Black Myth: Wukong has become a massive success, crushing Steam’s records for concurrent players. The action game based on Journey to the West reviewed well, with our own review describing it as “An incredibly engaging and entertaining action RPG in many ways.” Players can expect fights to come quick and heavy, and learning how to properly kick butt is essential early. Here are some tips to get started on the road to becoming the legendary Sun Wukong.
Try Skills and Reroll Freely
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Black Myth: Wukong offers a lot of different abilities to dump your hard-earned sparks into early on. Spread across three different areas initially and adding more as you go, it can be overwhelming trying to pick where to start. With Foundation skills building out stamina, martial arts, and survival, Staff Stances building out different ways to attack, and Mysticism buffing spells, there are many ways to buff the Destined One quickly. One of the things that Black Myth Wukong does out the gate is offer free rerolls.
By going to Offer Incense at a Keeper’s Shrine, players can select Reignite the Sparks under the Self-Advance menu and reroll freely, letting players experiment freely to find out what combination of skills works best for them. While other titles would unlock this later and/or carry a cost, Black Myth Wukong allows for plenty of freedom to explore the combat kit.
Get to Know Your Heavy Attacks and Skills
Invest in heavy attacks early on. The Destined One has both light and heavy attacks, but how you use heavy attacks can vary greatly. Using them in combos creates a Varied Combo, which have their own upgrades. You can also charge a heavy attack outside of a combo, launching stronger attacks the longer you charge. The heavy attack can even knock bosses back briefly, allowing for an opening to attack.
Get the Force Unbound skill as soon as possible, letting the Destined One charge a heavy attack while sprinting. It allows you to stay mobile while preparing your next heavy hit. The Ironbound Resolve skill is also helpful, reducing the amount of damage taken during a heavy attack. The heavy attacks are critical in fights. Knowing them inside and out early will be a huge advantage.
Get the Red Tides Skill As Soon As Possible
Black Myth: Wukong’s spells are really satisfying to use and can quickly turn the tide in a battle. You get Immobilize pretty quickly, freezing enemies in place and opening them up to attacks. Waiting at the back of the first major area—the Forest of Wolves—is Guangzhi, one of the first mini-bosses you’ll need to contend with. The Forest of Wolves holds other big fights, but new players should prioritize getting to Guangzhi and taking them out as soon as possible.
Doing so gets the Destined One a new spell: Red Tides. Red Tides transforms the Destined One into Guangzhi, with a separate health bar and devastating attacks. Using Red Tides during the other fights makes them much more palatable. Red Tides not only deals huge damage with the strong attacks that can be charged up through the light attacks, but the extra free health can also prove to be absolutely vital if you’re out of heals and need a bit more to take a boss down.
Get To Know Staff Stances
The Staff Stances make a huge difference early on. Putting sparks into the skill trees strengthens the individual stance and opens up other stances to unlock next. None of the stances are unlocked via the story; they all accrue by spending sparks. On top of the stances, spending sparks in these trees also unlocks more Focus. Using heavy attacks properly costs Focus, so getting more Focus early is essential for unleashing bigger attacks. These will help a lot in staggering bosses and giving the player a moment to heal or attack.
Collect Everything and Explore
The highlight of Black Myth: Wukong is easily the combat system and huge boss fights, so while it may be tempting to rush headlong into the next fight, exploring is critical. Scattered around the areas are different plants to collect, which are essential in crafting. Players unlock crafting armor, weapons, and potions, all being the only ways to upgrade the Destined One’s equipment.
Taking the time to grab materials after every death can allow for quick upgrades. It also reduces the need to backtrack and search for specific parts. You can also find Will, the currency used in the shop, as well as scattered upgrades. NPCs can also be found with quests that give incredibly beneficial systems and boons. They’re easily missed if players are on a linear path.
Black Myth: Wukong is an exciting but difficult game, with each boss testing every skill the player has learned thus far. Having the right combination of skills, abilities, spells, and equipment, along with really knowing your combat kit, is essential in making it further in the journey. Hopefully, these tips will make the journey a little lighter.
Black Myth: Wukong is available now on PS5 and Steam.
