If you’ve just booted up Where Winds Meet for the first time, you’re probably still marveling at the sprawling mountain valleys, wuxia-inspired combat mechanics, and endless side content to explore. But before you run off to chase your first main story quest, you’ll have to make one critical choice that shapes your entire early game experience: picking your first loadout. If you’re jumping into the lush, martial arts-driven open world for the first time, figuring out where winds meet starting weapons that align with how you play can make or break your first 10 hours of gameplay. I’ve put 80+ hours into the game across three different playthroughs, so I’ve tested every single starting option to break down what works, what doesn’t, and who should pick what.
Where Winds Meet Starting Weapons: All 5 Base Options Explained
You’ll get to pick one primary starting weapon when you create your character, and you’ll unlock a secondary slot once you complete the first tutorial village quest. All five options are viable, but each has clear strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases. Let’s break them down one by one, based on my hands-on testing.
Straight Sword is the default recommendation for most new players, and for good reason. It has a balanced move set with fast light attacks, heavy stagger attacks, and a parry window that’s far more forgiving than every other melee weapon. It works just as well for single-target boss fights as it does for small group encounters, and it has no steep learning curve to master. The only downside is it doesn’t excel at any one specific playstyle, so if you know you prefer stealth or ranged combat, you’ll want to pick something else.
Dao (Broad Sword) is the best pick for aggressive players who love charging into fights. It has the highest base damage of all starting melee weapons, and its heavy attacks can stagger up to three enemies at once, making it perfect for clearing bandit camps full of low-level mobs. The tradeoff is it’s slower than the straight sword, so you’ll have to time your dodges more carefully, and it uses 15% more stamina per attack than other melee options. I picked this for my second playthrough, and I blazed through the first 10 hours of main story quests 30% faster than my first run with hidden daggers.
Staff is the crowd control king of starting weapons. It has the longest melee range, so you can hit enemies before they get close enough to attack you, and its special spin attack can knock down up to five enemies in a single hit. It’s a great pick if you like playing support in co-op, or if you hate being swarmed by groups of enemies. The downside is its single-target damage is pretty low, so boss fights can take twice as long if you don’t pair it with a high-damage secondary weapon later on.
Bow is the only starting ranged option, and it’s a solid pick if you prefer taking enemies out from a distance. It comes with 20 standard arrows and 5 fire arrows to start, and you can craft more arrows with common wood and feather drops you find while exploring. You can pick off entire camps without alerting a single enemy if you aim for headshots, which deal 3x critical damage. The obvious downside is you’ll have no way to defend yourself if an enemy gets close, so you’ll want to unlock a secondary melee weapon as soon as possible.
Hidden Daggers are the stealth player’s dream starting weapon. They deal 4x critical damage on sneak attacks, and their light attacks are so fast you can stun lock most low-level enemies before they get a chance to swing. They’re also completely silent, so you can take out sentries without alerting nearby mobs. But they have almost no stagger, so if you get caught in a head-on fight with more than one enemy, you’ll almost certainly die unless you dodge perfectly. I picked these for my first playthrough, and I struggled for the first 5 hours because I kept accidentally alerting camps and getting swarmed.
How to Match Your Starting Weapon to Your Playstyle
You don’t have to stick to the default recommendation if you already know what kind of playstyle you enjoy most. I’ve seen too many new players pick the straight sword just because it’s marked as “recommended” and end up bored out of their mind 2 hours in. The best way to pick your loadout is to think about what you loved playing in other open world or combat games, and match that to the weapon’s strengths. I’ve put together a quick breakdown to make that choice easier:
- Aggressive frontline fighters: Prioritize high base damage and stagger resistance, like the Dao or Staff. Both let you stand your ground in group fights without having to run away constantly.
- Stealth-focused players: Go for fast, low-noise weapons that deal critical sneak attack damage, like Hidden Daggers. Pair it with the bow later on for long-range silent takedowns.
- Ranged or support-focused players: Pick the Bow paired with a secondary Straight Sword for close-quarters backup. You’ll be able to take out most enemies from a distance, and you’ll have a reliable fallback if someone gets too close.
- New players with no wuxia game experience: Stick to the Straight Sword for its forgiving move set and low learning curve. You can always unlock other weapons later once you get a feel for the combat system.
Don’t overthink this choice too much, either. You can unlock every other starting weapon for free by completing side quests in the first major city, which you’ll reach around 4 hours into the game. Picking the right weapon just saves you the hassle of having to level up a new weapon from scratch later on. You also keep all your upgrade materials if you swap weapons later, so there’s no permanent penalty for testing out different options once you unlock them.
Early Game Upgrades for Your Starting Weapon
One of the biggest mistakes new players make is ditching their starting weapon as soon as they find a random uncommon drop from a bandit camp. All of the where winds meet starting weapons are intentionally designed to stay viable for the first 10 to 15 hours of gameplay, so you don’t need to replace them immediately when you find a random uncommon drop. In fact, a +5 upgraded starting weapon will outperform almost every common and uncommon drop you find before level 10.
The first 5 upgrade levels only cost common iron ore and a small amount of gold, which you can get easily by looting bandit camps, selling excess herbs and hides you collect while exploring, or completing side quests for the first village blacksmith. The blacksmith also gives you a free upgrade to +2 when you complete his first side quest, so make that one of your first priorities when you finish the tutorial.
I wasted 30 iron ore on a random rare sword I found at level 3 during my first playthrough, and it was obsolete by level 7. My upgraded starting straight sword would have lasted me until level 12, if I’d just stuck with it. You should also prioritize unlocking weapon-specific skill tree nodes before you put points into general defense or stamina upgrades. The first node for each starting weapon gives you a 20% damage boost for all attacks with that weapon, which makes a huge difference in early boss fights.
Common Starting Weapon Mistakes to Avoid
Even if you pick one of the more niche where winds meet starting weapons, like the hidden daggers or bow, you can still have a smooth early game if you avoid these common pitfalls. I’ve made all of these mistakes myself, so I’m saving you the frustration of having to learn them the hard way.
First, don’t swap weapons too often during your first 10 hours. Every weapon has a unique move set and parry timing that takes a few hours to master, and if you keep switching between different weapons, you’ll never get good enough at any of them to take on harder early game bosses. Stick to your starting weapon until you hit level 10, then you can start testing other options once you have a solid feel for the combat system.
Second, don’t ignore your secondary weapon slot. You unlock this slot as soon as you complete the first village quest, and you can use it to equip a weapon that covers your primary weapon’s weaknesses. If you picked the bow as your primary, equip a straight sword as your secondary for close-quarters fights. If you picked the dao, equip a few throwing knives to take out distant sentries without having to charge into a camp.
Third, don’t waste special arrows or weapon abilities on low-level mobs. Your special fire arrows and weapon ultimate abilities deal massive damage, but they have long cooldowns or limited uses. Save them for boss fights or large group encounters where you need the extra damage, not for random bandits you can take out with two light attacks.
Finally, don’t forget to test out light and heavy attack combos for your starting weapon. Most new players just spam light attacks for the first few hours, but every weapon has unique combos that deal extra damage or apply stagger effects. For example, the straight sword’s three light attacks followed by one heavy attack deals 2x more damage than just spamming light attacks, and it staggers most enemies for 2 seconds.
At the end of the day, there’s no single perfect pick when it comes to where winds meet starting weapons, as long as you choose one that matches how you love to play games. If you like rushing into fights, pick the dao. If you like sneaking around, pick the hidden daggers. If you’re new to wuxia combat, stick to the straight sword. You can always swap later, so don’t stress about making the “wrong” choice. Spend a few hours mastering your chosen weapon, upgrade it when you can, and you’ll have no problem clearing the early game content and exploring everything the world has to offer.
