How to Unlock All Martial Arts Skills in Where Winds Meet

You can’t wander the Jianghu in Where Winds Meet without martial arts skills. Yan Yun may be beautiful world, but it’s incredibly dangerous and you will need the right weapons and skills to survive. And this world has plenty. From joining sects to stealing sacred martial arts, you just need to know where to look and make sure you don’t forget to upgrade.

WWM originally had twelve martial arts schools. However, with the Hexi expansion, we’ve gained two new martial arts skills, Bamboocut – Dust and Stonesplit – Strength, and a new weapon, Heng Blade. And there will be plenty more in upcoming content.

Martial Arts Weapons

Using a martial arts style is heavily tied to a corresponding weapon, each with its own unique feel, range, and set of abilities. To perform the different martial arts skills, you can’t just equip a weapon and automatically use its martial arts style. You must first unlock the martial arts style of that weapon.

So, how do you choose? Should you choose the role you want to play first or should you choose the weapon that speaks to you then find the find the corresponding weapon? That, of course, depends on your playstyle. I’ve always loved watching fan martial arts in wuxia dramas (I love a man with a fan, istg!). So, for my main character, I chose fan. And because of the sect I joined, Silver Needle Sect, I automatically learned the skills of both Panacea Fan and Inkwell Fan. My friend, however, wanted to be a tank, so, she looked for weapons that were tanky.

Weapon Types:

• Dual Blades

• Fans

• Mo Blade

• Rope Dart

• Spear

• Sword

• Umbrella

• Heng Blade

Unlock Martial Arts By Joining a Sect

Most martial art skills belongs to a specific sect, and joining one gives you instant access to their signature style. No sneaking or extra steps required. You’ll automatically learn the martial arts associated with the sect. Other martial art skills are acquired through gameplay and NPC encounters.

Here’s a breakdown of the main sects and their martial arts:

• Midnight Blades: Infernal Twinblades

• Raging Tides: Heavenquaker Spear, Stormbreaker Spear

• Silver Needle: Panacea Fan, Inkwell Fan

• Hollow Vale: Soulshade Umbrella

• Velvet Shade: Vernal Umbrella

• Well of Heaven: Thundercry Blade

• Nine Mortal Ways: Mortal Rope Dart

• Lone Cloud: Strategic Sword

Each martial arts sect has their own initiation requirements and rules to abide by. For example, you can start the quest to join Raging Tides sect after completing the Echoes of Old Battles which will trigger the "Toast to Fallen Souls" initiation quest of drinking from the wine vat in the Northern Vows Ruins in Battlecrest Slope. Next, you’ll be prompted to visit the Raging Tides recruiter, Xiang Dinghua in Heaven’s Pier. He’ll tell you that you don’t have a strong enough stomach. Meaning, you will need to drink nine different types of wine within nine days. You can purchase four types of wine from Hao Jiu (his name literally means good wine) in Harvestfall Village. Your first drink or two will unlock the Mystical Skill, Drunken Poet. And performing Drunken Poet will give you another type of wine. That’s five different wines there. Then, getting completely smashed will send you to a drunken dream realm where there is another vat of wine to drink from. Winning a game of pitch pot will also give wine. Also, you can purchase two different wines from the food vendor, Hao Xian in Ghostlight Market in Kaifeng. After you have drank nine different types of wine, return to Xiang Dinghua to play a drinking game with him. Win and you are officially in the Raging Tides sect and have access to their martial arts skills.

Drunken Dream World

Once you leave a sect, you keep all the martial arts, cosmetics, and rewards you unlocked. Leaving triggers a one-time Perception Forest escape, where other players hunt you for extra rewards. After completing it, you can join any other sect, but you must wait 24 hours before you can rejoin the sect you just left.

Martial Art Weapon	Weapon Type	Discipline/Path	Combat Role	Unlock Location/Method
Panacea Fan	Fan	Silkbind – Deluge	Healing	Join Silver Needle Sect / Skill Theft at Panacea Fan Sanctum / Reward from Qi Sheng Oddity Submission
Inkwell Fan	Fan	Silkbind – Jade	Ranged DPS	Skill Theft at East Bamboo Forest / Purchase from Fan Merchant
Vernal Umbrella	Umbrella	Silkbind – Jade	Ranged DPS/Utility	Qi Sheng or Skill Theft from Hua Zhiqing (talk to Page Boy at Velvet Shade's Time Tower in Keifeng City to start quest)
Soulshade Umbrella	Umbrella	Silkbind – Deluge	Support/Heal	Skill Theft at Soulshade Post Station in Kaifeng
Everspring Umbrella	Umbrella	Bamboocut – Dust	Ranged DPS/Utility	Skill Theft at South Imperial Garden
Infernal Twinblades	Dual Blades	Bamboocut – Wind	Melee DPS	Skill Theft at Twinblade Hall / Quest Reward
Mortal Rope Dart	Rope Dart	Bamboocut – Wind	Melee DPS	Skill Theft at Rope Dart Sanctum
Unfettered Rope Dart	Rope Dart	Bamboocut – Dust	Melee DPS	Hexi Expansion / Skill Theft at Rope Dart Pavilion
Nameless Sword	Sword	Bellstrike – Splendor	Melee DPS	Join Jade Hall Sect / Skill Theft at Nameless Sword Sanctum
Strategic Sword	Sword	Bellstrike – Umbra	Melee DPS	Skill Theft at Strategic Sword Sanctum
Nameless Spear	Spear	Bellstrike – Splendor	Melee DPS	Join Jade Hall Sect / Skill Theft at Nameless Spear Sanctum
Heavenquaker Spear	Spear	Bellstrike – Umbra	Melee DPS	Skill Theft at Heavenquaker Spear Pavilion
Stormbreaker Spear	Spear	Stonesplit – Might	Tank	Skill Theft at Stormbreaker Arena
Thundercry Blade	Mo Blade	Stonesplit – Might	Tank	Skill Theft at Thundercry Blade Pavilion
Phalanxbane Blade	Heng Blade	Bamboocut – Dust	Melee DPS	Hexi Expansion / Skill Theft at Phalanxbane Sanctum
Snowparting Blade	Heng Blade	Stonesplit – Strength	Melee DPS	Hexi Expansion / Quest Reward at Snowparting Ice Cavern

How to Unlock Martial Arts Through Skill Theft

While some martial arts skills are unlocked by joining a sect, others, well, you have to steal using Skill Theft. Very on the nose and literal. You can find opportunities to steal a sect’s martial arts by equipping a weapon you don’t have the martial arts for. You will be prompted to visit a location where you can steal the martial arts form. You can also find the location for a martial arts skill theft opportunity by opening the menu > go to Develop > click on one of your martial arts skills > scroll down to the martial art you want to learn and click on it > Click on Obtain on the bottom left. Go to that location and prepare to steal.

You’ll usually find Skill Theft opportunities in Sanctums, hidden areas, or tied to specific NPC encounters. Some targets are out in the open, while others are guarded or tucked away in places you wouldn’t stumble across unless you’re actively exploring. If you’re paying attention to your surroundings, the game quietly points you in the right direction.

To successfully steal a martial art, you’ll need find the designated location that is close enough to your target without being spotted. In Sanctums, you’re automatically given Veil of Stillness to help you avoid being caught easily. And in some cases, you may need to take out guards to get to the target Skill Theft location.

Best Martial Arts to Unlock First

With so many martial arts available in Where Winds Meet, it’s easy to feel like you need to try everything at once. You don’t. Early on, it’s better to focus two styles that help you because upgrading martial arts costs resources. And the amount of resources increase as your martial arts gets stronger. So, you don’t want to waste resources upgrading every martial arts skill.

A good starting point is choosing one primary weapon for damage and one secondary for utility or survivability. This gives you flexibility in fights and makes it easier to adapt as enemies and situations change. Once you’re comfortable, you can start expanding into more specialized or advanced martial arts.

Just to note, you start out with two martial arts skills: Nameless Sword and Nameless Spear, so you don’t have to unlock them. When you first venture out from Bamboo Retreat, you’ll encounter the Qi Sheng, Oddity Exchange. After completing the oddity quest for him, you’ll have the chance to select a martial arts skill: Panacea Fan, Thundercry Blade, Infernal Twin Blades, Vernal Umbrella.

As I mentioned in my Beginner’s Guide to Where Winds Meet, I suggest picking Vernal Umbrella or Thundercry Blade because they both unlock later in the game, especially Vernal Umbrella. Panacea Fan you can unlock by joining Silver Needle Sect or Skill Theft in the Panacea Fan Sanctum not far from Qi Sheng in a cave just northeast of the Wayfarer you passed.

If you’re clumsy like me, I would also suggest waiting until you unlock Touch of Death to do sanctums for skill theft. You can unlock Touch of Death early on by completing Echoes of the Old Battle.

How to Upgrade Your Martial Arts

Unlocking a martial art is only the first step. As your character levels up, your martial arts need to keep pace, or they’ll start to feel noticeably weaker. You also need to upgrade your martial arts skills and weapons to continue to survive.

Upgrade materials include:

• Five Dynasty Coins – the standard currency

• Life Supplies – dropped by enemies

• Martial Arts Breakthrough Tips – purchased from the shop with Jade Fish (limited to 15 per week)

Every 10 levels, your martial arts will hit a breakthrough. Breakthroughs require Martial Arts Custom Tips plus the standard materials. Use the breakthrough menu to grab Tips with Jade Fish from the shop.

Learning martial arts in Where Winds Meet isn’t about unlocking everything as quickly as possible. Like the rest of the game, it’s about steady progression in finding what works for you, building around it, and letting your playstyle evolve as you spend more time in the world.

Between sects, Skill Theft, and exploration, there’s no single path to becoming stronger. You can take what you need, leave what doesn’t fit, and shape your character in a way that actually feels natural. That flexibility is what makes the system work.

Start with a couple of martial arts that feel right, keep them upgraded, and expand when you’re ready. The more you explore and experiment, the more the system opens up—and the more your combat starts to feel like your own.