How to Upgrade Gear and Progress in Where Winds Meet

The progression system in Where Winds Meet can be slightly confusing if you are used to standard MMORPGs. Ulfhednar shared his knowledge with us so that you know exactly what resources to keep.

1. Global Enhancements (Permanent Upgrades)

The most important thing to understand is that basic “Enhancements” are global. When you upgrade your weapon slot or armor slot, that upgrade stays with your character regardless of what specific item you are equipping.

• Weapons: Enhancing these slots increases your Minimum and Maximum Damage.
• Armor: Enhancing these slots increases your Max HP and Defense.
• Materials: You will need specific upgrade stones. At lower levels, these are plentiful. At higher levels (like level 70), the requirements become steep, but you can find materials in chests, shops, and open-world farming spots.

2. The Arsenal System

Once you reach Level 40, you unlock the Arsenal. This system gives you a reason to keep your old equipment instead of selling it or salvaging it immediately.

• How it works: You place your highest Gear Score items into the Arsenal slots. The game calculates a bonus based on the quality of these items and gives you extra Damage and Life stats.
• Elemental Alignment: You must choose the element that matches your active weapon. For example, if you are using Twin Blades, you should select the Purple (Thunder) element in the Arsenal menu. If you are using a Sword or Spear, you should select the Blue element.
• Recommendation: Always check if a piece of “trash” loot has a higher gear score than what is currently in your Arsenal before you destroy it.

3. World Scaling and Breakthrough Scenarios

The game puts hard caps on your leveling progress. For example, you might get stuck at Level 70. To proceed, you must complete a “Breakthrough Scenario.”

• The Trial: This is a button located in the top-middle of your screen. It initiates a single-player trial where you must defeat enemies or bosses.

• The Reward: Clearing this trial raises your level cap (e.g., from 70 to 75) and increases the difficulty of the open world. It also rewards you with a large amount of high-level gear and weapons, which usually solves any immediate gear problems you might have.

• Warning: Once you clear a breakthrough, the enemies in the world become stronger. If you have neglected your Global Enhancements, you might struggle against common mobs.

4. Inner Skills (Passives)

Your passive skills provide significant power boosts. The strongest passive is called “Echoes of Oblivion” (often referred to as “The Horse”).

• The Effect: It applies a physical penetration debuff to enemies that stacks up to 10 times.
• The Cost: You need “Pages” to upgrade these skills. You can buy the base skill for 5,000 Jade Coins (500 per page, 10 pages total).
• Breakthroughs: Just like your character level, your passives have breakthroughs at certain intervals. These cost even more pages, so you should buy them from the weekly season shop whenever possible.

5. Exploration Passives

There is a second tree of passives that comes purely from exploring the map and opening chests.

• The NPC: There is a specific NPC located down the road from the initial tutorial spawn point. Talking to him unlocks a tree that grants stats like Stamina and Defense.

• How to Progress: You earn points for this tree by collecting the glowing butterflies (Red, Blue, Yellow) found in the world and by destroying beehives.
• Stamina is Key: You should prioritize the Stamina nodes in this tree because Stamina dictates how often you can dodge and use heavy attacks.

Summary

The progression loop is straightforward. You enhance your gear slots permanently, you put your old gear in the Arsenal for bonus stats, and you complete Breakthrough Scenarios to raise your level cap. If you do these three things, your character will be fine.

Other Helpful Where Winds Meet Guides

• How to Unlock the 3 Best Mystic Skills
• How to Farm Mystic Skill Materials Fast
• Twinblade and Rope Dart DPS Build Guide