Wukong has dozens of Yaoguai Chiefs and a handful of Kings that gate progress. Almost every one of them dies to the same three ideas: survive the opening exchange, bank Focus while they whiff, and spend it the moment they over-commit. This page covers the six chapter bosses, the mid-bosses worth preparing for, and the habits that carry across all of them.
Historical boss progress
These checkboxes preserve marks from the earlier boss checklist. They are kept for account compatibility and are not a complete, verified boss census.
The Yaoguai Kings
Phases and drops, chapter by chapter
Black Bear Guai (Ch.1)
Two phases. Paw swipes until about half health; then he turns into a fire orb that flies at you, and comes back with burning paws, fire on the floor and jump attacks. Drops: Flame Ebongold, Yarn, Silk, a Yaoguai Core, a Stone Spirit and a Mind Core.
Yellow Wind Sage (Ch.2)
Two phases, split at half health by a huge falling rock. The second adds side-to-side leaps, tornadoes that lift you and wide ground strikes. Drops: the Fuming Ears relic and a Samadhi Wind Agate, plus crafting materials.
Yellowbrow (Ch.3)
Three fights. Yellowbrow's first form ends near zero health by moving you to a new arena; there you fight an enhanced Macaque Chief, with gourd and mana refilled; then Yellowbrow returns in a last form with electric circles, mines and long combos. Drops: Cosmo Radiance, Cold Iron Leaves, Fine Gold Thread, a Gold Tree Core and Refined Iron Sand.
Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master (Ch.4)
Two phases. In the second he turns gold, sends eyes into the sky that fill the arena with yellow fog, and hits harder. The Weaver's Needle vessel, from Purple Cloud Mountain, makes this phase much easier. Drops: a Golden Glowing Eye, Kun Steel, a Sky-Piercing Horn, a Gold Tree Core, a Celestial Ribbon, Fine Gold Thread and a Mind Core.
Red Boy and the Yaksha King (Ch.5)
Red Boy first; at half health he dives at you with clones. Once he falls, the Yaksha King takes over, slower but with longer reach as his health drops. Rewards: the Grieved Body relic and the Plantain Fan vessel, plus Kun Steel, a Gold Tree Core, a Celestial Ribbon and a Mind Core.
Stone Monkey and the Great Sage's Broken Shell (Ch.6)
Two fights in the same place, two phases each. The Stone Monkey only appears after the four Foothills bosses and with Sun Wukong's armour set; beat it once and a retry goes straight to the Broken Shell. No drop: the reward is the ending.
Erlang Shen (secret, Mount Mei)
Three fights in a row. Erlang, the Sacred Divinity, raises a shield that comes back at 75%, 50% and 10% health; at 75% he adds a giant axe, at 50% eye beams and a sword storm. Then the Four Heavenly Kings, fought as the Stone Monkey. Last, Erlang Shen's heavenly form. Rewards: the Azure Dome transformation, the Tri-Point Double-Edged Spear, two Celestial Ribbons, Kun Steel, and the perk of the Freed Mind relic.
Unlocking Erlang Shen
Clear the four secret areas
In any order: Elder Jinchi (Ch.1, ring the three bells), Fuban (Ch.2, the Yellow-Robed Squire's quest), Duskveil (Ch.4, after the Venom Daoist, in Purple Cloud Mountain) and the Bishui Golden-Eyed Beast (Ch.5, the Pale-Axe Stalwart's quest and the five carts).
Finish the Treasure Hunter's quest
The Chapter 3 questline. It ends at the Great Pagoda, near the Snow-Veiled Trail shrine in the Pagoda Realm.
Open Mount Mei
Upstairs in the Great Pagoda, speak to the little monk from the Treasure Hunter's quest: a cutscene opens Mount Mei. Gamer Guides adds that the murals at the back of the Pagoda must be filled first, one for each chapter you beat; Maxroll also lists Sun Wukong's armour set from Chapter 6 as a step; PowerPyx lists neither.
Then beat the finale again
With Erlang beaten, defeat the final boss of Chapter 6 to see the secret ending. None of this needs New Game+, and none of the side areas lock behind the story, short of the point of no return late in Chapter 6. Finishing Chapter 6 once first makes Erlang much easier, for the gear.
A universal boss plan
- Spend the first minute on defence, learning the boss's combos and tells.
- Bank Focus during safe windows so a whiffed boss attack becomes a charged Smash.
- Hold Immobilize for over-extensions and phase transitions, not the opening.
- Keep a Transformation and a full gourd in reserve for the final phase.
Reading a wind-up
- Watch the boss's arms and stance, not the effect — the tell is the animation start.
- Perfect-dodge into the attack for the widest counter window, not away in fear.
- Delayed swings are the classic trap; wait a beat before you dodge.
- Once you know a combo, punish its fixed recovery every single time.
The plan that beats almost everything
Give up the first thirty seconds
Do not attack. Circle, dodge and watch. Every Yaoguai telegraphs with a wind-up, and one pass of pure defence teaches you more than three deaths of trading hits.
Build Focus on the safe hits
Light attacks into a dodge generate Focus without committing you. Bank points during the boss's recovery frames instead of hunting for damage.
Spend Focus on over-extensions
A charged Heavy is your real damage. The window is a whiffed grab, the end of a long combo, or a phase transition — not the middle of a chain.
Hold Immobilize, don't open with it
It is tempting to freeze on sight. Save it for the attack you cannot dodge yet, or for the moment a second phase begins and the boss is repositioning.
Keep one escape in reserve
Enter the last phase with at least one gourd charge and one Transformation unspent. Most deaths in this game happen with resources still in the bag.
Mid-bosses worth preparing for
- Wandering Wight (Ch.1) — huge and slow; the safest place is behind him.
- Guangzhi (Ch.1) — a fire-wielding wolf; the fight that introduces flame damage over time.
- Tiger Vanguard (Ch.2) — fast, aggressive, and the difficulty spike of the early game.
- Macaque Chief (Ch.3) — mirrors your own moveset; punish the same openings you would use.
- Violet Spider (Ch.4) — poison pressure; clear the status before it stacks.
When a fight will not budge
- Change stance. Smash is the reliable default, but Thrust keeps you at range against bosses whose damage is all in close, and Pillar dodges ground attacks outright.
- Re-spec. Respeccing is cheap in this game and a build built for one boss beats a general-purpose one.
- Go and get stronger elsewhere. Chapters hide optional bosses and Vessels; a level or two and one more gourd upgrade changes a wall into a fight.
- Bring a Spirit that matches the problem — a stagger for a boss you cannot interrupt, a heal for one that out-paces your gourd.