Black Myth: Wukong is a challenging action game with some RPG elements, and whether you consider yourself a combat expert or not, there's a lot of essential tips and tricks to learn as you follow in the footsteps of Sun Wukong. Below you'll find important tips for both exploration and combat to start you on the right foot.

• Jump to:
• General Tips
• Combat Tips
• Exploration Tips

General Tips

• Harvest everything you see. You'll find plants to harvest early in your adventure, but they won't have much use until you reach Chapter 2 and find someone to teach you how to craft your own medicines. Don't wait until then to begin harvesting though—it's still worth grabbing any you find so you can craft as much as you need when the option is available. The more supplies you have in stock, the more advantages you can bring into a fight, including buffs to attack power, damage negation, and resistance!

• Experiment with different playstyles and stances. Since you can reset your skills at any point when resting at a Shrine, try experimenting with different playstyles or favoring specific stances if you run into a roadblock. There's skills to improve just about anything, and there's no wrong answer to investing in a particular tree.

• Upgrade and customize your gourd. Your healing gourd can have a lot of customization the deeper you get into your adventure. You'll be able to find different Gourds that can have a certain amount of use or extra effect, Drinks that can heal you all at once or over time, and Soaks that provide additional effects along with the health boost. Try tailoring the Soak or Drink to your current challenge: a higher health boost at the cost of healing over time is better when exploring versus going against a fast-paced boss, and certain soaks may allow you to gain resistance to a certain enemy attack.

• Once your Gourd has been upgraded to absorb Spirits, you can also gain an additional benefit: Absorbing Green Wisps. Not only does this get you Will, but replenishes an additional use for your Gourd. If you defeat a tough enemy or Miniboss that leaves behind its Spirit, you'll replenish your entire Gourd once it's claimed!

• Not every enemy respawns when you rest at a Shrine. Certain unique enemies or encounters, or those who grant a Spirit when killed won't respawn. The same goes for very tough enemies like the Bandit Chief in the Forest of Wolves, and the Wolf Assassins in the Black Wind Cave.

• Equipping a Spirit isn't just about using their attack. Each Spirit also provides a passive buff when you aren't using the Spirit Attack, which you can tailor to augment your playstyle -- like dealing more damage when at low health, or increasing your defense if you find yourself getting hit too much.

• Check-in at Shrines regularly to see new stock. New items become available after clearing areas of taking down bosses. It's especially important to stop in at Shrines are big fights to see what new Armor and Equipment is available.

• Upgrade your staff when you can. The staff is the only weapon you'll need to use, but you'll be able to follow different branches and upgrade it to have certain effects and buffs from your Keeper's Shrine. Always check what you're running with if you're struggling with bosses. Some staffs will give you buffs to stances or spells. But if you're not using those particular ones, you might as well swap to another version of the staff.

Combat Tips

• Know when to use your Heavy Attack in a combo vs when to charge it up or unleash it on its own. You can upgrade each stance to have your Varied Combos behave differently which can be helpful in certain fights, but expending all your Focus Points at once to unleash a charged hit can easily stagger tough bosses.

• Sometimes you'll have to face off against archers or ranged attackers on high ledges with no easy spot to reach them. In fact, there is a way to close the distance -- you can jump and perform a heavy attack in midair to gain extra height before slamming down, which can often give you the boost you need to reach their platform.

• Alternatively, Cloud Step will get you past ranged attackers without being spotted. If you prefer a stealthier approach, or you're just trying to get beyond a row of archers, using the Cloud Step spell can help massively. Enemies will focus on your replica and leave you to sneak past.

• You can't parry naturally, but you can unlock spells that allow you to deflect. Keep progressing through the game and you'll unlock the ability to stagger enemies and open them up to counterattacks.

• You'll know when you've performed a perfect dodge, because replicas of your character will appear. You'll even see multiple of yourself if you can perform chains of dodges. If you're finding that you're good at evading attacks, invest in skills points along the Stamina tree that will allow you to dodge without having light attacks interrupted, increase the focus you gain from dodging, and even create an illusion of your character that will explode.

• Enemies with shields have a separate durability bar for their shield above their health. In order to waste less time breaking it down, bait out attacks that leave them open, get behind them, or use Immobilize and Cloud Step to pierce past their defense.

• Don't forget that the Destined One has jump attacks, too! A light jump attack can be a safe opener to spring you toward an enemy with a kick while leaping back to avoid danger. A heavy jump attack on the other hand can instantly expend all your Focus Points for a very quick smash attack -- and can often be used to defeat regular enemies before they can react.

• Understanding the difference between Spirit Attacks and Transformation Spells is vital to surviving tough encounters. Spirit Attacks will temporarily transform you into a Yaoguai to unleash a single attack before returning to your form. During this time, you can't defend yourself, and can still take damage. When under the effects of a Transformation Spell, you'll have an entirely different health bar - which includes status effects - meaning you can transform to get out of danger or get hit with a status effect that won't stick around when you transform back.

Exploration Tips

• Follow the golden path. If you're not sure where you're going at any point, when you're close to a shrine, a golden trail will appear. This will take you to the nearest Keeper's Shrine, so let the light lead the way.

• There are treasure chests and boxes to find along the way. Some treasure chests are golden and obvious, while others are harder to find and look like wooden logs. On top of this, you'll find smaller boxes near altars where you can collect essential upgrade items, Gourds, Soaks, and more.

• Look for gaps and holes in the walls. It's not always easy to see all the hidden paths and places that you can explore in Black Myth: Wukong, but if you see a crack in the wall, it's worth investigating. Sometimes, these will lead you to hidden treasures, key items, and spirits that would otherwise be out of reach.