What is the best Stance in Black Myth Wukong?

How to choose between the Smash, Pillar, and Thrust Stance

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science

Wondering which is the best Stance in Black Myth: Wukong? Black Myth: Wukong features four different “Staff Stances” offering unique fighting styles. Each Stance comes with a different heavy attack and a passive skill tree, so by switching Stances, you can adjust your combat style to become more assertive, develop better evasive manoeuvres, improve your range, and much more.

While you can only use the “Smash Stance” at the start of a new game, the “Pillar Stance” becomes available at level 5 and the “Thrust Stance” can be unlocked at level 20. There’s also the secret “Wukong Stance,” which is only accessible after you’ve beaten the game multiple times. To upgrade and change between Stances, open your menu, choose “Self-Advance”, and add Sparks to the skill trees.

Make no mistake though; just because Pillar and Thrust are unlocked later on, they’re not necessarily better than the Smash Stance. Each Stance has its advantages, and which one’s the “best” mostly depends on your personal playstyle. In this guide, we’ll help you find the best Stance in Black Myth: Wukong for you.

In this guide:

• Which is the best Stance in Black Myth Wukong?
• Smash Stance
• Pillar Stance
• Thrust Stance
• Wukong Stance

Which is the best Stance in Black Myth Wukong?

Based on our experience, the best Stance in Black Myth: Wukong is the Smash Stance . Firstly, the sprinting-while-charging ability allows you to quickly smash through minor opponents, which makes exploration much faster. It also works great against bosses, as the sprinting enables you to adjust your timing and positioning before landing the blow. The best thing about the Smash Stance, however, is the Resolute Strike attack; it can nullify an incoming blow, deal a ton of damage, and even gain a massive amount of Focus - basically everything you need to defeat a powerful boss.

That said, every Black Myth: Wukong Stance has its advantages and disadvantages. Before we explore this in more detail, here’s a brief overview to help you find your perfect Staff Stance:

• Smash Stance : The best option to fight bosses and (groups of) smaller enemies interchangeably. Offers high mobility but requires precise dodging and the special attacks are harder to pull off.
• Pillar Stance : Has the best defensive ability, which is especially handy if you’re not great at dodging. You can slam enemies far away as well as those nearby, but stamina management is a bit harder and combat may feel somewhat slow.
• Thrust Stance : Offers amazing range and the most rewarding combos, but follow-up attacks can be hard to land and the heavy attack has stationary charging.
• Wukong Stance : Unparalleled strength and power that really makes you feel like the reincarnation of Sun Wukong. However, this stance is only available after you’ve beaten the game a whopping three times.

If you want, you can level more than one Stance to use in combat - given the limited number of Sparks, however, it’s typically best to focus on one or two at most. Don’t worry about wasting Sparks though, as you can reset them at any Keeper’s Shrine for free.

Smash Stance

Twirl through the sky with the Smash Stance’s heavy attack. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science

The Smash Stance offers amazing mobility as you can sprint while charging your heavy attack . By running towards an unsuspecting opponent and whacking them before they’ve had a chance to react, you can easily gain the upper hand against otherwise tough opponents. This speedy combat style also allows you to quickly move through minor enemies while exploring. As long as you keep your distance, it’s not too hard to fully charge the Smash Stance’s heavy attack and deliver a devastating blow - with the help of the Peace from Peril passive, you can even keep your charged Focus while performing perfect dodges.

On the downside, Smash Stance may not be the best Black Myth: Wukong Stance if you find it difficult to dodge at the perfect moment. You also need to be quite good at anticipating your enemies’ movements to time the sprinting and charging correctly.

That “timing” part carries over to the Smash Stance’s special attacks; Resolute Strike and Skyfall Strike . These attacks nullify incoming damage and act as a means of parrying enemy blows , which the game calls “seeing through” the enemy. Triggering them at the opportune moment can allow you to gain massive Focus (Invigoration passive) while greatly improving Skyfall Strike’s damage (Vantage Point passive). It’ll take some practice, but once you’ve learned this combo, it’ll work great against bosses.

Pillar Stance

Can’t touch this monkey. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science

Who needs a shield when the Pillar Stance allows you to climb on top of your staff and avoid all ground damage ? If you’d like to evade incoming attacks more easily, the Pillar Stance is for you; trigger a heavy attack to leap up, build Focus to climb even higher, and slam down upon your enemy with a high-range staff strike. The Pillar Stance is particularly great if you find it hard to use your Gourd in combat, as the Skylarking ability allows you to grab it from the safety of your staff seat. Timing shouldn’t be much of an issue either; unlike dodging, which requires precision, you can trigger the Pillar Stance well before an enemy initiates their attack and it will still work.

Beware that if you hold the Pillar Stance for too long or if the staff takes too many hits while perching, you may run out of stamina before you can land the final hit. When that happens, you’ll drop to the ground and become vulnerable to incoming attacks. You can fix this with the Towering Mountain passive, which will automatically perform a heavy attack upon stamina depletion, but beware that it’s on the lower end of the Pillar Stance’s skill tree. You also need to be careful around larger enemies, as you’ll need to be higher up the staff to avoid their damage (the first level typically won’t do).

If you have enough Focus, you can use the heavy attack during a light attack combo to perform a Sweeping Gale spinning attack . It’s quick and has decent range, allowing you to take down several smaller enemies at once, but it’s not very effective against larger opponents - the Churning Gale follow-up attack makes a great improvement though.

Thrust Stance

The Thrust Stance requires stationary charging. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science

Although you’ll have to remain stationary while charging , the Thrust Stance performs a forward thrust attack with incredible range, allowing you to easily hit your enemies from afar. Although the fully charged thrust can take a massive chunk of HP from a boss, beware of the long charging time, as you don’t want to get interrupted by an attack.

Like the Pillar Stance, the Thrust Stance has a defensive ability: Tactical Retreat . It may not be as safe as the Pillar Stance, but this backward dodge is very quick and easy to trigger; just use a heavy attack following a light attack. What’s more, you can turn this dodge into a forward follow-up attack in the form of a Forceful Thrust. This attack, as well as the charged heavy attack and the dodge, can be followed by a Whirling Thrusts attack (hold the light attack button). In other words, the Thrust Stance is a great choice if you like a variety of options and aren’t afraid to study your combos.

The Thrust Stance’s main downside is the possibility of messing up the combos. If you press too soon or too late, you could lose momentum. That said, you can never really miss the Tactical Retreat, so you’ll be quite safe even if you don’t manage to land a follow-up attack.

Wukong Stance

Wukong Stance makes you feel like a legend, but it’s mighty hard to unlock. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science

If we were ranking this list by sheer coolness factor, then Wukong Stance would take top marks. This stance only becomes available during your first playthrough once you equip all of Wukong’s armor pieces and the Jingubang staff. (Our Chapter 6 walkthrough explains how to do just this.)

To activate Wukong Stance, you’ll need to deliver a four-Focus Point heavy attack while wearing all of this gear. This attack is incredibly potent and sees the staff rippling outwards at truly monumental range, whacking any enemy who dares cross your path. This is an especially powerful move during the game’s final boss battles against the Stone Monkey and the Great Sage’s Broken Shell .

However, accessing Wukong Stance permanently takes a lot of work, as it requires you to unlock every single Relic Skill in the game. You’ll need to first beat Black Myth: Wukong, get the secret ending to acquire the final Free Mind Relic, and then complete the game three more times via New Game + until you have 18 Relic Skills. Only then does Wukong Stance become a viable option, so we can’t really call it the game’s best stance - especially considering that a majority of players won’t ever see it. Nevertheless, this stance is a mighty reward for the hardest of hardcore Black Myth fans.

That concludes this guide on the best Black Myth: Wukong Staff Stances. To put these stances to the test, head over to our walkthrough hub for all of the guides you need to conquor Black Myth: Wukong’s six Chapters. To further develop your personal playstyle, be sure to use the best skills and don’t forget to upgrade your armor and unlock more curio slots .

Black Myth: Wukong

PS5 , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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