Where Winds Meet — Unlock All Weapons

TL;DR

• Grab Veil of Stillness, Touch of Death and a supply of Dragon Keys before you hunt sanctums — they gate a lot of weapon content.
• Start with Nameless Sword or Nameless Spear; both carry early game until you can nab Stormbreaker Spear or Panacea Fan at level 3/Qi Sheng.
• Sanctum weapons need stealth/skill-theft or quest chains; Kaifeng weapons unlock via story beats and longer investigations.
• Prioritize weapon synergy (Sword+Spear, Fan+Twinblades, Umbrella+Dart) and practice core mechanics before collecting every weapon.

What You Need to Know First

Before you run around picking up every shiny weapon like a magpie, there are prerequisites and gating mechanics that will save you time. Below are the core Mystic Arts and starting gear you should have on hand.

You’ll want Veil of Stillness unlocked via the skill-theft minigame at Peace Bell Tower (southwest Qinghe) and Touch of Death from the Echoes of Old Battles puzzle in Northern Vow Ruins. Dragon Keys drop from outposts — farm early because you’ll need several for repeated sanctum attempts.

Starting weapon context. These two are the workhorses until you can reliably infiltrate sanctums or finish Kaifeng quests:

If you’re impatient: Nameless Sword = burst and repositioning (Bellstrike Splendor, Shadow Step, charged projectile). Nameless Spear = lockdown and sustain (rapid thrusts, immobilize, endurance recovery).

Early additions you should aim for by level 3 or early sanctum runs:

Panacea Fan’s healing is clutch in co-op and solo survival, but its damage is low — slot it as a support tool rather than your main DPS.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Prepare your loadout and unlock required Mystic Arts

   • Make sure Veil of Stillness and Touch of Death are in your kit before sanctum attempts. Farm Dragon Keys at outposts. Trying sanctums without these is a time sink.

2. Early game progression (levels 1–10)

   • Keep Nameless Sword/Spear equipped and learn their combos. Nameless Sword: practice Shadow Step and charged heavy to poke from range. Nameless Spear: use Immobilize into charged heavy for massive damage on disabled foes.
   • At Level 3 check your Letter tab for the free Stormbreaker Spear. If you play support, plan for Panacea Fan via Qi Sheng or Bamboo Abode.

3. Skill Theft Sanctum workflow (Lone Cloud, Midnight Mercy, Raging Tides, Silver Needle)

   • Always approach with Veil of Stillness active. Use Dragon Key to access underground areas when needed.
   • Locate the sanctum: Lone Cloud Sanctum (Strategic Sword), Midnight Mercy Sanctum (Infernal Twinblades), Raging Tides Sanctum (Heavenquaker Spear), Silver Needle Sanctum (Inkwell Fan).

• Unlock steps: find sanctum, complete stealth puzzle (use Dragon Key where required), perform skill theft on the master. Optional sect join sometimes bypasses extra steps.

1. How to use specific sanctum weapons (short cheatsheet)

   • Strategic Sword: stack bleed with Inner Track Slash, then hit Inner Balance Strike at 5 stacks. Think methodical hit stacking.
   • Infernal Twinblades: build Karmic Flame via basic attacks, hold heavy to enter Flamelash state; HP drains per hit but crits go stupidly high.
   • Heavenquaker Spear: push Sober Sorrow meter; hitting 10+ opens full combo multipliers and buffs for Sweep All.
   • Inkwell Fan: use Tornado Launch to control spacing, Windshield to block projectiles and set up aerial charged attacks.

2. Kaifeng region and advanced unlock flow (post-main story)

   • Kaifeng removes Dragon Key gating but replaces it with multi-step quests. Progress the main story to unlock this region.

• Thundercry: build Fighting Spirit, watch the red glow, then detonate full combo (use Sunrush Gale to speed charge cooldown). Vernal Umbrella needs 5 clues for Jiang Ting'er; collect all clue locations listed in-game. Soulshade Umbrella is your co-op heal-and-buff tool. Mortal Rope Dart requires Wuyan’s portrait quest chain, disguise entry, and a skill theft on the master.

1. Weapon pairing and practice

   • Don’t hoard everything at once. Test Sword+Spear for mobility+reach, Fan+Twinblades for support+burst, Umbrella+Dart for ranged control.
   • Focus one weapon to mastery before juggling others. Mechanics trump collection; a well-played Nameless Sword will beat a newbie with Thundercry most days.

If you want deeper math on pairings and stat breakpoints, check Weapon & Equipment Combinations guide and our Leveling Guide for XP and resource routing.

Pro Tips

• Farm Dragon Keys on off-days: outposts drop them reliably. Bring a stack — sanctum retries eat keys fast.
• When stealing skills, stay patient. Veil of Stillness removes detection windows; bait patrols into line-of-sight then vanish.
• Infernal Twinblades demand HP management. Use potions or a Panacea Fan swap to survive the Flamelash HP drain during long fights.
• For Mortal Rope Dart, finish Wuyan’s portrait quest first — disguise is your access key, not brute force. The summon rats scale with marked targets.
• Practice one sanctum weapon until you know its timing. Most of these are timing-heavy: miss the rhythm and the weapon becomes mid.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Rushing sanctums without Veil of Stillness or Touch of Death — leads to instant detection and wasted Dragon Keys.
• Trying to use Panacea Fan as a main DPS — it’s a support tool; pair it with a high-DPS primary.
• Skipping Kaifeng story beats thinking Dragon Keys still gate content — Kaifeng uses quest chains instead.
• Entering fights with Infernal Twinblades without accounting for HP drain in Flamelash — you’ll self-combust.
• Hoovering over weapon lists instead of practicing one core weapon — stops real progression.