How to beat Black Bear Guai in Black Myth: Wukong

Black Bear Guai is the final boss of the first chapter in Black Myth: Wukong, and he’ll really put your early game stats to the test. 

Environmental damage is a big part of what makes Black Bear Guai so difficult. His entire arena has been set ablaze, and there are pools of fire on the ground that will chip away at your health if you aren’t paying close enough attention during the fight. To beat the boss, you’ll need to be able to split your attention, and you’ll also need to truly master the game’s dodge mechanic. 

All that stands between you and Chapter 2 now is Black Bear Guai, so here’s everything you need to know to beat him. 

How to beat Black Bear Guai

The Black Bear Guai fight has two phases. In the first the boss will frequently charge you with a heavy attack, and afterward he’ll stand on two feet and hit you with a light attack combo. To avoid the lunge, you need to dodge just a moment after Black Bear Guai jumps into the air, not when he starts his initial charge. The best windows for hitting him are immediately after that lunge and during the time it takes him to stand on his back legs. When he starts his light attack combo, you’ll also have a great opportunity to dodge behind him and hit his back, but watch out because sometimes he’ll counter by falling backward and slamming you with his body. 

I’d recommend starting the fight by using your Immobilize spell to get in some extra hits, but I would save Cloud Step and your transformation for Black Bear Guai’s second phase. When you get him down to about half health, he’ll slam the ground with his front feet and then transform into a ball of energy that’s immune to taking damage. The ball will swoop toward you and deal damage, but it makes a small wooshing sound before the attack. If you dodge a second after the sound, you should avoid the hit, but I consistently messed up the timing here and found that using Cloud Step was a more reliable way to avoid taking damage. 

After a few swiping attacks, Black Bear Guai will return to his physical form, but now his fists will be engulfed in flames, dealing even more damage with every strike. If you found the Fireproof Mantle earlier in Chapter 1, use it now, and this phase of the fight won’t be any harder than the first time around. Without the mantle, it’s even more important to avoid taking hits because they could set you on fire. Black Bear Guai’s moves in the second phase are basically the same as in the first. The big thing to watch out for here is his second transformation. When you get him down to about 25% health, he’ll become a ball of energy again, and you’ve got to put all your energy into dodging his attacks and avoiding the fire on the ground. A little way into phase two, I used my transformation to kill Black Bear Guai quickly enough that he didn’t get time to transform again. 

There you have it! With Black Bear Guai defeated, you’ll have secured the first relic of Sun Wukong, and you’ll be ready to head into Black Myth: Wukong’s second chapter.