If you’ve spent even a few hours wandering the lush, war-torn open world of Where Winds Meet, you’ve probably stumbled across at least a handful of wandering sect disciples, hidden mountain dojos, or faction recruiters hanging around village entrances. I lost three hours of my first playthrough just chasing a mysterious Taoist priest who promised me secret inner sect skills if I passed his trial, so I know firsthand how tempting it is to sign up for every group that offers cool perks. The question on every new player’s mind right now is where winds meet can you join all sects, or if you’ll have to pick one and stick with it for your entire run. I’ve tested every faction path across three full playthroughs to get you clear, no-nonsense answers that don’t rely on outdated beta info.
Where Winds Meet: Can You Join All Sects, Or Are You Locked To One Faction?
The short, direct answer is no, you cannot join all major sects in a single playthrough. Each major faction has conflicting loyalties, core values, and lore ties that make cross-membership impossible. If you join the justice-focused Wudang Sect, for example, the covert Ghost Valley Assassin faction will automatically mark you as an enemy, and you’ll be locked out of all their quests and recruitment paths permanently.
That said, there’s a small loophole many new players miss. Only the eight major story sects count towards this lockout. Smaller affiliate groups like the River Merchant Guild, Herbalist Alliance, and Wanderer’s Association are open to all players, no matter which major sect you pick. You can complete quests for these groups, earn their exclusive perks, and even reach the highest rank with all of them alongside your main sect membership.
The game tracks your progress with a sect alignment meter that updates every time you complete a quest for or against a faction. Once you hit the “Inner Sect Disciple” rank with any major sect, all other major faction recruitment paths will close immediately, with no way to reverse the choice mid-playthrough. If you’re still wondering where winds meet can you join all sects in any capacity, this minor faction loophole is the closest you’ll get in a single run.
Hidden Requirements To Unlock Every Major Sect
You can’t just walk up to a sect headquarters and sign up, even if you haven’t joined another faction yet. Every major group has hidden prerequisites the game never explicitly tells you about, and missing one will lead to recruiters brushing you off with vague lines about “not being ready”.
I spent hours testing each sect’s unlock conditions on my second playthrough, and these are the most common requirements players miss:
- You must be at least level 12 to join any major sect, regardless of how early you find their hidden headquarters or complete their pre-recruitment quests
- Joining a sect will erase any outstanding bounties you have with factions aligned to them, but will double any active bounties from their rival sects
- You can reset your sect reputation once per playthrough by completing the rare “Redemption” side quest found in the southern port town of Langya, but this only works before you officially join any major faction
Specific sects also have unique stat or reputation requirements. To join the Shaolin Monk Sect, for example, you can’t have any negative reputation with civilian villages, and you need at least 15 points in your Virtue stat. To join the Ghost Valley Assassins, you need to have completed at least three “unlawful” side quests, like stealing a tax ledger from a corrupt official or taking out a violent civilian target for a local gang leader.
Pros And Cons Of Joining Multiple Minor Factions Alongside Your Main Sect
Even though you can’t join all major sects, working with as many minor factions as possible will make your playthrough far easier, and give you access to perks you can’t get from your main sect alone. That said, there are risks to taking every minor faction quest you come across, so it’s worth weighing the pros and cons before you commit.
The biggest upside is access to exclusive quality of life perks. Joining the River Merchant Guild, for example, gives you 20% off all goods at every shop in the game, which saves you thousands of copper over a full playthrough. The Herbalist Alliance gives you free unlimited access to all their garden plots to grow rare crafting materials, and the Wanderer’s Association unlocks fast travel points to remote mountain areas you can’t reach otherwise.
The main downside is that some minor faction quests will hurt your reputation with your main sect if you’re not careful. If you’re a member of the Taoist Sect, for example, taking a merchant guild quest to smuggle forbidden demonic herbs will drop your Taoist reputation by 30 points, which can get you kicked out if you’re not at a high enough inner sect rank. Always check the reputation impact of a minor faction quest before you accept it — you can see the full impact by hovering over the quest description in your log, even if the quest giver doesn’t mention it out loud.
How To Pick The Right Sect For Your Playstyle On Your First Run
A lot of new players stress about picking the “best” sect, but there’s no universal right choice. The best sect for you depends entirely on how you prefer to play the game, and you don’t have to stick to the meta build for any faction if you don’t want to.
If you prefer up-close, high-damage melee combat, go for the Shaolin Sect or the Iron Palm Warrior Sect. Both give you access to heavy armor, high-damage punch and kick skills, and passive resistance to stun and knockback effects that make boss fights far easier. If you prefer stealth and ranged combat, the Ghost Valley Assassins or the Falcon Archer Sect are perfect, with access to silent kill skills, invisibility potions, and long-range bow attacks that let you clear entire camps without being seen.
If you like playing support or experimenting with magic, the Taoist Sect gives you access to healing spells, party buffs, and elemental attack skills that work really well for hybrid builds. You don’t have to stick to the meta build for any sect — I picked the Taoist Sect on my first run even though I prefer melee, and I was able to combine their attack buff skills with a heavy sword I got from a minor warrior faction to make a really fun hybrid build that worked way better than I expected.
At the end of the day, the question of where winds meet can you join all sects has a clear answer, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a boring, linear playthrough. The faction system is designed to encourage multiple playthroughs, so you can try out every sect across different runs to see which one fits you best. Don’t stress too much about picking the perfect sect on your first go, half the fun of the game is experimenting with different skills and alliances as you explore the world. If you take the time to check hidden requirements and pay attention to reputation impacts, you can build a character that feels completely unique to your playstyle, even if you can’t join every group you come across.
