Blossom Barrage is a Legendary Inner Way (Internal Art) in Where Winds Meet built specifically around the Vernal Umbrella. It turns the umbrella’s ranged kit into a sustained damage engine by stacking debuffs and feeding back resources as you ramp up its tier.
How to start Shadows in Bloom and unlock Blossom Barrage
You unlock Blossom Barrage by finishing the Jianghu Legacy side story Shadows in Bloom in Kaifeng.
| Step | What to do | Key details |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Reach Velvet Shade | Teleport to the Velvet Shade boundary stone in Kaifeng City. | This stone is your closest fast-travel point to the quest’s starting area. |
| 2. Find the downed man | From Velvet Shade, head north toward the docks and walk along the waterfront. | Standing near a man lying on the ground by the docks will automatically trigger the Shadows in Bloom side story. |
| 3. Follow the Nine Mortal Ways disciple | After the opening cutscene, follow the Nine Mortal Ways Disciple NPC as he runs off. | Stay close and interact when prompted to keep the story moving. |
| 4. Solve the clue chain | Work through all quest objectives, which are presented as a series of clues. | Expect rhythm/dance mini-games, a short puzzle sequence, and social encounters inside Kaifeng venues such as Floral Reverie and Nimbus Tower. |
| 5. Complete the final encounter | Investigate Nimbus Tower, resolve the story’s conflict, and finish the last dialogue. | Once the quest ends, you receive the Blossom Barrage Internal Art tome. |
| 6. Learn the Inner Way | Open your Internal Arts / Inner Ways menu and consume the Blossom Barrage tome. | This unlocks Blossom Barrage as an equipable Inner Way for your character. |
Shadows in Bloom behaves like other Internal Art legacies: you follow a trail of clues and side objectives until you receive the tome reward. Once the quest log for Shadows in Bloom clears, Blossom Barrage becomes available in your Inner Ways menu.
Blossom Barrage basics and Vernal Umbrella synergy
Blossom Barrage is tightly bound to the Vernal Umbrella and the Silkbind – Jade path of Martial Arts. Its core behavior is simple: you mark enemies with a Combo effect using Spring Sorrow, then cash in that debuff using your ballistic skills.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Inner Way (Internal Art) |
| Rarity | Legendary |
| Intended path | Silkbind – Jade |
| Tags | Attack, Martial Arts, Damage Boost |
| Primary weapon pairing | Vernal Umbrella |
| Main effect | Up to 2 stacks of Spring Sorrow; hits apply Combo, increasing damage taken from your ballistic skills by 10% for 8 seconds. |
| Ballistic skills affected | Let Spring Go (Martial Arts skill), Everbloom (Special skill) |
In practice, that means your flow with Vernal Umbrella becomes:
- Use Spring Sorrow to tag enemies and apply the Combo debuff.
- Follow up with Let Spring Go or Everbloom to take advantage of the increased ballistic damage.
- Maintain Combo uptime on priority targets so your ranged skills are always hitting into the damage bonus window.
The baseline 10% ballistic damage increase already gives Vernal Umbrella a noticeable spike in sustained damage, especially in fights where you can keep hitting the same target repeatedly.
Blossom Barrage effects and tier bonuses
Blossom Barrage scales strongly with Breakthrough tiers. Each tier adds either general crit stats or specific upgrades to Spring Sorrow and Spring Away, turning the Inner Way from a simple damage buff into a full resource and AoE engine.
| Tier | Bonus | Impact on play |
|---|---|---|
| Base effect | Spring Sorrow holds up to 2 stacks. Hitting a target applies Combo, increasing damage taken from your ballistic skills by 10% for 8s. Affects Let Spring Go and Everbloom. | Establishes the basic debuff → detonate loop for Vernal Umbrella’s ballistic skills. |
| Tier 1 | Increases the ballistic damage bonus from Combo to 20%. | Immediately doubles the value of good rotation discipline. Any Let Spring Go or Everbloom cast into Combo hits far harder. |
| Tier 2 | Increases Critical Rate based on Solo Mode Level. | Rewards higher Solo Mode progression with more frequent crits, smoothing damage without changing your rotation. |
| Tier 3 | Spring Sorrow cast speed is increased by 30%, and the duration of the applied Chain Hit effect is extended to 15 seconds. | Faster casts make it easier to keep Combo and Chain Hit up on multiple enemies, and the longer duration gives more room to weave in other skills. |
| Tier 4 | When Light Attack Charged Skill Spring Away hits a non-player unit with Combo, every 3 hits deal scatter damage to non-player units in an area (up to 5 targets per attack). | Transforms your light-charge pattern into an AoE clear tool against groups of mobs already tagged with Combo. |
| Tier 5 | Increases Critical Damage Bonus by 4.4%. | Multiplies the value of the earlier crit rate boost and pushes late-game scaling for damage-focused builds. |
| Tier 6 | Spring Sorrow can store up to 3 charges. Hitting an enemy with Combo from you immediately reduces Spring Sorrow’s cooldown by 5 seconds and grants 25 Floral Resources once per cast. | Gives you more Spring Sorrow uses, partial self-reset when hitting Combo-tagged enemies, and a steady stream of Floral Resources for Vernal Umbrella abilities. |
By Tier 6, Blossom Barrage does three major things at once:
- Provides a strong, spammable damage amp through Combo.
- Keeps Spring Sorrow available more often, even in longer fights.
- Feeds Floral Resources as you play correctly, helping sustain the umbrella’s resource-heavy skills.
How to upgrade Blossom Barrage
Like other Internal Arts, Blossom Barrage upgrades through Breakthrough tiers using both character progression and specific materials.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Solo Mode Level | You must reach at least Solo Mode Level 4, also called Level 4 Roaming, before unlocking higher tiers. |
| Advance item | Uses Blossom Barrage: Notes as the dedicated advancement material. |
| Main source | Blossom Barrage: Notes can be obtained through multiple activities, with a notable source being the Tips Exchange. |
| Upgrade method | Spend the Notes and other required resources in the Internal Arts/Inner Ways interface to raise Blossom Barrage’s tier. |
Investing in Blossom Barrage is especially efficient for anyone committed to Vernal Umbrella or Silkbind – Jade. The early tiers provide immediate damage, while the later ones layer on critical stats and sustain that carry well into high-level content.
Practical rotation tips for Blossom Barrage and Vernal Umbrella
Once Blossom Barrage is unlocked and equipped, a simple, reliable pattern makes good use of its bonuses:
| Situation | Recommended pattern | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Single target | Open with Spring Sorrow → cast Let Spring Go or Everbloom → refresh Spring Sorrow before Combo expires. | Maximizes uptime of the 10–20% ballistic damage bonus on bosses or elites. |
| Mob packs (Tier 4+) | Tag several enemies with Spring Sorrow → use Spring Away charged attacks on a Combo-tagged target. | Triggers scatter hits every 3 Spring Away hits, spreading damage to up to 5 non-player units per trigger. |
| Resource management (Tier 6) | Spend Spring Sorrow charges aggressively on Combo-tagged enemies, letting the 5-second cooldown reduction and 25 Floral Resources per cast keep the skill rotating. | Leverages Blossom Barrage’s internal sustain to fund frequent Vernal Umbrella skill use. |
For players who enjoy a ranged, rhythm-heavy style, Blossom Barrage effectively becomes the core of Vernal Umbrella’s late-game identity. Unlocking it through Shadows in Bloom and then pushing it to higher tiers gives a clear, linear upgrade path that strongly rewards good Combo management and careful sequencing of Spring Sorrow, Spring Away, Let Spring Go, and Everbloom.
