Black Myth Wukong is easily one of the most anticipated titles of the year and whether it lives up to the hype is a question that will remain unanswered for the time being. While the game looks and feels like a Souls game it doesn’t exactly belong to the genre.
If you are thinking of picking up the game and want to give yourself a headstart, then you have found yourself at the right place. Here, we have a list of beginner tips to help you get your feet off the ground as swiftly and easily as possible. Without further ado, let’s dive right into it.
10. Don’t be Afraid to Die
Black Myth Wukong looks and feels like a Souls game and also carries many of the same mechanics but what it doesn’t have is arguably one of the most annoying mechanics of the genre—losing everything upon dying.
Yes, you don’t lose Will or any of the other items you had when you die. This allows you to be a bit more aggressive without having to worry about the downside of losing your entire net worth.
You will be taking on lots of enemies, a few too many I would say, but now you won’t have to worry about collecting resources all over again from scratch.
Experiment with different approaches and don’t be scared to die a couple of times as you can pick things off right where you left them.
9. Keeper’s Shrines Are More Than Just Checkpoints
Keeper’s Shrines are your checkpoints in Black Myth Wukong. They are similar to the Site of Grace in Elden Ring and serve as more than just resting spots. Once you unlock a Keeper’s Shrine, you can rest and restore your health and resources.
Most of the items you will craft; Medicine, Gourds, etc, will be at a Keeper’s Shrine. Additionally, there is no map in Black Myth Wukong if you want to fast-travel, so you select a Keeper’s Shrine from a list. So you should know the more shrines you unlock, the more places you can quickly jump to.
You should know that if you die in this game, you respawn at the nearest Keeper’s Shrine. You will be in a bit of a pickle if you don’t unlock every Keeper’s Shrine you come across as you will have to travel some distance to get back to where you died.
8. Tactical Plays Over Mindless Spam
Considering you have any experience with Souls games, you should know by now that spamming will rarely get you a win whereas carefully examining the opponent’s moveset and making a move when necessary will oftentimes save you from dying.
Black Myth Wukong works on the same principle. If you continue to spam dodge, light attack, or heavy attack, the only thing you will be depleting is your stamina bar. Instead, read your enemy’s movements and dodge at the right moment only once or twice.
This will not only save you from losing your precious stamina but will get the job done in fewer keystrokes. The same analogy works for the offense. Look for an opening and run at your enemy without hesitation. Once you land a few hits, retreat tactfully and go back in again once the path is clear.
7. Spirits Are Your Best Friends
Spirits in Black Myth Wukong work in the same way as companions work in any other game. You summon a spirit, and they will deal some kind of special damage specific to that particular spirit. However, there is a slight twist.
You don’t actually summon a spirit separately, you turn into the spirit momentarily, deal damage, and return to your original state. That’s also why you should pick spirits that deal passive damage. The damage sticks around longer than the spirit and helps you out during the battle.
To obtain a spirit, you need to defeat a special mini-boss or elite enemy and then capture them using a special gourd, which you can get in Chapter 1. Wandering Wright, Tiger Acolyte, and Rat Governer are some good early picks.
6. Follow the Light If You Are Lost
As Black Myth Wukong lacks a more traditional map, getting around and locating certain checkpoints might seem to be a bit of a hassle at first until you find Glowing Embers. These are glowing lights that will indicate or mark everything and anything of significance.
These Glowing Embers mark all Keeper’s Shrines, collectibles, side quests, and loots and are easier to spot from a distance. Other than that, the game mostly has a linear level design, so getting lost is rare, though you would miss a lot of the side quests if it weren’t for the Glowing Embers.
5. Mastery Of Staff and Stances
The Staff is your main weapon in Black Myth and with the staff comes three different stances. The stances are essentially different fighting styles all of which come with their own heavy attack and a skill tree.
Each stance caters to a specific play style for example the Smash stances allow you to be more offensive with your attacks while the Pillar stance lets you be a bit more defensive. Finally, the Thrust stance gives you a bit of both but with the downside being a bit tricky to master.
Initially, only Smas stance will be unlocked but you will get the Pillar and Thrust stance at level 5 and 20 respectively. We recommend that you try all of the stances and quickly settle for one that best suits your playstyle so you can advance in its skill tree and unlock different combos.
4. Pair Spells With Physical Attacks
Spells are a big part of combat in Black Myth Wukong especially when they are used in tandem with physical attacks.
There are three total spell categories containing 7 total spells. Most of the spells can be picked in the first two chapters of the game either through completing the main playthrough or by optional sidequest.
Your combat abilities will significantly improve if you pair spells with physical attacks regularly. For example, Immbolize is the earliest spell that you will unlock and it allows you to freeze any enemy in its place giving you a chance to either attack or step back to heal for a limited time period. You can also use the Rock Solid spell to Parry in Black Myth Wukong.
Unlock all of the available spells as soon as possible and try them to find the best ones for your play style.
3. Meditation Spots Mean Free Skill Points
Meditation Spots are located in Black Myth Wukong where you can just kick back and relax for a while before you jump back into the action. Once you interact with a Meditation Spot, a cutscene will initiate and you will get a glimpse of the whole scenery in front of you.
Aside from the obvious purpose, of meditation, you also get a free Spark by resting at these spots. Sparks are similar to Skill Points and can be used to upgrade and advance in Skilltree. There are total of 24 Meditation Spots in Black Myth which means 24 free Sparks.
Grab them all while you are out exploring the world.
2. Mix and Match Your Flasks
To recover your health and apply some useful effects such as increased movement speeds or damage output you will use Gourds. Now there are three terms to remember. Grourds, Drinks, and Soaks. The gourd is the container holding your magic potion. The drink is the magic potion and soaks are the additional advantage that can be applied on top of the drinks.
Gourds may or may not come with special abilities such as the Stanied Jade Gourd will significantly decrease the time it takes to drink from the gourd. Drinks are the main source of your health recovery in Black Myth Wukong.
Almost all drinks recover a portion of your health and some also come with an additional benefit such as the Loong Balm drink, which recovers 30% of your max health while giving you a damage boost for your next attack.
Finally, let’s talk about Soaks. Every drink has a certain amount of slot to equip different soaks. These are items that grant you additional perks every time you take a sip of the drink. You can find the perfect combination of soaks to increase the overall benefit.
An example of such a case is when you combine Deathstinger which inflicts poison on the Destined One but when combined with Double-Combed Rooster Blood, the poison effect is lifted, and in return, you are granted a speed boost and increased crit chance.
There are tons of combinations you can try. You can also upgrade your drinks and gourds by visiting the Shen Monkey.
1. Learn Stamina Management
This is the final but arguably the most important tip. Learn to manage your stamina. There are over 80 bosses in Black Myth Wukong you will constantly be taking them on one after another which means there is going to be a lot of combat.
You will need to combine your knowledge of stances, spells, and spirits in the best way possible to deal the most amount of damage while depleting the least amount of stamina. If you are constantly running around with no clear aim in mind, the only thing that’s going down is your health bar because you won’t be able to dodge when the time comes.
Stamina is one of the most crucial resources in Black Myth Wukong so be sure to use it wisely.
These are all of the tips or suggestions that you should look out for while starting Black Myth Wukong. Find your personalized playstyle, and always remember to have tons of fun.