Upgrading your gear in Where Winds Meet is one of the most important parts of getting stronger as you play. The game gives you plenty of ways to improve your weapons and armour, but the system can feel a bit overwhelming at first. Here’s a simple guide to everything you need to know so you can upgrade your gear and avoid getting stuck as the world gets tougher.
How to upgrade gear
The crafting system lets you build, refine, and upgrade your weapons and armour using the materials you pick up while playing. You’ll find blacksmiths and artisans in most towns and villages, and they’re the ones who help you boost your gear’s stats, improve its durability, and even add a bit of personal flair to it.
Permanent Upgrades
Every time you upgrade your weapons or armour, you’re getting permanent stat boosts. These upgrades stay with you even when you replace the gear later. Weapons gain minimum and maximum base damage, while armour gets HP and defence depending on its level. At lower levels, the materials required aren’t too demanding, but once you get to around level 60 and above, you’ll notice the costs go up.
The Gear Arsenal System
Once you hit level 40, you unlock the Arsenal. This feature lets you place your old gear into a collection that boosts your stats as you fill it up. The more pieces you slot in, the more extra damage and HP you gain. Put unwanted gear into the Arsenal instead so you don’t miss out on these free stats.
Weapon Elements
Weapons come with elemental colours, and matching your build to your weapon’s element gives you access to correct passives and set bonuses. Matching the element correctly ensures you don’t lose access to important damage bonuses and combo effects.
Breakthrough Scenarios & World Scaling
As you level up, you’ll hit barriers where the game won’t let you level further until you complete a Breakthrough Scenario. These happen every 15, then 10, then 5 levels as you progress.
This mode is single-player and accessed through the glowing icon at the top of your screen. Each trial has a recommended gear score, and once you clear it, you unlock higher levels, earn daily energy, and get a full set of fresh gear rewards. Whenever you clear a breakthrough, the world becomes stronger too. If your gear isn’t upgraded, you’ll start struggling.
Weapon Upgrade System and Passives
Clicking on your weapon and pressing F opens the weapon-specific upgrade screen. Every few levels, you unlock additional stats, passives, and triggers that increase your damage. They’re inexpensive, and the game usually gives you what you need for your currently equipped weapon.
Each weapon has recommended passives. Keep in mind that passives also have their own breakthrough levels, requiring even more pages. Completing main story quests gives you points to invest in a large passive tree. These nodes grant stats and special abilities. These upgrades affect every weapon you use, so they’re essential.
