Black Myth: Wukong – Focus Points, explained

Focus Points are an integral part of combat in Black Myth: Wukong, to the point that not being aware of them means almost certain failure later in the game. If you’re not sure how they work, here’s a guide explaining to them in detail, and why you should be using them often.

What are Focus Points in Black Myth: Wukong?

Focus Points are a unique, combat-orientated resource that allows you to use powerful staff attacks to overwhelm your foes. Your most potent abilities, outside of spells, in Black Myth: Wukong will come from expending Focus Points, so it is imperative to understand how they work.

Focus Points are earned by dealing damage with staff attacks, charging up your Heavy Attack, and perfectly dodging enemy attacks. You can see the resource fill at the bottom-right portion of your UI. They look like little white orbs when filled and blank orbs when not. Focus Point orbs earned by dealing damage and dodging attacks will remain filled until you use them. However, Focus Point orbs filled by charging your Heavy Attack will disappear once you’ve released the charge.

The amount of these Focus Point orbs you have is determined by how many Sparks you’ve spent in the Staff Stances tree. You can have a grand of total four Focus Point orbs once you’ve spent 20 Sparks in the tree. Just make sure you take the nodes named Focused Attack in the tree, to ensure you get the orbs unlocked.

Focus Point orbs are essential for either enhancing staff attacks or enabling specific moves. Certain staff attacks require a Focus Point orb to activate, while others can be used without one. However, by holding down Heavy Attack, you can charge some of these moves with a Focus Point orb for added power and poise damage. Some staff skills yield special effects when using Focus Points, like Pillar Stance, which allows you to perch higher on the staff with more Focus Points used.

Another crucial aspect of Focus Points is the risk involved in using them during combat. While they are a valuable resource for enhancing your attacks, misusing them can lead to serious consequences. If you activate a Focus Point move or charge one up using Heavy Attack, and your poise is broken in the process, you’ll lose all the Focus Points you’ve accumulated or attempted to use. Focus Point attacks are high risk, high reward, so it’s vital to time them carefully. Otherwise, you risk weakening yourself significantly in battle.