You've probably seen the clips. Giant floating heads, lightning-fast tigers in blood pools, and dragons that take up the whole screen. It’s intimidating. Black Myth: Wukong is packed with over 80 bosses, and if you tried to kill every single one of them on your first run, you’d be playing for a hundred hours. But here’s the thing—you don’t actually have to.
Game Science built this world with a weird, sprawling layout. Some paths look like the "main" road but end in a dead-end optional fight, while the actual progression path is hidden behind a random crack in a wall. If you’re just trying to see the credits roll or you're stuck on a side quest that feels way too hard, knowing which bosses are mandatory in Black Myth Wukong is basically your survival guide.
Most players get distracted by the Wandering Wight (that big-headed guy in the first ten minutes). Pro tip: he’s optional. You can literally walk right past him. Understanding the difference between a "Wall" and a "Distraction" changes how you approach the game.
Chapter 1: The Forest and the Fire
The first chapter is a bit of a tutorial, but it doesn't hold your hand. You land in Black Wind Mountain and immediately feel the pressure.
Bull Guard is your first real gatekeeper. You can't skip him because he gives you your first spell, Immobilize. It’s the bread and butter of your combat kit. If you could skip him, the rest of the game would be impossible anyway. After him, you’ll hit Ling虛zi, that giant white wolf on the temple roof. He looks scary, but he’s weak to fire. If you went off the path to find Guangzhi (optional!), you’d have the Red Tides transformation to make this a breeze.
The final stretch of the chapter is non-negotiable. You have to take down the Black Wind King in his human and cloud forms. Then, the big finale: Black Bear Guanyin. Once the bear goes down, the chapter ends. Everything else, like the secret boss the Elder Jin Chi, is totally up to you, though skipping the Fireproof Mantle he rewards you with makes the final boss of the chapter a nightmare.
Chapter 2: Sand, Rats, and More Rats
Yellow Wind Ridge is where the game truly opens up, and it’s where most people get lost. It's a maze of yellow dust and crumbling stone.
Basically, your goal is to reach the Yellow Wind Sage, but the path there is blocked by two main gates. You’re going to have to deal with the King of Flowing Sands and his Second Prince. It's a duo fight. Honestly, it’s annoying. Kill the small one first if you want to avoid the big one going berserk, or vice versa if you want a specific spirit drop.
Then comes the Tiger Vanguard. This guy is a legendary skill check. He’s waiting in the Temple of Crouching Tiger, standing in a pool of blood. You have to kill him to progress. There’s no way around the cat. Similarly, the Stone Vanguard is a required fight to get the items needed to open the path to the end of the chapter. You’ll find him in a rocky arena nearby.
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Once you have the Sterness of Stone and the Keeness of Tiger, you can face the Yellow Wind Sage. He is the final mandatory hurdle of Chapter 2. If you don't find the Frightening Banishing Vessel from the secret Boar questline, his second phase will probably make you want to throw your controller. It's a "mandatory" boss that is significantly easier if you do "optional" content.
Chapter 3: The Long Walk Through The Snow
Chapter 3 is massive. It’s the longest chapter in the game. You start in the snow, move into a terrifying prison, and end up on a frozen lake.
First up is Kang-Jin Loong, the massive white dragon on the lake. It's a spectacle fight. You can't miss it. After that, you get thrown into the Pagoda Realm. This place is miserable because of the HP-drain mechanic. To leave, you have to kill Captain Wise-Voice. He’s at the top of the spiral. His hitboxes are a bit wonky, but he has to die.
After the prison, you’ll eventually run into Kang-Jin Star (the human form of the dragon) and then the Yellowbrow saga. Yellowbrow is a multi-stage fight that tests your patience more than your skill. You'll fight Macaque Chief a few times throughout this chapter—most of these encounters are mandatory story beats. The final showdown with Yellowbrow in his temple marks the end.
Don't get sidetracked by the dozens of "Captain" spirits or the sea-monsters unless you’re hunting for the True Ending.
Navigating the Chaos of Chapter 4
The Webbed Hollow is a vertical nightmare. Spiders everywhere.
The Second Sister kicks things off. She’s mandatory. Then, as you descend deeper into the caves, you’ll hit the Centipede Guai. He’s a big, rolling bug. Not too tough, but you can’t skip him.
The real roadblock is Right Hand of Buddha. It’s a weird fight in a narrow hallway. Once he's down, you move toward the Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master. But wait—before him, you have to fight Zhu Bajie, your own companion, who has been corrupted. It’s a tragic, multi-phase fight.
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Finally, the Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master stands between you and Chapter 5. Like the Sage in Chapter 2, this guy is much easier if you found the secret area and the Weaver's Needle. If you didn't, his gold light phase is a total slog.
Chapter 5: Flaming Mountains and Family Drama
This chapter is actually pretty linear compared to the others. It’s all about the Bull King’s family.
You'll fight the Pale-Axe Stalwart (who becomes an ally) and then move through a series of "Cart" bosses. The Red-Silver Cart and its cousins are technically part of a side quest, but the main path requires you to defeat the Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud duo.
The big ones are the Rakshasi Daughter and, of course, the Red Boy. Red Boy then transforms into the Yaksha King. This is one of the most cinematic and emotionally heavy fights in the game. Once the Yaksha King falls, you’re on the home stretch.
Chapter 6: Mount Huaguo and the Final Stand
This is it. The finale. The game changes here—you get a flying cloud, and the world becomes a massive open sandbox.
Even though you can fly around and fight various chiefs to get the mythical Wukong armor set, only a few things are strictly required to trigger the ending. You need to gather the pieces of the Sun Wukong armor, which involves killing the Gold Armored Rhino, the Cloudtreading Deer, the Feng-Tail General (a giant grasshopper you have to jump on), and the Emerald-Armed Praying Mantis.
Once you have the gear, you head to the cave at the top of the mountain. Here, you face the Water-Melon-sized... wait, no. You face the Stone Monkey and finally, the Great Sage’s Broken Shell.
That’s the end.
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A Note on the "True Ending"
If you only do the mandatory bosses listed above, you will get the standard ending. It’s a bit bittersweet. To get the "True Ending" (the one everyone is talking about with the Erlang Shen fight), you actually have to do a lot of the "optional" content.
You need to complete the secret areas in Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5. You also need to finish the Treasure Hunter quest in Chapter 3. This unlocks a secret location in the Hub (The Great Pagoda) where you fight Erlang, the Sacred Divinity.
He is widely considered the hardest boss in the game. He is not mandatory to "beat" the game, but he is mandatory to see the full cinematic finale and the secret cutscene.
Why Knowing What Bosses Are Mandatory in Black Myth Wukong Matters
Look, this game is tough. If you’re hitting a wall with a boss like the Scorpionlord (Chapter 4) or the Cyan Loong, it helps to know you can just... leave.
Most of the "Loong" dragon bosses are optional. Most of the "Chief" level spirits are optional. If a boss doesn't have a cutscene or block a narrow doorway, there’s a 90% chance you can run around them.
Summary of the Golden Path:
- Chapter 1: Bull Guard, Lingxuzi, Black Wind King, Black Bear Guanyin.
- Chapter 2: King/Second Prince, Tiger Vanguard, Stone Vanguard, Yellow Wind Sage.
- Chapter 3: Kang-Jin Loong, Captain Wise-Voice, Kang-Jin Star, Yellowbrow.
- Chapter 4: Second Sister, Centipede Guai, Right Hand of Buddha, Zhu Bajie, Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master.
- Chapter 5: Red Boy / Yaksha King (and the intermediate gatekeepers).
- Chapter 6: The four Armor-holding bosses and the Final Sage.
Actionable Next Steps for Players
If you're currently playing and feeling overwhelmed, take a second to look at your inventory. Check if you have the "Vessel" for the chapter you’re in. If you don't, even though the boss that rewards it is "optional," you should probably go back and get it.
- Don't bash your head against side bosses. If a boss isn't on the mandatory list and is killing you in two hits, go explore. Come back 10 levels later.
- Prioritize the Secret Areas. Even though they aren't "mandatory" for the credits, the rewards (Vessels) make the mandatory bosses much more manageable.
- Use the Cloud. In Chapter 6, don't feel like you have to fight every giant beast in the valley. Fly straight to the ones holding the Wukong armor pieces to speed up your progress.
The game is a marathon, not a sprint. Knowing what you have to do lets you decide what you want to do, which is the best way to actually enjoy the journey to the West.