Where Winds Meet Mastery Explained (Updated)

Mastery in Where Winds Meet is essentially your character’s Gear Score, and it acts as the primary gatekeeper for high-level content. If this number is too low, you will find yourself unable to enter certain raids, and your damage output will be significantly reduced against stronger enemies.

These detailed videos by Ulfhednar shows exactly how to make this number go up efficiently. The process involves quite a bit of menu management and resource spending, but it is logical once you understand the systems. Here is the detailed breakdown of how to maximize your Mastery.

How to Increase Martial Mastery in Where Winds Meet

1. Gear Enhancement and Advanced Tuning Mechanics

This is the most obvious method for increasing your score, but there are specific details regarding the “Tuning” system that you need to be aware of.

Basic Enhancement: You should strictly enhance every piece of gear you are wearing. It provides a flat, consistent boost to your Mastery, and there is no reason to hoard the basic materials.

The Tuning System (RNG): Tuning your gear with stones is essential for reaching high Mastery caps. When you tune an item, the stats you roll are color-coded based on rarity.

• Rarity Colors: The text color of the tuning roll determines the Mastery increase. Green is the lowest tier, followed by Blue, and then Purple. Gold (Legendary) text provides the highest possible Mastery boost.
• The Strategy: Even if a Green roll has a better stat for your damage, a Gold roll will give you significantly more Mastery points. If you are just trying to inflate your score to enter a raid, keep the Gold roll.

Advanced Tuning Tips: There is a theory that crafting “Precision Bows” gives you a higher chance of rolling the “Guaranteed Epic” tuning stat, which you can then use as fodder. Additionally, some players attempt to “lock” offensive stats by selecting one offensive roll (like Max Physical Attack) and filling the rest with random stones, aiming to force the game to roll more offensive lines.

2. Crafting Legendary Gear (Tier 6)

With recent updates, crafting has become a major source of Mastery, specifically if you can get Legendary items.

• The 3% Chance: When you unlock Tier 6 crafting in the Forge, there is a 3% chance that the item you craft will be Legendary (Gold) quality. A Legendary item offers a massive Mastery jump over an Epic item.

• Materials: You will need specific materials like “Holly Hawk” and “Chlorite Schist.” These are difficult to farm in the open world, so it is often more efficient to buy them from vendors, specifically the Shadow Market (Black Market) NPC.
• Cost Warning: This process is extremely expensive in terms of Gold. Only attempt to gamble for that 3% Legendary chance if you have the funds to spare.

3. The Arsenal System

Do not make the mistake of dismantling your old gear immediately after finding an upgrade. The game features a system called the Arsenal, which allows you to utilize your old equipment to boost your current character’s power.

• How it works: You can access the Arsenal menu and select the element that matches your current weapon (for example, the Purple/Thunder element).

• Slotting Gear: You are able to slot your highest Mastery items into the Arsenal. This transfers a portion of their stats and their Mastery score to your character.
• Efficiency: Always check if your “trash” gear has a higher score than what is currently in your Arsenal before selling it. Note that using the “General” element usually results in less Mastery than matching your specific weapon element.

4. Divine Craft

This system is often overlooked but provides a significant boost to your score. You must select and upgrade the correct “Divine Craft” for your activity.

• Fire: Recommended for Raids. It causes your attacks to trigger additional explosions.
• Water: Increases interruption resistance. This is best for open-world strongholds where you get swarmed.
• Poison: Best for the Solo World and questing, as it deals extra damage during execution moves.
• Upgrading: Just like your skills, you can upgrade these crafts. Higher levels equal more Mastery.

5. Inner Way (Passives)

Upgrading your Inner Skills—also known as Passives—provides a “tremendous boost” to your overall Mastery.

• Quality Matters: A Gold rarity passive will naturally give more Mastery points than a Purple one, even at the same rank.
• Collecting Pages: You need to collect specific “pages” to upgrade these skills. The cost in pages increases significantly when you hit level breakthroughs (Level 10, 20, and 40), so you will need to farm these consistently.
• The Conversion Feature: The game encourages you to focus on one build, but it does allow for flexibility. If you decide to swap weapons (for example, switching from a Sword to a Spear), you do not have to start your progress from zero. You can use the Conversion feature to transfer the pages and levels from one passive skill to another. You are given four free conversions, so you should use them carefully.

6. Set Bonuses

Wearing a matching set of armor increases your Mastery much more effectively than wearing a collection of random, high-level pieces.

• 4-Piece Set Goal: You should aim to equip a full 4-piece armor set along with the matching weapon. The set bonus contributes a large amount of points to your score.
• Rarity Scaling: The rarity of the set matters immensely. An Epic (Purple) set will give you significantly more Mastery than a Blue set, and Legendary sets provide even more.

7. Guild Hero Realm (Join a Guild)

If you are playing solo, you are missing out on a massive source of weekly Mastery materials.

• The Benefit: Joining a guild grants you access to the “Guild Hero Realm.”
• The Rewards: This activity provides 10 extra chests per week. These chests contain gear and, crucially, Tuning Stones. Since Tuning Stones are often the bottleneck for increasing Mastery, missing out on these 10 chests will slow you down significantly.

8. Mystic Skills and Outposts

Your Mystic Skills also contribute to your total Mastery score, but upgrading them requires a different loop of gameplay compared to upgrading your armor.

• Ebon Iron: To upgrade Mystic Skills, you need a material called Ebon Iron.

• Where to Farm: You must complete Outposts, which are marked by red tower icons on your map.

• Bosses vs. Outposts: It is important to note the difference in rewards. World Bosses drop gear pieces and standard upgrade stones. Outposts, however, drop the specific materials needed for Mystic Skills. You cannot neglect Outposts if you want to maximize your Mastery.

9. Talents and Oddity NPCs

Finally, you can acquire “free” Mastery points simply by playing the game and exploring the open world.

• Enlightenment Points: You earn these points by completing quests and opening the various chests scattered around the world.
• Talent Points: Once you have accumulated enough Enlightenment, you gain a Talent Point.
• The Mastery Gain: Every single Talent Point you spend in your skill tree increases your Mastery by approximately 20 points. While this seems small individually, it adds up to a significant amount over the course of the game.
• Oddity NPCs: There are “Collection” NPCs located in the starting zone and in the top-left of Kaifeng City.

• The Passive: Talking to them allows you to unlock a passive that gives a chance for “Extra Gear” drops in campaigns.
• Mastery: Completing their collection trees (by finding butterflies and beehives) gives flat Mastery points. While small individually, completing the whole tree adds a significant amount to your total.

Summary

To increase your Mastery fast, you need to create a routine.

1. Join a Guild to get your 10 weekly Hero Realm chests.
2. Tune your gear aggressively, aiming for Gold text rolls, and use the “Precision Bow” crafting method if you have the resources.
3. Upgrade Divine Craft (Fire for Raids) and your Inner Skills.
4. Craft Tier 6 Gear if you have the gold, hoping for that 3% Legendary drop.
5. Farm Outposts for Mystic Skill materials.

It requires a lot of resource management, but it is the only way to reach the higher caps, such as 14,000 Mastery.

More Where Winds Meet Guides

Here are some helpful guides to help with farming and increasing your characters strength:

• How to Upgrade Mystic Skills Fast
• How to Unlock the Rope Dart and Join a Sect
• Where Winds Meet Beginner’s Guide: Essential Advice for a Strong Start