Black Myth Wukong: Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance

How do you absorb Spirits in Black Myth: Wukong? One of the great abilities of The Destined One in Black Myth: Wukong is the ability to transform himself into other beings at will. But if you've tried to absorb your first Spirit, you may have seen the prompt: "Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance". What does it mean?

Once you've progressed to a certain point in the game, you'll unlock an ability known as the Blessed Gourd, which allows you to absorb the Spirits of certain Yaoguai bosses and other enemies you've defeated in order to transform into them during later fights.

These Spirit transformations only last for a single attack, but their effects can be extremely powerful. Not only that, but equipping a Spirit will provide you with a passive benefit even without transforming into them. In this guide, we'll explain the "cannot absorb Spirits without guidance" prompt, and walk you through how to unlock the ability to absorb Spirits early on in Black Myth: Wukong.

In this guide:

• "Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance" explained
• How to retrieve lost Spirits (including Wandering Wight)
• How to absorb Spirits in Black Myth Wukong

"Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance" explained

If you've just killed the Wandering Wight boss in Black Myth: Wukong, you may have seen the "Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance" prompt appear as you attempted to interact with the glowing Spirit loot drop that it left behind. The reason for this is that you need to find an old master further into Chapter 1 before you can unlock the ability to absorb Spirits.

You unlock the ability to absorb Spirits in the Bamboo Grove, in Chapter 1 of Black Myth: Wukong. Progress through the story until you reach the "Snake Trail" Keeper's Shrine in the Bamboo Grove, then ascend the steps next to the Shrine. At the top, on your right just before the bridge, there's a small clearing where a wise master is working at a table. Approach the man to trigger a cutscene, during which you'll receive the Blessed Gourd ability to absorb Spirits.

If you're not sure how to reach this area of the Bamboo Grove, here are the steps you need to follow from the very first Keeper's Shrine:

1. Follow the path across the bridge and around the right-hand side.
2. Defeat the Bullguard boss and follow the left-hand path beyond.
3. Turn left into the cave and rest at the "Outside The Forest" Shrine.
4. Take the right-hand path and defeat (or run past) the Wandering Wight boss.
5. Follow the path to the temple and rest at the "Guanyin Temple" Shrine.
6. Defeat Lingxuzi and progress beyond him to the "Back Hills" Shrine.
7. Head through the Bamboo Grove and up the steps near the pond.
8. Rest at the "Snake Trail" Shrine, then ascend the steps nearby.
9. Speak to the wise master to unlock the Blessed Gourd skill.

How to retrieve lost Spirits

There's only one enemy which drops a Spirit in the areas before you unlock the ability to absorb them: the Wandering Wight boss in the Forest Of Wolves. You're encouraged to run straight past the Wandering Wight as he's quite tough for when you first encounter him; but if, like me, you stayed to defeat the Wight, you may then have found that you received the "Cannot absorb Spirits without guidance" prompt.

Next time you visit the area the Spirit pickup will be gone, but don't worry. Once you've unlocked the Blessed Gourd, you can rest at any Keeper's Shrine and select the "Retrieve Spirits" option to automatically absorb any Spirit pickups left in the world which you haven't yet retrieved - Wandering Wight included.

This works for any Spirit pickup which, for whatever reason, you don't absorb immediately. The pickups will disappear after a time, but you can always retrieve the Spirits at a Keeper's Shrine if you're missing any of them.

How to absorb Spirits in Black Myth Wukong

Not all bosses or enemies will drop Spirits in Black Myth: Wukong; only some of them can be absorbed using your Blessed Gourd. Once you defeat an enemy (it can be a Yaoguai Chief or a Yaoguai King, or sometimes even a regular enemy), you may find it leaves behind an essence pickup floating in the air. Move up to the pickup and hit X (or E on keyboard) to interact with it. If you have received the Blessed Gourd from the wise master in the Bamboo Grove, you will then absorb the boss's Spirit into your Gourd, unlocking that Spirit ability permanently.

You can change the Spirit you have equipped in the Equipment screen by clicking on the third slot on the top row of equipment. There you can see the full range of Spirits that you've unlocked by slaying previous enemies. While fighting, you can activate the Spirit's ability by pressing both LT and RT simultaneously (or F on keyboard).

That wraps up this quick primer on how to unlock the ability to absorb Spirits for special attacks in Black Myth: Wukong. Learn more about the different bosses with our guides on the Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 bosses. You can also check out our guide on the best skills in Black Myth: Wukong!