I’ve put over 120 hours into Where Wind Meets across three separate playthroughs, and I’ve made every possible mistake when it comes to picking weapons. I’ve sunk 20 rare upgrade cores into a fancy legendary sword that was completely useless against half the mid-game bosses, and I’ve slept on common rarity gear that ended up carrying me through the final story mission. That's why I put together this breakdown of where wind meets best weapons, so you don't waste rare upgrade materials on gear that won't carry you through endgame content.
Where Wind Meets Best Weapons: Core Selection Criteria to Avoid Wasting Resources
Before we jump into specific picks, it’s important to understand what makes a weapon worth investing in for your unique playstyle. Raw damage is far from the only factor that matters, and I’ve seen too many new players write off perfectly strong weapons just because their base attack stat is 10 points lower than another option. You also have to consider attack speed, elemental alignment, move set, and how many perk slots the weapon has for custom upgrades.
Always check a weapon's elemental alignment before you invest in upgrades, because even a 5-star legendary weapon will deal 70% less damage if its element matches a boss’s resistance. For example, my first playthrough fire sword was completely useless against the Frost Serpent boss, and I had to switch to a common blunt fire weapon to beat it after 12 failed attempts. You don’t want to be stuck in that position halfway through a difficult fight.
Weapons with 3 or more perk slots are almost always worth keeping, even if their base damage is lower. You can upgrade base damage with materials as you level up, but you can’t add extra perk slots to a weapon later. Those extra slots let you add custom buffs like leech, stagger extension, or critical hit chance that can make a lower-tier weapon outperform a legendary with only 1 perk slot.
Top Melee Weapons for Every Playstyle
Melee weapons are the most commonly used in Where Wind Meets, and for good reason. They’re easy to learn, don’t require any special resource management, and work for almost every type of content. If you're still using the starter sword you got at the beginning of the game, swapping to any of the where wind meets best weapons we've listed will immediately make your fights 2x easier.
The best all-around melee pick is the Crescent Moon Blade, which you can unlock by solving the three-bell puzzle in the western bamboo forest. It has balanced attack speed, 20% extra damage to staggered enemies, and 3 perk slots for custom upgrades. The Crescent Moon Blade is the best all-around melee pick for new and veteran players alike, because it works for both parry-focused aggressive playstyles and more defensive, counterattack-focused builds.
If you prefer tankier playstyles, go for the Iron Fist of the Mountain Monk, which drops after you beat the first arena combat trial. It’s a blunt weapon that deals high crush damage, gives you 15% extra damage resistance while you charge heavy attacks, and works perfectly for players who prefer blocking over dodging. Blunt weapons are non-negotiable for 4 of the game's 8 main story bosses, so having one leveled up will save you a lot of frustration later.
For stealth players, the Silent Shadow Daggers that drop from the eastern cave stealth trial are unbeatable. They have 30% extra backstab damage, make no noise when you attack, and let you chain two extra light attacks after a successful backstab. They’re a bit weaker in open, head-on fights, but they make stealth content and PvP so much easier.
No matter what your playstyle is, look for these three core perks when you’re customizing your melee weapon:
- Stagger extension: adds 0.75 seconds to enemy stun time after a parry or heavy hit, letting you get extra damage in before they recover
- Elemental leech: heals 2% of your max health every time you deal elemental damage with the weapon, cutting down on how many healing items you need to carry
- Light attack combo reset: 10% chance to reset your light attack chain after the final hit, letting you chain extra damage without pausing for a heavy attack
Ranged and Magic Weapons for Long-Range and Support Builds
A lot of players sleep on ranged and magic weapons, but they can cut boss fight time in half if you use them correctly. They’re especially useful for taking out high-damage enemies before they get close enough to hit you, and they work great as secondary weapons to pair with your main melee pick.
The best ranged weapon in the game is the Windcaller Bow, which you can find in a hidden chest on the rooftop of the sky temple. It fires three arrows at once, deals 25% extra damage to flying enemies, and has 4 perk slots for upgrades. Pair the Windcaller Bow with fire arrows to melt the wooden shield enemies that appear in the mid-game forest zones, which are almost immune to melee slash damage. You can one-shot most of them with a single charged fire arrow, saving you a lot of time when you’re clearing out enemy camps.
For magic users, the Frost Talisman is the most versatile option. You can craft it after collecting 10 ice shards from the glacial peaks, and it slows all enemies within a 10-foot radius by 40% for 3 seconds when you hit them. It’s perfect for crowd control when you get swarmed by small mobs, and it works great for slowing down fast bosses so you can land more melee hits. Magic weapons don't require physical stamina to use, so they're ideal for players who prefer to dodge instead of block. You can cast spells even when you’re out of stamina, which lets you keep dealing damage while you recover from a dodge chain.
If you’re running a support build for co-op play, the Healing Flute is a must-have. It lets you heal all nearby party members for 30% of their max health with a single charged attack, and it gives a 10% damage buff to everyone in your group for 10 seconds after you use it. It’s not great for solo play, but it’s easily the most sought-after support weapon for co-op boss runs.
How to Upgrade Your Best Weapons Without Excess Grind
Even the best weapon in the game is useless if you don’t upgrade it properly, but you don’t have to grind for 10 hours to get the materials you need. There are a few easy ways to farm rare upgrade materials without running the same dungeon 20 times, and I use these tricks every playthrough to get my weapons maxed out by level 25.
The abandoned mine in the southern valley has a 30% drop rate for refined iron ore every run, which is the most common material needed for mid-game upgrades. You can run the entire mine in 8 minutes, and you’ll usually get 4-6 refined iron ore per run, plus extra gold and crafting materials. It’s way faster than farming random mobs in the open world, which only have a 5% drop rate for the same ore.
For legendary upgrade cores, just kill the weekly world boss that spawns in the northern volcano zone. It drops 2 legendary cores per kill, plus a chance to drop 5-star legendary weapons, and you can fight it once a week per character. You don’t need a full party to beat it either, I’ve soloed it on the hardest difficulty with a level 30 Crescent Moon Blade and a few healing items.
Wait until you reach level 30 to upgrade legendary weapons, as lower level legendary gear gets outscaled very quickly. You can reset weapon upgrades for 500 gold if you decide to switch weapons later, but you’ll only get 70% of your materials back, so it’s better to wait until you have a weapon you know you’ll use long-term before you sink rare materials into it.
I’ve used every weapon on this list to beat the game on the hardest difficulty, and I still swap between them depending on what content I’m running. I use the Crescent Moon Blade for most story content, the Windcaller Bow for open world exploration, and the Frost Talisman for co-op boss runs. At the end of the day, the best gear is the one that fits your playstyle, but this breakdown of where wind meets best weapons will give you a solid starting point to build out your perfect loadout, no wasted resources or frustrating trial and error required. If you’re still stuck on a specific boss, try swapping to a weapon with the opposite elemental alignment of the boss’s resistance, it’ll make a huge difference in how fast you can take them down.
