Black Myth: Wukong Update Adds New Boss Rush Mode, Journeyer’s Chart, and Plenty More

Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science has issued a new update for the record-breaking action game, adding a number of new features.

Update 1.0.12.16581 adds a new boss rush mode called Challenge, which can be found at any Keeper’s Shrine after beating the game at least once. Two types of challenge are available: Return of Rivals and Gauntlet of Legends.

Return of Rivals lets players challenge a defeated boss to a duel, choosing from three levels of difficulty. Gauntlet of Legends lets players fight against multiple opponents in succession, using customized curses to tailor the difficulty. As with Return of Rivals, if any opponents remain undefeated in the main game, the related gauntlet will be unavailable.

“This mode can be difficult, as some old opponents may surprise with new moves,” Game Science warned in a blog post. “Proceed with caution!” There are unique rewards tied to Challenge, detailed below in the patch notes.

Meanwhile, the patch adds the new Journeyer’s Chart, which is unlocked when the player first enters Black Wind Mountain and meets the Keeper. Afterwards, for each new territory reached, a Journeyer’s Chart can be bought at the Keeper’s Shrine. There’s new equipment, too, to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, and new music library functions.

Last month, Game Science teased “some surprises” for Black Myth: Wukong. Accepting the Game of the Year award via video message at the Golden Joysticks, Game Science co-founder Feng Ji encouraged people who have yet to buy the smash hit action game to now do so. He then added the tease: “Of course, you might have already completed our game. That’s perfectly fine too. Keep following us, and there might just be some surprises waiting for you later this year.” It seems these new additions, designed for players who have beat Black Myth: Wukong already, are the surprises in question.

Black Myth: Wukong launched on August 19 and sold an eye-watering 18 million copies in just two weeks across PC and PS5, reportedly making over $700 million in revenue in the process. That was enough to put Black Myth: Wukong up there with Grand Theft Auto 5 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as one of the fastest-selling games of all time, and is an astonishing return for a game that had a reported budget of $70 million over six years of development. It did so well that Sony pointed to Black Myth: Wukong as making a significant contribution to revenue during its last financial quarter., making up for the Concord disaster.

DLC is set to follow. In September, Game Science investor Hero Games confirmed plans to release an Elden Ring-style expansion for Black Myth: Wukong ahead of any sequel. Perhaps we’ll get a first look at The Game Awards 2024 later this week.

IGN’s Black Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.”

While you’re here, IGN has plenty more Black Myth: Wukong guides to help you out, including Essential Tips and Tricks, Things Black Myth: Wukong Doesn’t Tell You, and our Boss List and Guides.

Black Myth: Wukong update 1.0.12.16581 patch notes:

What to Know Before Patch Installation

• Due to the platform’s update mechanism, your computer will need to reserve a larger amount of free disk space for temporary storage of the update files.
• If you have installed any mods in the game, installing the patch may cause compatibility issues. This could prevent you from launching the game or triggering error pop-ups during gameplay. We recommend uninstalling the installed mods and verifying the integrity of the game files before restarting the game
• If you encounter unusually large update sizes during patch installation, or if the game gets stuck, crashes, or fails to start after installation, please refer to the Installation/Patch FAQ on our official website.
• All new items introduced in this patch will not be required for any game achievements.

Major Updates

New Gameplay: Challenge

“It’s tough to confront the old rivals anew, but the Great Sage will always prevail!”

• After completing the game at least once, the Destined One can find “Challenge” at any Keeper’s Shrine.
• There are two types of challenge available: “Return of Rivals” and “Gauntlet of Legends”.
• “Return of Rivals”
  • The Destined One can challenge a former opponent to a duel, choosing from three levels of difficulty.
  • If any opponents remain undefeated in the main game, the corresponding rebattle will be unavailable.
• “Gauntlet of Legends”
  • The Destined One can battle against multiple opponents in succession, using customized curses to tailor the difficulty.
  • This mode can be difficult, as some old opponents may surprise with new moves. Proceed with caution!
  • If any opponents remain undefeated in the main game, the related gauntlet will be unavailable.
  • Completing any gauntlet rewards players with new rare treasures.
    • Medicine: “Glimmering Scale Pellets” and its formula;
    • Drink and Soaks: “Sour Wine”, “Frost-Enduring Chrysanth”, and “Robust Antler”;
    • Curios: “Stone Tiger Tally”, “Ever-Burning Palace Lantern”, and “Fragment of the Ocean-Settling Pillar”;
    • Equipment: “Three Hill Crown”;
    • Weapons: “Qing Mallet”, “Fanged Cyan Staff”, and “Leeching Centipede Staff”.

New Game Feature: Journeyer’s Chart

“Let the chart chart the journeyer’s journey.”

• A remarkable one has captured these landscapes, organizing them into charts for guidance and marking.
• A Journeyer’s Chart can be unlocked when the Destined One first enters Black Wind Mountain and meets the Keeper.
• Afterwards, for each new territory reached, a “Journeyer’s Chart” can be purchased at the Keeper’s Shrine.

New Equipment: Armor Set of Opulence

As the year comes to a close, we wish all Destined Ones an early Happy Chinese New Year! May you have joy and prosperity all year round.

• Four special armor pieces have been crafted to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.
• After installation, all Destined Ones can claim these directly through “Trailblazer’s Gift” at any Keeper’s Shrine.

New Music Library Functions

• “Black Myth: Wukong Soundtrack Selection” has been added as a new soundtrack application (some tracks are not available for export due to copyright restrictions).

Please note: Due to configuration issues on EPIC, purchasers of “Black Myth: Wukong Deluxe Edition Upgrade” may experience delays in receiving the soundtrack selection. Your patience is much appreciated.

Bug Fixes

Bosses

• Fixed an issue where yaoguai chiefs “The King of the Kingdom of Flowing Sands and His Son” might not drop the spirit of “Second Rat Prince” upon defeat.
• Fixed an issue where yaoguai queen “Kang-Jin Star” would die unexpectedly under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where “Zhu Bajie” could not be defeated during a certain phase.
• Fixed an issue where yaoguai king “Yellow Loong” would get stuck underground in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where some skills of yaoguai king “Yellow Loong” could not be interrupted even after being seen-through.
• Fixed an issue where yaoguai chiefs “Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud” would continue attacking players while in invisible state under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where yaoguai chief Lang-Baw-Baw could not engage in combat under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where some skills of “Erlang, the Sacred Divinity” would deal abnormal damage to the Destined One.
• Fixed an issue where the Destined One could engage in the battle with “The Four Heavenly Kings” in forms other than “Stone Monkey” under specific operations.
• Fixed an issue where the Destined One could be blocked by an invisible wall, preventing him from entering combat in certain situations.
• Improved the grappling performance of yaoguai king “Yellow Wind Sage”.
• Reduced the invulnerability duration of “Green-Capped Martialist”.
• Enhanced the effectiveness of the vessel “Wind Tamer” against yaoguai chief “Non-Void”.
• Improved the combat experience with yaoguai chiefs “Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud”.
• Improved the combat experience with yaoguai chief “Emerald-Armed Mantis”.
• Improved the combat experience with “The Great Sage’s Broken Shell”.

Levels

• Fixed an issue where Zhu Bajie did not appear in Mount Huaguo under certain conditions.

Protagonist

• Improved the experience when the Destined One consumes multiple medicines consecutively.
• Enhanced the experience of Varied Combos and Charged Heavy Attacks.
• Optimized the description of Transformations-related Talents.
• Fixed an issue where the damage detection of Spirit Skills persisted indefinitely under certain operations.
• Fixed an issue where the animation of Life-Saving Strand could not be triggered when the Talent had taken effect under specific operations.
• Fixed an issue where “Bull King’s Mask” could gain Focus even when attacked during invincible states (Doging, Perfect Dodging, or Seeing-Through).

Interaction

• The Music Library progress bar now supports dragging.
• Control customization for Keyboard & Mouse now supports mouse side buttons.
• Fixed an issue where the Sprint button icon would not display in Controller Type B’s layout.
• Fixed an issue where the Inventory interface might not display content under certain operations.
• Fixed an issue where the UI could become misaligned under specific operations.

Sound and Subtitles

• Fixed errors in some sound effects.
• Fixed abnormal voice playback for certain yaoguai kings.
• Optimized the volume of certain sound effects.

Performance

• Fixed occasional crashes for some users after enabling DLSS frame generation.
• Fixed screen flickering issues for some users after enabling XeSS.
• Fixed a memory leak issue under certain conditions.
• Fixed crashes caused by outdated drivers.
• Optimized performance for numerous scenes and boss fights on medium and low-end configurations.
• Enhanced the performance of Full Ray Tracing on GeForce RTX.

Localization and Other

• Added language support for Turkish.
• Added and improved translations for Portraits in several languages.
• Corrected translation errors and fixed issues with spelling, capitalization, and terminology consistency in several languages.
• Improved the translation of lyrics in several languages.
• Enhanced the quality of some English voiceovers and their synchronization with subtitles.
• Improved text display in several languages.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].