Still Shore is one of the early campaign quests in Where Winds Meet, set beneath Qinghe and anchored by a standout boss fight against Heartseeker. It mixes light exploration puzzles with a demanding arena battle and pays out a sizable bundle of cosmetics, gear, and currency if you see it through.
Still Shore Where Winds Meet: how to unlock the quest
Still Shore becomes available once you can access Qinghe and reach the Everclear Clinic. The quest start is easy to miss because it’s literally underground.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Qinghe |
| Quest type | Campaign quest (listed under Campaign side content) |
| How to unlock | Enter the well behind the Everclear Clinic in Qinghe |
Walk behind the Everclear Clinic building in Qinghe and look for the open well. Dropping into this well is the trigger: once you descend, you’re effectively inside the Still Shore dungeon, and the quest begins.
Still Shore walkthrough: from the well to Heart Lake
Still Shore is structured as a linear dungeon with a few key beats: lighting your way in the tunnels, using a flute to solve a weight puzzle, threading through Heart Lake, and scaling a miniature mountain to reach the boss.
| Step | Objective | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explore the underground tunnel | Drop into the well, use Fire Arrows to light braziers, and clear enemies while following the path forward. |
| 2 | Open the sealed hall | Push open the large door into a main hall and use the flute placed on the ground to reveal a new passage. |
| 3 | Reach Heart Lake | Leave the hall through the newly opened door, then squeeze through a narrow gap at Heart Lake to continue. |
| 4 | Climb Miniature Mountain | Use your movement tools to climb up the small peak ahead, positioning you for the final encounter. |
| 5 | Defeat Heartseeker | Battle Heartseeker in an arena ringed by tombstones, managing her channeling attacks and endurance bar. |
The dungeon doesn’t branch much, so the main risk is missing interactions: lighting braziers to actually see the route, playing the flute in the hall, and spotting the narrow opening at Heart Lake. If you reach a dead end, you almost always need to either interact with an object in the room or look for a slim gap in the stonework.
Still Shore sealed gate puzzle: how the flute and pressure plate work
One of the most confusing beats in Still Shore is the “sealed gate” or “sealed main gate” prompt in the large underground hall. Your character alone is not heavy enough to trigger the mechanism; the game expects you to use a new interaction that unlocks here.
| Element | Function in the puzzle |
|---|---|
| Flute on the floor | Unlocks a new performance/emote that can draw enemies toward you. |
| Pressure plate | Needs multiple bodies standing on it; your weight alone doesn’t depress it fully. |
| Nearby enemies | Act as extra “weight” when lured onto the plate, allowing the gate to unlock. |
After the cutscene in this area, a set of new poses and a flute-related interaction become available. The key is that this performance works like an emote that attracts enemies. Stand on the pressure plate, trigger the correct flute/pose emote, and let the undead gather around you. When enough of them stand on the plate with you, the mechanism fully sinks and the gate unlocks.
On controllers, the emote wheel is buried under multiple layers of UI: open the menu, navigate to emotes, then switch to the puzzle-focused set and select the new flute performance. On keyboard and mouse, the process is similar through the emote menu. Once the gate opens, you can push it and move deeper into Still Shore.
Heartseeker boss fight (Still Shore): arena, level, and tactics
Heartseeker is the climax of Still Shore and one of the first bosses that punishes bad positioning rather than just low stats. Treat the recommended level seriously: going in around level 10 keeps the fight tense but manageable.
| Boss | Quest | Recommended level | Suggested weapon style | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heartseeker | Still Shore | Level 10 | Panacea Fan | ★★★★★ (very high) |
Heartseeker arena layout
The fight takes place in a circular arena ringed with tombstones. Those tombstones aren’t decoration; they are your lifeline in the second phase of the fight.
- The outer ring: Stone markers that you can use as cover against projectile volleys and a one-shot attack later in the fight.
- The center: A danger zone once Heartseeker starts channeling large-area spells.
In phase one, treat the tombstones as optional cover when you need to break the line of sight and reset. In phase two, they become the only way to survive her most dangerous mechanic.
Heartseeker attack patterns and how to respond
Heartseeker leans hard on ranged and area attacks. Some patterns vary with build and difficulty, but the key beats are consistent:
- Standard combos and projectiles: Dodge through or to the side, close distance, and score hits to drain her endurance bar. Many of her strings are punishable at the end if you avoid panic dodging.
- Channeling spell from the center: When she moves toward the middle and starts a prolonged channel, back away from the center immediately. Staying near her risks getting caught in a large-area effect.
- Phase two “one-shot” mechanic: In the latter half of the fight, she uses a high-damage attack that can effectively delete you if you’re exposed. Use a tombstone as hard cover: literally break the line of sight by keeping the stone between you and Heartseeker until the animation ends.
Heartseeker’s endurance bar is the lever that turns the fight. Consistent pressure to deplete that bar will cause a vulnerability window where she takes more punishment and can’t respond effectively. Focus on:
- Short, safe strings rather than long combos that leave you stuck in animation.
- Counterhits after her big swings or spell casts, not during.
- Pulling back as soon as you see another channel; greed kills quickly in this arena.
Still Shore waypoint: how to unlock the teleporter after the quest
Clearing Still Shore also ties into unlocking a local waypoint that some players miss, which can make backtracking in Qinghe more tedious than it needs to be.
| Waypoint | Context | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Still Shore waypoint | Qinghe, near the Everclear Clinic dungeon area | Use the dungeon teleporter, leave the treasure room, drop instead of taking the usual escape route, then follow the prompts to the waypoint. |
Once you’ve progressed the campaign to the point where the Still Shore dungeon is in play, you can teleport back into its treasure room. From there, you have a choice: follow the normal exit route, or find the hidden link to the Still Shore waypoint.
- Teleport to the dungeon’s treasure room entrance.
- Leave the room and start toward the usual exit corridor.
- Instead of turning toward the main escape path, jump down at the ledge where the route forks.
- After a brief loading transition and a short scripted fall, get up and follow the on-screen waypoint marker.
At the end of this short path, you’ll reach the Still Shore teleport stone. Activating it adds another fast-travel anchor in Qinghe, helping with completion runs and general navigation.
Still Shore rewards and why the quest matters
Still, Shore is more than a one-off dungeon. It’s a significant injection of cosmetics, materials, and currency during the early game, and it sits within the broader Campaign list alongside quests like Bodhi Sea, Palace of Annals, Gleaming Abyss, Halo Peak, and Blissful Retreat.
| Reward type | Reward | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Armor/gear | Hawking Set ×2 | Two pieces from the Hawking line, useful for early builds. |
| Cosmetics | Still Shore Cosmetic Chest | Appearance items themed to the quest. |
| Cosmetics | Crimson Leaves Chest | Additional visual customization options. |
| Weapon resource | Bellstrike Umbra Tips ×2 | Used for specific gear or progression paths. |
| Upgrade resource | Oscillating Jade ×2 | High-value material for later upgrades. |
| Currency | Zhou Coin ×3200 | Spend on gear, services, and other progression tools. |
| Experience | Character EXP 4000 + 400 per level | Large chunk of EXP, scaled slightly by level. |
These rewards accumulate as you move through the dungeon and finish the quest, not just at the final chest. If you are chasing cosmetics and progression in Qinghe, Still Shore is a key stop, and completing it helps push Campaign completion toward the thresholds that unlock additional outfits and rewards in the region.
For many players, Still Shore is also the first serious check on positioning, resource use, and environmental awareness in Where Winds Meet. Learning how to read the tombstone arena, how to use emotes as mechanical tools, and how to manage a boss’s endurance bar here pays off in the more complex Campaign content that follows.
