Black Myth: Wukong — How to beat the Black Bear Guai boss

Though you may have defeated the Black Wind King once already in Black Myth: Wukong, he's far from fully beaten — a fact you've no doubt discovered yourself, since you're here reading this article. After retreating to his temple deep within the forests of the Black Wind Mountain, he's transformed into the Black Bear Guai, a colossal yaoguai that stands as the final challenge you'll need to overcome in the game's opening chapter.

With tons of health, lethal, high-damage attacks, and fire that can whittle your health down over time if you're not careful, the Black Bear Guai is undoubtedly Chapter 1's mightiest opponent — and to claim the first of the five ancient Relics you're after, you'll need to take him down once and for all. The below guide will help you do just that, as it's complete with a full look at his moveset and details about how you can avoid taking damage while simultaneously dealing plenty of it yourself.

Boss guide: How to beat the Black Bear Guai boss

Here's a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know about the Black Bear Guai boss fight, including which moves it performs, how you can dodge them, and what the best ways to go on offense yourself are.

• Try to stick to light attacks for most of the fight, as the Black Bear Guai's attacks are heavy-hitting and can easily kill you if you're performing longer heavy attacks of your own when he starts doing them. You can (and should), however, weave Focus-powered heavies into the ends of your light attack chains since these will help stagger the boss and open up more counter-attack opportunities.
• The best time to get lots of damage in is between the Black Bear Guai's moves, as it generally takes a few seconds to recover between its combos. With that said, you should be attacking every single moment you have the opportunity to since you can dodge out of your basic combos any time you need to.
• The boss' attacks deal some Fire damage and can eventually proc a damage-over-time effect, so crafting some consumables that resist or counteract Fire is a good idea. Note that you can also dodge multiple times to put flames out if you get set on fire.
• A very common three-hit attack the boss does sees him roar into the air before trying to punch you with his left paw, swipe up at you with his right, and then finish with a delayed stomp of his left foot that creates a small flame blast. Dodge the first two attacks quickly, then wait a moment before dodging the third; if you dodge around and past the boss when avoiding the first attack, the second will likely miss you regardless of whether you dodge or not.
• A dangerous four-hit combo involves a right paw punch followed by a backslash, a sweep, and a slam with his left paw. Again, you can make some of the follow-up moves miss by dodging into and behind the boss instead of laterally or away. Also note that there's a delay between the third and fourth strike that may trick you into committing to further dodges too soon.
• If you see the boss lift both of its arms into the air, he's about to try and slam you, and will then follow up with a leap into the air that precedes a body slam. It doesn't matter which direction you dodge in when avoiding these, though be aware that both attacks are noticeably delayed so you'll likely get hit if you dodge too early.
• The boss also frequently tends to try and quickly backhand you with his left claw when you're directly in front of him, so watch out for that. This move doesn't hit terribly hard and is easy to dodge, but it's very fast and can be a little tricky to see since  the Black Bear Guai is so large.
  • There's a variation of this move where he performs another slash with his right, than one more from his left for three total. Keep that in mind, and don't initiate any big moves of your own after dodging the first swipe or else you'll be caught by the follow-ups if the boss uses them.
• From medium range, the boss may also telegraph a far-reaching right paw slam with a small stomp of his left foot. Watch for this tell, and be ready to dodge laterally as the paw slam comes in.

• At around half HP, the boss will do a downward slam with its paws that covers him in fire and creates multiple geysers of flame around the arena that shoot upwards. This attack signals the start of a Phase 2, in which all of the boss' attacks are infused with more Fire damage. Avoid the slam and the geysers both.
• After Phase 2 begins, the boss will then transform into a ball of wind energy similar to the one used in the Black Wind King fight and fly at you around six times in the same way, aiming to crash into you after visible pulses of energy. Watch for these pulses and dodge left or right shortly after them to avoid being hit by the charges.
  • Both the phase transition attack and this one can repeat during the second phase, so keep that in mind.
• Throughout the fight, the Black Bear Guai may also briefly go into this wind form before performing one of two attacks:
  • If he leaps towards you with his left paw outstretched: He will slash at you with his right claw, then quickly do a slam with his left. Dodge twice in quick succession to avoid taking damage.
  • If he hangs in the air: He will do a delayed crushing slam attack on you. Don't dodge right away; instead, wait for him to start coming down before you do so that you're not caught out.
• The boss also gains a new slam attack in Phase 2, in which he tries to crush you by falling on his left side. Be ready to dodge out of the way if you start to see the bear moving this way, and you'll be rewarded with a solid opportunity to get lots of hits in.
• Another new attack is one in which the boss first attacks with a slam from his right paw, then his left. He then roars before leaping into the air and trying to land a delayed slash with his right claw from above. Dodge the first two attacks quickly, then patiently wait until the boss starts coming down from above before avoiding the final slash.

And that's all there is to it. The Black Bear Guai has lots of HP and some incredibly powerful moves, but his long recovery windows between attacks makes him an easy boss to stay aggressive against as long as you don't commit to too many heavy attacks you can't dodge out of. Once you take him down, you'll get your hands on the first of the ancient Relics, signaling the end of Chapter 1 and the transition over to Chapter 2's beginning.

Black Myth: Wukong is one of 2024's biggest games, and arguably one of the best PC games to play if you're an ARPG fan looking for something new (for my full thoughts on it, check out my review). It's available on Windows PC and PS5 (an Xbox Series X|S version is coming, too) for $59.99, though right now it's actually on sale for just $54.39 at CDKeys.

Black Myth: Wukong | $54.39 at CDKeys (PC, Steam)

Black Myth: Wukong is finally here, and it's a good ARPG to play if you're into flashy combat, challenging fast-paced boss battles, and beautiful worlds inspired by mythology. Right now, you can get it for a sweet discount thanks to a CDKeys deal.

Also see: Epic Games Store | WeGame | PlayStation Store