How to Defeat the Wandering Wight in Black Myth: Wukong
The Wandering Wight is an early boss in Black Myth: Wukong and although it is optional, it can cause you a lot of trouble when you first meet him.
In this Black Myth: Wukong guide, we’ll explain where to find the Wandering Wight, when to fight it, and how to defeat it for good.
Where to find the Wandering Wight in Black Myth: Wukong
The Wandering Wight is an optional miniboss that appears just after the Outside the forest sanctuary in the Wolf Forest in Black Myth: Wukong‘s first chapter. To get to him from the shrine, stay right on the path, defeat the wolves, go over the bridge, and look for an open area. You’ll see the Wandering Wight — the big blue guy — wandering around the clearing, loosely guarding a cave that leads to the rest of Chapter 1.
When should you fight the Wandering Wight in Black Myth: Wukong?
Image: Game Science via Polygon
The Wandering Wight is quite difficult during opening hours Black Myth: WukongThis is partly due to the miniboss’s strong moveset, but it’s mostly a problem with your limited stats, skills, and spells when you first encounter him.
For example, if you encounter the Wandering Wight before you’ve unlocked your first Transformation spell, you’re probably going to have a bad time. While he’s defeatable, he’s terribly difficult and you will have to pull out all the tricks you can before you enter the battle.
Instead of going straight to the Wandering Wight, take a left from Outside the Forest Shrine and go over the upper bridge. Fight the first real boss of the game, Guangzhito unlock his Transformation, Red tides. Once you have it, you’ll be in a much better position to take on the Wandering Wight, as you’ll gain a second health bar while you transform.
It’s worth noting here that the Wandering Wight lives up to its name, and will wander back and forth through the clearing. If you go around the side of the area, you can skip the fight altogether and come back later to earn its very powerful Spirit summon – a system you’ll unlock later in Chapter 1.
How to Defeat the Wandering Wight in Black Myth: Wukong
Image: Game Science via Polygon
The Wandering Wight will literally knock you back to the shrine if you don’t learn its attacks, so let’s start there:
- Swipe and shuffle combo: The Wandering Wight’s main move is to lower itself and slide towards you with its hands. This ability has a surprisingly long range, circling the Wandering Wight. Your best move here is to break free or try to dodge behind the boss.
- Palm Earthquake Attack: One of the Wandering Wight’s most dangerous moves is its palm quake, which comes in two variations, both of which have the same animation. To initiate this move, the Wandering Wight will slam its palm into the ground, causing a burst of energy around the spot it hits. Sometimes, this is where the attack ends. But occasionally, the Wandering Wight will continue to slam its palm into the ground, causing an earthquake that radiates out from the center spot three or four times, getting bigger and bigger each time. This attack can cover a huge area, so it’s best to run as far away from the Wandering Wight as possible once you see its hand come down. If you’re confident in your dodging skills, you can dodge through each shockwave to deal some extra damage to the boss.
Image: Game Science via Polygon
- Stomping combination: The Wandering Wight also likes to stomp around. Luckily, the windup here is very long, with the boss lifting his foot high before he starts. When you see this, back away from the boss, as he has a large area and does a lot of damage. Be careful if you move too quickly, as he will sometimes follow up the attack with more stomps or even a headbutt.
- Jumping stomp: One of the Wandering Wight’s more mobile moves, the jumping stomp sees him leap into the air and attempt to squash you. While he moves fairly quickly here—and can leap across the arena in a single bound—you’ll be able to tell the attack is coming when his feet leave the ground completely.
Image: Game Science via Polygon
- Hand explosion: The Wandering Wight’s hand blast is its most devastating move, as the windup is fast and can deal massive damage. Watch for the Wandering Wight to retract its hand and then push forward. This will shoot a massive line of energy at you, which you can dodge by moving to the side or rolling through at the right moment.
- Running Clap: Another mobile move, the Wandering Wight will occasionally lean down and put its hands out to the side. This is a signal that it is about to charge at you and clap your hands. Either run away from the boss immediately or wait until it is close and dodge. It has a variation of this move where it runs at you, wildly waving its arms, and then slams the ground, but the strategy for fending it off is the same.
- Headbutt: The Wandering Wight will occasionally slam its head on the ground and you, if you get in its way. This is one of the boss’s faster moves, and you only have a few seconds to react. Watch for it to pull its head back a bit; if you see this, dodge back immediately.
Image: Game Science via Polygon
The key to this fight is to not get hit, which may seem like obvious advice but is important to keep in mind due to the amount of damage the Wandering Wight can deal in a single attack – enough that it may take two chugs from your Gourd to recover. Unless you’re feeling confident, it’s best to stay away from attacks rather than dodging them.
Immobilize and the Red tides Transformation is your big tool in this fight at this point in the game. Transform with Red Tides as early as possible – although you’re unlikely to get it back unless you really prolong the fight. Build up your meter as you transform and Use your heavy attack to set the Wandering Wight on firewhich will deal a significant amount of damage over time. Immobilize is great because it allows you to deal a ton of damage while staying safe, but it will also stagger the boss if you hit it hard enough to break the stun (use a heavy attack with a Focus for this).
You win this fight by stunning the boss or knocking him off balance. Use concentrated heavy blows whenever possible to knock him off balance. If you’re lucky, you can also trick him into jumping onto one of the nearby stone pillars for a short stun. This is a great boon, but not worth counting on since he can easily destroy these pillars with his earthquake attack.
Image: Game Science via Polygon
The trick to this fight – and this is something you’ll have to get used to a bit as you fight him – is learning when to throw a few punches and when to stay out of his way. As you learn the fight, stay close enough to him that he doesn’t constantly attack you, but also far enough away that you can escape his other attacks – there’s a middle ground here that you’ll have to get a feel for so that you can stay safe.
When you defeat the Wandering Wight, it will release the Cat’s Eye Beads Curiositiessome craft materials and the Wandering Ghost Spirit. Once you can absorb Spirits (don’t worry, you can collect missed Spirits from any shrine once you get the ability later in Chapter 1) you can briefly transform into the Wandering Wight to deliver an impressive head slam. You also get a huge boost to your defense when you have its spirit equipped, which can really carry you through the first three chapters of the game.
Looking for more help on your adventure as the Destined One? Check out our other Black Myth: Wukong guides, which can help you find all three hidden bells in Chapter 1, sober up the Squire in the Yellow Robe in Chapter 2, figure out how to make medicine, and track down all of Buddha’s eyeballs.