Wukong Mistakes You Need To Avoid

Black Myth: Wukong is a challenging game, and adapting to its trials can take a bit of adjustment. While most of its levels aren’t notably difficult, tough bosses require both skill and smart play, drawing comparisons to soulslike games despite some other elements that don’t line up with the genre.

While getting the hang of Black Myth: Wukong, it’s easy to make a lot of mistakes that end up simply wasting time. Learning some simple mistakes to avoid can help make Black Myth: Wukong a much smoother experience, even when avoiding tips that cross into noteworthy spoilers. In a few cases, it’s impossible to go back on errors, so knowing the best way to play can be critical.

10 Not Revisiting Past NPCs

Most of Black Myth: Wukong‘s characters end up being bosses and mini-bosses for the Destined One to fight, but some more peaceable NPCs do appear throughout the game. From the Xu Dog in Chapter Two to the Yin Tiger in Chapter 3, there’s a small but important selection of figures who are willing to do business with the Destined One and help him along his journey.

Although Black Myth: Wukong comes across as fairly linear, without any overworld map or connection between its chapters, revisiting past NPCs is actually crucial for building a strong character and getting necessary supplies. It’s possible to easily travel back to NPC locations through the Keeper’s Shrine checkpoints, and in many situations, the best items that NPCs have to offer won’t even show up in their inventory until later in the game. Assuming that their starting wares are all they’ll ever have to offer is a big mistake.

9 Ignoring Equipped Effects

Spirits provide useful transformations in Black Myth: Wukong fights, but the equipped effects that they passively provide can be just as important as the transformations can. Some spirits offer straightforward buffs with a lot of utility, like stamina recovery or increased defense. Others, however, come with tradeoffs that could seriously damage the average playthrough.

In some cases, trading stats might be worthwhile, especially in builds that make certain sacrifices to favor aggression. For the most part, however, the sacrifices end up making it harder to survive the challenges that Black Myth: Wukong throws at the Destined One. When it comes to spirits, it’s better to play it safe, at least until getting a very good idea of how everything works in the game and the consequences of particular debuffs.

8 Leveling Stats Early

Choosing where to allocate the experience gained in Black Myth: Wukong (represented as sparks) can be overwhelming early on, as the game has no shortage of options. From spells to staff stances, a lot of different pathways use the same basic resource, and most of them tend to be immediately tempting.

The basic stat increase options, however, aren’t necessarily as urgent as they seem. Many of them are definitely worth getting by the end of the game, but getting some extra abilities near the beginning tends to provide a greater leap in power. Although the option to respec means investment will never be punished, simply boosting the numbers and leaving it at that could make Black Myth: Wukong harder than it needs to be.

7 Getting Stuck In One Playstyle

It’s easy to figure out one playstyle that’s working in an action game and stick to it, especially in a largely linear game with fast-paced bosses like Black Myth: Wukong. Although mastering a simple set of core mechanics can do the trick in a game like Sekiro, Black Myth: Wukong is a lot easier when approached with some adaptability.

On a basic level, taking down bosses is always about hitting them enough times with the Destined One’s staff to finish off their HP bar. Different bosses incentivize different spells and attacks, however, and even staples like Black Myth Wukong‘s Immobilize spell might need to be unequipped in certain situations. Trying a fight over and over without changing anything will usually get the job done in the end, but taking a moment to analyze individual bosses and adjust the Destined One’s kit and approach accordingly will yield faster victories.

6 Replenishing Health After Taking Spirits

Spirits can be found throughout the world of Black Myth: Wukong, with many defeating enemies turning into spirits that the Destined One can take for transformations. These are nice to have around in the long-term, but absorbing a spirit also provides the short-term benefit of refilling the Destined One’s healing gourd.

They won’t, however, refill the Destined One’s health bar, so it’s always best to top off health before grabbing a spirit to avoid wasting any of the refill. Smaller green spirits floating throughout the world can also provide some extra juice, although they won’t bring the gourd back to its maximum capacity.

5 Not Upgrading Gear

Although there are some specific drops from enemies, gear in Black Myth: Wukong is highly dependent upon upgrades at Keeper’s Shrines. New options for armor and weapons appear as the Destined One progresses through the story, offering mostly incremental stat upgrades and unique perks.

The relative frequency of upgrades can make holding onto resources tempting, but Black Myth: Wukong is generous enough with materials to make upgrading typically worthwhile. If a particular option offers almost no stat benefits or a perk that seems less useful than the current one, it’s better to skip and save, but the majority upgrades should be crafted whenever they become available. An alternate approach is to make use of an NPC who can improve the stats of already acquired gear, but he can only be found in one of the game’s hidden areas.

4 Ignoring The Journal

It’s not strictly necessary to read journal entries in Black Myth: Wukong, but it does add a lot to the game. Characters, enemies, and bosses all receive journal entries that tell various stories about them, and it can quickly seem like an overwhelming amount of reading material. While most players may not read every single entry, it’s best to check out the ones for bosses that seem interesting or key story characters.

Black Myth: Wukong‘s story isn’t all at the forefront, and getting a full narrative experience definitely relies on reading. Those familiar with Journey to the West will sometimes find cool explanations of how characters from it ended up where they are in Black Myth: Wukong, while those who aren’t may get the context necessary to understand unfamiliar faces. In some cases, journal entries are just fun scenes that are entertaining to read.

3 Dodging Too Early

One element of Black Myth: Wukong that sounds like it would make the game easier can actually make it harder, which is how dodge timing works in the game. There’s no consistent speed for every enemy or move, but generally speaking, a lot of boss attacks are huge, heavily telegraphed maneuvers. These offer plenty of fair warning for the Destined One to dive out of the way, but it’s all too easy to dodge too early and end up being hit all the same.

If a player is used to something as consistently aggressive as Sekiro, it’s best to get into a different mindset regarding dodge timing as soon as possible (or at least think of dodges as last-minute moves like Sekiro‘s Mikiri Counter). This isn’t foolproof, and some bosses have incredibly fast attacks that barely leave any room to dodge, but understanding the virtue of patience has major rewards.

2 Picking Relic Perks Haphazardly

The generous availability of respeccing in Black Myth: Wukong can make it feel like build decisions don’t have much consequence, but there’s one huge exception to that rule. At the end of each chapter, the Destined One receives a relic, each of which has a set of three unique buffs to choose from. In each case, choosing the relic buff is permanent, so it’s not a decision to make in haste.

Every relic perk is helpful, but once deep enough into the game, it would be all too easy to end up regretting an earlier choice. Picking the option in Chapter One that deals with the Cloud Step spell could be a waste if a player later decides to swap out that spell for Rock Solid in most fights, for example. The safest choices are always the ones with broad applicability and no specific requirements, but it’s possible to craft careful builds with other options.

1 Missing One-Time Content

The most surprising consequences in Black Myth: Wukong can simply come from progressing through its world, as there end up being some one-time only opportunities that can’t be revisited until the new game plus mode. These can be hard to spot without knowing in advance, so players who are particularly concerned might want to check out guides for missable content.

When avoiding guides, the biggest rule for missable content is to fight any enemy that the Destined One sees, as there are a few situations where it might not be possible to later. There’s also one duo boss fight that forces the Destined One to choose, and in that scenario, one target ends up providing an exclusive reward. Replaying Black Myth: Wukong will always do the trick, but when attempting to do as much as possible in one playthrough, missable content is something to watch for.