Archery in Where Winds Meet is its own combat lane: different inputs, its own skills, and a strong focus on timing. If you just hit buttons until an arrow fires, you’ll miss most of what makes the bow powerful.
This walkthrough keeps things narrow: how to draw the bow, fire it, swap arrows, and use Still Water on every control scheme the game supports, along with the basic combat rules that sit around those inputs.
Where Winds Meet bow controls (all platforms)
The table below pulls together the bow-related buttons you need to remember. Everything else in combat is built around these.
| Action | PC (Keyboard & Mouse) | PC Controller | PS5 Controller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch to bow / draw bow | Mouse wheel up (Switch to Bow) | LT + RT (Draw Bow) | Same as switching weapon, then aim (use D-Pad Down to switch weapon, then hold L2 to aim) |
| Fire basic bow shot | Left click (with bow selected) | X while bow is drawn | Square while aiming with bow |
| Bow skill (special shot) | Weapon Martial Arts key (e.g., Q or ~ when assigned to a bow art) |
X (Bow Skill) while bow drawn, if a bow art is equipped | Square with the appropriate bow Martial Art equipped |
| Still Water (slow time while aiming) | 1 (Still Water, when assigned) after bow is drawn | Right stick button while bow is drawn | Click right stick while aiming to trigger the Still Water Mystic Art, if equipped |
| Switch arrow type (forward) | Mouse wheel up (Switch Arrow – Forward, when in bow mode) | A while bow is drawn | Tap D-Pad Right after drawing bow, if multiple arrow types are available |
| Switch arrow type (back) | Mouse wheel down (Switch Arrow – Back, when in bow mode) | Y while bow is drawn | Tap D-Pad Left after drawing bow, if multiple arrow types are available |
| Lock-on / Wind Sense (helps aim) | V (Wind Sense) | Right stick button (hold for Wind Sense) | Right stick button (hold for Wind Sense) |
Note: On keyboard, the mouse wheel is doing double duty. Outside of bow mode it swaps weapons, in bow mode it cycles arrow types. On controllers, you always draw the bow first, then swap arrows with face buttons.
How bow mode works in combat
Controls are only half the story. The bow in Where Winds Meet uses the same systems as melee combat: Qi (stamina), Mystic Arts, and enemy stance bars.
At a high level, bow combat looks like this:
- You switch from your melee weapon to a bow.
- You draw, optionally trigger Still Water to slow time, and place the reticle over a target.
- You fire normal or skill-based arrows to chip away health or exploit weak points.
- You keep an eye on your Qi so you don’t exhaust yourself mid-fight.
The key is to treat the bow as a deliberate tool, not a spam button. Every shot and every use of Still Water is bound to resources.
Where Winds Meet bow basics on keyboard and mouse
On keyboard, bow control is layered on top of the standard combat keys.
| Step | Keyboard & Mouse input | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Switch from melee to bow | Scroll wheel up | Your character swaps from the current melee weapon to the equipped bow. |
| 2. Aim | Move mouse | A reticle appears in the center of the screen; you line this up with enemies or objects. |
| 3. Fire a basic arrow | Left click | Your character looses a standard arrow. Holding briefly before release will charge if the bow art supports it. |
| 4. Use bow skills (if your Martial Art is a bow style) | Press your Martial Arts key (commonly Q or ~) while bow is selected |
Triggers the weapon’s Art Skill: multi-shot, explosive arrows, or other style-specific moves. |
| 5. Slow time with Still Water | Tap 1 (Still Water) while aiming |
Time slows, lets you fine-tune aim; this drains your Qi bar while active. |
| 6. Switch arrow types | Scroll wheel up/down while bow is selected | Cycles forward or backward through special arrow types (for example, fire vs. normal). |
Tip: if your 1 slot is currently a Mystic Art instead of Still Water, you’ll need to reassign Still Water into an active Mystic Art slot in the Mystic Skills menu before you can trigger time-slow with 1.
Where Winds Meet bow controls on PC controller
On a PC controller, the bow sits in the same trigger-based skill system as your melee arts.
| Action | PC controller input | Effect in bow mode |
|---|---|---|
| Draw bow | LT + RT | Switches you into bow mode and raises the bow. |
| Fire standard shot | X while bow is drawn | Fires a basic arrow at the reticle’s target. |
| Use bow skill | X (Bow Skill) while bow is drawn | If your equipped Martial Art provides a special bow move, this button triggers it after preparation. |
| Switch arrow forward | A while bow is drawn | Moves to the next available arrow type. |
| Switch arrow back | Y while bow is drawn | Moves to the previous arrow type. |
| Still Water (time slow) | Click right stick while bow is drawn | Activates Still Water if assigned as a Mystic Art; time slows while your Qi drains. |
| Lock-on / Wind Sense | Hold right stick button (outside of bow draw) | Highlights enemies and points of interest, useful before you line up long shots. |
Think of the sequence as: hold LT to prepare skills, tap LT+RT to commit to the bow, then manage arrows and Still Water with face buttons and the stick.
Where Winds Meet bow controls on PS5
On PS5 the default layout isn’t labelled as explicitly for archery, but it follows the same logic as PC controller: one trigger prepares skills, one is your “do” hand, and Square is your light-attack / basic-shot button.
| Action | PS5 input | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Switch to bow | D-Pad Down until the bow is selected | The D-Pad cycles weapons; stop on the bow icon. |
| Aim with bow | Hold L2 | L2 is your Defense/aim trigger; with the bow selected it raises and aims it. |
| Fire basic arrow | Tap Square while holding L2 | Square is the light-attack button and fires standard arrows in bow stance. |
| Use bow-specific art | Square in combination with your Skill Preparation trigger (L1) when a bow Martial Art is equipped | Skill Preparation on L1 sets up the art, Square executes the shot pattern. |
| Switch arrow types | D-Pad Right / D-Pad Left after bow is selected | Right steps forward through arrow types, Left steps back when extra arrow heads are unlocked. |
| Still Water aiming | Click right stick while aiming with L2 | If Still Water is equipped as a Mystic Art, this starts the slow-time effect. |
| Lock-on and Wind Sense | Right stick button (hold) | Helps you find targets and read the field before you start shooting. |
PS5 also maps the Function Wheel to the touchpad, which lets you access consumables and functions that can indirectly support archery (such as quickly swapping medicines if you’re playing at range and reallocating your Mystic Arts).
Still Water, Qi, and archery resources
The bow is plugged into the same combat resources as your melee weapons. Two matter most when you’re trying to “bow” properly: Qi and Spirit.
| Resource | Where it shows up | What bow users need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Health | Largest bar at the bottom of the HUD | If it empties, you’re out. Archers tend to fight further back but are still vulnerable when focused or pinned. |
| Qi (stamina / stance) | Bar directly under Health | Used for dodging, blocking, and Still Water. Keeping it topped up matters for getting out after you fire from a bad position. |
| Insight (for Assist Deflection) | Short segmented bar under Qi | Mostly relevant when enemies close into melee. If you swap to bow too early and get caught, this bar feeds your parry helper. |
| Spirit (Mystic Arts resource) | White circle in the center of the Mystic Arts HUD | Some Mystic Arts can support archery. Spirit determines how often you can layer those on top of arrow shots. |
Still Water is a Mystic Art you pick up very early when you first unlock archery. It’s the core of precision bow play: you hit the Still Water button in bow stance, time slows, and you get a clean lock on moving targets. The tradeoff: it drains Qi as it runs.
That tradeoff shapes how you “bow” in tough fights. You don’t hold Still Water constantly; you pulse it in short bursts, line up a weak spot, fire, and release it so your Qi can recover for dodges and blocks.
Archery, executions, and enemy Qi bars
Where melee combat revolves around depleting an enemy’s Qi bar to open them up for an Execute, archery slots into that rhythm rather than replacing it.
- Each enemy has a Health bar and a Qi (stance) bar.
- Most bow shots put modest pressure on the Qi bar compared to heavy melee deflections.
- Once the Qi bar hits zero, the enemy becomes Exhausted and an Execute prompt appears.
If you’re playing primarily at range, a typical pattern is:
- Use the bow to thin groups or chip high-priority targets before they reach you.
- Swap to melee when an enemy’s Qi is nearly gone, deflect a red-glow attack to break stance completely, then Execute.
- Swap back to bow for the next wave or to keep pressure on a boss from distance.
Tip: The yellow and red glows on enemy attacks still matter when you’re using a bow. A yellow glow means you should dodge rather than block; a red glow is an invitation to parry if you’re forced into close range.
How to unlock and use archery early on
The game pushes you into archery very early, then expects you to keep using it throughout the open world.
- Early in Qinghe you meet Feng Jisheng, who hands over an archery notebook.
- That notebook unlocks the bow as a usable weapon and grants Still Water as a Mystic Art.
- From that moment, your bow and Still Water are available across exploration content, puzzles, and combat.
Curiosities and other overworld collectibles often assume you know how to slow time and hit small targets. White birds high in the sky, purple clouds from plants, and insects hiding in breakable pots are all easier to deal with if you’re comfortable entering bow mode and tapping Still Water on demand.
If you remember one thing about “how to bow” in Where Winds Meet, make it this: the input to switch into bow mode is only the start. The real power sits in how you spend Qi on Still Water, when you swap arrow types, and how you stitch bow pressure into the wider dance of parries, dodges, and Executions. Once that clicks, the bow stops feeling like a sidearm and starts feeling like a full martial path.
