Where Winds Meet Best Early Game Builds

Where Winds Meet offers plenty of ways to level up and develop your character. The game features a huge variety of weapons and martial arts styles, but due to the high cost of upgrading each skill line, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to max out everything without investing a massive amount of time. For a comfortable playthrough, it’s recommended to focus on two, at most three combat styles, and with so many options available in Where Winds Meet, it’s not always obvious where you should invest your resources. In this Where Winds Meet guide, I’ll break down several popular and effective early-game weapon combinations, as well as the best matching gear sets and Inner Ways passives that make these builds even stronger.

Where Winds Meet Nameless Sword & Spear Build

Each build uses two weapons, which lets you diversify your attacks and quickly swap between them. The way these weapons are combined is a key part of maintaining a constant barrage of attacks, keeping your enemy under pressure and denying them any chance to counterattack.

The first build is based on the two weapons you get at the very beginning of the game - the sword and the spear. This is a well-rounded damage-focused setup that is more than enough to carry you through most of the game’s content. The Nameless Sword is a versatile weapon with convenient gap-closing tools and strong AoE potential thanks to the Sword Qi waves it sends out. The Nameless Spear, on the other hand, excels at control - it can immobilize enemies and keep them pinned in place while you spin the spear around your target.

However, by committing to both Nameless weapon styles, you give up the healing and utility that other weapon types can provide. This setup is better suited for players who are used to Soulslike games and feel confident with timing their dodges and parries. If you prefer a safer playstyle, it’s more reasonable to pick just one Nameless weapon and pair it with another style (for example, Panacea Fan).

Since both of these styles heavily rely on their charged heavy attacks, it’s important to level up early and earn Talent Points as soon as possible to fully unlock their potential.

The Nameless Sword gets a powerful Inner Way, Sword Morph, for free in one of the key main story quests, so you definitely won’t miss it. With this Inner Way, the Nameless Sword’s charged heavy attack releases additional Sword Qi blades.

Early Game Panacea Fan & Vernal Umbrella Build

This build is designed for players who prefer dealing damage from a distance. The Panacea Fan & Vernal Umbrella build uses two ranged weapon styles: the Vernal Umbrella is focused on DPS, while the Panacea Fan specializes in healing. This setup is great for those who like to keep enemies at range, though fights may take longer compared to other combos, since Panacea Fan isn’t really meant for dealing damage.

If you’re interested in this combination, you can get the Vernal Umbrella from Qi Sheng after helping him early in the game. This martial arts style won’t be fully available until later in the story. You can obtain the Panacea Fan later in the Qinghe region.

Overall, the Panacea Fan works great as a support weapon in Where Winds Meet. Its healing makes fights a bit easier, but don’t expect it to be enough for boss battles - during your first fight with a story boss, the effectiveness of healing is noticeably reduced. I’ll say this right away: even though this style has healing and looks safer, in my opinion, it’s one of the most boring in the game.

Early Game Thundercry Blade & Stormbreaker Spear Build

Thundercry Blade & Stormbreaker Spear is a Where Winds Meet build for players who enjoy a berserker-style approach. This weapon combo is focused on defense, crowd control, and survivability, yet it still delivers excellent damage. Thundercry Blade has powerful charged attacks with strong AoE and high single-target damage, and it can also pull enemies together and grant you a shield in dangerous moments. For action lovers, it’s hard to imagine anything better. Stormbreaker Spear complements it by buffing your character, debuffing enemies, and knocking them down. In essence, this spear feels like it was made to be paired with Thundercry Blade.

Of course, such power comes at a price: basic attacks on both Thundercry Blade and Stormbreaker Spear are quite weak, and their attack speed is noticeably slower than other weapons. Most of their damage comes from strong charged attacks. That said, you get used to their attack patterns fairly quickly, and after about an hour of gameplay - or even less - you’ll barely feel any discomfort. But if you prefer a playstyle where you can endlessly spam basic attacks, this combo probably won’t be your thing.

This style is a great fit for players who have experience with games like Monster Hunter. Heavy attacks are the top priority here, and the attack speed feels very similar.

Where Winds Meet Infernal Twinblades & Panacea Fan Build

The Infernal Twinblades & Panacea Fan build focuses on killing bosses, single-target damage, and attack spam. It’s the complete opposite of the Thundercry Blade & Stormbreaker Spear build. Instead of slow and calculated moves, this playstyle is all about aggressive, extended attack chains. Instead of standard heavy attacks, it activates a special empowered state in which your light attacks deal significantly more damage.

With Infernal Twinblades, your main goal is to never stop attacking, especially since this empowered state boosts your crit stats. When you pair this style with the Panacea Fan, you can afford to play much more recklessly and aggressively, greatly increasing your overall DPS as long as you keep constant pressure on your enemies.

This build has room to grow later on. Once you reach Kaifeng in Where Winds Meet, you’ll be able to unlock the Mortal Rope Dart and replace the Panacea Fan with it as your secondary weapon. It synergizes very well with Infernal Twinblades, since both belong to the same Bamboocut arsenal. This gives you more flexibility when building your character - you’ll be able to use Inner Ways and gear effects that buff both weapons at the same time.

Where Winds Meet Strategic Sword & Heavenquaker Spear Early Game Build

And the last build in this lineup is the Where Winds Meet Strategic Sword & Heavenquaker Spear build. If you prefer a more measured and thoughtful playstyle but don’t want to deal with the sluggishness of the Thundercry/Stormbreaker combo, this duo is worth a look. Strategic Sword applies stacking Bleed to enemies, while Heavenquaker Spear amplifies damage over time effects, making them a perfect DoT-focused setup. On top of that, Heavenquaker Spear has a skill that works great against groups of enemies, and Strategic Sword simply melts high-HP targets - bosses and elites - especially once you unlock the Sword Horizon Inner Way.

One thing I should mention right away: neither of these styles is available from Qi Sheng’s starting weapon selection, but both can be found in the Qinghe region. To check where a specific weapon can be obtained, open the Abilities menu and select the weapon you’re interested in.

An excellent build - I’d probably even say one of my favorites - which, with just a minimal level of positioning and dodging skill, inevitably leads you to victory over your opponent.

Mystic Skills

Mystic Skills are abilities that aren’t tied to any specific weapon. They can be magical, martial, or sometimes a mix of both. Where Winds Meet has quite a few useful Mystic Skills for the early game, but if you had to pick just one, the best option would be Drunken Poet. This skill is great for dealing massive damage to an enemy whose stance has been broken, and it’s not that hard to obtain. All you need to do to unlock Drunken Poet in Where Winds Meet is to get drunk to the point of alcohol poisoning.

As far as PvE goes, Drunken Poet is more than enough for most fights. If you need something for PvP instead, go for Talon Strike, which you can get by watching an eagle dive for prey near the Palace of Annals.