Where Winds Meet Best Weapons & Martial Arts: Tier List and Early Meta Guide

Navigating the Martial Arts System in Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet offers players an impressive arsenal of 12 distinct Martial Arts styles paired with seven different weapon types. While this variety creates incredible build diversity, it can also overwhelm newcomers trying to understand which combinations work best for their preferred playstyle.

The game organizes martial paths into three defined roles—DPS, Tank, and Support—with each weapon and martial art combination excelling in specific scenarios. Understanding these strengths early helps you invest resources wisely and build a character that suits your approach to combat. Whether you’re tackling challenging boss encounters or exploring the open world, choosing the right martial arts foundation sets you up for success.

This tier list focuses on weapon and martial arts combinations accessible to new players, emphasizing options you can obtain relatively early while still remaining powerful throughout your journey.

S-Tier: The Top Combinations

These weapon and martial arts pairings represent the strongest options in the current meta, offering versatility, power, and accessibility.

Nameless Sword – Bellstrike (Splendor)

Role: Versatile DPS/Off-Tank
Synergy Weapons: Infernal Twinblades, Nameless Spear, Vernal Umbrella
How to Obtain: Starting martial art (available immediately)

The Nameless Sword defies typical MMO conventions where starter equipment quickly becomes obsolete. This longsword martial art stands as arguably the best weapon combination in Where Winds Meet, offering exceptional versatility that carries from early game through endgame content.

What Makes It Exceptional:

The Bellstrike path provides outstanding mobility, allowing you to reposition quickly during hectic fights. Damage mitigation through barrier generation gives you defensive options without sacrificing offensive pressure. The balanced kit handles both single-target encounters and multi-enemy situations effectively.

The Heavy Attack functions as a charged ranged strike, dealing severe damage along a horizontal line. This makes it excellent for clearing grouped enemies or adding burst damage during execution windows. The attack’s range gives you safe damage options against dangerous opponents.

Optimal Weapon Pairings:

With Infernal Twinblades: Creates a high-mobility bruiser build emphasizing parries and aggressive combos. This combination excels at fighting multiple opponents simultaneously while maintaining strong single-target damage potential. The weapon swap animations flow smoothly, letting you transition between styles mid-combat.

With Nameless Spear: Forms an off-tank configuration that leverages the Nameless Sword’s initial mobility before shifting into the Spear’s defensive stance. You gain substantial mitigation while overpowering single targets and dealing constant AoE damage to surrounding enemies. This pairing handles tough boss encounters particularly well.

With Vernal Umbrella: Develops a hybrid melee/ranged DPS approach effective in both PvE and PvP scenarios. The combination provides excellent spacing control and crowd management tools.

The Nameless Sword’s power and versatility make it a safer investment than the flashy but mechanically demanding Strategic Sword. While the Strategic Sword looks impressive, it requires advanced technique and doesn’t combine as naturally with other martial paths. Stick with the Nameless Sword for reliable, effective performance.

Vernal Umbrella – Skillbind (Jade)

Role: Ranged DPS/Crowd Control
Synergy Weapons: Inkwell Fan, Nameless Sword
How to Obtain: Travel to Kaifeng, visit the Time Tower, complete the marked quest

The Vernal Umbrella represents one of the most effective weapon and martial arts combinations available, specializing in crowd control and sustained ranged damage. Its unique mechanics reward skillful resource management and positioning.

Core Mechanics:

The Vernal Umbrella features a hidden passive that accumulates a resource called “Blossoms” during combat. Once Blossoms reach sufficient charge, you can execute special skills through Charged Attacks, adding a resource management layer that rewards attentive gameplay.

Key Skills:

Spring Sorrow: Immobilizes non-boss enemies and players completely while briefly slowing bosses. This powerful crowd control tool creates safe damage windows and controls battlefield flow during chaotic encounters.

Spring Away: Provides mobility and repositioning through a defensive dash that also grants vertical height. Combines excellently with Mystic Arts like Cloud Steps or Leaping Frog for advanced movement techniques.

The ranged attack pattern keeps enemies at safe distance while you methodically dismantle their defenses. The crowd control toolkit handles multiple enemies better than most alternatives, making it valuable for both solo exploration and group content.

Optimal Weapon Pairings:

With Inkwell Fan: The premier combination for Vernal Umbrella builds. Inkwell Fan complements both the Blossom Barrage and Flying Gourds inner paths perfectly. This pairing creates comprehensive ranged pressure with excellent resource synergy.

With Nameless Sword: Offers a balanced approach mixing ranged control with melee pressure. Switch to the Nameless Sword when enemies close distance, then return to Umbrella range when space reopens.

The Vernal Umbrella’s accessibility through a straightforward Kaifeng quest makes it an excellent early acquisition. Combined with its strong performance across all content types, it deserves its S-tier placement as a build cornerstone for new players.

A-Tier: Excellent Specialized Options

These combinations excel in specific roles or situations, offering powerful tools for players who understand their intended use.

Soulshade Umbrella – Skillbind (Deluge)

Role: Support/Healer
Synergy Weapons: Panacea Fan
How to Obtain: Soulshade Umbrella Post Station (east of Kaifeng)

The Soulshade Umbrella fills the dedicated support role, mixing offensive capability with substantial healing and buffing potential. While it sacrifices raw damage compared to pure DPS options, it provides unmatched utility for group content.

Support Capabilities:

This martial art grants unique buff effects that raise both your attributes and those of nearby allies. The trade-off for this support power comes through reduced personal stopping power and damage output—you’re enabling your team rather than carrying through personal DPS.

The AoE attacks extend the Exhausted status duration on enemies, creating larger execution windows for your entire group. This synergizes excellently with coordinated team play and makes boss encounters more manageable.

Echoes of a Thousand Plants: The game’s premier support skill deploys a healing AoE field that continuously restores health. The skill immediately switches you to your secondary weapon, allowing constant recovery while maintaining offensive pressure. This seamless integration of healing and damage makes it incredibly powerful.

Optimal Pairing:

With Panacea Fan: The recommended combination that lets you regenerate resources for buff skills (Panacea) while dealing respectable damage and maintaining mitigation. The Panacea Fan complements the support role perfectly, creating a cohesive healer build.

For players interested in the Healer profession or who prefer enabling teammates over personal glory, the Soulshade Umbrella offers exceptional value. Its placement in A-tier reflects its specialization—it’s the best at what it does, but that role doesn’t suit every player’s preferences.

Nameless Spear – Bellstrike (Splendor)

Role: Tank/Defensive Fighter
Synergy Weapons: Nameless Sword, Strategic Sword
How to Obtain: Starting martial art (available immediately)

The Nameless Spear excels at absorbing enemy attention while maintaining threatening damage output. Its defensive toolkit makes it indispensable for players who enjoy controlling the battlefield through tanking.

Defensive Strengths:

Projectile deflection forms the core of the Spear’s defensive identity. You can reflect ranged attacks back at enemies while maintaining offensive pressure. The incredible AoE coverage handles grouped enemies effectively, making it powerful for PvE content.

Unrivaled Status: The Spear generates a special resource that triggers the powerful “Unrivaled” status. While Unrivaled, your charged attack transforms into an intense spinning assault that consumes less stamina and deflects all projectiles while blocking incoming damage completely. You become an invincible whirlwind temporarily, turning defensive play into offensive opportunity.

Attack Patterns:

The basic light attack features a four-swing combo providing consistent damage. The heavy attack delivers a three-strike pronged assault with excellent range. The martial art transitions between offense and defense fluidly, adapting to changing battle conditions.

Optimal Pairings:

With Nameless Sword: Creates a balanced tank/DPS hybrid that adds single-target focus and mobility to the Spear’s defensive foundation. The combination provides coverage for different encounter types.

With Strategic Sword: Offers more aggressive tank play with flashy combos, though requiring more technical skill to execute effectively.

The Nameless Spear’s availability as a starting option makes it accessible for players who immediately identify with the tank archetype. Its A-tier placement reflects strong specialization in defensive play rather than any weakness—it simply serves a more specific role than S-tier options.

B-Tier: Solid Situational Choices

These martial arts perform well in their intended scenarios but may require specific setups or playstyles to shine.

Infernal Twinblades – Bamboo Cut (Wind)

Role: High-Mobility DPS
Synergy Weapons: Strategic Sword, Nameless Sword, Mortal Rope Dart
How to Obtain: Complete Melodies of Life Qinghe (deliver first Oddity), join Midnight Sect

The Infernal Twinblades deliver extreme mobility and overwhelming light attack combos, creating a fast-paced, aggressive playstyle that rewards skillful execution.

Combat Style:

The Twinblades emphasize rapid combo strings and constant repositioning. You maintain relentless pressure through quick strikes rather than heavy individual hits. The mobility lets you dance around slower enemies while building up damage through sustained assault.

Distinctive Moves:

Forward Spiral Lunge: A gap-closing attack that deals damage while pushing enemies aside, helping you control spacing and position.

Blade Throw: A single-target projectile that bounces and spirals around the target repeatedly, causing continuous damage even after you’ve switched to other actions.

Flamelash (Rage Mode): The charged attack unleashes a special berserk state consuming Karmic Flame (visible as weapon glow in the UI). Each strike during rage mode gains increased critical attack chance but rapidly drains your health. This high-risk, high-reward mechanic requires careful health management and fight awareness.

Optimal Pairings:

With Nameless Sword: The recommended combination thanks to fluid weapon swap animations. Provides defensive options and ranged capability to complement the Twinblades’ aggressive melee style.

With Strategic Sword: Adds AoE coverage for PvE situations where the Twinblades’ single-target focus needs supplementing.

With Mortal Rope Dart: While thematically fitting, this pairing lacks sufficient damage output and exposes you to excessive risk. Not recommended despite synergy on paper.

The Infernal Twinblades sit in B-tier due to their high skill requirement and the health drain risk from Flamelash. Skilled players can push this combination to A-tier performance, but newcomers may struggle with the aggressive, risky playstyle it demands.

Stormbreaker Spear – Stonesplit (Might)

Role: Tank/Aggro Management
Synergy Weapons: Nameless Spear, Nameless Sword
How to Obtain: New Player’s Gift (check mail for Raging Tides General Gift)

The Stormbreaker Spear focuses on defense and single-target burst damage, accumulating Fighting Spirit to empower attacks while gaining mitigation. Its specialized kit makes it valuable for specific encounter types.

Resource Mechanics:

Fighting Spirit builds through normal light and heavy attacks, then empowers your special abilities. This creates a rhythm where you build resources through basic combat before unleashing powerful enhanced skills.

Key Abilities:

Storm Roar: A taunt skill that maintains boss attention for extended periods compared to other tank martial arts. Essential for organized group content where controlling enemy focus is crucial. Also useful for bounty hunting in PvP scenarios.

Thunder Shock: The primary damage skill consumes Fighting Spirit to perform a combo that knocks back enemies. Excellent for single-target burst windows and PvP situations requiring displacement effects.

The decent AoE coverage handles multi-enemy situations adequately, though not as impressively as the Nameless Spear’s spinning deflection. The enhanced mitigation makes you exceptionally tanky during critical moments.

Optimal Pairings:

With Nameless Spear: Combines two spear martial arts for dedicated tank play with different defensive tools. Provides versatility within the tank role.

With Nameless Sword: Offers offensive stance options when defense isn’t immediately necessary, creating a flexible tank/DPS hybrid.

The Stormbreaker Spear earns B-tier placement as a solid specialized tank option that doesn’t quite match the Nameless Spear’s versatility. It excels at specific tasks—particularly aggro management—but serves a narrower role overall.

Building Your Martial Arts Path

Choosing your martial arts combination depends on your preferred combat role and playstyle preferences:

For Versatile All-Rounders

Start with Nameless Sword and keep it as your primary martial art throughout your journey. Pair it with Nameless Spear for defensive flexibility or Vernal Umbrella for ranged options. This foundation handles all content types effectively.

For Ranged DPS Players

Prioritize acquiring the Vernal Umbrella early through the Kaifeng quest. Pair it with Inkwell Fan once available. This combination provides excellent damage and control from safe distances.

For Support Players

Work toward Soulshade Umbrella and Panacea Fan as your core setup. This dedicated support build enables group play and makes you valuable in coordinated content.

For Tank Players

Either starting option works—Nameless Spear for versatile tanking or Stormbreaker Spear for specialized aggro management. Pair with Nameless Sword for offensive flexibility when defense isn’t immediately required.

For High-Skill DPS Players

Infernal Twinblades rewards mechanical skill and aggressive play. Pair with Nameless Sword for reliability. Be prepared for a learning curve as you master the health drain mechanics.

Progression Tips and Considerations

Early Priorities: Focus on mastering one primary martial art before branching out. Understanding your main weapon’s mechanics deeply provides better results than superficial knowledge of multiple styles.

Resource Investment: Upgrade equipment for your primary martial art first. Don’t spread enhancement materials across multiple weapons until your main setup is properly developed. Check our character stats guide for optimization strategies.

Skill Unlocks: Pay attention to which Inner Arts complement your chosen martial path. Some skills synergize specifically with certain weapon types.

Experimentation: While this tier list provides guidance, personal preference matters. Test different combinations during your playthrough. The game allows respeccing, so experimentation doesn’t permanently harm your character.

Weapon Swapping: Master the timing of weapon swaps. Smooth transitions between martial arts mid-combat dramatically increases your effectiveness. Practice the cancel windows and combo transitions.

Beyond the Early Meta

This tier list focuses on accessible early-game options, but the meta evolves as you unlock additional martial arts and weapons. Later options like the Strategic Sword, Mortal Rope Dart, and specialized weapons provide additional build paths for experienced players.

The martial arts system’s depth reveals itself over time. Early choices establish your foundation, but you’ll gradually understand synergies between different styles, optimal skill rotations, and situational weapon swapping. The combinations listed here all scale well into late game, so you’re not handicapping yourself by choosing accessible options.

For players pursuing trophy completion, several achievements require mastering specific weapons. Plan your progression to include those weapons while maintaining your preferred main setup.

Closing Thoughts on Weapon Selection

The beauty of Where Winds Meet’s martial arts system lies in its flexibility. While tier lists provide valuable guidance, nearly any combination can succeed with proper investment and skillful play. The S-tier options earn their placement through versatility and accessibility, making them ideal starting points for new players.

As you progress, pay attention to how different martial arts complement your preferred combat approach and adjust accordingly. The weapon system rewards adaptation and experimentation, so don’t feel locked into any single choice. Build your martial path based on what feels satisfying to play, using tier placement as guidance rather than rigid prescription.

Whether you’re mastering the balanced Nameless Sword, controlling crowds with the Vernal Umbrella, or tanking through challenges with the Nameless Spear, each martial art offers a distinct and rewarding gameplay experience. Choose what resonates with your playstyle, invest in mastering it, and you’ll find success throughout your journey in Where Winds Meet.

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For more information about Where Winds Meet, visit the official game website, check out the game on Steam or PlayStation, or read more on Wikipedia.