Celestial Seize is one of the defining Mystic Skills in Where Winds Meet. It sits at the intersection of combat, stealth, and puzzle design, turning enemy weapons and distant loot into tools you can pull, steal, and redirect.
It is an Offensive Puzzle Mystic Skill with both out-of-combat utility and a powerful disarm counter in battle. It also underpins a number of exploration puzzles and quests, so unlocking it early pays off across the game.
Celestial Seize core stats and classification
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill name | Celestial Seize (also referred to as Heavenly Snatch in some menus) |
| Category | Mystic Skill |
| Type | Offensive |
| Sub-category | Puzzle |
| Tags | Take Item, Disarm |
| Primary region | Qinghe |
| Key location | Heaven's Pier |
| Vitality cost | 0 |
The lack of Vitality cost is important. Celestial Seize can be used freely without draining your core stamina-like resource, which makes it a low-risk option for testing puzzle interactions or quickly stripping weapons from basic enemies.
How to unlock Celestial Seize (Foul Play exploration quest)
Celestial Seize is obtained from a specific Exploration Quest named Foul Play. The quest starts from a “drinking man” NPC associated with Heaven’s Pier in Qinghe.
| Step | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travel to Heaven’s Pier in Qinghe | Look around the pier and nearby drinking spots for a man sitting and drinking. |
| 2 | Speak to the drinking man | Starting his dialogue should offer the Foul Play Exploration Quest. |
| 3 | Complete the Foul Play objectives | The quest involves using Celestial Seize during its events; follow the prompts. |
| 4 | Receive Celestial Seize | Finishing Foul Play grants the Celestial Seize Mystic Art. |
Players sometimes report that the drinking man does not appear or does not offer the quest at Heaven’s Pier. In those cases, he can show up in another settlement, most notably Harvestfall Village. If Foul Play is missing in your log:
- Ride or fast travel to Harvestfall Village and check the central and tavern areas for the same drinking man NPC.
- Approach him during daytime if you see him, but cannot interact; NPC behavior can shift with the time of day.
- If you previously failed the task, the NPC may temporarily become non-interactive; returning after progressing other content can help.
Once Foul Play is cleared, Celestial Seize is permanently unlocked as a Mystic Skill. If it appears missing later, check your Mystic Skills menu and loadout rather than assuming it is lost; some players confuse unequipped skills with removed ones.
Celestial Seize effects out of combat
Outside of battle, Celestial Seize works like a long-range grab and theft tool:
| Context | Effect |
|---|---|
| Exploration | Pulls distant objects toward you. |
| Loot collection | Can draw items directly from chests and backpacks without standing on top of them. |
| Puzzle interaction | Used to interact with puzzle elements that cannot be reached safely by foot. |
| Stealing from NPCs | When combined with Wind Sense, can snatch items from NPC inventories. |
This out-of-combat use is more than convenience. Many “dangerous location” chests and guarded chests are designed around Celestial Seize. Instead of fighting through every enemy or braving traps directly, you can simply pull the reward from a safe distance.
Celestial Seize effects in combat
In battle, Celestial Seize acts as a disarm-and-counter tool that weaponizes the opponent’s own gear.
| Combat effect | Description |
|---|---|
| Disarm | Attempts to strip the target’s weapon mid-fight. |
| Counterattack | Immediately counters using the stolen weapon. |
| Damage types | Deals Physical Damage, additional Attribute Damage (based on the weapon), and Qi Damage. |
| Scaling | Damage scales with the weight of the enemy weapon. |
The weight scaling gives Celestial Seize a clear niche: heavy-weapon users become prime targets. Turning a large blade or hammer back on its owner can deliver a spike of damage that rivals, or even exceeds, your standard combos, especially when timed around weak points.
Celestial Seize and quest, chest, and puzzle usage
Celestial Seize is woven into multiple layers of the game beyond its unlock quest.
| Use case | How Celestial Seize fits |
|---|---|
| Exploration quests | Certain quest steps explicitly require pulling objects from unsafe or distant positions. |
| Guarded chests | Allows you to loot rewards without killing every guard or walking into the center of a camp. |
| Dangerous location chests | Lets you bypass traps, poisoned ground, or environmental hazards by grabbing loot from outside the danger zone. |
| Environmental puzzles | Interacts with movable objects, keys, and plants, including hazardous ones like poisonous herbs. |
| Pickpocket-style gameplay | Supports “steal and run” tactics on NPCs when used with Wind Sense. |
Some puzzles are built to be impossible without Celestial Seize. If you find an object clearly meant to be collected but physically unreachable or trapped, that is often a hint that you either need Celestial Seize unlocked or need to equip it.
Celestial Seize breakthroughs: ranks, tiers, and bonuses
Like other Mystic Skills, Celestial Seize grows through a rank-and-tier system. Ranks raise its baseline numbers; tiers unlock distinct bonus effects. Celestial Seize progresses through four tiers with up to nine ranks in each tier.
| Tier | Rank range | Key bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 0–9 | Base effectiveness increases per rank (damage and reliability), no special bonus. |
| Tier 2 | 0–9 | Raises bonus damage by 20% when you trigger a Weak Point Break. |
| Tier 3 | 0–9 | Reduces the target’s attack by 20% for 10 seconds after a Weak Point Break. |
| Tier 4 | 0–9 | Adds another 30% bonus damage on Weak Point Break, stacking with Tier 2’s increase. |
These bonuses only apply after a Weak Point Break, so Celestial Seize is most impactful when you play around stagger windows or weak point mechanics. Used at the right moment, it becomes both a high-damage finisher and a temporary debuff tool.
Celestial Seize breakthrough materials and costs
Advancing Celestial Seize consumes general Mystic Art materials and a specific breakthrough item. The material pattern is consistent across its tiers.
| Tier | Rank | Materials required |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–9 | Lv. 1 Ebon Iron ×2 per rank |
| 2 | 0 (promotion) | Vicious Fruit ×5, Lv. 1 Ebon Iron ×2 |
| 2 | 1–9 | Lv. 2 Ebon Iron ×4 per rank |
| 3 | 0 (promotion) | Vicious Fruit ×15, Lv. 2 Ebon Iron ×4 |
| 3 | 1–9 | Lv. 3 Ebon Iron ×10 per rank |
| 4 | 0 (promotion) | Vicious Fruit ×18, Lv. 3 Ebon Iron ×10 |
| 4 | 1–9 | Lv. 4 Ebon Iron ×20 per rank |
Two resource trends stand out:
- Ebon Iron gradually steps up in level and quantity, reflecting the rising base power of the skill.
- Vicious Fruit is reserved for tier promotions at Tier 2, 3, and 4, which is where Celestial Seize gains its big Weak Point Break bonuses and debuff effect.
For players prioritizing combat performance, pushing Celestial Seize to at least Tier 3 is a strong breakpoint. At that stage, every Weak Point Break translates into both damage and a tangible 20 percent reduction in the enemy’s attack for ten seconds.
How Celestial Seize fits into your build
Celestial Seize earns a spot in many loadouts because it covers three distinct needs:
- Control: Removing weapons from dangerous enemies reduces incoming pressure instantly.
- Burst damage: The heavy-weapon scaling and Weak Point Break bonuses turn it into a high-impact finisher.
- Utility: Persistent out-of-combat value from puzzles and theft makes it feel worthwhile even when you are not fighting.
It pairs naturally with:
- Weak point–focused martial arts that reliably trigger Weak Point Break.
- Wind Sense, to target valuable items and NPCs in stealthy play.
- Defensive Mystic Skills, using Celestial Seize as the offensive pivot once an enemy is opened up.
For anyone exploring Qinghe thoroughly or leaning into trickster-style play, unlocking and investing in Celestial Seize early shifts both how you approach combat encounters and how you solve “impossible” chests and puzzles scattered across Where Winds Meet.
