Where Winds Meet has had its share of major updates since it first launched back in November 2025, but none arguably as anticipated as the one coming on September 16, 2026, which marks the finale of the Hidden Mountain expansion. Players will finally confront Qianye, the mastermind behind the Blissful Retreat tragedy, in a dramatic showdown, along with new content.
Ahead of the expansion finale’s launch, we went hands-on with content featuring a couple of major boss fights, plus a peek at the Drunken Fist fighting style, which adds a new dimension to combat.
Drunken Fist Gameplay
The Drunken Fist style in Where Winds Meet is very combo-oriented, where players would look to build up “binge marks,” and with enough marks, players can use the drink skill to convert these marks into binge points and enter the Inebriate-Tipsy mode, which opens more attacks and increased damage. It takes quite a bit of setup to bring everything together, but it pays off.
Speaking of combo-oriented, the Drunken Fist style also has a number of combos we got to try that even require players to switch weapons mid-combo, so you have to think and time things well to maximize damage.
While our time to try this style was limited, it did seem strong enough against bosses due to their high HP pools, where you can stack up enough binge points and activate Tipsy mode easily. This fighting style fits the theme of Where Winds Meet and feels like a natural fit.
Our time with the Where Winds Meet demo took us through 2 story sequences, culminating in boss fights against Halcyon, a formidable boss wielding a massive mechanical hand, and Qianye, a boss that uses slow but devastating attacks.
Skyward City Ruins & Halcyon
The first mission took us through the steampunk-inspired Skyward City Ruins. The sequence was actually straightforward, as you only have forward as the only direction to go, so there’s very little to do with exploration.
Ending the sequence with a very cool boss encounter, Halcyon awaited us. As with most bosses in the game, Halcyon has multiple phases, and players will need to rely on precise timing to parry attacks because of multiple multi-hit combos from the boss. The timing is quite easy once you learn the patterns, but one miss can bring a ton of damage to your HP bar. At one point in the battle, Halcyon’s weapon transforms into a sword-whip reminiscent of Ivy’s Snake Sword from Soul Calibur.
This boss fight was quite a spectacle and an extremely exciting encounter to look forward to.
A Borrowed Self & Qianye
The second mission, A Borrowed Self, pits players against Qianye once more. For Where Winds Meet players, they would be familiar with Qianye, as they’ve already faced her before during the Blissful Retreat campaign.
This was quite an interesting fight because Qianye switches to an illusion at some point, and the attacks would change drastically, requiring another set of patterns to learn. For demo purposes, our characters were a tad bit overleveled, making the fight bearable as a solo player, but I can imagine it would be more challenging when the final version is released.
As a bonus, we also got to go face-to-face against Goshawk, an upcoming boss who uses what looks like a huge mortar and can imbue his weapon with fire that can deal damage over time. His attacks are sweeping and fast, and will require mastery over the parry mechanic to overcome.
In one phase of the fight, he splits his weapon into two parts and can jump into the air to bang the ground, emitting burning pulses that players will need to jump to avoid. While tough, this boss fight was extremely cool and challenging, and will put Where Winds Meet players to the test.
Reflection Temple: Horror in Jianghu
While not new, we also got a chance to experience the Reflection Temple quest, which is currently available to players. Co‑created with Incantation director Kevin Ko, it transforms Where Winds Meet into a chilling horror experience, which is very interesting because you can play the mode in either first or third-person depending on your preference.
The mode allows players to navigate a cursed temple while obeying “taboo” rules listed on a mysterious note, such as ignoring beckoning voices or avoiding shadow figures. Breaking a rule results in instant failure, creating a tense trial‑and‑error progression that requires players to actually think of how to progress through the mode rather than just fighting their way through.
Where Winds Meet is approaching a major narrative arc with the Hidden Mountain finale; the game’s future looks bright, especially with more content expected as we inch closer to its first-year anniversary.
