Black Myth Wukong: Sterness of Stone and Keeness of Tiger location
To activate the Tally in the Second Prince of Flowing Sands’ arena, you will need to find these two key items first.
As you progress with your journey to the West in Black Myth Wukong, you will encounter all manner of locked doors leading to the unknown. Some of them are easy to miss, as you’ll find when reexploring areas with newfound knowledge or items, but there is one altar in Sandgate Village that’s unmissable. Though, it does require two specific key items: the Sterness of Stone and Keeness of Tiger.
These two items aren’t easy to get your hands on either, with both of them found in opposite areas and behind boss fights in Black Myth Wukong. To help point you in the right direction of these necessary items though, here’s where to get the Sterness of Stone and Keeness of Tiger in Black Myth Wukong.
Where to get Sterness of Stone and Keeness of Tiger in Black Myth Wukong
After dealing with the Second Prince of Flowing Sands and his father, the King of Flowing Sands, in Black Myth Wukong, you’ll find a small altar in their arena that requests a ‘Tally’.
![The player interacts with an altar, in need of a Tally, in Yellow Wind Ridge in Black Myth Wukong](https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Black-Myth-Wukong---Use-Tally.jpg?width=690&quality=70&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Upon interacting with it, you’ll be told that you need two items: the Sterness of Stone, and the Keeness of Tiger.
Both items are tied to two major bosses in Chapter 2, and I recommend seeking out the Sterness of Stone first. From the Second Prince’s arena, face the door and then go across the bridge on your right. You’ll come to Fright Cliffs and eventually, the Squall Hideout Keeper’s Shrine.
Here, there are a few things you can do. There’s the Boar quest, the Man-in-Stone quest, and six Buddha’s Eyeballs to collect. To get the Sterness of Stone, however, you want to advance ahead to the Rockrest Flat Keeper’s Shrine.
![The player fights with the Stone Vanguard in Black Myth Wukong](https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Black-Myth-Wukong---Stone-Vanguard.jpg?width=690&quality=70&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Just ahead of here and to your left, you’ll find a boss arena with the Stone Vanguard within it. This is the fella you need to defeat to receive the Sterness of Stone, and while the fight is a long one, he isn’t too troublesome to defeat.
With this fight, the most important thing for me was remembering to back off when needed; the Stone Vanguard has some rather annoying AoE attacks, and will even summon mobs at times. If you play it safe and back off, closing distance with Pillar Thrust heavy attacks or your Cloud Step Spell, the fight is light work.
Once you have the Sterness of Stone, it’s time to get the Keeness of Tiger. For this, you need to return back to the Second Prince of Flowing Sand’s boss arena. Instead of going across the bridge this time, go left through the cave, and you’ll eventually arrive at the Crouching Tiger Temple.
![The player faces the Tiger Vanguard in Black Myth Wukong](https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Black-Myth-Wukong-Tiger-Vanguard_bVpJboe.jpg?width=690&quality=70&format=jpg&auto=webp)
At the centre of the Temple is the Tiger Vanguard. A bloody, brutal enemy who largely uses his paws and body to fight, but will occasionally swipe at you — from quite the range — using the sword on his back.
Fighting in a pool of bloodied water, the Serpentscale armor set can be incredibly useful here. You'll want to patiently dodge the Tiger Vanguard's combos, sword-slashes, or punches, before going in for your own combos. The Thrust Stance heavy attack can also knock the Tiger Vanguard out of many of his attacks, so be sure to give this a whirl if you want to fight aggressively against him.
It's also worth noting that the boss does turn to stone at intervals. When this happens, prepare to dodge as he will teleport elsewhere and charge at you from that direction. He also follows this attack up with a devestating sword slash that can deplete most of your health if you're not careful. Beware!
Once the Tiger Vanguard is dead, you’ll receive the Keeness of Tiger (and the Rock Solid Spell). There will be an altar here that you can use the now fully-formed Tally at that leads to an underground area, or you can return to the Valley of Despair Keeper’s Shrine and use the Tally there to eventually reach the Windseal Gate Keeper’s Shrine.
For more on Black Myth Wukong, take a look at our tips and tricks to help you out with the game, how to get the Loong Scales to access even more secret bosses, and how to upgrade the Gourd.