How to Unlock Strategic Sword in Where Winds Meet
The Strategic Sword is an alternative to the Nameless Sword martial art style in Where Winds Meet. While the latter focuses on mobility and AoE damage, the former has the ability to inflict the Bleeding status, making targets take damage over time while you pelt them with blows. DoT effects can be very effective against any target when stacked together, and if you want to make such a build for Where Winds Meet, you’ll want to learn how to use the Strategic Sword style as soon as possible.
Best Early Builds (Path Progression) in Where Winds Meet
If you want to optimize your early game progression in Where Winds Meet, here are a few ideas to help you get started.
Where Winds Meet: Strategic Sword Location
Like all other martial arts weapon styles in Where Winds Meet, the Strategic Sword can be obtained by using Skill Theft on a master training inside one of the many Sanctums scattered throughout the game regions. In the Strategic Sword’s case, you can find it at the southern end of Qinghe, near the Back Mountain Boundary Stone.
To enter the Strategic Sword Sanctum, you’ll first need to get a Dragon Key. You can nab one of these by completing Outposts, though you’ll be rewarded with a few by progressing the story and leveling up your character early on. Just go to any Outpost in Qinghe, and when you clear it for the first time, you’ll get a Dragon Key.
Approach the entrance to the sanctum, then use the Dragon Key on the stone pedestal out front to open the door. Thankfully, this sanctum is fairly small, and the trip to the practicing master can be easily reached. If you have the Touch of Death skill from the Echoes of Old Battles quest, you can make things even easier by taking out the patrolling guards.
The chests inside the Strategic Sword Sanctum don’t contain any important items other than Echo Jades and resources. You can skip them if you feel like you won’t need those items.
Once you finish the Skill Theft minigame, you’ll unlock the Strategic Sword martial art, and you can safely leave the sanctum without any consequences. Any of the sword weapons in your inventory can be used with the Strategic Sword style, but if you want to maximize your DPS with this martial art early on, we recommend using the 4-piece Hawkwing Set, which you can farm at the Outpost by the western side of Qinghe.
To further improve your damage with the Strategic Sword style, get the Sword Horizon Inner Way from the antique bookshop owner in Ghostlight Market. You can reach this area fairly easily by doing a side quest involving one of the elder villagers at Riverside Station in southwestern Qinghe.