Ferocious and fast-paced action await you in Black Myth: Wukong, an action role-playing game from developer Game Science. As the Destined One, the staff is your weapon of choice, though there are various combos that you can utilize. Certain options are great for offense or defense, while others offer more acrobatic maneuvers. Our guide discusses the best staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong.

There are three staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong. These are the Smash Stance, Pillar Stance, and Thrust Stance. If unlocked, you can freely swap from one playstyle to another during combat, allowing for added flexibility when dealing with different kinds of foes. Moreover, each stance has its own unique skill tree with perks/talents that further improve their functionality. Note that you may refund and reallocate your talent points at any shrine via the Self Advance: Reignite the Sparks panel.

In any case, our Black Myth: Wukong best staff stances guide is organized based on when you unlock these options as you level up. We’ve also included information regarding their perks, the ideal situations on when you should switch to them, and whether or not they’re worth it in the long run.

Smash Stance: The best early-game stance

The Smash Stance is available at the start of the campaign. It suits an offensive-oriented playstyle since it allows you to chain together multiple hits in an uninterrupted sequence. Likewise, its Resolute Strike mechanic is almost akin to a weapon parry of sorts. If you perform a varied combo (i.e. light attacks followed by a heavy attack that consumes a Focus Point), your character “sees through” an enemy’s next move, nullifying the damage and countering with a slam. We recommend choosing the Smash Stance for the first few hours of the game, at least until you obtain the Thrust Stance.

Here are the Smash Stance’s perks/talents:

• Force Unbound: Enables sprinting while charging.
• Ironbound Resolve: Each talent level considerably increases damage reduction upon a charged heavy attack.
• Smashing Force: Each talent level slightly increases the damage dealt by smash heavy attacks.
• Peace from Peril – When charging, perfect dodges retain any Focus that has been built up.
• Resolution Counterflow – Performing a heavy attack during a light attack combo executes a Resolute Strike (i.e. see through); enemies that have been seen through as easier to stagger.
• Winding Wind: Performing a light attack after seeing through an enemy initiates a light attack combo from the third move.
• Skyfall Strike: After a successful hit with Resolute Strike, performing another heavy attack that consumes a Focus Point triggers Skyfall Strike, a somersault move that crashes down on a target’s head.
• Invigoration: Grants massive Focus upon seeing through and hitting an enemy with Resolute Strike.
• Vantage Point: Skyfall Strike deals more damage based on the number of Focus Points that have been built up.

Pillar Stance: The best stance to ignore (for the most part)

Pillar Stance is unlocked at level 3. Switching to this mode changes your charged heavy attack; your character hops on their weapon that slowly becomes more elongated, thereby increasing their height. After that, they can crash down on an opponent below.

To be honest, although there are only three options to choose from when discussing the best staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong, we still feel that the Pillar Stance should be in fourth place. We tried very hard to make it work properly in game, but there were few situations when it became a lifesaver. In the same vein, the varied combo where your character spins around might look flashy, but it’s hardly practical. We’ve gotten smacked and tossed around by foes while in the middle of this animation that it just wasn’t worth attempting during tougher battles.

If you’re interested, here are the perks/talents for the Pillar Stance:

• Pillar Stance (unlock): Ascend to the top of the pillar staff to avoid ground attacks while charging; stamina is consumed as you try to maintain balance.
• Steel Pillar: Each talent level moderately reduces the stamina cost of maintaining balance while perched.
• Skylarking: With +3 or more Focus Points, you may use your gourd/flask while perching on the staff.
• Towering Mountain: You no longer fall to the ground if your stamina is fully depleted while perching. Instead, you execute a heavy attack.
• Sweeping Gale: This varied combo causes you to perform an aerial spin while using your weapon as a pole.
• Gale’s Blessing: Grants a considerable amount of damage reduction while performing Sweeping Gale.
• Churning Gale: Hitting a target with Sweeping Gale and performing a heavy attack triggers Churning Gale; your character whirls around at ground level to hit multiple foes.
• Collapsing Gale: Churning Gale depletes all Focus Points and deals additional damage based on the number of Focus Points consumed.

Thrust Stance: The best stance overall

Thrust Stance is unlocked at level 20, but it’s certainly worth the wait. That’s because it’s the best staff stance in Black Myth: Wukong. This is primarily due to offering both offense and defense. It has longer range to keep enemies away, and it has a backstep move as its varied combo, creating a cost-effective means of avoiding damage as opposed to consuming mana to cast Rock Solid (i.e. the parry spell). The backstep can be followed up with multiple forward strikes, while the charged heavy attack is a devastating thrust with high stagger capabilities. Make no mistake: this suits all types of playstyles and, once unlocked, you’ll barely try the others.

Below are the Thrust Stance’s perks/talents. We recommend allocating points into all of them as long as you have enough to spare:

• Thrust Stance (unlock): Hold to charge a heavy attack, which lets you execute a swift thrust at a distant enemy.
• Borrowed Strength: Each talent level increases stamina recovery when hitting enemies while in Thrust Stance.
• Offense in Defense: This varied combo executes a Tactical Retreat (i.e. backstep move). Doing a heavy attack executes a Forceful Thrust.
• Whirling Thrusts: Holding the light attack button after Tactical Retreat triggers a forward jump and a barrage of staff strikes.
• Force Cascade: Each successful hit with Whirling Thrust slightly increases critical hit chance for a short duration; stacks up to 15 times.
• Relentless: Staggered or repelled enemies take increased damage from thrust heavy attacks.
• Deadly Dance: If you have +4 Focus Points, you automatically perform a thrust heavy attack after a dodge or perfect dodge.
• Adaptability: Pressing the heavy attack button after Whirling Thrusts triggers another Tactical Retreat backstep.
• Lucky Strike: If you perform a Tactical Retreat and the enemy is already seen through, a heavy attack triggers Forceful Thrust and you gain brief invincibility.
• Ebb and Flow: Negates all stamina cost for a short duration after seeing through an enemy during Tactical Retreat.

That does it for our Black Myth: Wukong best staff stances guide. If you want to maximize the Destined One’s capabilities, we encourage you to check our guides on the best weapons and best armor sets.