Where Winds Meet co-op - How to unlock multiplayer and all modes

How do you play co-op in Where Winds Meet? Though not quite an MMO by most people's definitions, Where Winds Meet includes a few different multiplayer options. It can be a persistent shared world if you want, or a solo adventure if you don't. Any option you choose is reversible, and you can invite friends to play cooperatively whenever you want. Once you fulfil the criteria to unlock co-op in Where Winds Meet, that is.

Where Winds Meet is a F2P Wuxia-style action adventure game. Activate co-op, and it's a little like Elden Ring Nightreign without all the sad sacks skulking around the place. If you can trust your partners to lay low, unlocking Touch of Death in Where Winds Meet can turn it into an excellent stealth game if being a martial arts menace isn't your cup of oolong tea.

You likely have to progress through the main quest a little to unlock co-op in Where Winds Meet. The exact criteria is a little hazy, given it's easy to stray onto your own path in open-world games. But for us, it unlocked toward the end of the Still Shore Evercare Clinic dungeon we were led to as part of the main quest that begins with Ruby asking to go to General's Shrine.

There's always the chance that the WWM co-op criteria unlocking during the main quest was a fluke. Destiny, you could call it. Given that other multiplayer modes like Arena have a level requirement, if you b-line through the main quest and don't see the unlock at this point, just work on increasing your player level instead. And remember to increase your World Level once you reach each cap, too. That will help with skill point unlocks as well.

How to play co-op multiplayer

Either way, you'll see the Fellowship unlock flash up on the screen once you've hit the requirement. That signals that some multiplayer functionality is now available-namely, PVE Challenges with weekly resets, and casual co-op. You can reach this in the future by opening the main menu with ESC, then clicking the Wandering Paths button under the Mode row towards the bottom.

You should arrive on the Fellowship menu. Here, the tile layout lets you choose how you interact with other players. The Challenges window lets you invite others to pitch in with boss battles, whereas casual co-op allows you to roam about the land with up to four friends, earning Adventure Slips and Intimacy Points as you complete smaller tasks.

Not every option on the Wandering Paths/Fellowship menu is multiplayer content. Taiping Mausoleum is a PvE wave challenge mode akin to the Genshin Impact Spiral Abyss that can only be taken on solo. Likewise, Trials let you trigger a rematch with previously bested bosses and story battles, but only on your lonesome. That leaves the Bounty menu, which lets you create or join player-submitted challenges to earn Echo Jade.

Is Where Winds Meet an MMO?

While not as grand in scale as most major MMOs in there, you can turn Where Winds Meet into a pseudo-MMO at the click of a button.

If you want to see strangers strolling around the world as you play-as opposed to just those you invite in co-op mode, open the main menu and click the tiny icon of a bust with the iconic conical hat. This is the Mode Switch menu.

Select 'Online Mod' and slap Space to jump in. From this point on, you should start to see other adventurers roaming the land alongside you.

If you've seen the social media posts of players pelting baddies with rotten fruit as they're paraded around town for misdemeanours like murder, this is how you do it.

Do levels scale in Where Winds Meet co-op?

No, there's no level scaling in Where Winds Meet co-op play. The difficulty of the enemies is based on the host's world. So if your world is only level two, joining the co-op mode room of someone who has upgraded their world level to, say, four, means you'll go up against the much tougher enemies they typically face.

And that's about all there is to know about unlocking co-op in Where Winds Meet. Looking for your next online co-op game? We've rounded up the 10 best co-op games you can play with your buds.