If you’ve just started your journey in Where Winds Meet, you’ll quickly notice that the game is packed with hidden systems, smart mechanics, and surprisingly deep progression layers. After spending many hours in the game myself, I’ve realized that understanding these systems early on makes the adventure smoother and a lot more rewarding. In this guide, I’ll walk through some of the most important tips shared in the video, along with personal insights that newer players often miss.

The game can feel overwhelming at first, especially with so many NPCs, regions, and mechanics competing for your attention. But once you know what to prioritize, the whole experience becomes far more enjoyable. For example, many players underestimate how much progression depends on exploration and oddity collection, and how early combat tools can significantly change your playstyle.

Before we dive deeper, one thing I want to highlight is that many players, especially beginners, often look for external help or shortcuts when they get stuck. Systems like Where Winds Meet boosting can make sense for players who want to skip the grind and focus on storyline or exploration, though most of the tips below will help you become stronger on your own as well.

Getting Started: Important NPCs and Early Rewards

Early in the game, you’ll meet two key NPCs who play a big role in your progression. The Wayfarer is one of them, and he’s responsible for giving you the map of the first region. While he’ll ask for 50 Echo Jade afterward, don’t pay him immediately. If you insist and haggle twice, he’ll hand it over for free. Even better, any other Wayfarer you meet later at campfire icons will also provide maps without charge.

Soon after, you’ll encounter another NPC trapped in rocks. Help him out, shoot down the beehive near the bear, loot the item he needs, and return it to him. This reward lets you pick one of four free weapons. The Vernal Umbrella and the Thunder Cry Blade are usually the best options because they normally unlock later in the game.

You might not feel the difference immediately, but picking the right free weapon saves you time and lets you experiment with late-game playstyles earlier.

Oddities Are More Important Than They Look

One of the most overlooked mechanics by new players is oddity collection. Any time you see a black icon on your mini-map, it means an oddity is nearby. Many players skip them at first, but they are absolutely worth your time.

Oddities come in many forms—breaking boxes, catching purple insects, shooting beehives, or grabbing purple orbs from plants before they fall. They may seem like small tasks, but turning these items in at Xi Shang grants powerful passive bonuses. These include extra endurance and movement upgrades such as Wall Stride or Shadow Dash, which dramatically speed up traversal.

These movement abilities only work in regions where lightness restrictions are lifted. To unlock these restrictions, you need to reach exploration level 4 in each zone. This is why exploration matters more than it seems. Every chest, oddity, or event adds experience toward your region level, and level 4 rewards the key item that activates your lightness skills. Once unlocked, you gain access to high-speed sprinting, huge jumps, and even flashy flying techniques that make travel much faster.

Boundary Stones give 50 exploration points simply by touching them, making them some of the best early-game activities.

Mythic Arts: Hidden Tools That Make a Big Difference

Mythic Arts aren’t just flashy moves—they’re essential utilities hidden behind short side quests. Cloud Step, for example, is unlocked in the Verse Town arena. It helps you jump to high places instantly and even knock mounted enemies off their horses. Many oddities also rely on Mythic Arts to complete, so unlocking these skills early is always a smart move.

Another useful tool is the Meridian Touch, which is required to break certain blue shield bars on monks. You can also use this ability outside combat to immobilize enemies during stealth missions, making silent takedowns much easier.

Heavenly Snatch is another underrated movement-and-looting tool. It lets you pull distant items and open chests from afar—even when there are enemies or snakes nearby. Trust me, this one saves you a lot of trouble during stealth sections.

Combat Tips That Help You Deal More Damage

Winning fights in Where Winds Meet isn’t just about higher stats. Timing matters. When you stun an enemy during combat, don’t rush the finisher. Attack first, wait until the enemy is almost ready to get back up, then execute the finisher for bonus damage. It’s a simple trick, but across an entire boss fight it can easily add thousands of damage.

There’s also a hidden setting many players never notice. Under the game settings menu, scroll to the bottom and enable Auto-Use Divine Craft Tools. This applies elemental effects like fire instantly and without animation. It does boost your damage in difficult boss fights, though you should turn it off afterward to avoid wasting charges during normal encounters.

Difficulty, Solo Levels, and When to Break Through

The general difficulty setting doesn’t affect rewards, so switching to Story mode whenever you're stuck on a boss is completely fine. What you should avoid, however, is leaving Assist Deflection turned on. It slows combat, messes with combo flow, and gives you an overly large parry window that can break the pacing of fights.

Solo Mode levels are entirely separate from difficulty settings. They make the game harder but greatly increase rewards. When you reach the level cap for your current solo mode, you can perform a breakthrough to unlock the next tier. Higher solo mode levels grant better XP and higher gear drops, but enemies scale as well.

One important warning: never break through in the middle of a mission. Enemies will immediately respawn with higher levels, making your current objective much harder. Also, once you lower your solo level, you can’t change it again for 24 hours.

Gear, Upgrades, and Inventory Management

As you progress, your gear bag will eventually fill up. You don’t need to grind for gear early on, as the game hands out upgrades pretty quickly. When your inventory is full, recycle older, lower-tier pieces, but don’t recycle items too close to your current tier because later you can tune gear using items of the same level.

Once you reach solo level 6, you unlock the Arsenal system, which gives long-term bonuses for storing specific types of gear. This system makes recycling smarter and more strategic.

Another often-overlooked feature is the Enhance system, which boosts your base stats using common materials that are easy to find. You should upgrade these whenever possible. Martial Arts skills also need investment, and you can target specific outposts for the materials required for each weapon.

For players who don’t have as much time to grind or prefer to focus on story content, some choose to buy Where Winds Meet boosting services instead of farming everything manually. This isn’t necessary for most players, but it’s something people consider, especially when trying to catch up to friends. Communities like U4GM are often mentioned among players as a resource hub, though the tips in this guide should help you progress steadily on your own as well.

Where Winds Meet has a lot of systems hidden beneath its beautiful world, and mastering them makes a huge difference in how smooth your progression feels. Make sure to explore early, unlock Mythic Arts, use the right settings, and manage your solo levels wisely. Once the movement restrictions lift and you gain full access to flight and high-speed dashing, the game becomes even more fun to navigate.