Where Winds Meet Romance Guide: Yes, You Can Get Married, and Yes, It's Actually Worth It
Where Winds Meet has a full relationship system that lets you marry other players, and it's way more elaborate than any kung fu game has the right to be.
Look, I came here to parry attacks and do sick aerial combos. I did not expect to be writing a marriage guide for a wuxia action RPG, but here we are. Where Winds Meet includes a surprisingly deep relationship system with marriages, intimacy progression, and even a goddamn matchmaking feature if you're single in-game. And before you write this off as pure roleplay nonsense, these partnerships provide actual gameplay benefits that scale as your bond deepens. I'm talking percentage bonuses to adventure slips, teleportation abilities, and exclusive features that make playing together significantly better.
The system has multiple layers beyond just romance. You've got NPC friendships for rewards, discipleships where veteran players mentor newbies, sworn brother bonds with groups, and yes, full player marriages with ceremonies and titles. Each relationship type offers unique progression and benefits. I'm focusing primarily on the romance and partnership angle here because that's what everyone's asking about, but I'll cover the other types too since they all connect.
How Romance Actually Works (And Why Gender Doesn't Matter)
Romance in Where Winds Meet is strictly between players. You cannot marry NPCs no matter how high you raise their affinity or how many gifts you shower them with. I know, I was disappointed too when I realized I couldn't marry that one merchant who always has good deals. The partnership system is designed exclusively for player-to-player bonds.
Gender is completely irrelevant for partnerships. Your character can partner with anyone regardless of gender combinations. The game puts zero restrictions on who can marry whom, which honestly feels refreshing compared to games that awkwardly gate this stuff behind arbitrary rules.
You can only have one partnership at a time in the global version. There is one exception: if you join the Velvet Shadows sect, you can apparently have multiple partners, but that sect isn't available in the Western release yet. So for now in our version, you're committing to one person. Choose wisely or prepare for an awkward in-game divorce conversation.
The partnership functions as a proper marriage. You attend an actual ceremony, receive special titles, unlock exclusive emotes and features, and gain stacking bonuses the more you play together. This isn't just a friendship status with a different label. It's a complete marriage system that NetEase clearly spent way too much development time perfecting.
Setting Up Your Partnership (The Actual Wedding Process)
Before you can tie the knot, you need to reach Intimacy Level 2 (Companions) with your prospective partner. This is the second tier and unlocks pretty quickly if you're actively playing together or exchanging gifts. It's not a massive grind, more like a "hey, we actually know each other" checkpoint before the game lets you get married.
Once you hit Companions status, here's how to make it official. Open your menu (Esc on PC, Start on PS5), navigate to Social, then select Partnership. Choose "Go to Partnership" and select your desired partner. You need to form a group with them because apparently you can't get married alone. Reasonable.
Now comes the ceremony part. Head to Red Maple Forest together and find NPC Shi Yimo. This is your wuxia wedding officiant. Talk to Shi Yimo and you'll get the option to form a partnership or enter a fateful connection. Choose partnership to kick off the wedding process and officially establish your marriage.
Once the partnership is active, you can start increasing your partnership level for additional bonuses. You'll collect partnership points and Harmony Tokens, which get exchanged in an associated shop for exclusive rewards. The system encourages continued play with your partner rather than just getting married and immediately ignoring each other. It's almost like the game wants you to actually maintain the relationship. Wild concept.
The Fateful Search: Matchmaking for the Lonely
If you don't have anyone to partner with, or literally none of your friends play this game, Where Winds Meet provides a matchmaking system called Fateful Search. It's basically relationship classifieds for your wuxia character.
Head to the Wishing Band Tree in Red Maple Forest near Shi Yimo. You can leave messages at this location describing what you're looking for in a partner. Other players browsing Fateful Search can read your message and contact you if interested. It's weirdly wholesome watching people write elaborate pitches about their ideal in-game spouse.
I've seen everything from straightforward "looking for active partner, play daily" posts to full roleplay character descriptions with backstories. The effort some players put into these messages is honestly impressive. One person wrote a three-paragraph epic about their wandering swordsman seeking a companion to explore the martial world. Respect.
The system isn't foolproof. You're still relying on other players to check the board and actually reach out. But for solo players who want to engage with partnerships without an existing social circle, it's your best option. Plus it beats randomly asking strangers in world chat if they want to get married. That's just awkward for everyone involved.
The Intimacy System: 10 Levels of Increasingly Elaborate Friendship
Intimacy measures your bond with other players on a scale from 1 to 10. It applies to all player relationships, not just romantic partnerships. You increase intimacy by playing together, completing co-op content, or exchanging gifts found in your inventory.
Each intimacy level requires a ceremony to advance once you hit the threshold. You can't just grind straight to max level. At certain breakpoints, you need to attend a formal ceremony with your friend or partner to unlock the next tier. NetEase really committed to making every milestone feel ceremonial. It's extra, but it works.
Here's what each level actually gives you, because the rewards are legitimately good.
Level 1 (Acquainted) grants 10% bonus adventure slips when playing together. Adventure slips are crucial currency, so this bonus starts paying dividends immediately.
Level 2 (Companions) bumps that to 15% and unlocks synced actions where you can follow another player and move together. Useful for screenshots, kind of pointless otherwise, but it's there.
Level 3 (Kindred) increases adventure slips to 20%, adds a login notification when your friend comes online, and unlocks Shadow Pairs, a two-player drinking emote. The notification feature is actually clutch if you're trying to coordinate play sessions.
Level 4 (Comrades) provides 25% adventure slip bonuses and unlocks Camaraderie I, letting your friend borrow your outfits for 30 minutes weekly. If you've got premium cosmetics, this is where your partner gets to enjoy them too.
Level 5 (Allies) increases bonuses to 30%, adds instant teleportation to your friend's location in the same scene, and enables Open Door so friends can join your multiplayer sessions without confirmation. The teleport feature alone makes this level worth grinding for. No more "where are you? I'm lost" conversations in voice chat.
Level 6 (Harmony) grants 35% adventure slip bonuses and upgrades Camaraderie to tier II, letting friends borrow outfits twice weekly for 30 minutes each. More outfit sharing, basically.
Level 7 (Enduring) provides 40% bonuses and unlocks Known By All, allowing friends to auto-join your team without confirmation. Quality of life keeps improving.
Level 8 (Sworn) offers 45% adventure slip bonuses, upgrades Camaraderie to tier III with 60 minutes of outfit borrowing twice weekly, and grants exclusive friendship badges. You're basically inseparable at this point.
Level 9 (Destined) bumps bonuses to 50%. Level 10 (Vowed) maxes out at 55% bonus adventure slips.
That 55% adventure slip bonus at max intimacy is massive. If you're grinding content with the same partner regularly, you're earning over half again as many slips compared to solo play. The math checks out hard in favor of maintaining high intimacy relationships.
NPC Relationships: You Can't Marry Them But You Should Still Be Nice
You cannot romance NPCs. I know some of you were hoping. I was too. But platonic NPC relationships still matter because they unlock rewards, better merchant prices, and personal storylines.
Raise NPC affinity by completing their quests, doing favors, and giving gifts. Each NPC has preferred items that boost affinity faster. Talk to NPCs regularly and pay attention to dialogue choices. Some conversations increase affinity, others are neutral filler.
Higher affinity with merchant NPCs gets you better stock and sometimes discounted prices. If you're buying gear or materials from a specific vendor, raising their affinity directly improves your shopping experience. For non-merchant NPCs, high affinity unlocks personal story quests that provide lore and occasionally unique rewards.
Here's the catch: doing terrible things can tank NPC relationships. Commit crimes or act against a faction's interests and NPCs aligned with that faction will lose affinity with you. This can lock you out of quests or even get you kicked from sects. The system punishes being an asshole, which feels fair honestly.
Discipleship: The Master and Student Dynamic
Discipleship is a mentor relationship separate from romance. Players level 50 and above can become masters and take up to five disciples. Disciples can only have one master, and you can't change masters even after graduation. You're committed to your mentor choice.
There's no level requirement to become a disciple, but the relationship naturally ends at level 40 when you hit Single Player Mode Level 4 and Discipleship Level 3. At that point you can graduate, which permanently ends the mentorship and grants a commemorative title.
Masters guide disciples through content, provide advice, and help with progression. Both parties gain bonuses and exclusive currency from playing together. It's structured mentorship that benefits everyone involved.
This system is genuinely helpful for new players who feel lost. If you're struggling with combat mechanics or don't understand progression systems, having an experienced master can massively accelerate your learning. It's like having a personal tutor who also gives you gameplay bonuses.
Blood Brothers: Group Bonds for Your Regular Squad
Blood Brothers are groups of up to 10 players designed for recurring multiplayer content. Think mini-guilds focused on regular co-op play rather than massive organization management.
You form a sworn brotherhood with other players and gain bonuses for completing content together. This relationship type works best if you have a consistent group for world bosses, dungeons, or other co-op activities. The bonuses reward playing with the same people instead of constantly grouping with randoms.
Blood Brothers provide social structure without the commitment of full guild systems. You're not managing a massive organization with ranks and politics. Just maintaining bonds with a small group of regular players who you actually like playing with.
Why Any of This Actually Matters
The relationship systems provide tangible benefits alongside the roleplay aspects. That 55% adventure slip bonus from maxed intimacy significantly boosts resource income. The teleportation and auto-join features streamline co-op sessions and eliminate tedious coordination. Outfit borrowing lets you experiment with cosmetics you don't own.
Beyond mechanics, these systems add depth to multiplayer. Playing with the same partner and watching intimacy levels increase creates progression outside of just character power. The ceremonies and titles make milestones feel meaningful rather than arbitrary number increases.
If you're playing Where Winds Meet primarily solo, you can ignore most of this. But if you're engaging with multiplayer at all, building relationships pays off. The bonuses stack, quality-of-life features improve over time, and having consistent partners makes challenging content way easier.
The partnership system specifically is surprisingly well-designed for something that could have easily been throwaway roleplay content. The progression feels meaningful, rewards are substantial, and Fateful Search provides matchmaking for players without existing social circles.
Whether you're looking for a wuxia romance, a reliable co-op partner, or just want to maximize adventure slip income, the relationship systems are worth your time. They're optional, but they're far from pointless. Plus where else are you going to get married in ancient China while fighting mechanical threats? The content writes itself.