Black Myth: Wukong is filled to the brim with challenging boss battles, and the Tiger Vanguard is one of the most bloodthirsty Yaoguai you’ll face. He’s easy to miss, though, and you might have encountered a locked gate that says you need the Keenness of Tiger to get through.
If you guessed you need to beat the Tiger Vanguard, you guessed correctly. Keep reading to find out exactly where the Tiger Vanguard is in Black Myth: Wukong Chapter Two, how to beat him, and what he drops.
Tiger Vanguard location in Black Myth Wukong
In Black Myth: Wukong Chapter Two, you find the Tiger Vanguard at Crouching Tiger Temple. To get there, start at the boss arena where you fight the Second Rat Prince & King of Flowing Sands. Head left and into the cave. Here, you can face the First Prince of Flowing Sands. If you keep to the right-hand side of the cave, you’ll find a stone walkway that crosses a small chasm below.
Cross the walkway and you’ll encounter a crack in the wall that you can slide through. When you emerge on the other side, you’ll be in a new area, and the Crouching Tiger Temple is just ahead—as well as a Shrine with the same name.
Black Myth Wukong: Tiger Vanguard boss guide
Phase one
In phase one, the Tiger Vanguard mostly uses basic melee attacks that are easy to dodge. If you’re at range, he can use a leap attack (0:05 in the video) that deals heavy damage if it lands. It’s very well-telegraphed, though, so dodge right before he’s about to land and you won’t take any damage.
The first phase mostly sees the Tiger Vanguard using basic melee strikes with his claws. He does a right hook, then a left hook, then finishes with a ground slam or kick—or, he does a sweeping kick and leaps backward. Leave a short time between your first two dodges (around a second) to avoid the Tiger’s hooks, then prepare for him to either stomp you or leap backward. In either case, be ready to dodge again.
At 00:18 in the video, the Tiger dodges backward, then follows up with a katana slash. This is the Tiger Vanguard’s most dangerous ability. It’s initially well-telegraphed; he holds his katana in his sheath, poises to attack, and charges at you incredibly quickly with next-to-no wind-up animation. This ability is very hard to dodge, especially when you’re in melee range, so back up if you see the boss leaping backward, then prepare to dodge the katana slash at the last second.
It’s easy to get caught out by dodging too early. Nailing the timing of avoiding the Tiger’s katana slash is key to mastering the fight because it deals heavy damage, and he keeps doing it in phase two. Keep practicing until you can avoid it consistently.
Phase two
Phase two begins when you get the Tiger Vanguard to around 50 percent health. He becomes much more agile and gains the Rock Solid ability, which momentarily turns him to stone, deflecting all attacks. After the boss uses Rock Solid, he usually vanishes, quickly reappears elsewhere in the boss arena, and rushes at you with a katana slash.
When this happens, keep spinning the camera around until you see the boss, and dodge the katana slash with the same timing as in phase one. It’s far tricker when the boss disappears, but as long as you keep your distance and dodge at the last second, you can consistently avoid damage. Keep in mind that the Tiger Vanguard can follow this up with another katana slash, so stay focused and be ready to dodge again.
In phase two, the Tiger Vanguard keeps most of his phase one moveset but dashes around much more frequently. He also gains a new moveset using his katana. The hitboxes are much bigger, but you can dodge with a similar pattern to when you avoid his left and right hooks. You can easily tell when he’s about to strike you with his katana because he reaches up to grab it from its sheath before commencing his combo (1:08).
To finish the fight, I used the Guangmou Spirit to summon poisonous snakes—the boss is fairly susceptible to Poison, and the extra chip damage helped carry me to victory. I also used the Red Tides Transformation to deal a substantial chunk of damage at the end of the fight. The Red Tides Heavy Attack (R2/RT/Right-click) makes you dash through the boss, inflicting heavy Fire damage on the way. You can use it twice to dash through him and then back to your previous position. Rinse and repeat until you run out of Might.
Above all, be aggressive and rush the boss down as fast as possible. The Tiger Vanguard is quite unpredictable, especially in phase two, when he dashes around the arena, vanishes willy-nilly, and launches katana strikes left, right, and center. If possible, Immobilize the boss when he’s in a good position for you to land a full combo, and use the A Pluck of Many spell to rip through his health bar before he starts turning to stone.
All rewards for beating the Tiger Vanguard in Black Myth Wukong
After you beat the Tiger Vanguard, you get the following:
- 1 x Mind Core
- 2 x Yaoguai Core
- Keenness of Tiger (Key Item)
- Rock Solid (Spell)
You can open the locked Tally Gates in Chapter Two with the Keenness of Tiger and Sternness of Stone (from the Stone Vanguard). You can also drain the blood in the Tiger Vanguard’s boss arena to open a secret passage to the Cellar, which leads to Xu Dog (who gives you permanent stat upgrades in exchange for Mind Cores), followed by the final boss of the area, the Yellow Wind Sage.
Next, check out our list of all bosses in Black Myth: Wukong, or read our guide to all Meditation Spots if you want more Skill Points.
