Black Myth: Wukong Gourd: Upgrades, Drinks & Soaks explained

Forget the Estus Flask, in Black Myth: Wukong the Gourd is your lifeline, allowing you to recover health with a quick sip during battle. It can also be improved, allowing you to customise it with different Drinks and Soaks, and upgrade it with a higher number of uses,

How to upgrade the Gourd

You can upgrade the Gourd at the Shen Monkey NPC, who is located in a cave just after the Marsh of the White Mist Shrine during the first chapter.

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To upgrade the Gourd, you'll need to spend Luojin Fragrant Vine, a rare resource found hanging from trees when exploring the world. Shen Monkey also makes this available to purchase, but his stock is limited.

It's worth remembering you can fast travel back to him during any chapter. I forgot about him until I was struggling with the last boss of chapter two, and upon heading back, I found I had enough materials for a few Gourd upgrades. It certainly came in handy.

How to customise the Gourd with Drinks & Soaks

The Gourd system is a little more complex than you'd expect. 

Firstly, you can equip different Gourds in your inventory, with high-tier ones having more uses and a special effect. Shen Monkey also sells these himself, so keep coming back each chapter or so to check for new stock.

Once you have a Gourd you like, you'll need to brew the mixture inside. You can select the 'Brew' option at any Shrine or Shen Monkey to do this.

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Brewing is made up of two components: Drinks and Soaks. 

The Drink affects how much health you receive when taking a sip, and can be upgraded with Awaken Wine Worm to increase the amount.

Soaks add additional benefits, such as increasing your damage reduction for a short period or increasing your resistance to a status effect after taking a sip.

Both Drinks and Soaks can be found when exploring or purchased from merchants like Shen Monkey.