Wuxia open world RPGs hit different when you’re not grinding every boss and side quest alone. If you’ve spent even a few hours wandering the lush, martial arts-themed world of Where Winds Meet, you’ve almost certainly run across prompts for where winds meet guilds, and wondered if joining one is worth the small time commitment. A lot of new players write off guilds as something only for hard-core PvP fanatics, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Guilds offer some of the most useful exclusive rewards in the game, and there are options for every playstyle, from casual players who log in a few times a week to no-lifers who grind 40 hours a week. This guide breaks down everything you need to know to pick the right guild, unlock all its best perks, and avoid the common mistakes I made when I first started playing.
What Makes Where Winds Meet Guilds Different From Other MMORPG Factions?
Most MMORPG guilds are little more than chat rooms for players who want to group up for raids, but Where Winds Meet guilds are tightly woven into the game’s core wuxia lore and progression systems. Every guild is aligned with one of 8 canonical martial arts sects, and each sect offers unique, permanent stat bonuses that apply to every member of the guild. For example, if you main a healer build, joining a guild aligned with the Azure Cloud Sect will give you a 10% boost to all group heal potency that you can’t unlock through regular questing or skill trees.
Guilds also have their own ongoing storylines that tie directly to the main game narrative. You’ll get access to exclusive side quests that reveal hidden lore about your sect’s history, and completing these quests unlocks permanent server-wide bonuses for every player in your guild. Some high-level guilds even compete for control of territory across the map, and winning these PvP battles gives all members a 15% XP boost for 3 full days. I didn’t realize how big of a difference these bonuses made until I joined my first aligned guild, and my main character’s damage output jumped by almost 12% overnight.
Unlike other games where guild leadership is often toxic or unaccountable, Where Winds Meet has built-in systems that let members vote on rule changes, reward distribution, and even guild leadership changes if 60% of active members agree. That means you don’t have to worry about a random guild leader hoarding all the rare loot for their friends, or changing the rules without warning. The system is designed to keep guilds fair for every member, no matter their rank.
How to Join a Guild: Step-by-Step for New Players
Joining your first guild is pretty straightforward, but there are a few hoops you have to jump through first to unlock the feature. The minimum level requirement to join a guild is 20, which takes most new players 4 to 6 hours of gameplay to hit. Once you hit level 20, you’ll get a pop-up tutorial explaining the guild system, and you’ll unlock the faction tab in your main menu. From there, you can either browse the public directory of open guilds, or accept an invite from an existing guild member if someone sends you one.
Before you accept any invite or submit an application, there are a few key things you should check to make sure the guild is a good fit for your playstyle:
- Alignment with your class build: Confirm the guild’s sect bonus applies to your main and any alt characters you plan to play regularly first
- Activity level: Look for guilds with at least 15 active weekly players if you want to unlock group event and territory control rewards
- Rules for participation: Some guilds require 3 weekly event attendances, while others are completely casual for players who only log in a few times a week
- Reward distribution policy: Make sure rare loot from guild boss fights is rolled fairly, not just given to the guild leader’s personal friend group
Once you submit an application, most mid-sized and large guilds will send you a short welcome message to confirm you understand their rules before approving you. You don’t have to write a long, fancy application to get accepted. A quick note saying you play 2 to 3 times a week and are interested in group quests or PvP, depending on what the guild focuses on, is more than enough. You can leave a guild at any time with no penalty for the first 7 days, so if you join and it’s not a good fit, you can bounce without losing any progress or rewards you’ve already earned.
Exclusive Perks You Only Get From Guild Membership
The biggest draw of joining a guild is the long list of exclusive rewards you can’t get anywhere else in the game, even if you spend real money in the cash shop. First, guild-exclusive skill lines that unlock after you’ve been a member for 7 days and earned 100 guild points. These skills are tailored to your guild’s sect, and they’re far more powerful than regular skills for group play. My current guild’s group damage buff gives every party member a 15% attack boost for 30 seconds, and it’s saved our raid group from wiping on world boss fights at least a dozen times.
Once your guild hits level 3, you’ll get access to a shared guild hall with specialized crafting stations that have a 20% higher chance of producing rare or legendary gear than the stations in main cities. The guild hall also has a free fast travel point that you can use from anywhere on the map, which cuts down on travel time for quests by almost 30% if you’re running back and forth across the map. Daily guild quests give 30% more XP than regular side quests, so you can level up alt characters twice as fast if you run 3 or 4 of these quests every time you log in.
You’ll also earn guild currency for every event, quest, or PvP battle you participate in with your guild. This currency can be used to buy rare crafting materials, skill reset scrolls, and guild-exclusive mount skins that are not available in the in-game cash shop. I’ve been in my current guild for 3 months, and I earned my full legendary archer armor set 2 weeks faster than my friend who plays exclusively solo, just from guild raid drops. The rewards alone are worth the small time commitment, even if you don’t care about the social side of guilds.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Joining Your First Guild
It’s easy to make dumb mistakes when you’re joining your first guild, I know I did. The biggest one is joining the first guild that sends you an invite, without checking if their sect alignment or rules fit your playstyle. I joined a random melee-focused guild when I first started playing, and I never got any useful stat bonuses for my ranged archer build for the first month I played. Don’t waste your time like that. Take 5 minutes to browse the directory and find a guild that aligns with your class first.
Another common mistake is joining a guild just because it has the highest member count. A lot of the biggest guilds on most servers are full of inactive players, so you won’t get access to group events or territory control rewards even if the guild has 200 people on the roster. Look for guilds with a 70% or higher active member rate, even if they only have 30 or 40 total members. Smaller active guilds almost always offer better rewards and a friendlier community than giant, mostly inactive ones.
Always read the full guild description before submitting an application. I once joined a guild that required members to donate 10% of all their in-game currency to the guild bank every week, and I didn’t notice that rule until I logged in one day and 5000 of my hard-earned coins were gone. Most guilds list all their rules in their public description, so you don’t have any surprises after you join. If a guild doesn’t list their rules publicly, it’s usually a red flag that they’re not well-run.
Don’t be afraid to speak up if you’re new. A lot of new players think they’ll get kicked for asking questions about boss mechanics or build advice, but most guild members are happy to help new players learn. I still regularly help new members in my guild tweak their builds and learn raid mechanics, and I would never get annoyed at someone for asking for help. The whole point of a guild is to support each other, after all.
At the end of the day, where winds meet guilds are one of the most underrated features for new and experienced players alike. You don’t have to be a hard-core PvP player to get value out of joining, and even casual players who only log in a few times a week can unlock tons of exclusive rewards that make the game way more fun. Take your time to pick a guild that fits your playstyle, don’t be afraid to leave if it’s not a good fit, and you’ll be shocked at how much faster you progress when you’re playing with a group. I’ve met some of my closest gaming friends through my WWM guild, and we still play other games together even when we’re taking a break from grinding guild quests. It’s not just about the loot, it’s also about finding a group of people who enjoy the same parts of the game as you do.
