There are plenty of difficult battles to encounter in Black Myth: Wukong, and none of them are tougher than the game’s secret boss, Erlang, the Sacred Divinity. You’ll have to do a lot of prep work before you can fight him, and once you can, the battle is no pushover. Keep reading to learn how to deal with all of his attacks, take out the Heavenly Kings, and get some timely revenge for Sun Wukong!

Table of Contents¶

If you want to jump straight to our strategy, or perhaps see what rewards you get for beating Erlang, check out the following table:

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity Location¶

As mentioned at the top, you’re going to have put in a lot of work before you earn the right to take on Erlang, seeing as beating him will fulfill the condition to unlock the game’s true ending. As such, you’ll need to fulfill all of the conditions below to reach Erlang’s location in the Chapter 3 Secret Area:

• Clear Chapter 1 Secret Area

• Clear Chapter 2 Secret Area

• Complete the Treasure Hunter Quest in Chapter 3

• Clear Chapter 4 Secret Area

• Clear Chapter 5 Secret Area

• Reach Chapter 6

Once all of this is achieved, head to the Great Pagoda Shrine in the New West (Chapter 3) area to find that you can now head to the wall at the back to reach Mount Mei. There’s not much to do or see here, so head up to the Shrine and then get your preparations in order, Erlang awaits just beyond!

Preparation¶

Seeing as this is arguably the toughest boss in the game, you’ll want to make sure you’re fully prepared. At this point, if you’ve completed the Loong Scales Quest, you should have the materials for the Golden Loong Staff, this is useful as the bonus to the charged Pillar Stance attack is very powerful with at least three Focus Points.

If you’re undertaking this battle as soon as you can, then it’s possible to craft the Bull-King Mythical set from beating the Bishui Golden-Eyed Beast in Chapter 5’s Secret Area, just be sure to equip a different headpiece so you can still make use of your Dodge (the 4-set bonus disables this). A lot of Erlang’s attacks are Lightning-based, so equipping Curios to help against that is useful, while you’ll want to take your choice of Spirit to it’s max rank (we like to go with the Wandering Wight). Finally, feel free to take all of your best medicines, along with Shock-Quelling Powder.

For your spell choices, Immobilize is as useful as ever for when it works, A Pluck of Many can be massively helpful for the first phase of the battle, and if you’re strong with it, Rock Solid. Your Transformation choice doesn’t matter, most of the time, when using it, Erlang will instantly dispel it.

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity Boss Strategy¶

Erlang will usually start the battle by deploying his shadow dog to swoop in while he closes in on you for a Staff Combo, get ready to dodge from the outset. If you look closely at the HP gauge for Erlang, you’ll spot that he has a smaller one above, this is a defense gauge and while it’s active, he will take less damage from regular attacks. For the most part, he will have many ways to restore this throughout the battle, so you’re going to be dealing with it regardless.

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity has plenty of abilities up his sleeve though and you can find out all about them below:

Thrust and Kick Combo¶

Erlang will usually open the battle with this long-winded combo (as is most of his spear combos), usually indicated by deploying the spirit dog from the staff, before closing in for a double slice, quickly followed up with a quick thrust and kick. If you get hit by the kick, you will get knocked back and leave yourself open for follow-up attacks, but should you dodge it (by dodging away from him), it will create an opening for your own attack.

Eye Lasers¶

Erlang’s eyes will glow and he will then shoot a large laser beam that sweeps across, this is simple enough to dodge through if you see it coming, but beware that if you’re struck with it, you’ll take heavy Shock damage. Later in the battle, around 50% HP, Erlang can shoot multiple lasers at once, so be prepared to dodge more than once.

Sweep Combo¶

Erlang starts with a charged uppercut, followed by two sweeps and finishes with a somersault slash. This is a combo that will deal massive damage should you get caught up in it, so ignore your assault for now and focus on dodging each of the attacks. If you have the Mana for it, this is a good time to use Immobilize on him and then stun him out of it with a Spirit such as from the Wandering Wight. Like with his other combos, after 50% HP, he can enchant his spear with Thunder to deal even more damage per attack.

Deflect and Counter¶

At times, Erlang can deflect your blows toward him, and, should you continue to attack him while he’s deflecting, he will counter and push you away from him before following up with one of his spear combos. This is simple to avoid, just stop attacking him once he starts blocking.

Summon Axe¶

Around 70% of his HP, Erlang will glow and fly up into the sky before conjuring a giant Axe that will slam down on the ground where you’re standing, before slamming down himself and causing an electrical shockwave. Keep your eyes on the axe at all times and then roll at the last moment to avoid it, then get ready to attack Erlang while he’s recovering from the attack. This attack will restore his defense gauge.

Axe Attacks¶

Now with his Axe, Erlang can teleport to your location and slam a regular sized axe on you. When you see him teleport and wind up for the attack, dodge to either side to avoid it. Additionally, he will start weaving his axe into his regular combos and use the giant axe to perform a massive sweep.

Stab¶

At any point in Erlang’s combos, his spear may glow and he will attempt a thrust toward you. Should it connect, you’ll get swept into a cinematic attack that deals massive damage. Stay alert, look for the glow on the spear and create some distance.

Summon Swords¶

After his Laser attacks at 50% HP, Erlang will end it by summoning a barrage of Swords and shoot them toward you. Although you can dodge these, it’s much easier to stand there and use your Deflect ability to deal with them. Just be ready for Erlang to end this by shooting towards you with a red glow, this will deal significant damage should it hit you.

Spear Ride¶

Erlang can increase the size of his spear and will leap to the top of it, riding it and sweeping across the arena. This goes on for a while and each hit deals significant damage to you so keep on the move throughout the duration. He ends this with a slam that impacts the area around him.

This first battle with Erlang is the most difficult of the three and pits your standard skillset against him. He’s agile, deals heavy damage with most of attacks, and cause Shock if you’re not protected against it. You’ll want to keep to at least 3/4 of your HP at all times so that you’re not one-shot by an attack.

Having an upgraded Immobilize and A Pluck of Many is very handy here, although save the cast of A Pluck of Many until his defense gauge is depleted to maximize the damage they deal. Be sure that you have resistance to Thunder at all times, be it from equipment or by using the Shock-Quelling Powder as being inflicted with Shock can sometimes be the difference between victory and defeat. Remember to have the Plantain Fan equipped too, you can use this against Erlang to stunlock him for a time and take the time to deal heavy damage to him.

It’s a long, difficult battle, and will most likely take many tries, but go all out, use any medicine you have available, and eventually, you’ll end the first battle with Erlang which prompts a change of scenery, and size!

The Four Heavenly Kings Boss Strategy¶

The final two phases of this boss fight all take place here, with you in your giant Stone Monkey transformation, handy, as your foes are gargantuan too! This may seem daunting at first, you’ll be going up against all four of the Heavenly Kings from the game’s prologue but fortunately you’ll only really tackle around two at a time.

The Destined One is very powerful in this transformation, and you can restore your HP by using your heavy attack in your combos, especially when consuming Focus Points in the process. Still, this battle against the Heavenly Kings is more of a warm-up for the main event that follows, and it’s very difficult to die during this phase. Use this, instead, as a tool for learning how to control this transformation.

You’ll have access to Primal Punch as your Light Attack combo, this allows you to rapidly pummel the Kings and build up Focus in the process. Your Heavy Attack is Earthshatter Slam, this will cause you to leap into the air and then slam both fists on the ground as you land, healing you and dealing heavy damage. You can perform Varied Combos by mixing Light and Heavy Attacks, and it’s arguably the best way to deal with your foes.

Alongside your usual dodge (which is very good), you’ll also have access to the Rock Solid spell, allowing you to deflect blows that will grant you Focus Points. There’s a quick cooldown on the spell too, so don’t be afraid to use it often and take time to practice with it as it will be very useful in the final phase. Once you take down the final King, you’ll finally be faced with the final battle of this gauntlet, against Erlang Shen’s final form.

Erlang Shen Boss Strategy¶

If you picked up the moveset for the Stone Monkey transformation easy enough, you shouldn’t have too many issues with Erlang Shen. Don’t get too complacent though, Erlang does hit hard and will deal heavy damage at times, so be sure to have Focus Points in reserve to use and restore your HP when needed. If you’ve gotten used to using Rock Solid in this transformation too, you’ll nullify a lot of his deadliest attacks.

The first thing you should notice is that you now have access to a second spell, Ice Bath, which when used will imbue your physical attacks with Frost damage, try to keep this up at all times so that you deal more damage to Erlang Shen. Other than this, you’ll want to use a mixture of dodges and Rock Solid to avoid most of his attacks, just remember you’ll be dealing with Combos at this point.

If you see Erlang lick his Spear, get ready, as at the end of this combo he will shoot a beam out of his mouth, use a dodge to the side to avoid this and leave him open. After around 70% HP, Erlang Shen will discard his Spear for a Flame Blade, naturally, this means all of his melee combos will deal increased damage from this point.

He’ll also be able to turn the sword into an Electrical Whip, this has much greater range and can inflict some nasty damage, look to dodge through these and then use your Focus Points to regain any lost HP. Around 50% HP he will start including his axe into his melee combos, the only thing this changes is there will be more hits for you to dodge but you can get around this easily by timing a Rock Solid and stopping the combo in its tracks.

Once you take him below 50% HP, a cinematic attack will take place which seems to deplete all of your HP, don’t fret though, this is scripted and serves to power up The Destined One. For the rest of the battle, you will be able to perform Fiery Fist attacks via your Varied Combos while you’ll be able to consume your Focus to cast Scorch Shower, all attacks that serve to deal more damage to Erlang Shen.

Much like the Heavenly Kings battle before it, this is nowhere near as difficult as the first part of this gauntlet, so long as you dodge and use Rock Solid often, Erlang Shen should pose little threat, especially as it’s incredibly easy to heal yourself in this form. Keep up the assault and you’ll finally bring this series of battles to an end, congratulations!

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity Rewards¶

So, after all of that work and one of the toughest battles in the game, what do you get for it all? Well, to begin with, you’ll trigger some very important scenes regarding the game’s story along with the True Ending once you beat the regular final boss again, naturally there will be Trophies/Achievements to go along with it. The final Relic you obtain will also be powered up in NG+, allowing you to awaken one of the three abilities on there.

You’ll get the Azure Dome transformation, this allows you to access a smaller version of the Stone Monkey you just used and is very powerful. You’ll claim the Tri-Point Double-Edged Spear (that you won’t need to craft), a Mythical weapon that only has one stronger than it, and that requires you to be in NG+! You’ll also get some more Celestial Ribbons and Kun Steel for your troubles too.