How to Beat the Stone Monkey in Black Myth: Wukong (2025 Boss Strategy)

The Stone Monkey is one of the most brutal early-to-mid game skill checks in Black Myth: Wukong, a mirror match that tests every fundamental you've learned up to the Chapter 3 mountain pass. The best way to defeat the Stone Monkey is to build for stagger damage, exploit his 12-frame recovery after leaping slam attacks, and parry his unblockable circular sweep to instantly break 30% of his posture. This guide breaks down every attack pattern, phase breakdown, and optimal loadout to beat him first try without wasting 10+ attempts on cheap one-shots.

Boss Overview: Stone Monkey Core Stats & Fight Context

You encounter the Stone Monkey at the end of the Split Mountain Path checkpoint in Chapter 3, after you defeat the Yellow Wind Sage and climb the Azure Dragon's spine. This is a mirror boss fight that shares many of your own movement and attack options, with faster recovery and higher poise than your character at this stage of the game. Here are the confirmed, datamined core stats for the Stone Monkey on New Game (not New Game Plus):

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• Total HP: 12,850 (Phase 1: 7,200 | Phase 2: 5,650)
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• Total Posture (poise stagger threshold): 1,800
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• Base posture regeneration per second: 120
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• Physical damage resistance: 22% | Fire damage resistance: 18% | Cloud damage resistance: 35% | Shock damage resistance: 12%
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• Minimum one-shot damage threshold for your character at level 32: 1,120 damage (most of his heavy attacks hit for 980-1,250, so one full combo will kill you at full Vigor)
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Unlike other mirror bosses in soulslikes, the Stone Monkey does not copy your loadout — he uses a fixed set of attacks with fixed recovery windows, so once you memorize the patterns, this fight becomes trivial. The key thing to remember going in is that he has zero hyperarmor during his light attack chains, so you can interrupt him early if you commit to staggering.

See also: Black Myth: Wukong Best Chapter 3 Stagger Build (2025)

Recommended Loadout & Setup: Stat Breakpoints & Tier Rankings

Your main goal for this fight is to maximize stagger damage and stamina efficiency, because the Stone Monkey is weak to posture breaks and vulnerable to charged heavy attacks during his recovery. We've ranked every viable weapon, trick, and body spell for this fight below, with exact stat comparisons for the top options.

Weapon Tier Rankings (for Level 30-35, +5 Upgrade)

Transformation & Trick Tier Rankings

Optimal Stat Breakpoints (For New Game Chapter 3)

Don't waste levels into unnecessary stats. These are the hard breakpoints you need to hit to guarantee a posture break in Phase 1 before he hits half HP:

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• Vigor: 20 → 1,280 HP, which lets you survive one full heavy combo (most players run 15 Vigor and get one-shot by his third attack — this is non-negotiable)
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• Spirit: 15 → 180 stamina, enough for a light attack chain + charged heavy + roll away without running out
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• Might: 20 → 15% extra posture damage, meets the softcap for stagger at this stage of the game
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• Essence: 12 → Enough to fill your transformation bar in 3 hits, no need for more
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Phase-by-Phase Breakdown: Step-by-Step Execution

The Stone Monkey has two distinct phases, with a hard phase transition at 50% HP (6,425 HP remaining for the player, 5,650 for Stone Monkey). The transition includes a guaranteed unblockable attack that catches 70% of players off guard, so we'll cover that in detail.

Phase 1 (100% - 50% HP: 7,200 HP Total)

Phase 1 is all about controlled aggression — the Stone Monkey only has 6 core attack patterns here, and 5 of them have huge punish windows. Follow these steps step-by-step every time you enter the fight:

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1. Activate Great Stability as soon as the fog gate lifts. The 25-second duration is exactly enough to get his posture to 70% before it expires, so don't waste the cooldown by activating it early.
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2. Close the gap with two quick rolls, then hit him with a single light attack (18 damage, 25 stagger). 90% of the time, he will respond with a light attack chain that you can parry or interrupt.
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3. Every time he starts a 3-hit light combo, block the first hit, parry the second hit. This gets you 120 free stagger damage and leaves him open for a charged heavy to the back for 185 extra stagger.
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4. If he backflips away and does the Leaping Slam (his most common opening after backing off), roll through the slam 12 frames after he leaves the ground — this puts you directly behind him for a free charged heavy. His recovery here is 32 frames, which is exactly enough to get a fully charged heavy off before he can block.
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5. Once his posture hits 1,200 out of 1,800 (66% full), disengage and kite for 5 seconds. He will enter a brief aggressive flurry, but his posture regeneration is only 120 per second, so it will take 5 seconds to drop back to 60% — you already did most of the work.
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6. When you get your first posture break, hit him with a critical strike that deals 2,100 raw damage, instantly dropping him to ~40% Phase 1 HP and triggering the phase transition. If you don't get a posture break before 50% HP, don't panic — just follow the transition steps below.
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Phase Transition Guaranteed Unblockable

As soon as the Stone Monkey drops below 50% total HP, he will jump 15 meters back, pound his chest, and charge a Circular Cleave unblockable attack. This is where 60% of players die to this fight. The correct counter is:

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1. Don't roll away — rolling away puts you in the cleave's hitbox, which extends 12 meters around him.
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2. Run directly toward him and dodge-roll through the attack just as his staff starts moving. This gives you a 200% damage bonus counter hit if you parry it wrong, and puts you in position for a free charged heavy.
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3. If you parry the Circular Cleave perfectly (timing is 0.2s before it hits), you instantly break 540 stagger — that's 30% of his total posture, right as Phase 2 starts.
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Phase 2 (50% - 0% HP: 5,650 HP Total)

Phase 2 adds two new attack patterns and increases his attack speed by 15%, but he also takes 20% extra posture damage in this phase because his stone armor cracks open. Follow this step-by-step strategy:

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1. After punishing the transition Circular Cleave, activate your Azure Dragon transformation if you haven't already. The transformation lasts 30 seconds, which is more than enough to kill him before it expires.
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2. Use the Dragon's Shock Slash (heavy attack) every time he recovers from an attack. Each Shock Slash deals 320 stagger damage and procs a 2-second shock stun that prevents him from regenerating posture.
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3. If he activates his Stone Armor buff (he pounds his chest and glows grey), stop attacking and roll away — he gains 50% damage resistance for 8 seconds and does a guaranteed unblockable leap attack after the buff ends. Wait out the buff, then punish the leap attack the same way you did in Phase 1.
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4. Once his posture breaks, land the critical strike — this deals 2,800 damage in Phase 2, which will drop him to ~1,000 HP remaining. Finish him off with 2-3 charged heavies before he can recover.
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5. If you didn't take the Azure Dragon transformation, just repeat the Phase 1 stagger strategy — he still has the same 32-frame recovery after Leaping Slam, so you can keep punishing that pattern until he dies.
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Attack Pattern Analysis & Punish Windows

Every single one of the Stone Monkey's attacks has a tell and a fixed punish window. We've broken them all down below with exact frame data and punish options:

Attack Name	Phase	Damage	Tell	Punish Window (Frames)	Optimal Punish
3-Hit Light Combo	1/2	280 / 320 / 410	Steps left, staff raised to hip	24 frames after third hit	Block hit 1, parry hit 2 → charged heavy to back. 185 stagger + 310 damage for free.
Leaping Slam	1/2	980 (impact) + 240 (shockwave)	Backflips 10m away, staff held overhead	32 frames after slam impact	Roll through impact 12 frames after he jumps → charged heavy. 80% of players mis-time the roll here, practice the tell.
Unblockable Circular Cleave	Transition / Phase 2	1,247	Jumps back, chest glows, staff spins once	18 frames after cleave connects	Roll toward him into his back → parry if you can, charged heavy regardless. Perfect parry gives 540 free stagger.
Staff Spin Flurry	2	120 per hit, up to 8 hits (960 total)	Starts spinning staff low to the ground, moves forward slowly	38 frames after flurry ends	Block the entire flurry (stamina cost is 72, which is manageable at 15 Spirit) → charged heavy after the last hit. Never roll through this — the hitbox extends behind him.
Stone Armor Leap	2	1,180	Glows grey after buff, leaps directly at you with staff pointed down	28 frames after impact	Roll to the left (his right) to avoid FOUND THIS GUIDE HELPFUL? Share it with fellow gamers! Share RELATED TOPICS black myth: wukong'black myth: wukong' boss guide: how to beat the stone monkeyboss guideguide RELATED GUIDES Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: How to Make Meta Work in Black Myth: Wukong - Underrated Build Guide - Build Guide (2025) Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: How to get to the Melon Field in Black Myth: Wukong - Tips & Tricks (2025) Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: Black Myth: Wukong Meta Build That Clears Everything - No Exploit Required - Build Guide (2025) Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: How to get to the Melon Field in Black Myth: Wukong - Tips & Tricks (2025) Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: Black Myth: Wukong Meta Build That Clears Everything - No Exploit Required - Build Guide (2025) Black Myth: Wukong Black Myth: Wukong: How to get to the Melon Field in Black Myth: Wukong - Tips & Tricks (2025) Back to All Guides