Best armour in Black Myth Wukong
From early game to endgame, these are the best armor sets in Black Myth Wukong
Looking for the best armor in Black Myth Wukong? It's probably not the best idea to challenge the Celestial Court in your starting gear, but as soon as you've made some progress in Chapter 1, you can find a much better armor set to make the journey to the west a whole lot safer.
For this list, we've divided the best Black Myth: Wukong armor between "early", "mid", and "endgame" armor, referring to the moment they become available for crafting. However, keep in mind that many Black Myth: Wukong armor sets can be upgraded to "mythical" rarity in the Zodiac Village, which means that even an early game set can still be suitable for endgame.
From Chapter 1 to Chapter 6 and beyond, this Black Myth: Wukong best armor guide will show you the best gear sets and how to unlock them.
In this guide:
Best early game armor
No need to run around in cotton clothing any longer; there are two excellent armor sets in Chapters 1 and 2 of Black Myth: Wukong. Here's why you should craft them and where to find them.
Pilgrim armor
As the best choice for fast, evasive playstyles, the Pilgrim armor improves your sprint speed and allows you to use the Gourd while sprinting. More importantly, your attack power increases for each second spent sprinting, up to 10 seconds total. If you stop sprinting before the 10 seconds are full, you still get an attack bonus - just not the maximum one.
The Pilgrim armor offers a very simple way to boost your damage output, which works especially well with the Smash Stance's mobile playstyle. However, those 10 seconds are long, and there's a good chance of getting interrupted by an enemy before you can land the blow, thus preventing you from reaching the full bonus. Beware that the window between building the effect and landing the hit is very brief, so you'll have to attack very fast after ending the sprint.
That said, there's great news for all of us yearning to upgrade their Cotton armor - the Pilgrim armor is automatically unlocked upon reaching the "Guanyin Temple" Keeper's Shrine in the Forest of Wolves in Chapter 1, and requires nothing but some Will and Yarn. It's one of the easiest armor sets to craft in Black Myth Wukong's early game and it can even be upgraded to mythical rarity, which unlocks the ability to regain Focus while sprinting.
Galeguard armor
Admittedly, the Galeguard armor is probably the least amazing armor set on this list, but it's the best option to bridge the gap between Pilgrim armor and the best mid-game armor. After all, you can't upgrade your armor until you unlock the Zodiac Village by completing Chen Loong's questline, so you'll have to craft a new set if the Pilgrim's modest Defense stats are giving you trouble.
With the Galeguard set equipped, Defense is bumped up to 88 (much higher than other early game sets) and your Perfect Dodges will recover Focus while slightly reducing skill cooldowns. Even if you're really good at dodging, beware that the cooldown reduction is quite modest. The Galeguard armor recovers Mana too, but as it requires three Perfect Dodges in a row to trigger the effect, you may not be able to regain Mana consistently - it doesn't just depend on your skill, but also the dodge opportunities provided by the enemy.
The Galeguard armor becomes available for crafting after you've defeated the Stone Vanguard on Fright Cliff, near the "Rockrest Flat" Keeper's Shrine in Chapter 2. It can be upgraded to mythical rarity, but you'll probably find an even better armor set in the next Chapters.
Best mid-game armor
Once you have access to the Zodiac Village in Chapter 3, you'll be able to upgrade your armor sets to a higher rarity from now on. We recommend doing so for the Pilgrim armor in particular. Besides recycling your old garments, here are the best new armor sets to be found in Chapters 3 to 5.
Iron armor
This hidden set is not quite as good as the Golden armor, which we'll discuss next, but you can get it a bit sooner. It's also the best alternative for Golden armor if you prefer using the Rock Solid spell to parry.
The Iron armor improves your damage and regains Focus following successful Rock Solid deflections, effectively turning a useful defensive skill into a damage buff. When wearing the full set, Rock Solid deflections will also reduce the skill's cooldown, allowing you to use it more often. Although many Black Myth: Wukong players seem to prefer Cloud Step over Rock Solid, this set is very strong if you're willing to work with the latter.
Iron armor becomes available upon defeating Yin Tiger in the Zodiac Village. If you like the Iron armor, you can upgrade it to mythical rarity.
Golden armor
The Golden armor set grants an amazing attack boost whenever you use a Vessel or Spirit Skill, and also gains a ton of Focus whenever a Spirit Skill ends. True, you don't get to use Vessels and Spirit Skills that often, but the attack boost lasts for about 20 seconds. Furthermore, the four-piece set effect generates some Qi whenever you defeat an enemy or land a critical hit, allowing you to use your Spirit Skills faster.
In other words, if you like using Spirit Skills and Vessels in battle, and you're able to build a high critical rate, the Golden armor is one of the best armors in Black Myth Wukong. Note that the attack-scaling buff and critical rate requirement make it a bit more suitable for endgame builds, but that's fine, as you can upgrade the Golden armor to mythical rarity.
To obtain the Golden armor, simply follow the main storyline to the end of Chapter 3. Once you've defeated the final boss, Yellowbrow, you'll be able to craft this set.
Best endgame armor
The most overpowered of Black Myth: Wukong's armors are still limited to the endgame. These are the top three armor sets, obtainable in Chapter 6 and beyond.
Yaksha armor
If you're looking for the ultimate glass cannon armor set in Black Myth Wukong, look no further than the Yaksha armor. This set improves your attack when your HP is low, and the full set increases damage dealt as well as damage taken. In other words, the Yaksha armor's amazing damage potential will end your battles much faster, but perhaps not always in your favour.
Note that the two-piece Yaksha armor improves damage from the Pillar Stance's Sweeping Gale and Churning Gale combos. This further adds to the set's damage boost, but it's not ideal if the Pillar Stance isn't your favourite Stance. Also, beware that Sweeping Gale is quite easily interrupted, making this set extra risky.
Still feeling confident? Then defeat the Yaksha King at the end of Chapter 5 to unlock the Yaksha set. You can't miss this boss, as he's part of the main storyline. After defeating him, you only need Cold Iron Leaves, Fine Gold Thread, and a lot of Will to make the Yaksha armor.
Monkey King armor
The Monkey King armor, also known as the Gold Suozi armor, increases critical hit chance upon casting a spell and reduces spell cooldown upon landing a critical hit. It also allows you to keep your fourth Focus point indefinitely, which makes it far easier to use your heavy attack at the right moment.
While the cooldown reduction is nice, this armor set is especially helpful if you're going for a critical rate build, as it offers an 8% effect-based critical rate boost on top of a 10% critical rate increase while wearing the full set. The downside is that you'll need five equipment pieces (including the Jingubang weapon - one of the best weapons in the game) to unlock the full set effect, but they're all found in the same region of Chapter 6, so it isn't much trouble. What's more, you can already get the extra critical rate from the three-piece effect, so you don't even need to wear the full armor if you don't want to.
To obtain the Monkey King armor, you must defeat the Cloudtreading Deer, Gold Armored Rhino, Feng-Tail General, and Emerald-Armed Mantis bosses in the Foothills area of Chapter 6 (only reachable with the Somersault Cloud). If you wear the armor while visiting the Water Curtain Cave afterwards, you can collect the Jingubang Staff to complete the set.
Bull King armor
The magnificent Bull King armor looks very intimidating and rightly so; granting a whopping 400 Defense, it almost turns you immortal. On top of that, this set offers moderate Chill and Burn resistance and builds both Defense (two-piece set) and Focus (Bull King's Mask) whenever you take damage. Beware that the four-piece set disables perfect dodges, but in return, you get "tenacity" that makes you harder to stagger and grants even more Focus upon taking damage.
Due to its tankiness and lack of dodging-related effects, the Bull King armor is perfect for those who just want to survive, not mind their HP too much, and spam their heaviest attacks. Enemies will have a very hard time interrupting your combos, making it much less important to time your attacks correctly. If any armor set turns Black Myth Wukong into "easy" mode, it's this one.
A rather annoying downside to the Bull King armor, however, is that you'll have to start a second playthrough to craft the full set. Although the set is unlocked by defeating the Bishui Golden-Eyed Beast in your first playthrough (in Chapter 5's secret area, the Bishui Cave), you won't have enough "Bull King's Iron Horn" materials to craft more than two set pieces, leaving you with half the armor until you defeat the Bishui Golden-Eyed Beast again.
That concludes our list of the best armor in Black Myth Wukong. To further strengthen your warrior monkey, be sure to see our guide to the best weapons in this explosive Soulslike. You can also find every meditation spot for extra Sparks and collect all Luojia Fragrant Vines to upgrade your Gourd. Don't sleep on the best skills in Black Myth: Wukong, either!