How to turn into a cicada in Black Myth Wukong

✓ At a glance

• You can transform into a cicada the first time you reach the Outside the Forest Keeper’s Shrine
• Once you de-transform, there is no way to turn back into a cicada
• You can de-transform manually, by quitting the game, or by encountering certain enemies

Pretty early on in your adventure in Black Myth Wukong, you’ll be transformed into a cicada, whereupon you can fly around the area without a care in the world, ignoring all the mobs chit-chatting on the ground below you. But once this is over, can you use your cicada form again?

If you’re looking for a way to take to the skies once more and fly around each area with ease, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will explain the cicada form, how you get it, and if you’re able to use it again once the effect wears off.

How to turn into a cicada

Once you reach Outside the Forest Keeper’s Shrine in Chapter 1 of Black Myth Wukong, the Keeper will briefly stop you and warn you of all the enemies in the area ahead. Instead of sending you off to fight your way through, he’ll turn you into a golden cicada, at which point you can simply fly through the area, ignoring all the enemies below. 

At any point, you can choose to de-transform, reverting back to your normal form. You can also revert the transformation by running into certain enemies, such as the Wandering Wight. If you quit the game or return to the title screen, reloading your save will also de-transform you.

Can you transform back into a cicada?

Unfortunately, once the effect of the cicada transformation wears off, there is no way to turn back into a cicada a second time – it’s a one-time deal.  While there are plenty of other transformations you can unlock, this is one that you’ll never get back, likely because being able to fly over any map and ignore all enemies would make a lot of the game pretty redundant.

That being said, it was a cool mechanic, and it’s a shame that there aren’t any other opportunities to use it later in the game. Maybe Game Science could add a feature where you can transform into a cicada once you’ve completed the game to make exploring the world during the post-game a bit easier. Until then, though, we hope you made the most of your one and only cicada experience.