Where Winds Meet Inner Ways: Unlock, Upgrade and Best Picks

Inner Ways are the passive skills in Where Winds Meet that change how your Martial Arts behave, and you can equip four at a time from Main Menu, then Develop, then Inner Way. You unlock them from merchants, exploration clues, quests and Martial Arts Sanctums, then raise them tier by tier with Inner Way Tips through the Breakthrough system, up to Tier 6. As of November 2026, Morale Chant remains the most recommended pick for almost any build, and Version 2.3 has just added four new ones.

We checked this against AllThings.How's Inner Ways guide, KeenGamer's full Inner Way list, Game8's Inner Ways tier list and Version 2.3 notes, and AllThings.How's Version 2.1 unlock guide in November 2026.

What Inner Ways Do

KeenGamer describes Inner Ways as passive abilities that boost your Martial Arts and only apply in combat. They come in two kinds: weapon-specific Inner Ways, which give their full benefit only with certain Martial Arts, and universal Inner Ways, which work with any weapon.

You can equip up to four at once. AllThings.How states that the limit never increases, so every slot is a choice. That is why weapon-specific passives for your main pair and one or two strong universal picks make up most builds.

Every Inner Way starts at Tier 1 when you unlock it, and you raise it through Breakthrough. Game8's tier list confirms Tier 6 as a real upgrade step: Mending Loom, for example, gains an extra heal on the lowest-HP nearby ally at Tier 6. Higher tiers are where most of the power is, so a Tier 1 Inner Way you have just found is rarely better than a well-upgraded one you already use.

To manage them, open Main Menu, then Develop, then Inner Way. The same screen holds the Breakthrough tree, the Tips Exchange and the conversion option covered below.

How to Unlock Inner Ways

AllThings.How lists three main unlock routes, and updates have added quest rewards on top:

• Merchant pages: buy every Torn Page or Note for a tome from specific merchants, then assemble it. These pages cost premium currency.
• Legacy clues: choose Comprehend Inner Way, then Comprehend the Clue, then Explore, and complete the interaction in the highlighted area to collect the tome.
• Martial Arts Sanctums: infiltrate a sanctum, loot its chests and perform a Skill Theft on the bonded Martial Art. Stealing the Heavenquaker Spear art, for example, unlocks Wolfchaser's Art.

The newer weapons bring Inner Ways with them. AllThings.How reports that Jiu Qiansui hands over the gold Eonpour with the Skystrike Gauntlets, and Li Yangui gives the purple Skyspeak with the Riven Twinblades. Two more from that update sit in chests: Volutefit inside the Scripture Hall in Qinghe's Sundara Land after "The Promised Light," and Mistwing inside Hero's Tomb on Moonveil Mountain after "Palace of Annals." In Version 2.3, Game8 notes that finishing the Sea Shepherd quest for the Museflow Waist Drum also gives you Harmony Song.

The other Version 2.3 additions listed by Game8 are Zephyr Whispers, Blade's Will and Ink and Strings. Their unlock routes were not covered in the guides we checked, so keep an eye on Game8's Version 2.3 pages and the official patch notes as they fill in.

Upgrading Through Breakthrough

Upgrades use a branching tree. AllThings.How explains that the Breakthrough system needs Solo Mode Level 4, and that you spend Tips (also called Notes) on nodes in the tree to reach higher tiers. Node costs rise as you go, from 10 Tips for the first node to 20 for the next, and so on.

Tips come from several places:

• Merchants: some NPC merchants sell them for a jade-type currency in limited quantities.
• Chests: activity and boss chests drop them.
• Tip Tomes: you can buy up to 20 random Tip Tomes per week, with a separate weekly cap on the shop currency.
• Codes and events: many redeem codes include Inner Way Note Chests. Our list of working codes shows which ones still pay out.

The weekly Tip Tome limit is what paces upgrades for most players, so buy your 20 every week even if you do not plan to spend them immediately. KeenGamer notes that because Tip Tomes give random Tips, you cannot target a specific Inner Way that way, which is where the next two systems come in.

Tips Exchange and Inner Way Conversion

Random Tips pile up for Inner Ways you never use. Two systems turn that waste into progress.

Tips Exchange. Open it from the Inner Way main menu and select Obtain Book Tokens. AllThings.How explains that you recycle unwanted Tips for Vintage Bookmarks, with the amount depending on each Tip's rarity, then spend the Bookmarks on Recommendation Tomes tied to a specific weapon or path. Those tomes still give random Tips, but only for that weapon or path, so they are far more targeted. KeenGamer calls the same currency Vintage Bookplates, so expect either name in guides.

Inner Way Conversion. This swaps Tip counts between two Inner Ways you own, for example turning a 2 and a 3 into a 3 and a 2. Only Purple and Gold-ranked Inner Ways qualify. The first four conversions each season are free, later ones cost Vintage Bookmarks, and both Inner Ways enter a seven-day cooldown afterward.

Conversion is most useful when you switch builds. If you have poured Tips into a Gold Inner Way for a weapon you no longer use, converting moves that investment to the new one instead of starting over. Because of the cooldown and the free limit, plan conversions before spending them on small tweaks.

The Best Inner Ways Right Now

Game8's Inner Ways tier list, last updated in February 2026, is still the most complete ranking. It predates the newest additions, so treat it as a guide to the established options:

• SS: Morale Chant alone. Game8 recommends it for nearly every setup because its stacks raise damage, penetration and crit together, and it rarely hurts performance.
• S: Echoes of Oblivion, Sword Morph, Battle Anthem, Sword Horizon, Adaptive Steel, Royal Remedy, Mending Loom, Blossom Barrage, Star Reacher and Exquisite Scenery.
• A: Restoring Blossom, Seasonal Edge, Vendetta, Mountain's Might, Fivefold Bleed, Wolfchaser's Art, Divine Roulette, Fury Harvest, Envigorated Warrior, Evasive Charge, Rock Solid, Vital Leech, Bitter Seasons and Breaking Point.
• B: Wildfire Spark, Insightful Strike, Thunderous Bloom, Art of Resistance, Riptide Reflex, Trapped Beast, Flying Gourds, Esoteric Revival, Shadow Assault, Steadfast Stance, Evening Snow and Wind Beneath Wings.

Tier lists are a starting point, not a rule. An A-tier Inner Way at Tier 5 will usually outperform an S-tier one you have only just unlocked, so weigh what you have already invested before swapping. The Version 2.1 and 2.3 Inner Ways are not ranked there yet. Eonpour, the gold reward with the Skystrike Gauntlets, boosts Martial Arts damage and is the natural pick for the Draught build.

Picking Four for Your Build

A simple formula works for most setups: one or two weapon-specific Inner Ways for your main Martial Art, Morale Chant, and one flexible slot. Here is how that looks for common builds, based on Game8's and MetaBattle's recommendations:

• Nameless Sword builds: Sword Morph and Battle Anthem, with Mountain's Might as a further option.
• Strategic Sword and Heavenquaker Spear: Sword Horizon, with Wolfchaser's Art for the spear.
• Thundercry Blade: Exquisite Scenery, plus Morale Chant, Adaptive Steel and Battle Anthem in MetaBattle's tank and healer setup.
• Healers: Royal Remedy, Mending Loom, Restoring Blossom and Esoteric Revival.
• Twinblades and Mortal Rope Dart: Echoes of Oblivion, Vendetta, Breaking Point and Riptide Reflex.
• Inkwell Fan and Vernal Umbrella: Blossom Barrage, with Star Reacher, Flying Gourds or Thunderous Bloom.

If you run a mixed pair, lean on universal picks like Adaptive Steel and Seasonal Edge, which reward frequent Dual-Weapon Skills. Our weapon combos guide covers which pairs suit that style, and the build rankings list the leading builds for this season.

Mistakes That Waste Tips

Inner Way materials are slow to earn, so avoid these common errors:

• Spreading Tips thin. Four Inner Ways at high tiers beat eight at Tier 2. Focus on the four you actually equip.
• Equipping the wrong weapon's passive. A weapon-specific Inner Way does little if that Martial Art is not in your loadout.
• Converting casually. With four free conversions a season and a seven-day cooldown, save them for real build changes.
• Skipping the weekly Tip Tomes. The 20-tome purchase limit resets weekly, so buying them every week is the steadiest way to keep upgrades moving.
• Forgetting the cap context. Gear and levels also gate your power. Our level cap guide explains where Inner Ways fit once you reach level 100.

Want Inner Ways Already Upgraded?

Raising four Inner Ways to high tiers takes many weeks of capped Tip Tomes. The store's Where Winds Meet page features account listings from independent sellers, and some titles note Inner Way tiers alongside level and gear score, which shows how far an account has progressed. Listings change from day to day.

For the record, the Where Winds Meet Terms of Use say an account cannot be shared, sold or transferred to someone else without the publisher's prior consent.

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