If you’ve spent dozens of hours wandering the Lands Between and still feel like you’re missing half its hidden gems, you’re not alone. I stumbled on where winds meet console completely by accident last year, when I was running from a runebear that decided I looked like a tasty snack. I fell off a cliff edge I thought was a dead end, landed on a hidden platform, and realized I’d found one of the most underrated secret areas in the entire game. This spot has rare upgrade materials, a unique ash of war, and even a shortcut that cuts travel time between Limgrave and Caelid in half, so it’s well worth the effort to track down.
What Makes Where Winds Meet Console Worth Tracking Down?
If you’re someone who skips hidden areas unless they offer actual useful rewards, you’ll be happy to hear this spot punches way above its weight for how small it is. I’ve cleared it on four different playthroughs now, and I never leave without at least a couple of items that make the rest of my run way easier. Somber Smithing Stone 5s are the biggest draw here, since you usually can’t farm them reliably until you reach the Altus Plateau, roughly 30 hours into a standard playthrough.
You’ll also get the Ash of War: Storm Assault, one of the best dex-focused ashes in the game for crowd control, plus a permanent grace site that lets you fast travel straight between northern Limgrave and southern Caelid without riding through the toxic swamp of Dragon-Burnt Ruins. So it's not just a one-and-done loot spot, it's a useful quality of life unlock for the rest of your game. You don’t even need to fight any tough bosses to access it, either, so it’s accessible as early as level 20 if you’re careful.
Step-by-Step Directions to Reach the Area
The biggest reason most players never find this spot is that it’s not marked on any default map, and the path to it is hidden by tall grass and cliff overhangs. You won’t get any NPC hints pointing you toward it either, so you have to know exactly where to look to find it. Follow these simple steps to get there without falling to your death like I did three times on my first attempt:
- Fast travel to the Stormhill Shack grace site in northern Limgrave, then head directly northeast toward the cliff edge overlooking Caelid
- Walk along the cliff edge for roughly 30 seconds until you spot a small, broken stone platform sticking out from the rock face, partially hidden by tall grass
- Drop down onto the platform (you’ll take a tiny bit of fall damage, so make sure you have at least 100 HP to be safe) and follow the narrow rock path down to the hidden grace site
Don’t run while you’re following the cliff edge, because it’s easy to miss the platform entirely and fall all the way down to Caelid. If you hit a group of wandering noble enemies, you’ve gone too far east, so turn back and retrace your steps. I recommend walking slowly and panning your camera down every few steps to spot the platform before you get right on top of it.
Common Traps to Avoid When Exploring
The path to the main loot area is short, but it’s packed with small, easy-to-miss traps that can waste your time or make you lose all your runes if you’re not paying attention. The first thing to watch out for is hidden pressure plates scattered along the narrow rock path. These trigger large stone boulders to roll down the path, and if you get hit by one, you’ll either die instantly or get knocked off the cliff edge. You can spot the plates by the faint, uneven cracks in the stone floor, so step around them instead of walking straight through the center of the path.
There’s also a mimic chest near the end of the area that looks like it holds a rare weapon, but it will teleport you to a random spot in central Caelid if you open it. That’s a huge pain if you’re underleveled for Caelid, since you’ll spawn right next to a group of giant rot dogs that can one-shot most low-level builds. If you see a chest that’s slightly off-center from the rest of the loot piles, hit it with your weapon first to check if it’s a mimic. If it springs up and attacks you, kill it for a extra reward instead of opening it normally.
The wind gusts in the area are another easy-to-miss hazard. They pick up randomly every 30 seconds or so, and they can push you off the cliff edge if you stand too close while fighting the skeleton warriors that spawn near the loot piles. Keep your back to the solid rock wall whenever you’re fighting, and you won’t have to worry about getting blown off the edge.
Best Loot to Grab Before You Leave
You can clear the entire area in less than 10 minutes, but there are a few non-negotiable items you should grab before you fast travel out. The first is the Ash of War: Storm Assault I mentioned earlier. It works on all curved swords, katanas, and twinblades, and it lets you charge forward with a whirlwind of slashes that breaks enemy poise really easily, even against mid-game bosses like the Red Wolf of Radagon. I use it on every dex build I run now, because it’s perfect for clearing groups of enemies or staggering bosses for critical hits.
The three Somber Smithing Stone 5s scattered around the area are the next most important loot. If you’re using a unique weapon like the Moonveil Katana or the Rivers of Blood, these will let you upgrade it to +9 way earlier than intended, which makes the entire Liurnia of the Lakes section of the game feel trivial. You’ll find one tucked behind a crumbling wall near the grace site, one in a loot pile next to the mimic chest, and one hidden under a loose rock near the end of the path.
Don’t forget to grab the Sacred Tear hidden behind the crumbling wall near the grace site, either. You can only get a limited number of these per playthrough, and they boost the effectiveness of your healing and FP flasks permanently. That upgrade alone makes the trip worth it, even if you don’t care about the other loot. I also usually grab the stack of 10 Golden Runes [6] near the mimic chest, which gives me enough runes to level up two or three times when I’m playing at level 40.
Even if you’re not the type to hunt down every last secret in the Lands Between, where winds meet console is one hidden spot that’s worth carving out 15 minutes of your playtime to find. The loot alone makes it worth the trip, and the hidden grace site cuts down so much travel time between Limgrave and Caelid that you’ll wonder how you ever played without it. Take your time navigating the path, watch out for traps, and don’t forget to hit that mimic chest before you try to open it, and you’ll walk away with some of the best early to mid-game loot in the entire game.
