The Lone Cloud sect in Where Winds Meet is built around calculation, trick-sword techniques, and a slightly smug love of mathematics. It is not one of the four starter sects you can join early on, so the game treats it as a hidden, late‑game faction with an extra barrier to entry.
What Lone Cloud is and why it’s different
Lone Cloud (also called Lone Summit in some in‑game text) is described as a “trick‑sword sect.” Its disciples devote themselves to demanding sword techniques and to treating strategy and arithmetic as a kind of martial art of their own. The sect’s signature weapon is the Strategic Sword, a bleed‑focused blade whose martial arts include:
- Inner Track Slash (Skill)
- Second Track Slash (Charged Skill)
- Third Track Recoil (Special Skill)
Lone Cloud also comes with its own rule set:
- Forgotten by the Jianghu: Lone Cloud disciples who rebond (rejoin) must seek the blessings of their old comrades.
- The Riddle of Love: Love is framed as the hardest riddle; you only get to “solve” it once.
- Streetwise Strategist: You’re expected to experience get‑rich‑quick schemes in the streets; ignore this and you lose 10 Precept Value.
These rules lean into the sect’s identity: cerebral, slightly eccentric, and fascinated with both numbers and human behavior.
When Lone Cloud becomes joinable
For global players, Lone Cloud does not unlock with the first wave of sects. Early on, pressing the Sect menu’s Entry Clue prompt for Lone Cloud only shows a flavor line explaining that its disciples are obsessed with mathematics and refuse to accept new disciples yet, hinting that “future opportunities” will open the way.
Those future opportunities arrive later in progression. Players report that Lone Cloud becomes available once high‑level main content around level 51 is accessible, rather than during the initial four‑sect selection window. Until that point, you can see Lone Cloud in the sect list but you cannot actually sign up, even if you physically find its NPCs in the world.
Where to find the Lone Cloud contact in Kaifeng
To start the joining process, you need to locate a specific NPC often referred to as the Lone Cloud Senior Brother in Kaifeng.
Step 1: Travel to Kaifeng and open your world map. Look toward the upper middle area of the city: there is a rectangular palace complex surrounded by water.
Step 2: Identify the right‑hand (eastern) outer wall of that rectangle. On the map, there is a larger pond on this side of the wall.
Step 3: Go to the outside of that right wall, not inside the palace rectangle. Aim for roughly the upper half of the wall length, near the water.
Step 4: On the shoreline, look for a man sitting at a table, drinking tea. This is the Lone Cloud senior disciple. When the sect is unlocked for your version and account, an interaction prompt appears on him.
Before Lone Cloud is actually released for your region or account stage, you can still find this NPC, but he will not offer any interaction options. That behavior is normal; it simply means the entry condition is not yet met.
How the Lone Cloud entry math and logic test works
Entry to Lone Cloud isn’t about reputation or combat trials. The gatekeeper in Kaifeng gives you a math and logic exam.
The exam pulls from a large pool of possible questions that can include:
- Pure math problems
- Logic puzzles
- Philosophy prompts
- History and general‑knowledge questions
Two key details shape how this works:
- Each applicant receives a randomized set of questions from the pool, so you are unlikely to get the exact same list as another player.
- You must answer correctly to earn an invitation; failing the exam means waiting for another chance to attempt it again.
There is no combat or stealth here; the sect takes its own lore seriously and demands proof that you can reason your way through tricky prompts before they let you in.
Joining Lone Cloud step by step
Once your character is high enough level and the sect is active for your region, the overall flow is straightforward even if the questions are not.
Step 1: Progress the main story and character level until high‑level content around level 51 is unlocked. Make sure you have already chosen and joined at least one of the four launch sects earlier in your playthrough; Lone Cloud is not part of that first batch.
Step 2: Travel to Kaifeng and navigate to the right‑side outer wall of the central palace, in the upper half near the water, to find the Lone Cloud senior brother sitting and drinking tea.
Step 3: Interact with him to start the math/logic test. Read each question carefully before answering; you cannot rely on someone else’s answer key because the question set is randomized.
Step 4: Complete the exam. If you score well enough, you receive an invitation and can formally pledge yourself to Lone Cloud through the Sect interface.
Step 5: If you fail, wait for the game to present another opportunity to take the exam and try again. There is no permanent lockout, but you do have to re‑earn your way in.
Unlocking the Strategic Sword without joining Lone Cloud
One of the main reasons many players care about Lone Cloud is the Strategic Sword. It offers a calculated, bleed‑oriented playstyle that fits both PvE and PvP, with tools such as:
- Fast dash‑slashes that apply bleed stacks
- Follow‑up slashes that require very quick re‑inputs (far shorter than the nominal two‑second window), rewarding precise timing
- Charged attacks that can render you hidden or hard to target while setting up a high‑damage finisher when enough bleed stacks are active
The key twist is that you do not have to be a Lone Cloud disciple to get access to this weapon. Like other sect weapons, you can obtain it through the Skill Theft system by infiltrating the Lone Cloud Martial Sanctum via an appropriate Dragon Pillar and completing the theft mini‑game there. Joining Lone Cloud mainly changes how you role‑play and what sect‑specific progression you see; it is not the only path to the weapon itself.
What Lone Cloud membership actually gives you
Once you pass the exam and join Lone Cloud, you gain the same broad category of perks that other sects provide, but with a Lone Cloud flavor:
- Sect‑exclusive quests and activities that explore its obsession with mathematics, divination, and trick‑sword tactics.
- Access to Lone Cloud martial arts and shops, including cosmetics and outfits themed around its strategist‑swordsman aesthetic.
- Precept Value and rule interactions shaped by its discipline and rules like Streetwise Strategist and The Riddle of Love.
Sects in general do not hard‑lock your power progression. You can collect sect weapons via Skill Theft, and long term, your raw strength is not dependent on being in the “correct” sect for your favorite weapon. Lone Cloud instead offers a different way to play, different activities to pursue, and cosmetic and role‑play options for players who enjoy the idea of a strategist swordsman cult built around math problems.
If you enjoy sword builds, puzzles, and the idea of having to pass a quiz to prove your worth, Lone Cloud is one of the more distinctive sects to pursue once your character is strong enough to reach it.
