How to beat the Whiteclad Noble in Black Myth: Wukong

White Clad Noble is one of the bosses that you need to beat to ring all three bells in the first chapter of Black Myth: Wukong. He’s also a bit of a test for your early-game stats and skills. 

You’ll first encounter White Clad Noble after meeting Shen Monkey in the Bamboo Grove near the Marsh of the White Mist shrine. It’s basically a straight shot from the shrine to the boss arena, which worked out great for me because this one took me a few tries. I was coasting through Black Myth: Wukong on autopilot, but the White Clad Noble fight made me sit up and pay attention. Here’s what I learned from beating him. 

How to beat White Clad Noble phase one

If you haven’t yet mastered the dodge mechanic in Black Myth: Wukong by the time you face White Clad Noble, then he’ll make sure you know how to use it properly before continuing with the rest of the game. This is a heavy-hitting boss, but luckily, most of his moves are telegraphed. You just need to know what to watch out for. 

I’d recommend using all of your tools right out of the gate. The Immobilize spell and your Transformations will help you quickly chip away at White Clad Noble’s health, and using them early will give them enough time to recharge before his second phase. 

Pay attention to when White Clad Noble spins his staff and shoots out damaging gusts of wind. When the gusts stop, he’ll always charge up a lunging strike, and dodging that attack gives you a great window to attack him from behind. 

Another of White Clad Noble’s attack combos leads into him swinging around his staff and flying toward you. Don’t let your guard down after he lands because the spin is always followed up by a second jumping attack. You need to dodge twice, but again, you’ll have a good attack window here. 

The last move to really look out for in the first phase is an AoE attack that begins with White Clad Noble swiping his staff in a long arc. A moment after the swing, the water around the boss will explode and damage you. Honestly, the only way I reliably avoided this attack was to run away as soon as I noticed the swipe. 

How to beat White Clad Noble phase two

White Clad Noble’s second phase begins with him turning into a horrifying snake monster, but despite his imposing new appearance, I actually found this to be the easier challenge. In part, that’s because his AoE attack comes back in this phase, so I already knew how to avoid one of his most damaging moves.

In this phase, White Clad Noble often takes a second to charge up a lunge, which makes one of his most common attacks also one of the easiest to dodge. The other move to look out for here is when he swings his staff over his head and pulls water into the air. After that, he’ll shoot a wave of water straight out in front of him, giving you another good attack window if you can dodge around it while running toward him. 

Once you know all the attacks, beating White Clad Noble is just a matter of stringing together your combos, spells and Focus points. It’s not the easiest fight, but it does prepare you for everything that comes next.