Adaptive Steel is an Epic Inner Way in Where Winds Meet that turns your blade choice into a conditional buff. It sits on the Bellstrike – Umbra path and adds a small but precise passive to every major blade family: swords, spears, dual blades, and Mo Blade. On top of that, its breakthrough tiers lean heavily into weapon switching and dual-weapon play.
Adaptive Steel basics
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Inner Way (Internal Art) |
| Rarity | Epic |
| Path | Bellstrike - Umbra |
| Tags | Attack, Support, Buff |
| Core Effect | Grants a Martial Skill effect based on the blade weapon currently equipped |
| Cooldown Notes | Sword Martial Skill has a 10s cooldown; Dual Blades Martial Skill has a 25s cooldown |
The design is straightforward: Adaptive Steel checks what kind of blade you are holding and applies a single matching passive effect. Swapping to a different blade type swaps the effect as well, which becomes especially important once breakthrough bonuses start interacting with weapon switching and dual-weapon skills.
How to get Adaptive Steel
Adaptive Steel is tied to the game’s oddities system and the oddity merchant Qi Sheng.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Collect oddities | Explore the open world and pick up oddities marked by a small insect icon on the minimap. Each oddity has a short interaction or mechanic before you can claim it. |
| 2. Advance your oddities collection | Keep gathering oddities until you have enough to trade in. You need a large number; this is not a one-or-two-pickups unlock. |
| 3. Find Qi Sheng | Travel to Qinghe and locate Qi Sheng, the oddity merchant, near the tree where you steal a martial art from the bear during the early game encounter. |
| 4. Purchase the tome | Exchange oddities with Qi Sheng for the Adaptive Steel: Tome once it appears in his inventory. |
| 5. Comprehend the Inner Way | Open the Inner Ways interface, select Adaptive Steel, and spend the required resources to unlock it. |
Qi Sheng is also referenced in the in‑game clue text for Adaptive Steel, which frames the art as something passed down to the Northern Vow and later brought to Qinghe. In practice, the acquisition step is entirely handled through the oddity exchange.
Adaptive Steel weapon-specific effects
Adaptive Steel only works with blade weapons. It checks the family of your currently equipped blade and applies exactly one effect from the list below.
| Blade type | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sword | 10% chance to apply 1 stack of Bleed when dealing Affinity DMG | Pairs well with bleed-focused builds such as Strategic Sword and Nameless Sword. |
| Spear | Attacks ignore 12.5% of the target’s Physical Defense | Useful for consistent damage gain against high-defense enemies, especially in longer boss fights. |
| Dual Blades | After a Perfect Dodge, the next Martial Arts Skill used within 8 seconds deals 25% more damage | Rewards tight timing and aggressive counterplay; has a 25-second Martial Skill cooldown. |
| Mo Blade | Increases Critical DMG of Charged Skills and Parry Counter Skills by 20% | Benefits players who reliably land charged attacks and parry counters. |
The Martial Skill concept here refers to the weapon-specific passive that Adaptive Steel grants. For swords, the internal cooldown is 10 seconds, which caps how often the bleed proc can occur through this Inner Way. For dual blades, the 25-second cooldown limits how often the Perfect Dodge buff can be triggered, making each window significant.
Only one blade family effect is active at any given time. When you switch to a different blade type, the previous effect ends unless a breakthrough bonus is extending that mastery (more on that below). The Bleed from swords is a standard bleed stack; it can coexist with other bleed sources, but Adaptive Steel itself does not list any increased stacking rate or extra instances beyond the stated 10% chance per Affinity hit.
Recommended weapon pairings
Adaptive Steel is labeled as a Blade Weapon Art and is explicitly associated with several high-profile blades:
| Weapon category | Example blades | Why it works with Adaptive Steel |
|---|---|---|
| Swords | Nameless Sword, Strategic Sword | Both emphasize Affinity DMG and bleeding effects, which synergize with Adaptive Steel’s bleed proc. |
| Spears | Nameless Spear, Stormbreaker Spear, Heavenquaker Spear | Fast hit strings and strong base damage benefit from bypassing a slice of Physical Defense. |
| Dual Blades | Infernal Twinblades | Combos and frequent dodging play directly into the Perfect Dodge buff window. |
| Mo Blade | Thundercry Blade | Heavy charged swings and parry counters gain more burst from the Critical DMG bonus. |
For pure Strategic Sword or Nameless Sword builds, Adaptive Steel offers passive bleed that layers onto other bleed systems such as Sword Horizon and Fivefold Bleed. However, the Sword-specific benefit alone is relatively small compared with dedicated bleed Inner Ways, especially once you factor in the 10-second cooldown gate.
The Inner Way’s breakthrough path pushes it more firmly toward dual-weapon and Bellstrike-focused setups rather than strictly single-sword play.
Adaptive Steel breakthrough tiers
Breaking through Adaptive Steel unlocks six sequential bonuses. These expand its impact from small per-weapon effects into a more complete package for Bellstrike – Umbra and dual-weapon gameplay.
| Tier | Breakthrough bonus | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weapon Switch Skill damage increased by 30% | Gives immediate value to builds that weave in the Weapon Switch Skill as a damage tool, not just a utility action. |
| 2 | Increases Max Bellstrike Attack based on Solo Mode Level | Scales your Bellstrike ceiling as your Solo Mode (Roaming) level rises, tying Adaptive Steel more tightly to its path. |
| 3 | After casting the Weapon Switch Skill, your Movement Speed increases by 20%; if it hits a target, their Movement Speed is reduced by 20% for 5 seconds | Adds mobility and soft crowd control to switching, helping you chase or kite after a swap. |
| 4 | Casting a Dual-Weapon Skill restores 10 Endurance | Offsets the Endurance cost of aggressive dual-weapon strings, supporting sustained offense. |
| 5 | Increases Bellstrike DMG Bonus by 3% | Small but permanent Bellstrike damage bump, again reinforcing its intended path. |
| 6 | After casting a Dual-Weapon Skill, the previous Weapon Mastery effect remains for 10 seconds | Temporarily keeps the old blade mastery active after switching, enabling short “double dipping” windows if you swap weapons quickly. |
Tier 6 is the most nuanced effect. Weapon Mastery here refers to the blade-specific effect Adaptive Steel grants (Bleed for swords, defense ignore for spears, and so on). When you perform a Dual-Weapon Skill and then switch weapons, the mastery from your previous blade persists for 10 seconds.
Functionally, that means:
- You still only have one bleed roll per Affinity hit from Adaptive Steel’s Sword effect; the Inner Way does not grant multiple separate bleed passives at once.
- However, for 10 seconds after a Dual-Weapon Skill, you retain the prior mastery’s benefit even though you have swapped to a different blade.
In other words, Tier 6 creates a short overlap window where your weapon choice and mastery origin can diverge, but it does not create a second Adaptive Steel instance or an extra bleed stack mechanic. Bleeds from different systems (such as Strategic Sword skills, Fivefold Bleed, and Adaptive Steel’s Sword effect) can coexist, yet Adaptive Steel itself still provides one clearly defined bleed source.
How to upgrade Adaptive Steel
Raising Adaptive Steel’s tier requires both progression and specific Internal Art upgrade items tied to it.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Solo Mode level | Reach Solo Mode Level 4 (also called Level 4 Roaming) to start tier breakthroughs for Internal Arts. |
| Upgrade material | Use Adaptive Steel: Notes as the dedicated advancement item for this Inner Way. |
| Primary acquisition | Obtain Adaptive Steel: Notes primarily through the Tips Exchange feature in the Inner Ways development menu. |
Internal Art notes drop in a wide range of content and are also available through chests, seasonal shops, and other progression systems. Many of those notes will not match the Inner Ways you actually plan to use; the Tips Exchange exists to turn that surplus into targeted progress.
The loop looks like this:
- Collect random Inner Way notes by playing campaign dungeons, outposts, and other energy-based content.
- Recycle notes for Inner Ways you do not intend to use into Vintage Book Plates via the Tips Recycle menu.
- Spend Vintage Book Plates in Tips Exchange to buy note bundles that have a chance to include Adaptive Steel: Notes.
- Use the obtained Adaptive Steel: Notes in the Inner Way breakthrough screen to unlock higher tiers.
Because the Tips Exchange output is still random within its category, fully maxing Adaptive Steel can take time. The design nudges you to play broadly and recycle aggressively rather than tunnel on a single Internal Art from day one.
When Adaptive Steel is worth slotting
Adaptive Steel’s value depends heavily on your weapon choices and on whether you plan to invest in its breakthrough tiers.
| Build type | Adaptive Steel value | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Bleed-focused Strategic Sword / Nameless Sword | Situational | Extra 10% bleed chance on Affinity DMG helps, but other bleed Inner Ways often give more direct payoff per slot. |
| Spear main with long boss fights | Solid | Ignoring 12.5% Physical Defense is a clean, always-on damage boost over time. |
| Dual Blades aggressive dodger | High if fully broken through | Perfect Dodge damage windows plus Tier 1, 3, 4, and 6 breakthroughs support a mobile dual-weapon playstyle. |
| Mo Blade counterattacker | Good | Critical DMG on Charged and Parry Counter Skills amplifies your biggest spikes. |
| Bellstrike - Umbra path enjoyer | Core option | Multiple tiers specifically buff Bellstrike attack caps and Bellstrike DMG bonus. |
If you only want a single, strong passive for a specific weapon, Inner Ways like Sword Horizon, Sword Morph, Bitter Seasons, Morale Chant, or Royal Remedy tend to be more focused. Adaptive Steel shines more when you are:
- frequently switching blades and using the Weapon Switch Skill offensively, or
- building around Bellstrike – Umbra with dual-weapon skills and high mobility.
Used that way, it stops being “a small bleed proc” and becomes part of a larger engine of swap damage, Bellstrike scaling, Endurance sustain, and temporary cross-mastery windows.
Adaptive Steel is ultimately a flexible Inner Way that pays off most for players who lean into its identity: using multiple blades, making Weapon Switch part of their attack pattern, and investing the time and resources to climb through all six breakthrough tiers.
