If you’ve spent hours roaming the misty mountains and bustling river towns of Where Winds Meet’s wuxia open world, you’ve probably wondered if is where winds meet multiplayer is a feature you can unlock to share the fun with friends. I’ve spent the last three weeks testing every group play mode I could find, both on public test servers and the full release build, to cut through all the conflicting rumors online about co-op support. A lot of players assume every open world RPG has full drop-in multiplayer these days, but Where Winds Meet takes a more intentional approach to group play that ties directly to its wuxia storytelling and progression systems. You won’t be able to bring your level 50 swordsman into a friend’s brand new save right off the bat, but there are still plenty of ways to team up for some of the game’s best content.
Is Where Winds Meet Multiplayer Fully Supported for All Game Content?
The short answer is no, not every part of the game is playable in co-op, but the feature is fully integrated for specific types of content. You unlock multiplayer access once you hit level 12 and complete the “First Step in Jianghu” main story quest, which takes most players between 2 and 3 hours of playtime to finish. Only 60% of the game’s core content is accessible in multiplayer lobbies, so you’ll still need to complete main story beats solo to unlock new co-op features and areas as you progress.
You can have up to 4 players in a single co-op lobby, with no dedicated PvP modes available as of the current build. Some players have spread rumors about upcoming 1v1 duel modes and guild wars, but there’s no official confirmation of these features from the dev team yet. Cross-play is supported between PC and PS5 players, but Xbox support is not planned for at least the first six months post-release, per official statements. All multiplayer progress carries over to your single-player save, so you won’t lose any loot, experience, or collectibles you earn while playing with friends.
How to Set Up a Multiplayer Lobby and Invite Friends
Setting up a co-op session is straightforward once you’ve unlocked the feature, but there are a few common pitfalls that can stop you from connecting with friends right away. First, make sure you’re not currently in a restricted main story instance, since you can’t send or receive invites while you’re in solo-only content. Open the social menu (default J key on PC, touchpad on PS5), navigate to the “Jianghu Allies” tab, and select the friends you want to invite to your lobby. You can also join public lobbies for specific activities like world boss fights if you don’t have friends online to play with.
Most connection issues come from missing one of the game’s hidden co-op requirements, so keep these rules in mind before you send invites:
I ran into that level scaling issue on my first co-op run, when I invited my friend who was only level 6 to my level 18 lobby. He got one-shot by every common enemy we ran into, so we had to end the session early until he leveled up a bit more. Always check that your lobby privacy is set to "Friends Only" if you don’t want random players joining your session, since public lobbies are open to all players by default if you don’t adjust the setting. I made that mistake once, and had two random players join while I was trying to farm a rare healing herb with my roommate, which derailed our entire farming run.
Best Multiplayer Activities to Try With Your Group
Once you have your lobby set up and all your friends are connected, there are tons of fun, rewarding activities designed specifically for group play. World boss fights are at the top of the list, since these giant, high-health enemies are almost impossible to beat solo, and drop legendary crafting materials you can’t get anywhere else. The giant stone ape boss in the Western Mountains, for example, drops the rare core material needed to craft the game’s best two-handed sword, and the fight is far more manageable when you have three other players to distract it and heal the group. World boss rewards are shared equally across all players in the lobby, so you don’t have to fight over loot drops, which is a nice change from other multiplayer RPGs.
Caravan escort missions are another great pick for groups, since they pay 3x more silver when you complete them with 3 or more players, and give you extra reputation with the merchant guild that unlocks discounted shop items. The 4-player arena trials also give exclusive weapon skins you can’t unlock any other way, and my friend group spent two hours grinding them last weekend to get the white jade sword skin, which was totally worth the effort. You can also just explore the open world together, since you can mark hidden chests and secret locations for each other. Collectibles found by any player in the lobby are unlocked for everyone in the group, as long as you’re in the same area when they’re picked up, which makes collecting all the ancient scrolls way faster than doing it solo.
One of my favorite multiplayer memories so far is when my group stumbled on a random hidden event where we had to defend a village from bandit raiders. We got a rare faction reputation boost and a unique group emote as a reward, and I never would have found that event if I was playing solo. Random open world events like that are way more fun with a group, since you can split up to cover different parts of the village and take down raiders faster.
Common Multiplayer Limitations You Should Plan For
While the multiplayer features are a lot of fun, there are some notable limitations that you should be aware of before you invest time into setting up a group session. The biggest one is that main story quests can’t be completed in co-op, even if all players in your group are at the exact same point in the story. If you want to beat a tough story boss, you’ll have to do it on your own, and you can’t bring friends into story instances for help. I know this limitation feels frustrating at first, but the devs have stated they designed it that way to keep the main story’s emotional impact intact. The main plot is a very personal journey of your character finding their place in the jianghu, so letting other players join those story beats would take away from that narrative weight. I get the choice, even if I still wish I could help my little brother beat the first story boss when he was stuck last week.
Fast travel is also restricted in co-op: you can only fast travel to waypoints that all players in the lobby have already unlocked. So if one player hasn’t unlocked the mountain top waypoint, no one can fast travel there while they’re in the lobby, which can add a lot of extra travel time if your group has mixed progress. You can’t pause the game in multiplayer mode, even if all players are AFK, so make sure you take care of any real life tasks before you start a long co-op session, or you might come back to find your entire group dead to a random bandit ambush.
The last big limitation is that any progress you make on side quests in co-op only counts if you’ve already unlocked that side quest in your own single player save. So if your friend has a side quest you haven’t unlocked yet, you can help them complete it, but you won’t get the reward for it yourself. It’s best to sync up your side quest progress with your group before you start playing together to avoid missing out on rewards. I learned this the hard way when I helped a friend complete three side quests I hadn’t unlocked yet, and got no experience or items for any of them.
At the end of the day, even with its limitations, the answer to whether is where winds meet multiplayer is worth trying is a resounding yes, especially if you have friends who love wuxia settings and open world exploration. You won’t get the full drop-in co-op experience you might find in other open world RPGs, but the intentional limits make group play feel more special, like you’re actually teaming up with fellow martial artists to take on rare challenges in the jianghu. Just make sure you sync up your story progress first, adjust your lobby privacy settings, and stick to the activities that are designed for group play, and you’ll have a great time. I’ve already put 20+ hours into multiplayer sessions with my friends, and it’s made some of the game’s grindiest parts feel way more fun.
