My first playthrough of Where Winds Meet was a mess in the best possible way. I kept getting distracted by frogs teaching martial arts, temples on distant cliffs, and treasure chests hidden behind waterfalls.
The problem was that I played like a tourist instead of someone actually trying to build a strong character. By the time I reached my first breakthrough, I realised how many early upgrades I had missed.
When I restarted, I took notes. This guide combines everything I learned into a practical first hour roadmap plus the early talents that made the biggest impact on my second run.
If you prefer smooth progression and fewer mistakes, this checklist will save you time.
Also Read: Weapon Pairings Guide for Where Winds Meet
Understanding The First Hour Flow
The early game is where the systems start stacking on top of each other. You unlock weapons quickly, you learn new internal arts, you complete your first breakthrough, and you begin picking up curiosities that quietly boost your power.
The game doesn’t slow you down, which is great, but that also means it’s easy to overlook the basics.
Here’s how I structure my first hour now, and it’s been consistently smoother across multiple playtests.
My Personal First Hour Checklist
1. Grab Every Curiosity You See
The moment the butterfly icons start appearing on your map, head toward them. These curiosities permanently increase things like endurance, attack power, max health, and passive stats.
In my first run, I ignored half of them because I was too focused on sightseeing. That was a mistake. On my second run, I made curiosities my priority and instantly felt the difference, especially during the first breakthrough.
2. Get a Horse Early
You can get a horse as soon as you see a rider wandering around. Yes, it involves smacking the rider off the saddle, but you’ll thank yourself when you’re crossing large stretches of the first zone.
In my initial attempt, I forgot the horse existed after saving it. I genuinely spent two hours on foot gathering flowers, berries, and bamboo. When I remembered the horse again, it felt like discovering a fast travel feature I already owned.
3. Unlock a Second Weapon Path Early
The game gives you two martial arts early (spear and sword), but your third martial art comes sooner than most players expect.
After the Tai Chi bear quest, you can access a vendor who lets you pick between dual blades, the healing fan, the umbrella, or the Moblade.
From personal experience:
- Dual Blades and the Fan are easy to unlock later by stealing the martial arts from their masters.
- Umbrella and Moblade take longer, especially if you play slowly.
I now always start with the umbrella because it scales well and pairs nicely with internal arts you unlock early.
4. Never Skip Breakthrough Trials
Every time you hit a level cap like 15 or 20, stop what you’re doing and clear your breakthrough immediately. The moment I started doing breakthroughs on time, my power curve improved dramatically.
Each breakthrough gives you:
- New gear
- A talent point
- A higher level cap
- Access to internal arts and skill upgrades you couldn’t touch before
On my first run, I delayed my level 15 breakthrough for almost three hours because I kept exploring. The difference in power between a level capped 15 and a freshly broken level 16 is night and day.
5. Unlock Your Map and Fast Travel Points Early
Every obelisk you activate removes unnecessary backtracking later.
If you play like me and wander constantly, this step alone saves dozens of minutes.
The Best Early Game Talents To Unlock First
As I got deeper into the talent tree, I realised some nodes have a much higher impact during the early game. The talent tree looks huge, but in your first few hours, only a handful truly matter.
Here are the talents that noticeably changed my damage, mobility, and consistency.
1. Heavy Attack Unlock
This one almost feels mandatory. Heavy attacks scale extremely well, and unlocking them early shapes your entire combat rhythm. My dual blade combos became smoother, and my spear setups hit noticeably harder.
2. Basic Attack Upgrades
This doesn’t sound exciting, but early game enemies have low posture and health. Even a small upgrade to basic attacks lets you trigger posture breaks faster. I only appreciated this when I replayed the first zone and started breaking enemy guards twice as fast.
3. Endurance Recovery
You burn stamina quickly when learning parry timings or spamming dodges. Increasing endurance recovery meant I could stay aggressive instead of backing away to recharge.
This talent alone made boss fights feel less like waiting games.
4. Utility Nodes That Boost Movement
Things like smoother climbing, better wall running, or faster recovery from jumps feel small but add up fast. When you’re exploring the first region, these quality of life nodes save you an enormous amount of time.
5. Internal Art Nodes That Unlock New Skills
These depend slightly on your build, but unlocking the first few internal art branches opens up new combat options. I learned Tai Chi from a bear, and that internal art ended up helping me counter certain early enemies more easily.
How These Talents Combine With The Checklist
Once you start stacking curiosities, early talents, and breakthroughs, you’ll notice your game flow becomes smoother. On my second run, I was handling early fights faster, exploring without running out of stamina, and clearing puzzles with less downtime.
The overall result is a much faster ramp into the midgame, where the systems start expanding and giving you more freedom.
If you approach the first hour with a plan, you avoid the slow, uneven start I stumbled into on my first attempt.
Overall, I think this game rewards players who pay attention to the small things early. My first run was fun, but scattered. My second run felt controlled, powerful, and more enjoyable because I laid the foundation early.
If you follow this checklist and focus your first few talent points intentionally, you’ll experience the same smoother progression I did.