In Where Winds Meet, Internal Arts is a very significant part of customizing your character. They are passive abilities that provide valuable combat bonuses. For example, unlike active skills, in combat, you don’t directly “use” Internal Arts; rather, once you equip them, they continuously provide in-combat advantages. To be truly strong in combat, you’ll need to know how to unlock Internal Arts, upgrade Internal Arts, and choose the right Internal Arts for your play style and chosen weapons.
What Are Internal Arts?
Image via: NetEase Games
Internal Arts are passive skills in Where Winds Meet. They only engage during combat, and their effects will depend on your Martial Art (or weapon path).
There are two categories:
- Universal Internal Arts: these will work regardless of what weapon you are using.
- Martial Art-specific Internal Arts: these will only provide their full effect if you are using a specific weapon or path.
You can equip up to four Internal Arts at once, so it is extremely important to consider how they work together (and your build).
How to Unlock Internal Arts
Image via: Fextralife
How you unlock a particular Internal Art depends on your preferences:
Torn Pages / Tomes
Certain Internal Arts require you to gather Torn Pages, which you can purchase from specific merchants.
Within the Internal Arts menu, you may select an Internal Art and choose to view the merchant that sells its page, bringing up a map to their location.
Alternatively, for some Internal Arts, you need to follow “legacy clues:” i.e., text-based puzzles or hints that describe the conditions to unlock the Internal Art.
Defeat Specific NPCs / Complete Clues
- To access Breaking Point, the player must defeat Yi Dao within the Blissful Retreat, Dream Realm.
- To unlock Insightful Strike, the player must complete an archery challenge offered by Feng Jisheng (located south of Encircling Lake).
- Mountain’s Might requires the player to open five unique chests within a palace entitled Palace of Annals (not necessarily in order or all at once, but located within the confines of the Palace itself).
- To unlock Wind Beneath Wings, the player must clear a Tiger Fort outpost and defeat a named NPC and collect tomes from the “Tiger Fort king.”
Read More: Where Winds Meet Relationship System Explained: All Friendship, Marriage & Cohort Types
Upgrading Internal Arts
Once you have unlocked an Internal Art, you can upgrade it through a tier system.
Materials Needed: To upgrade, you need “Notes” or “Tips” specific to each Internal Art.
How to Get Tips:
- Purchase “Internal Art Tips – Tome” from the in-game shop.
Earn them via certain missions or in-game activities.
Tips Exchange:
- If you don’t wish to use the Tips of Internal Arts, you can recycle them into Vintage Bookmarks.
- When you have Vintage Bookmarks, use these to purchase “Recommendation Tomes” for Internal Arts you will actually use (including universal ones).
Internal Art Conversion:
Image via: Fextralife
- This allows you to transfer your progress towards your tip over two different Internal Arts, but only purple and gold ranked Internal Arts.
- You will get to have four free conversions for your Internal Arts per season, but after that, you will need Vintage Bookmarks to convert your Internal Arts.
- Further, upon conversion, both Internal Arts are placed on a 7-day cooldown, during which time you cannot perform a conversion.
Conclusion
In Where Winds Meet, Internal Arts are far from being simply an additional bonus system: they’re a fundamentally strategic layer of character progression that rewards players for thoughtfully considering their build, exploration, and willingness to invest in upgrades. With the right choices and upgrades applied, Internal Arts can drastically change how effective you are in combat, whether that is to deal greater damage, be more mobile, or survive longer. For players genuinely interested in mastering Where Winds Meet, Internal Arts must be understood and optimized.
