Best Gourds in Black Myth Wukong
Improve your HP recovery and buffs with the most powerful Gourds in Black Myth: Wukong
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
Guide
by
Marloes Valentina Stella
Contributor Published on Sept. 13, 2024 Follow Black Myth: Wukong
Looking for the best Gourds in Black Myth: Wukong? These unconventional wine bottles are your best friends during the Journey to the West; not only do they recover HP, but they can activate attack buffs, provide damage reductions, increase critical rate, and more.
While most of the secondary effects come from your "drinks" and "soaks", the Gourd itself is also important. Although you can upgrade your Gourd at the Shen Monkey's in exchange for Luojia Fragrant Vines (increasing the Gourd's rarity), some Gourds come with more base charges and better passive effects than others. While searching for the best Gourd, you typically want a useful effect and as many charges as possible - 10 would be ideal.
With that in mind, here's a selection of the best Gourds in Black Myth: Wukong.
Supreme Gourd
This monkey's about to receive the free Supreme Gourd upgrade. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
- Charges: 10
- Effect: None.
Perhaps the most common Gourd mistake in Black Myth: Wukong is to ignore the default "Old Gourd", even though it's entirely possible to finish the game with just this single Gourd. True, you only get a default five charges and no additional effects, but you can upgrade the Old Gourd with Luojia Fragrant Vines to eventually become the legendary-rarity Medicine Buddha Gourd - good for nine charges total.
To further upgrade this Gourd to the mythical Supreme Gourd, fast-travel to Rakshasa Palace in Chapter 5, follow the path to the large red guardian, and enter the building left of him - speak with the NPC inside and examine the fire pit. This will upgrade your Medicine Buddha Gourd to the Supreme Gourd - for free!
Find the fire pit in the building left of the gargantuan guardian. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
With 10 charges, the Supreme Gourd has more uses than any other first-playthrough Gourd (not counting the New Game+ exclusive Qing-Tian Gourd), making it one of the best Gourds in Black Myth: Wukong.
Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd
Get it from the preorder bonus or the horse NPC. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
- Charges: 5
- Effect: When the Gourd is full, the first sip replenishes to full health.
A single sip of an early- to mid-game Gourd is unlikely to recover more than half your HP bar, which is why the Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd is such an excellent choice: you can fight until your HP falls very low, then use the first sip to regain a full health bar. This only works for the first sip, but it makes a huge improvement to the maximum HP recovery provided by one replenished Gourd. Just beware that this Gourd comes with only five charges.
The Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd can be claimed at any Keeper's Shrine as part of the "Trailblazer's Gift" - the preorder bonus. If you didn't preorder Black Myth: Wukong, you can still claim this Gourd by following the horse guai's questline - meet the horse in Chapters 1, 2, and 3, and you'll be given the Gourd upon the third meeting at the New Thunderclap Temple.
Stained Jade Gourd
Chug the wine twice as fast with the Stained Jade Gourd. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
- Charges: 7
- Effect: Massively increase drinking speed.
Gourds are insanely useful, but they come with an obvious downside; drinking from your Gourd takes some time, leaving you vulnerable to damage. If that annoys you, the Stained Jade Gourd should be your potion flask of choice as it greatly improves drinking speed.
Despite cutting your Gourd interruptions in half, beware that this Gourd comes with seven charges, which is a lot less than most legendary and mythical Gourds. If that's enough for you, you can obtain this Gourd by defeating The Scorpionlord in the Purple Cloud Mountain secret area (defeat the Venom Daoist in Chapter 4 to get there).
Xiang River Goddess Gourd
The easiest legendary/mythical Gourd to obtain. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
- Charges: 8
- Effect: Using the Gourd grants a moderate amount of Burn Resistance and immunity from lava-covered terrain for a short duration.
The Xiang River Goddess Gourd offers Burn Resistance and temporary immunity from lava-covered terrain, which is very handy in Chapter 5 especially. It also comes with a whopping eight charges total, which is very high for a Gourd without upgrades.
The greatest thing about the Xiang River Goddess Gourd, however, is that it's super easy to obtain, no upgrades or tricky side quests required. Once you've reached Chapter 4's "Verdure Bridge" Shrine, walk across the algae-covered platform behind the Shrine and turn left; upon approaching the doorway, a cutscene will trigger, revealing a treasure chamber. Open the treasure chests to obtain the Gourd.
Immortal Blessing Gourd
Less health recovery, more power. |
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
- Charges: 8
- Effect: Health recovery is halved, but Attack is increased for a short duration after using the Gourd.
Who needs healing? If you'd like to get more attack power at the expense of the Gourd's health benefits, the Immortal Blessing Gourd is for you. Cutting HP recovery in half, your attack will be increased by roughly 25%. This effect wears off in about 10 seconds after taking a sip. Although it can't compete with the Supreme Gourd, the Immortal Blessing Gourd's eight charges should be enough to replenish your health and activate the buff frequently.
After defeating the bosses called Baw-Li-Guhh-Baw and Buddha's Right Hand, you can buy the Immortal Blessing Gourd from Shen Monkey's shop - but know that it'll cost you your largest gold piece and then some (10.800 Will, to be exact).
That concludes our picks for the best Gourds in Black Myth: Wukong. Don't forget to collect all Luojia Fragrant Vines to upgrade your Gourd, and be sure to collect Awaken Wine Worms for Drink upgrades too. While collecting resources, you might want to keep an eye out for meditation spots as well.
