Forest of Wolves Walkthrough - Black Myth: Wukong Guide - IGN (2024)

Black Myth: Wukong's Chapter 1 begins with a prologue that takes place during a pivotal scene in the story of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Below you'll find a guide to the tutorial, and for the first major area of Black Wind Mountain: The Forest of Wolves, as well as how to defeat its many bosses that include the Bullguard, Gaugnzhi and Yaoguai King Lingxuzi.

• Jump to A Section:
• Front Hills
  • Yaoguai Chief - Bullguard
• Outside the Forest
  • Yaoguai Chief - Guangzhi
• Guanyin Temple
  • Yaoguai King - Lingxuzi

Upon beginning your journey, you’ll be thrust into the role of the mythical Sun Wukong as he rebels against the Court of Heaven and its Heavenly Kings. Undaunted by their army, Sun Wukong calls them out, prompting the nephew of the Jade Emperor, Erlang Shen, to meet him in combat.

Boss Fight - Erlang, the Sacred Divinity

The good news is that as a tutorial boss, you may notice there’s no health bar indicator on the UI, meaning you’re essentially invulnerable! Take this time to play around with the controls, locking onto your target and trying out both light and heavy attacks against your foe.

Erlang fights in a very standard fashion with sweeps and thrusts of his spear, often slowing down and allowing you to test out your dodging skills. There’s no real block button to speak of in Wukong, so dodging — especially at the last second — is key to surviving combat encounters.

Once you’ve removed a fourth of his health bar, Erlang will vanish before trying to ambush from above. When the fight resumes, he’ll get a little faster, and start blocking attacks, which is when you should try throwing more heavy attacks into the mix.

When Erlang falls to less than half health, another small scene will play out before the final bout, and Erlang will start invoking more of his divinity to blast you with projectiles. Since you can’t really take lasting damage, you can simply try dodging around, or hold the L2 button to deflect them.

When Erlang returns to the ground, it's also a good time to try out your spells early if you want, by holding R2 and then pressing one of the three button icons:

• The top button is Rock Solid, which acts like a parry that turns you into stone to deflect an incoming attack.
• The left button is Immobilize, which temporarily freezes your opponent in place allowing you to score free hits
• The bottom button is A Pluck of Many, which creates illusory copies of you to assist in combat.

Once nearly all his health is gone, a final scene will ensue, and as Sun Wukong transforms to fly off toward the forests, the Buddha’s magical circlet that Sun Wukong had been tricked into putting on flares, causing him to reel from an excruciating headache. Erlang seizes this moment to cast down Sun Wukong into the mountain, sealing him within a large stone egg and ending the tale of Sun Wukong.

Centuries later, an elder monkey recounts the tale of the Monkey King, and decrees that a Destined One may yet be able to follow in Sun Wukong’s footsteps by seeking out the Six Relics of the Monkey King’s Spirit - the Six Senses of the Great Sage. As luck would have it, you are that Destined One!Forest of Wolves

While he may not be Sun Wukong, the Destined One is not above a bit of trickery and foolishness — as evidenced by luring some lesser Wolf Guais into trying to take a bite out of him disguised as a peach.

These basic enemies, the Wolf Scout and Wolf Swornsword, are perfect for getting a feel for some real combat. They tend to attack fairly slowly and draw out their sword slices giving you ample time to dodge even while using light combo attacks.

Since the Destined One can dodge mid-attack, you should press your offense while dealing with these foes, and watch their movements to find the right time to leap out of the way. Your light combo attack comes in four sustained attacks, culminating in a strong overhead slam when performed uninterrupted.

Defeating each of them will earn you a fair bit of Experience - seen by the yellow bar in the top right corner, as well as a bit of “Will”, which serves as a form of currency. Given that you’ll need both to succeed in your adventure, it’s usually best to take on enemies you encounter rather than running past them.

A voice will call out as you defeat the first two enemies, and we’ll be meeting the owner of this voice soon enough. For now, head straight up the woodland path, and you should spot a red plant to the right. Pluck it to gain some Aged Ginseng - a crafting material that we won’t be able to make use of until Chapter 2, but there’s no reason you can’t start stocking up on them now!

When you reach the next Wolf Scout, you’ll be prompted to perform a Heavy Attack. Heavy Attacks work a bit differently here than in most other games: The more you land hits, the more your Focus bar in the bottom right corner grows. When it fills, you’ll gain a Focus Point, which allows you to add a Heavy Attack into your Light Attack Combos for massive damage. While you can still perform a Heavy Attack on its own, it will lack added punch without that Focus Point, and can’t be included in a combo attack without it.

Alternatively, you can simply hold the Heavy Attack button to begin charging up your Focus, and letting go of the button will unleash the attack, which can be devastating on slow or unsuspecting enemies. It’s important to note that Focus won’t decay from performing light attacks, but you can’t keep the Focus from charging up, so knowing when to use which type of heavy attack can prove useful.

Head up the stone stairway into a narrow path full of boulders, where the path splits in two:

The route on the left leads down to a Wolf Scout guarding a small gold chest, which contains 5 Tiny Piece of Gold - an item that can be sold at shops to earn more Will.

Taking the path to the right leads to a stronger Wolf Stalwart. armed with a large axe. He’s built a bit tougher than the others, and has some hard-hitting and long reaching swings with his axe, as well as a quick shove attack that’s hard to anticipate and dodge before he follows it with a chop.

If you take a few hits, remember that you have a gourd of healing drink that you can use (LB/L1) to replenish a bit of your health, but it can only be used a few times.

With both enemies dead, you should start to notice a trail of gold leading you down the main path toward a shrine in a small rocky ravine.

These Shrines are your checkpoints, and offering incense at them will allow you to rest up, refill your healing gourd, travel to other shrines, and much more (some enemies — but not all — will respawn as well). You’ll also meet the owner of the voice on the wind - the Keeper of Black Wind Mountain.

This friendly guy will be your guide and mentor for this part of the world, and will bid you to set out in search of Guanyin Temple, which burned down long ago but has since been rebuilt - but not by human hands. As the Keeper departs, he’ll bestow you with the Incense Trail Talisman, which can let you warp back to the last Shrine you rested at.

Front Hills

Leaving the Shrine behind, you can round the corner to find two lesser Wolf Guais, a Swordsworn, and a new Wolf Soldier. The latter is armed with a shield, and can sometimes deflect your attacks to knock you off-balance. When this happens, watch for his counter and dodge at the last moment. A perfect dodge will slow down time and create an after-image of the Destined One, which lets you get in close for your own counter, and raises your Focus.

Crossing the bridge will lead to a much more open section of this region. While Black Myth: Wukong is a fairly linear adventure, you will find that areas sometimes open up to allow for a bit more exploration off the beaten path, which can be essential for finding unique items and optional boss encounters.

Defeat the next shield bearing Wolf Soldier down the road, and then another Wolf Stalwart guarding a Purple Lingzhi Mushroom you can harvest at the foot of a large tree. At this point, you’re likely to gain your first level up, giving you a “Spark”.

These are essentially Skill Points, which you can begin investing in a large number of different Skill Trees. These can include general skills, or ones that relate to specific combat stances. Your Smash stance has already been unlocked, but you can also unlock two other stances that have unique heavy attacks by investing skill points in them.

When the path leads down, you’ll be able to head right to proceed to a mini-boss, or go left along the stream leading back to the bridge you crossed earlier.

Going left should lead you to another Wolf Swordsworn behind a rock sculpture, and a Gentian plant near him that you can harvest.

Further down by the stream, you can spy a curious sight - a small Rat Guai will be looking around a small stone statue head at the end of the stream, before scurrying out of sight. If you go to check out what he was interacting with, you can touch the stone head to gain the Skandha of Form Key Item. Its purpose isn’t known just yet, but might be worth hanging onto…

Head upstream to find another Purple Lingzhi by a broken tree, and two Wolf Scouts off to the right of the stream guarding a Gentian plant.

Where the stream widens and is full of more statue heads, you’ll encounter a few Frog Guai called a Croaky. They will hop toward you with sword in hand, and pause in midair before slicing forward, giving you a clear moment to dodge around them and counter. Just be sure you back away after killing one, as they’ll explode on death with poison gas.

Harvest the Jade Lotus in the water before moving up toward the bridge you crossed earlier. On the other side of the bridge, the top of the stream is home to a lone Crow Diviner Yaoguai. He’s a lot tougher than the wolves, and can quickly slash with his reverse blade, either in a dashing strike, or a quick two-hit combo followed by a delayed third strike. The Crow can also jump up and slash down with powerful legs swipes, so be on guard to dodge around before getting your strikes in.

He’ll give a lot more experience and Will when defeated, and you can also loot a Purple Lingzhi on the left. On the right you can spot green wisps that denote wandering yaoguai spirits, but trying to gather them will only cause the wisps to fly off, giving you a fraction of their Will.

Head back to the forest hill road, and this time make your way right to encounter your first mini-boss, a Yaoguai Chief.

Yaoguai Chief Mini-Boss Fight - Bullguard

As your first real boss encounter, you should be prepared for big hits that can take a chunk out of your health, so it’s not a bad idea to make sure you’ve rested up and refilled your healing gourd before taking him on.

The Bullguard swings a mean halberd, which he can use to perform devastating overhand slams, and much quicker horizontal slashes that swing twice before a third overhead attack. Luckily, each of these combo hits usually end with him taking a long time to pull his weapon back out of the ground and reset his positioning, which is the perfect time to strike with a light combo or sneak in a heavy attack when he’s recovering.

He can also perform multiple overhead swings at once ending with a massive jump attack, so it’s safe to assume that unless he’s charging at you, his swings will almost always come out in multiple hits, and you’ll want to be ready to dodge them all first before you move in and attack.

Once you carve out about half of the Bullguard’s health bar, he’ll parry your next strike and move in for the killing blow — until the Keeper intervenes. Using an immobilization spell to lock him in place, the Keeper will pass on the magic spell to the Destined One, giving you your first spell - Immobilize!

Immobilize allows you to bind an enemy in place for a small duration, at which point you’re able to make use of the pause to unload with attacks until the effect breaks. Stronger enemies like this Yaoguai Chief will break out a lot sooner than regular foes, and certain bosses can even resist it entirely, so be wary!

Once the Bullguard breaks free and the Keeper vanishes, it will be up to you to finish the fight. Utilize your new Immobilize Spell to bind him when it suits you best — either to ward off an incoming attack, catch your breath so you can heal, or use the moment to hit him from the side, and launch a heavy attack to send him sprawling.

Don’t get too reckless, as the Immobilize Spell has a moderate cooldown, and uses a bit of your magic meter each time. Unlike your health or stamina, you can’t regenerate magic except by resting at a Shrine.

When the beast finally falls, you’ll likely get a ton of experience, which you can invest in more skill trees that include a new one for your spells like Immobilize. The path forward is now clear to tread, but it’s still a little ways to the next Shrine. If you’re low on health, you can always head back to the Shrine and rest, as enemies like the Bullguard won’t respawn.

Past the wooden gate the Bullguard was blocking, you’ll find another forested area with a sloping path up to the left. If you want to explore a bit first, head to the right to find a Wolf and some Purple Lingzhi, and a small pool of water where two Croaky enemies wait alongside some Jade Lotus.

Taking the path up to the left, be ready to deal with a few more Wolf Scouts and Swordsworns. Grab the Aged Ginseng by a stone pillar as the path curves right.

Past another Wolf, you’ll come upon the top of the path where a large wooden balcony overlooks the temple below. There’s a small orange pillow you can interact with to activate a Meditation Spot. Each chapter has a few of these, and resting at one will grant you a free Spark Skill Point

Be sure to also look around near the wooden balcony for pots to smash for free Will, and a Gentian plant to gather.

Opposite the balcony, you can spot some torches marking a tunnel passage into the rocks. Delve inside to find a familiar golden trail leading to the next Shrine. Now that you’ve grown, so to has the Shrine’s options, as you’ll be able to set Spells to your quickbar, reset your Skill Tree if you wish to experiment, and start buying and selling things at the store:

Since you can’t craft medicine yet, you probably don’t need to be buying ingredients, but the medicines offered here are fairly rare to find in this chapter, so it won’t hurt to buy a few of each, and then sell any Pieces of Gold you’ve found.

Outside the Forest

As you begin to leave the Shrine, the Keeper will stop and warn you of the dangers to come in this next area, and opt to give you a way to do some scouting first.

You’ll be transformed into a small Golden Cicada, which will allow you to fly around the next area to get a look at the dangers to come before you face them yourself. However, your flight time will be limited by the meter slowly fading in the bottom left, and whenever you run out of juice (or manually de-transform) you may find yourself in hot water, so how much you actually want to explore in this form is up to you.

The main path through is area is a very straightforward one, as you can simply follow the straight path past the first two Wolf guards near the Shrine, to a axe-wielding Wolf Stalwart by a small bridge over a stream, and then straight through a tunnel that’s guarded by an extremely tough (and very optional) mini-boss with a giant head.

In fact, this Wandering Wight is tougher than most things you’ll face in the whole chapter, so don’t feel like you need to stop and contend with this foe if you’d rather get stronger and gain access to more abilities first. Be sure to check out our guide on How to Defeat the Wandering Wight when you do.

There’s more optional things to explore in this wide area however, starting by taking the path to the left past the first two Wolves near the Shrine. Past several fallen trees, some Purple Lingzhi and Aged Ginseng, you can reach a small peak with broken pillars and a Wolf guarding some pots to break for Will.

Near this peak is a bridge, where you’ll find a Bandit Chief with a large sword guarding a chest. He can perform some surprisingly agile lunging attacks, and his multi-hit sword swings can deal a lot of damage. Each of his combos end with a large downward slam, and gives you a wide opening to begin your counter-attack as he struggles to pull his blade out of the ground. For as tough as he is, he luckily won’t respawn when defeated.

Once he’s gone, help yourself to the chest to find 2 Evil Repelling Medicament and 5 Tiny Piece of Gold!

The bridge is guarded by a lone Wolf Archer, and a great time to test out the Destined One’s staff twirl ability. By holding down the L2/LT button, you can move your staff quickly to deflect incoming arrows. The Wolf will usually begin with a barrage of quick arrow shots, so be sure to keep holding the button down rather than tapping it until he stops. The move costs stamina to maintain so you can’t block shots forever — as soon as the arrows stop flying, dash across and defeat him before he finds more arrows.

There are many paths to go from here - either continuing to the far side of the stream, or heading back to keep exploring the previous side, including a path up to a high plateau with some Aged Ginseng. On the slope leading back down to the stream, another ginseng plant hides a surprise, as an earthen elemental Ginsengling Yaoguai will uncover itself with the ginseng growing from its head.

These monsters are surprisingly tough, and can slam their hands into the ground to grow poison roots that spread outward — so don’t be afraid to reposition yourself to fight somewhere else. Defeating them will earn you much more crafting materials than picking normal plants.

From here, you can cross the stream to battle some more Wolf enemies on the other side, or look for a small path to the left leading up to a large waterfall with some Jade Lotus and another Crow Diviner enemy meditating by the falls.

The far side of the stream has many more materials to collect, and most importantly, a path leading from the bridge where the archer was to a small archway where another extremely important yet optional mini-boss awaits you.

Yaoguai Chief Mini-Boss Fight - Guangzhi

This Yaoguai Chief is a lot more intimidating than the Bullguard, but thankfully much more approachable than the Wandering Wight nearby, even with his fearsome looking fiery twinblade. Remember that you can purchase some Cooling Powder should you find yourself being lit on fire too much, as well as Evil Repelling Medicant to boost your damage absorption.

The flashing of his fiery weapon may seem impossible to dodge, but the key to this fight is understanding exactly when his attacks actually land so that you can dodge around them. Guangzhi usually starts by charging forth for a combo attack, but each attack will cause him to jump into the air with a flourish before actually attacking with downward swings. Wait to dodge all three swing attacks and then hit him with some of your own while he tries to recover.

If he starts to whirl his fiery blade in circles around him, be ready but don’t panic as his attack is yet to come — wait for him to raise the blade and twirl it high before swinging it from side to side in two slower hits.

Another scary move that may take a bit of practice to understand is his pogo jump: Watch for him to raise his weapon high and vertical over his head before slamming it down, and then somersaulting forward in quick succession to bounce off the ground off his weapon. After a short pause, he’ll leap up to slam down for a third attack, and then even higher up for one last pogo slam explosion. With the last two attacks being spaced out, stand your ground to wait for the drop to dodge around, and cast Immobilize once he’s grounded to pin him down while you unleash your attacks.

At range, he can still be a major problem as you learn his moves, as he can strike from a distance with very little warning. If you see him somersault backward and out of range of your strikes, don’t blindly rush in. He’ll pause for a moment, and then toss his twinblade at you like a boomerang that requires dodging as it spins toward you, and back to his hand.

He can also prepare a flourish before holding his weapon straight up at his side while in a small crouch. If you notice this new stance, be ready to dodge the instant he moves, as he’ll dash forward at an alarming speed, and then dash back to his original spot to try and catch you off-guard.

Another quick moving attack has a lengthy start up, as he’ll keep somersaulting backward and leaping to build up momentum, jumping high and pausing in the air before slamming forward with weapon blazing. If you have the Pillar Style unlocked, you can actually hold your Heavy Attack button to lift yourself off the ground and avoid the attack entirely! He’ll waste time twirling his blade after this strike, making it a good time to get your own hits in.

Remember to apply your Immobilize spell when it serves you best — interrupting his charged up attacks or after a combo when he’s not up in the air so you can lay into him, and use it whenever the spell recharges. With enough damage dealt, the boss will fall, leaving his weapon embedded in the ground nearby.

Pick up the fiery blade, and you’ll learn a Transformation Spell: Red Tides. Now you’ll be able to transform into the very boss you defeated, and use his own abilities in combat against your enemies.

Transformation Spells are very powerful, and essentially give you a separate health and might bar to work with. Might will decay fairly quickly over time, and even more if you charge up the transformation’s focus bar to employ special spell attacks. For this particular spell, you’ll be able to use Guangzhi’s spinning light attacks, and charge a heavy attack for his quick dashes. With a full focus bar, you can use Might on spell after dodging to employ his powerful pogo jump attack!

Be sure to check around the boss arena for pots to break, some Aged Ginseng, and another green wisp that flies away while only granting you a small amount of Will.

With the Red Tides spell, you can try your luck against the Wandering Wight mini-boss next, or slip past him to find a tunnel beyond and return to him later once we can actually make use of the reward for defeating him.

On the other side of the tunnel, head across the long wooden scaffolding to find a path up to the famed Guanyin Temple. A few Wolf Guai are guarding the entrance, including an archer so be ready with the staff twirl to deflect the arrows, then charge them first.

Guanyin Temple

As you open the gate to the temple, the Keeper will warn you of a fearsome Yaoguai who lurks here, but that won’t be stopping you. Rest up at the Shrine, and be sure to look around for some loot before proceeding into the plaza:

• Check the Shrine to find a new option: Armor Crafting. You can now use the materials you’ve been collecting like Yarn along with the Will you’ve accumulated to craft the ‘’’Pilgrim’s Set’’’. As an armor set, the more pieces you equip, the more benefits you’ll earn, and certain armor pieces like the Headband have their own unique effects regardless of how many pieces you equip!
• Near the shrine is a small enclosed area with a green wisp in front of a wolf statue you can attempt to grab for a bit of Will, as well as the Purple Lingzhi.

• On the other side of the large building opposite the wolf shrine, look past a small arch to find a chest you can open to gain 2 Tiny Piece of Gold and 2 Stone Spirit.
• The far side of the entrance area has another building with a Gentian plant on the side, and plenty of pots to break for extra Will.

Be sure you’ve allocated all your extra Spark Skill Points, equipped the best possible armor, and then head inside to face the boss of the Forest of Wolves.

Yaoguai King Boss Fight - Lingxuzi

Compared to Lingxuzi, the last wolf boss you fought may as well have been a puppy. This Yaoguai King is a large hulking beast of a wolf that hits as hard as he is big. Luckily, for all his size, his attacks come with clear telegraphs to help you dodge and counter his moves.

He’ll usually start the fight with a big leaping strike, falling to the ground with one slash, and then quickly following up with a second slash from his other claw. Unfortunately, he’s a pretty evasive foe, and finding the right moments to counter attack can be tricky.

Certain times, he’ll dodge back after his attacks, but if he pauses to lick his claws, that’s your cue to sprint in (gaining a bonus from the Pilgrim Set) and attack with a quick light combo. Sometimes he may appear to charge the air around him — which means he’s preparing for a damaging howl. That’s your cue to simply run back a few paces to stand outside his range.

Try not to get disoriented as he strafes before many of his attacks - which can sometimes end in a strafing lunge where he swipes upward as he slides toward you.

Once he stops running, watch for him to raise a claw. These attacks are usually simple swipes with a big delay, so wait for the claw to descend before dodging and attacking. His two-hit attacks only come from his leaps, so as long as he’s stationary, his attacks will be easier to anticipate.

Sometimes, Lingxuzi can dive at you face first, moving his open jaws up before biting down. You need only dodge his face, meaning you can dodge right into his arms and keep attacking.

His most threatening attack comes when he disengages from the fight and jump to a nearby rooftop. He’ll jump around a bit, and then leap high into the air to bellyflop onto you, causing a large shockwave that you’ll need to time well and dodge or take a ton of damage.

He also has an uppercut grab he can sometimes employ after a dashing strike that’s hard to see coming, which can launch you into the air for a multi-hit attack that can deal a scary amount of damage. This move comes when he’s hunched over and growls, but he won’t raise his claw until it’s too late to dodge!

Once you’ve got him back on the ground, try utilizing your new Red Waves spell to fight a wolf with a wolf, and unleash the fiery spin attacks while still making sure to dodge his swipes. Even though you have a new separate health bar, you’ll be able to unleash more damage in this form if you don’t spend the entire time taking damage.

Remember you can also employ the Immobilize spell to keep him penned in if he strafes too much to hit, or you can use it to shut down his damaging roar or swipes so that you can interrupt his attack and hit him with a charged strike.

With his slow attacks, he’ll be easier to read than Guangzhi, making this battle one of patience and getting your hits in where you can before falling back to wait for the next attack you can dodge and punish. Once the mighty Lingxuzi falls, you’ll earn the Grey Wolf Mask and a Mind Core — a unique upgrade material.

The Keeper will encourage you to look around now that he’s been defeated, and aside from more mushrooms and jade lotus to harvest in one corner, you can check the far right corner from the entrance to the arena to find a large chest that houses 2 Tiny Piece of Gold, and 3 Yarn.

The biggest reward waits up the stairs in the main building. Look to the left for a small gold pot placed before an altar with a large statue, and open it to find a Celestial Jade Lotus Pill. This is a collectible upgrade that will greatly increase your Maximum Health much more than investing a skill point!

When you’re ready to move on, exit through the back of the building to find a new Shrine at the start of Chapter 1’s next region: The Bamboo Grove.