitions are, is a matter of semantics in most cases, but I feel like it is an important distinction to set expectations!

Yes, there are challenging boss fights, but the “grunts” that populate the general area of each stage are not that challenging, at least not at first. Sure, you have a recovery item that's very Estus-esque, but you also do not lose your resources on death. I could go on, but you get the gist; much like Monkey himself, the game could fool you into thinking it was something else, but the hairy tail gives it away!

To summarise this point, Black Myth: Wukong does have a lot of similar mechanics and features as one could expect from a soulslike, however, the game is much more forgiving and focuses more on the larger fights, leaving the “lesser” foes to be more like quick encounters. While there are challenges to be found, temper your expectations.

2. Be not the slave of pride (Mana is limited)

Spells and Transformations are some of the most powerful abilities in Black Myth: Wukong, allowing you to give yourself some breathing room, deal some major damage, and even freeze bosses in place. However, as with everything, it does have a price: Mana. Though it may not feel like it at first, your powers do drain your energies quite quickly leaving you without your best skills in the worst of situations!

The main way you regain your supply of blue magic goodness is by visiting and resting at one of the shrines dotted around the land. There are other ways, of course: some armours, skills, and even characters can help you improve or recover your Mana, but these are few and far between in the beginning, making conservation crucial! While it may seem self-explanatory, keep an eye on that Mana bar and use your skills sparingly. If nothing else, don’t be like me and remember to top up before taking on a boss.

3. The mind is everything. What you think, you become (Transformations are cool)

Have you seen the forms you can take in this game? They may be my favourite mechanic introduced this year! Use a skill and bam, you’re suddenly an enemy you fought earlier with a unique skill set and leitmotif, what's not to love? Now, to specify, I am referring to the actual Transformations wherein you take on a different form for a while and not Spirits, which you change into for the duration of an attack.

Using a Transformation during battle can be very useful, as the move sets are powerful, they often cause debuffs if you smack an enemy enough, and they just look cool, as we’ve asserted. However, these tricky metamorphoses have another bit of utility I did not notice until a loading screen let me know: they have a separate health bar! Any damage you take once changed will NOT transfer onto your original form, making each transition a short chance to deal some damage without having to worry about being bashed into monkey paste, which can be a lifesaver in the tougher battles where you don’t always have a chance to take a leisurely drink out of the good old gourd.

Now, this technique does have a downside: your current health will not be decreased by any damage taken while transformed, but neither will the change confer any healing. So if you use a Transformation while at your last leg, you will be no better off afterwards. In these situations, using the limited time while metamorphosed to leg it to a safe spot may be worth the embarrassment! They do it all the time in the book, I promise.

4. It is better to travel well than to arrive (Explore!)

The areas of Black Myth: Wukong are, more often than not, big, beautiful, and a teeny bit confusing. Featuring interconnected, almost identical paths and lacking a map can make exploring the area in each chapter a bit of a hassle. I, for one, ran around in circles in the forest for longer than I care to admit. However, much like in the story the game is based on, the journey may prove more insightful than the end.

In addition to the usual fun of items, enemies, and scenic locales, taking the longer route can also net you some very useful resources. You can gather some extra ingredients for crafting from both the bounties of the land and the bodies of your foes, but you may also come upon two useful points of interest: hidden bosses and meditation spots. The latter of these is easily identifiable, as these locations have a handy cushion to sit on while you ponder the beauty and serenity of the area around you. You also get a free Spark (or skill point) for each little sit, so it’s always worth being on the lookout for these! Your Journal will also tell you how many spots a location has, so you know when it’s ok to stop looking!

Hidden bosses are useful for a couple of reasons. First off, Wukong is all about the boss fights and these optional baddies are often just as fun and flashy as the others! For example, how would you like to take on a toad that spits lightning and croaks thunder? In addition to the fun of fighting bosses, they often also give you something valuable: a Spirit, Transformation, or rare resource!

5. Concentrate the mind on the present moment (Pay attention)

Black Myth: Wukong can, at the best of times, be a lot to take in. Especially during combat, you may find yourself losing track of who’s doing what and where (or maybe my old eyes are just failing me). Regardless, the game, like many others of its kind, is all about paying attention! In combat, pulling off a perfect dodge is the optimal strategy and to do this, you need to be paying attention to the enemy, their signals, and their attack speeds. Or you can panic dodge like the floor is lava… I usually end up doing the latter.

However, there is more to experience in addition to simple combat flow. The world of Wukong is rife with many visual and audio clues to help you find all the secrets around each area. It’s often worth following streams back to their source and sometimes something that looks climbable is! Additionally, you may hear the denizens of the forest chatting before they notice you and take up arms. They often have hints about the area or even mention upcoming bosses. You may also find hidden NPCs that offer quests of sorts. Mainly, they very loudly state how it’d be nice if all these demons would scarper and passive-aggressive you into taking care of the issues.

Finally, pay close attention to the screen you’re shown in between chapters! What may seem like a beautiful painting depicting a relevant story event can actually be interacted with! Zoom in on the image and pan about to notice certain sections can be “activated” to get more information! I personally almost missed this, since there is little indication in the zoomed-out view. Sneaky, sneaky!

6. Times of luxury do not last long but pass away very quickly (Clothing sets and Stances)

These last three points on this list are more general things you may not notice or think about as you scamper around the world bonking things with your big stick. To start off with, keep in mind both your current item set and your Stance, it affects more than you may think! Starting off with the clothing sets, you may notice how some of the different armours you can wear have a number next to them, indicating how many items of said set you have on. The more you have, the better the bonus!

I mention this, as eager gamers may opt to switch to the next bits of armour they get as soon as they are acquired since it's always cool when characters actually show the changes (in addition to more boring things, like stat increases). However, even if an individual bit of armour is better than its currently equipped counterpart, your current set bonus gained may be even better! You don’t really need the set bonuses, but it is good to weigh your options. Set bonuses can even affect when and how you get damage boosts, so make sure you are aware of any potential losses.

The currently equipped Stance is very similar to your equipment set, as it too can alter gameplay in some minor ways. For example, one stance may allow you to run while Focusing energy in your staff, while another may require a steady helping of Focus to stay aloft. Make sure you understand what each Stance does to get the best use out of them. Also, read the skill descriptions! They often clarify the best uses for the Stances and also their quirks.

7. ​​Change is never painful, only resistance to change is painful (Experiment)

Black Myth: Wukong offers many avenues on how to approach battles: you can focus on your inner strength and defeat foes via martial arts, you can focus on your magical spells to win you the day, or you can become a master of Transformation to fool any foe! Regardless of your favoured approach, it’s always good to mix it up and try new things. Thankfully, this title has you covered with the Reignite the Spark mechanic.

Available as an option at every shrine, you can use this handy dandy feature to reimburse all of the Sparks you have used on the many skills the Destined One has to improve. Free to use and without limits, you can try out different builds and strategies easily and quickly! You can even try out different combinations for each boss if your go-to is proving less effective. That or you can max out the paralysing spell and just whack piñatas all day.

8. Do not accept anything simply because it has been said by your teacher (Read)

The final one is more of a personal preference, but I’m adding it anyway: read the journal! As you meet and defeat the many creatures of Wukong, more entries will be added to your Journal, but often these take the form of what seem to be folktales. I, being the baron of cleverness that I am, ignored them for quite a while, thinking them to be useless fluff. While I was partly wrong, these stories do add a bit of context to the characters, events, and relationships of those you meet. Did you ever wonder why the big golden guy was surprised to see flame-halberd-wolf-man? It’s in the Journal!

With these words of (more or less) wisdom, we hope your journey will be enlightened and fruitful! Do you think we missed something critical or feel like something doesn’t quite work? Let us know in the comments!