Best Early Game Tips for Black Myth: Wukong
Sun Wukong is a monumental figure in the hearts of players across East Asia, having inspired popular characters like Goku in the well-known Dragon Ball series. With the sudden emergence of Black Myth: Wukong, the legendary hero's story is brought to gaming platforms in a fresh and exciting way, offering a visual and gameplay feast for role-playing and action game enthusiasts.
However, for new players stepping into this mysterious world can be daunting. How can you quickly get started, grasp the game mechanics, and enjoy the experience without unnecessary detours? This Black Myth: Wukong beginner's guide will help clear the fog and light your path to becoming the Victorious Fighting Buddha.
1. Familiarize Yourself with the Journey to the West Story
Black Myth: Wukong is heavily inspired by the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, and many of the characters in the game are drawn directly from this story. However, the game doesn't delve deeply into character backgrounds, which can leave some players, especially those in the West, without a clear understanding of who these characters are and their significance. Before diving into the game, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the general plot and key characters of Journey to the West. This knowledge will enhance your appreciation of the game’s story and its rich cultural references.
2. Graphics Settings
If you’re playing on a high-end system, set the graphics to high—but avoid maxing out supersampling to maintain clarity.
For those on lower-end systems, follow these tips: Set the resolution to 1920×1080 and avoid other options. Turn off vertical sync and motion blur, and enable frame generation.
If your system can consistently run above 60 FPS, lock the frame rate at 60. If it fluctuates between 30 and 60 FPS, lock it at 30 instead.
Adjust supersampling clarity to around 50, tweaking it based on your frame rate. Choose FSR for supersampling resolution. Set shadow quality, vegetation quality, and hair quality to low or medium.
Keep effect quality and global illumination on low or medium, while other settings can be set to high since they have minimal impact on frame rate.
If you’re still unable to maintain 30 FPS or higher with these settings, it might be time to consider upgrading your system.
3. Gourd Brew and Consumables
You can set four quick-use consumables. It’s highly recommended to assign “Incense Trail Talisman” to one of these slots for quick trips back to a Shrine.
In most cases, you won’t need to use consumables. Generally, before a boss fight, select consumables that match the boss’s weaknesses for better results.
The white gourd on the left is your health potion. Different gourds offer varying uses, with different effects. The gourd contains "wine," which acts as a health potion, and different wines offer slightly different effects.
The green dot next to the bottle is called "wine infusion," which adds an extra effect to your potion. One dot represents one type of wine infusion, with different slots offering different effects. The three gauges correspond to Health, Mana, and Stamina, or as we often call them, the health bar, mana bar, and stamina bar.
Below the health bar, you’ll see various indicators. Different statuses will be shown there, with white indicating a boost, while other colors show minor effects.
At the Shen Monkey NPC in Chapter 1, you can start customizing your gourd by adding drinks and soaks, which offer additional effects.
Upgrading your gourd and drinks can be done throughout the game using materials like Elixirs and Awakened Wine Worms. However, these upgrades are permanent, so spend your materials wisely. It’s recommended to hold off on upgrading your basic healing gourd until you acquire the Jade Lotus Gourd.
4. Stances & Focus
Combat in Black Myth: Wukong is centered around basic attacks with your mythical staff. You have access to light attack combos, heavy attacks, and special varied attacks that are triggered by using a heavy attack after a light attack.
As you land light attacks, you’ll build up Focus points. Once you fill up a Focus circle, you can spend it on an empowered heavy attack or a special variant attack. You can also hold down your heavy attack to slowly charge up Focus for a more powerful move.
The game features three stances, each altering your heavy and varied attacks:
- Smash Stance: The heavy attack in this stance delivers a powerful overhead smash, and it’s the only stance that allows you to charge while moving. The varied attack is a long-range overhead strike with a brief invincibility window, making it an excellent parry move.
- Pillar Stance: This stance lets you perch on top of your staff for a strong attack, increasing your range significantly at max Focus. However, if enemies hit you while perched, it drains your stamina, potentially causing you to fall and get staggered.
- Thrust Stance: This stance delivers a powerful far-range thrust. The downside is that you must remain stationary while charging, leaving you vulnerable. The range is similar to the charged Pillar Stance, but the Thrust Stance is faster once fully charged.
Each stance has its strengths, so it’s wise to experiment and find what works best for you. Upgrading the stances will also increase your Focus points, allowing for more complex and powerful combos.
5. Weapons and Armor
Armor and weapons are typically acquired by defeating bosses or random enemies. Armor sets often come with bonuses, and it’s generally beneficial to equip full sets to maximize these bonuses. By Chapter 3, you’ll be able to upgrade your armor at a blacksmith, improving its rarity and defense stats.
Weapons are obtained exclusively from bosses or by crafting and upgrading your staff. You can switch between different weapon upgrade branches, allowing you to adapt your weapon to your playstyle as you progress.
6. Spells
Spells are divided into Alteration, Mysticism, Strand, and Transformation Spells. You can only equip one skill from each category at a time, and they can be unlocked at the Shrine. Some odd-numbered skills can serve as support, primarily used for crowd control in battle.
Alteration spells are typically focused on dodging and avoiding damage, while Strand spells are geared towards dealing damage. Transformation spells, on the other hand, allow you to change your combat style, with each transformation offering a unique approach. Additionally, the life bar for each transformation is separate from Wukong's, effectively giving you an extra life bar, which can be extremely helpful in boss fights.
Mysticism spells are powerful spells used for crowd control and damage. These spells should be saved and used against bosses and mini bosses. A good starting strategy is to focus on the Immobilize spell, especially against bosses. This spell can be upgraded to extend its duration or increase damage output when used at the right time. Pay attention to the upgrades available for each spell, as they can significantly alter how you use them.
7. Spirits
Choosing the right Spirit in Black Myth: Wukong is just as crucial as selecting your Weapons and Armor. After unlocking the Gourd in Chapter 1, you can start capturing enemy spirits to use in battle.
Spirits can be acquired by defeating unique enemies. Using a Spirit allows you to temporarily transform and perform its special move, along with providing a boost to general stats or status effects, like increased Poison damage or enhanced Defense during certain moves like Rock Solid.
You can upgrade Spirits at shrines using Will and materials, so don’t neglect this feature as it can greatly enhance your combat effectiveness.
8. Vessels
Vessels are rare and powerful items found throughout the game, offering unique abilities that require Chi to activate, which you recharge by dealing damage to enemies. Each Vessel is designed to counter specific bosses and provides passive buffs that are useful outside of boss fights as well. Three of the four Vessels can be obtained by exploring secret areas in specific chapters, so be sure to keep an eye out for hidden zones. The Vessel found in Chapter 1 is particularly useful in Chapter 5, so don’t miss it.
9. Exploration Tips
- In the first three chapters, there’s nothing you can miss that you can’t go back for, so feel free to explore on your own and consult guides later to complete any missed content.
- Green Spirits in the wild can replenish a health potion. Try not to use them when your health potion is already full.
- Blue or Purple Spirits dropped by elite monsters will fully replenish your health potion’s uses. When collecting these treasures, be sure to use up your health potions first, or come back later to refill.
- If you don’t absorb the Spirit dropped by enemies, don’t worry; you can still pick them up later.
- When you see yellow particles floating, follow them to find a Shrine.
- Most cliffs have invisible walls, so you won’t fall off. If you can jump down, it means there’s a path below.
- While the main character can jump, the jump height is low, and there are very few places you can reach by jumping.
- Named bosses and demon kings, along with certain small monsters emitting blue light, are quite strong, and their drops are valuable. They also don’t respawn when you rest at the Land Temple.
- Don’t worry about taking the wrong path. Most wrong turns either have collectibles or loop back to where you started, so explore boldly.
- The game does not include a map, which can make exploration challenging. Fortunately, dedicated Chinese gamers have collaborated to create an interactive and helpful map for the game.
Black Myth: Wukong offers a rich and immersive experience that blends the legendary story of Sun Wukong with dynamic gameplay. For players, especially those in the West, who are new to this world, the game’s deep roots in the classic tale Journey to the West can be both intriguing and challenging. However, with the right preparation—such as familiarizing yourself with the story, optimizing your graphics settings, mastering combat stances, and strategically choosing Spirits, Vessels, and Spells—you can fully enjoy this epic adventure.
By following the tips in this guide, you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the challenges, explore the hidden secrets, and ultimately become the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Whether you’re exploring the vast world, engaging in intense battles, or upgrading your gear, this guide will help you make the most of your journey through Black Myth: Wukong.
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Patrick Yu is a Senior Project Manager at Level Interactive and has 8 years of experience writing business, legal, lifestyle, gaming, and technology articles. He is a significant contributor to Acer Corner and is currently based in Taipei, Taiwan.
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