Where Winds Meet guide: How to unlock every weapon martial art

Where Winds Meet builds its combat around 12 weapon-based martial arts. Each of these is a full fighting style tied to a specific weapon type, with its own skills, resource mechanics, and role in a build. You can equip two martial arts at once, but you can’t simply pick up the weapon and go — you have to learn the style first.

Unlocking all of them is a mix of stealth infiltration, puzzle-solving, and faction politics. The core systems you’ll use are Skill Theft missions and sect recruitment, with a handful of early-game shortcuts.

Core systems: Skill Theft, sects, and weapon paths

Weapon martial arts sit on top of six “Paths”, each associated with two weapons and a broad combat role:

Each weapon within a path plays differently, with its own main skills, basic strings, and charged moves. Some Inner Ways only work with specific martial arts, so the weapon you choose has build implications beyond raw damage.

There are two main ways to unlock a martial art:

• Skill Theft missions – stealth-only infiltrations where you observe a master using their weapon, then complete a timing mini-game.
• Joining a sect – faction storylines that grant their signature style once you gain their trust.

In both cases, you still need an actual weapon item compatible with that martial art, which you’ll equip separately once the style is learned.

Unlock these Mystic Arts and keys before you start stealing skills

Most advanced martial arts sit in locked sanctums or heavily guarded halls. Progress is much smoother if you set up the right tools first.

• Reach level 8 and visit Peace Bell Tower in southwest Qinghe to enter your first Skill Theft mission and learn the Mystic Art Veil of Stillness, which supports stealth infiltrations.
• Complete the “Echoes of Old Battles” side quest at Northern Vow Ruins, southeast of Qinghe. Clear the enemies in the large courtyard, light the flame mechanism there and another on a nearby tower, then solve the underground puzzles to reach a gold chest holding the Touch of Death Mystic Art. It lets you assassinate targets from behind, which trivializes many patrols.
• Start farming Dragon Keys by clearing outposts. Keys are used on special mechanisms to open some underground sanctums.

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Most Powerful Mystic Arts, Items & Special Weapons

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All 12 weapon martial arts and how to unlock them

The table below summarizes every weapon martial art, its path, role, and how to obtain it. Detailed notes on each follow.

Early-game basics: Nameless Sword and Nameless Spear

Nameless Sword is your starting style. It highlights what Bellstrike – Splendor is about: fast repositioning and strong single-target pressure. Its skills include a forward lunge and a backflip attack, letting you snap into melee or disengage while still dealing damage.

Nameless Spear unlocks soon after, giving you a spear-based Splendor option. One of its skills locks down an enemy while restoring your endurance, and another delivers a high-damage thrust. Both Nameless styles are straightforward and forgiving, which makes them ideal while you’re still learning the Skill Theft system and boss patterns.

Qi Cheng’s Oddity reward: the first big branch

Early in Qinghe you meet Qi Cheng, the collector of Oddities. Turn in your first Oddity and you can choose one of four martial arts as a reward:

• Panacea Fan
• Thundercry Blade
• Infernal Twinblades
• Vernal Umbrella

The choice matters because some of these would otherwise be locked behind later Kaifeng content.

Functional differences:

• Panacea Fan – Long-range support style that can heal an area, heal yourself plus the lowest-HP ally, and even revive fallen teammates. Excellent when consumables are scarce.
• Thundercry Blade – A heavy sword that generates a shield worth about a quarter of your max HP, then yanks enemies in before detonating an AoE attack.
• Infernal Twinblades – Dual blades with a Karmic Flame meter; instead of a traditional heavy attack you consume this meter for a self-buff that boosts crit rate and damage while granting partial damage immunity.
• Vernal Umbrella – A ranged umbrella style with a turret-like skill that keeps firing while you weapon-swap, plus a skill that immobilizes most non-bosses.

For most players, Panacea Fan is the strongest early pick thanks to its sustain and safety. If you care more about long-term access, Thundercry Blade and Vernal Umbrella are attractive because they otherwise sit behind Kaifeng unlocks. Infernal Twinblades is ideal if you want an aggressive melee secondary very early.

Panacea Fan (Silkbind – Deluge): support unlocked early or via sanctum

Panacea Fan doubles as a ranged attack style and a healer. Its kit covers:

• Area-of-effect healing.
• Targeted healing that prioritizes the ally with the lowest HP while also healing you.
• Supportive buffs during downtime in your rotation.

You can unlock it in two ways:

• Choose it as your Oddity reward from Qi Cheng after learning Tai Chi from the bear and delivering a beehive.
• Use Skill Theft to infiltrate an underground sanctum near Bamboo Abode in early Qinghe. You’ll likely need a Dragon Key to get in and your standard stealth toolkit to avoid detection.

Thundercry Blade (Stonesplit – Might): heavy sword from Qi Cheng or Well of Heaven

Thundercry Blade is built for players who prefer slow, weighty hits and front-line tanking. Its notable tools are:

• A shield worth roughly 25% of your maximum health.
• A pull that drags nearby enemies into range.
• A wide, devastating area attack to cash in that crowd control.

Two ways to get it:

• Take it from Qi Cheng as your first Oddity reward instead of Panacea Fan / Infernal / Vernal.
• Wait until you reach Kaifeng and infiltrate the Well of Heaven martial camp in the southern part of the region via Skill Theft. The camp is on the surface, but your traversal skills are disabled, and “core disciples” on the rooftops can spot you quickly.

Infernal Twinblades (Bamboocut – Wind): vicious dual blades from early Qinghe

Infernal Twinblades offers relentless melee DPS with high mobility. The defining mechanic is Karmic Flame: attacking fills the meter, and instead of a normal heavy attack, you spend the whole meter to gain a temporary buff that increases crit rate and damage while partially ignoring incoming damage.

Unlock paths:

• Pick Infernal Twinblades from Qi Cheng’s Oddity reward list.
• Otherwise, infiltrate the Midnight Mercy Sanctum, located southwest of Battlecrest Slope in Qinghe, near where you acquired Touch of Death. Use Skill Theft to observe the master’s technique without being detected.

Vernal Umbrella (Silkbind – Jade): turret umbrella via Temporal Pavilion quest

Vernal Umbrella is one of the more technical ranged options. Its signature skills:

• Transform the umbrella into a floating turret that continues shooting while you switch to another weapon.
• Immobilize most non-boss enemies, letting you create space or punish them.

Unlock methods:

• Select it from Qi Cheng as an Oddity reward for early access.
• Later, complete a deduction-heavy questline at Temporal Pavilion in Kaifeng. Instead of a stealth mission, you’re trying to access a private banquet room.

The Temporal Pavilion steps:

• Speak to page boy Wang Ping’an outside.
• Go to the third floor and talk to Jiang Ting’er, who requests a “keepsake” for entry.
• Gather five clues nearby:
  • A guard at a warehouse door as you descend from the upper floor.
  • Two women playing a game southwest of the pavilion.
  • A tabby cat just southwest of the pavilion perimeter.
  • Two women by a screen on the ground floor.
  • Two women by a window on the third floor where the banquet is held.
• Use these clues to deduce the location of the warehouse key, steal it, then raid the warehouse for the keepsake.
• Return with the keepsake to gain access to the banquet and learn the martial art.

Stormbreaker Spear (Stonesplit – Might): free mail unlock at level 3

Stormbreaker Spear is the other Stonesplit – Might style, geared towards soaking damage and controlling groups:

• Taunt enemies to force them to target you, helping protect allies.
• Knock targets down, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up damage.

Unlocking it is simple:

• Reach level 3, open the in-game menu, and check your letter tab.
• Claim the letter sent by the Raging Tides General, which contains Stormbreaker Spear as a free reward.

Strategic Sword (Bellstrike – Umbra): Lone Cloud Sanctum stealth run

Strategic Sword shifts swordplay into bleed-centric damage over time. The style rewards staying on an enemy and not letting up, stacking wounds that continually drain their HP.

To unlock it:

• Head to Lone Cloud Sanctum near Encircling Lake, southwest of Qinghe.
• Launch the Skill Theft mission and infiltrate the sanctum without being seen, using Dragon Keys if required.
• Reach the observation point and complete the golden-ring Skill Theft mini-game to comprehend the technique.

Heavenquaker Spear (Bellstrike – Umbra): Raging Tides Sanctum in eastern Qinghe

Heavenquaker Spear gives the spear a spinning, wound-focused style. Its two key skills work together:

• The first spinning combo applies a buff whose strength scales with your number of successful hits.
• The second spinning skill consumes that buff, deals high damage, and can inflict bleed.

To learn it:

• Travel to the Raging Tides Sanctum in the eastern part of Qinghe, just across the river north of Verdant Wilds.
• Start the Skill Theft mission, infiltrate the base, and complete the observation mini-game.

Inkwell Fan (Silkbind – Jade): Silver Needle Sanctum near Bodhi Sea

Inkwell Fan is Silkbind – Jade’s ranged option that mixes air control and knockback:

• Launch enemies into the air to start juggle sequences.
• Use a wind blast to knock foes back while boosting your dodge and ranged damage.

Unlock steps:

• In north Qinghe, find the Silver Needle Sanctum near Bodhi Sea.
• Start the Skill Theft mission, infiltrate without being detected, and complete the observation mini-game to unlock the art.

Soulshade Umbrella (Silkbind – Deluge): healer turret west of Mistveil Forest

Soulshade Umbrella sits alongside Panacea Fan on the Deluge path, but plays differently:

• Umbrella projectiles can automatically seek out allies who need healing.
• One skill plants the umbrella as a stationary support turret while you swap to another weapon.

To unlock it:

• Travel to a village west of Mistveil Forest in Kaifeng.
• Locate the building with an open entrance on the upper floor and sneak in from above.
• Descend the internal stairs and then a ladder to reach the master who wields the Soulshade Umbrella.
• Use Skill Theft to learn the style from this master.

Mortal Rope Dart (Bamboocut – Wind): disguise infiltration at Nine Mortal Ways hall

Mortal Rope Dart is a fast melee style built around closing distance and harassment:

• Pull enemies towards you with the rope dart or launch yourself toward bosses.
• Spend a unique resource, Token of Gratitude, to summon rats that swarm and attack foes.

Unlocking it is more involved than other Skill Theft missions:

• Head to the Nine Mortal Ways martial hall in southern Kaifeng City. A guard will block you, triggering a cutscene with a mysterious elder who demonstrates the value of disguises.
• Go to Lin’s Cosmetics in the Fairgrounds area southeast of the city and speak with Wuyan. Complete her request to unlock the ability to craft disguises.
• Return near the martial hall and find a Nine Mortal Ways disciple sitting outside. When prompted, create a portrait of him.
• Bring this portrait back to Wuyan to receive a disguise matching the disciple.
• Take a different route back to the martial hall to avoid crossing paths with the original disciple; bumping into him will break the disguise.
• Enter the hall in disguise and follow the remaining steps inside to secure the rope, and then learn its martial art.

Skill Theft, sects, and actually equipping your martial arts

Skill Theft missions follow a predictable pattern once you know where to look:

• Open the Develop menu, select one of your martial art slots, then enter the Martial Arts menu.
• Select the weapon whose style you want and choose the Obtain option. This places a mission marker on the map for the associated Skill Theft quest.
• Travel to the marked location, use Dragon Keys on any relevant mechanisms to unlock underground areas, then sneak through without being detected.
• Optionally open side chests along the way to pick up compatible weapon items.
• At the observation point, complete the mini-game by interacting whenever a golden ring appears around the target’s moves.
• Exit the base to finish the mission.

Sects provide another route to many of the same arts. Each sect has an associated martial art (for example, Raging Tides with Heavenquaker Spear, Silver Needle with fans, Well of Heaven with Thundercry Blade, Midnight Mercy with Infernal Twinblades, Nine Mortal Ways with Mortal Rope Dart). You join by tracking clues in the in-game Sects menu and eventually finding an elder who invites you in. You can join and leave sects freely, so you’re not permanently locked into one faction.

Learning a martial art is only half the process. To use it in combat, you must:

• Acquire a weapon item compatible with that martial art through exploration, chests, outposts, or quest rewards.
• Equip the martial art in the Martial Arts menu, which then prompts a weapon selection for that style.

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Martial Arts Skill Theft

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Upgrading martial arts and planning synergies

Every martial art can be leveled using Zhou Coins and training items dropped by enemies. A martial art’s level cannot exceed your character level. Every 10 levels, you hit a breakthrough cap that has to be cleared with:

• Training items
• Zhou Coins
• Tips purchased from the Activity Shop with Jade Fish

To buy Tips, open the breakthrough interface, select the Tips item, choose “More”, then go to the shop to purchase “Martial Arts – Custom Tips”. You can only buy a limited number of these per week, so prioritize the arts you’re actively using.

Upgrading improves both damage and utility — for example, a style that grants a shield will see that shield strengthened as you level it.

Because some path effects persist when you swap weapons, pairing martial arts from the same path and role is usually the cleanest strategy:

• Bellstrike (Splendor or Umbra) + matching partner for sustained melee DPS.
• Silkbind – Jade pair (Inkwell + Vernal) for dedicated ranged play.
• Silkbind – Deluge pair (Panacea + Soulshade) for strong healing and buffs.
• Stonesplit – Might pair (Stormbreaker + Thundercry) if you want to anchor in front and soak damage.

Once you’ve picked up Veil of Stillness, Touch of Death, a stock of Dragon Keys, and at least one advanced martial art through Qi Cheng or mail, the rest of the unlock path is a series of focused infiltrations and faction encounters. Plan around the roles you enjoy — then use Skill Theft and sects to round out a two-weapon kit that plays into those strengths.