There's basically no weapon variety in Black Myth Wukong. You either use a staff, or a staff with a pointy end.

The variety comes in the three available stances: Pillar, Thrust, and Smash. Each of these considerably change your style, unlocking access to different combos and tools.

The question is, which is best?

Smash Stance

Black Myth Wukong Smash Stance Charged Heavy Attack

In Black Myth Wukong, Smash is your base stance. It's the one you'll first become familiar with, and will likely remain the most natural to use throughout the game.

Luckily it is also the strongest stance available. Its DPS, peak damage, and the exclusive ability to charge while sprinting, make it a Jack of all Trades, master of most.

Smash Stance fits into most builds, and works better than any other with the game's strongest armor sets. It also synergizes well with every spell in Black Myth Wukong, including Spell Binder.

It is the most versatile Stance in the game, and does so while being the one with the most consistent DPS. The game itself knows how overpowered this stance is, as it never gives you a weapon with a unique effect that boasts the stance’s overall damage. Both Thrust and Pillar have weapons dedicated to raising their damage.

Thrust Stance

Black Myth Wukong Thrust Stance Heavy Attack

Unlocked at level 20 (check), Thrust Stance quickly becomes a viable alternative to Smash stance. It is snappy, mobile, and, crucially, safer than the former. You get access to a dedicated Thrust weapon at the end of chapter three, and at the end of the game.

Thrust stance doesn't need those to succeed though. Its speed, range, and built-in dodge make it an excellent choice for Four Banes builds, as it is faster at building up those status. Additionally, it doesn't rely as much on building focus, since the heavy attack dodge (check skill name) still works without it.

The ability to instantly use a level 4 Heavy Attack after a dodge makes focus much more important, but it is not nearly as needed as in the two other stances.

Pillar Stance

Black Myth Wukong Pillar Stance Charged Heavy Attack

Pillar Stance is the trickiest one in every sense. It is objectively bad during the early game, hence why we omitted it from our recommended early builds. It is also the most unique stance, and, consequently, the toughest to learn.

Furthermore, it excels at AOE Damage, which is virtually useless in most boss fights. With all that out of the way, here's why Pillar Stance might be the best stance in Black Myth Wukong.

The first truly broken weapon you can craft in the game is the Golden Loong Staff. It is a Mythical weapon, and so much more powerful than anything else you have access to at this point, that you'd be tempted to give Pillar Stance a try, even if you haven’t previously.

It transforms the Pillar Stance into the best choice for Chapter 5 and 6, from the moment you get your third Kun Steel. The damage is beyond anything else you’ve seen so far, and it remains so until you unlock Sun Wukong’s own weapon.

It’s not all fine and dandy though. The Pillar Stance is the best choice for the late game, but that’s the only point in which you will be able to truly use it. You need to have your stats buffed up, as there’s no invulnerability, like the one you can get access to in Smash and Thrust.

You need to take risks, and they’ll backfire, but if you’re beefy enough to take a few hits during your Gales, the damage you’ll dish out in return more than makes up for it.

Final Verdict

Black Myth Wukong The Destined One Meditating

The best stance in the game is Smash. It has the highest damage per second of the three. It boasts a high skill ceiling, while keeping a low skill floor.

It is much easier to master as it is the one you’ll be spending the first hours of the game with, and it remains powerful throughout the entire experience. Additionally, it is also the best stance to master if you want to have an easier time in the final boss.

However, Pillar Stance in the later stages of the game has a higher skill ceiling and damage potential. Once you have the right items and sparks for it, you will feel overpowered as you tower over your opponents, perched on your staff as you prepare a four focus heavy attack that will deal more damage than anything else in the entire game.

Thrust Stance is a viable alternative to Smash Stance, but trades power and damage for safety, which isn’t necessary when the game offers you so many defensive tools through Spells, Transformations and Spirits.

If we’re talking NG+ though, especially if you complete the secret ending, Thrust Stance can get a lot more interesting, but it heavily depends on a specific weapon.