subject: A Beginner-Friendly Power Progression Guide for Where Winds Meet [print this page]
If you’ve just started diving into Where Winds Meet, you’ve probably noticed how fast the game opens up. There are dozens of systems, menus inside menus, and mechanics that quietly determine whether your build hits like a truck or feels like a feather duster. After going through the early- and mid-game progression myself, I realized that a lot of the frustration players run into comes from missing a few core systems early on. This guide breaks things down in a clean, practical way so you can level efficiently, avoid common mistakes, and make sure your gear actually keeps up with your character.
Understanding the Tuning System
One of the biggest early upgrades is the tuning system. This feature lets you reinforce individual gear pieces using stones collected from the world or purchased from vendors. It might look simple, but tuning directly determines your actual combat power. Even a moderate upgrade can double your armor or significantly boost your spell damage.
Each piece of equipment comes with its own mastery level, and tuning pushes those numbers far beyond the base stats. The bonuses range from simple defense boosts to percentage-based offensive upgrades. Since tuning affects your survivability and output more than most passives in the early game, it’s worth keeping an eye on your stone inventory and picking up materials when you see them.
On the topic of materials, this is also the point where many players start looking for shortcuts or ways to smooth out the grind. I’ve seen new players get confused about external services or progression support, especially when hearing people mention things like Where Winds Meet boosting. Personally, I don’t think you need anything like that if you follow the core progression loops in the game, but knowing what people mean helps you understand the larger community conversations.
Which Gear to Keep — And What to Delete
Gear clutter builds up fast. Fortunately, the game gives you a simple rule: Anything marked as untraceable and below gear level 41 is safe to delete. These items won’t be useful past the early leveling phase.
But there’s one exception you absolutely should remember: traceable gear. These “antique” items come with special lore and can’t be reacquired once lost. They don’t always provide big combat advantages, but they hold long-term historical value within the world. If you’re a completionist or simply a player who enjoys collecting unique items, store these instead of recycling them.
Sets, Challenges, and Your Daily Energy
As you progress through the story, you’ll unlock campaign challenges and outpost challenges. Both are worth doing, but for different reasons.
Campaign challenges award cosmetic chests and have a chance to drop gear with valuable set bonuses. These sets can provide early boosts, such as raw damage or flat defensive increases.
Outpost challenges, however, become more important as you head toward endgame. Instead of set pieces, they drop inner way notes, the single most valuable resource for long-term build optimization. Upgrading inner ways massively increases your damage, healing output, or utility potential, depending on your path. Because of how rare these notes are, saving your energy for outpost runs is usually the better investment.
Keeping your daily energy below the cap by at least 100 is also a good habit, because the regeneration timer only works efficiently when you’re not capped.
Vendor Priorities and Leveling Materials
As you explore more towns, you’ll meet vendors selling upgrade stones, skill materials, and consumables. One of the most important early purchases is the moral chant passive, purchased from the Tang Bao NPC. This passive enhances every build in the game and provides a stable foundation as you start tackling harder challenges.
Weapon and skill upgrades require books, ointments, plumes, and other rare materials. These can drop from certain mobs, but the most reliable source is the season shop. Prioritize inner way notes first, then martial arts custom tips for weapon upgrades. Supply boxes and gear chests should be left for later, ideally once you hit max level.
Speaking of leveling, some players choose to fast-track their progress with services such as Where Winds Meet max level boost. While it’s understandable for players who want to jump directly into endgame content, I found that the natural progression path is fast enough if you consistently spend energy, complete challenges, and budget materials smartly.
Sword Trials, Bounties, and Group Content
Sword Trials are the game’s equivalent of raids. They offer high-yield rewards but require cooperation with other players. You can use smart assist to bring bots, though rewards drop significantly. If you don’t mind the occasional chaotic run, grouping up is worth the effort.
Bounty hunting is another underrated activity. These short missions reward jade fish, a weekly-capped currency used for important items in the season shop. Hunting NPCs is quick and profitable, while hunting other players adds a fun layer of unpredictability if you enjoy PvP.
Professions, Crafting, and Daily Exploration
Professions such as healer and scholar do far more than just provide role-play flavor. Leveling them unlocks important benefits:
Healer progression unlocks powerful consumable recipes like potions and medicines, which can save you during tough boss fights. Scholar progression improves quest efficiency and increases resource gains.
Career notebooks are required to level these professions, and they are worth buying every week. Not only do they make your character stronger, but they also unlock crafting recipes that help maintain your survivability during longer dungeons.
Crafting itself is tied to your stamina, which regenerates daily. Whether you’re making fire arrows, potions, or utility items, crafting consistently will keep you from falling behind in tougher content.
Choosing Sets and Preparing for Level Cap Increases
Your equipment screen has a built-in “recommended combination” feature that tells you which sets fit your weapon or playstyle. These suggestions are accurate most of the time, so following them makes gearing easier, especially when you’re not familiar with every set bonus.
Another important tip is preparing for level-cap increases. Completing certain mausoleum trials before the cap goes up ensures you’re ready to immediately push into new content without getting hard-stuck behind gear checks.
A Quick Look at Optional Monetization
U4GM and similar game-market platforms occasionally appear in community discussions, especially when players talk about gear materials or progression efficiency. I personally recommend focusing on in-game systems first, as the game already gives you enough ways to level efficiently without relying on external shortcuts. Understanding what these platforms are helps you navigate discussions, but they’re not necessary for standard progression.
Where Winds Meet offers a surprisingly deep progression system, but once you understand tuning, inner ways, profession leveling, and daily challenges, everything becomes much smoother. Focus on upgrading your gear smartly, managing energy, and collecting inner way notes as early as possible. With a bit of planning, you’ll stay ahead of the difficulty curve and enjoy the game’s best content without unnecessary grinding.
