There’s gacha in Where Winds Meet, but barely and only for the character’s looks.
I’ve spent a lot of hours on Where Winds Meet, and if you think it’s another “pull characters or fall behind” situation, relax. The game does have gacha, but only for cosmetic items, and there are no stat perks hidden behind shiny banners. The game is a wuxia RPG first, a live-service game second, and a gacha… way down the list.
Where Winds Meet Gacha System Explained
Where Winds Meet’s gacha is just for one reason: to dress up the character and make your skills look cool.
You can draw pulls using Echo Beads, the premium currency you can buy with real money or earn through exploration. From draws, you get outfits, visual effects, dyes, and style items. Nothing here impacts damage numbers, survivability, or your abilities in fights. I treat it like a wardrobe lottery. Fun if you care about fashion, but can be ignored completely if you don’t.
Every gacha banner contains cosmetic gear like:
- Full outfits
- Hairstyle and cloth variations
- Skill visual effects
- Dyes and small style tweaks
Some effects are minor, and others can be flashy enough to make your character look like you walked out of a martial arts epic. In co-op hubs, fully styled characters absolutely stand out. Still, underneath all that silk and glow, everyone has moves up their sleeves.
Besides cosmetics, banners can also offer talismans, healing, or restorative balms and temporary buff items. These are small perks, and you can craft or earn similar resources by normal means in the world.
Note: Where Winds Meet has a pity system, so on most banners, you’re guaranteed higher-rarity items after specific pulls. You can get an Epic-tier item every 10 pulls so you won’t return with all junk. That said, luck is luck. You might get what you want early, or might stare at the pity counter like it owes you money. Before you spend the money, plan ahead.
The game has Standard banners that don’t expire and Limited-time banners with themed cosmetics. They drop skins, consumables, and skill visuals. Pity activates at every 150 pulls on a single banner, which sounds steep, but again, it’s all optional flair.
Duplicate Protection
A few banners have duplicate protection, which reduces the odds of pulling the same item over and over. It helps, but it doesn’t perform miracles. You can still end up getting your target item right at the end of the pity range. That’s just gacha being gacha.
Where Winds Meet Gacha Currencies
Where Winds Meet has two currencies for gacha:
- Resonant Melodies – used on the permanent banner
- Lingering Melodies – used on limited-time banners
The game is fairly generous compared to most gacha-heavy titles. Limited banner currency is capped in the shop, which discourages reckless spending. Not a bad move.
Is Where Winds Meet Pay-to-Win?
No. If you’re losing fights, it’s not because someone pulled a legendary robe. Fight wins come from in-game builds, abilities, skill choices, and your strategies against bosses. Fashion won’t parry attacks for you. Even the temporary buff items you can pull are craftable in the world. The shop also sells outfits directly, so if you hate RNG, you can skip the gacha entirely. The only competitive edge here is who looks cool standing in town.
Where Winds Meet is Creative On the Rail
Combat lets you fight with swords, fans, umbrellas, and techniques that look ridiculous in the best way. You can freeze enemies with acupuncture, fling them with Tai Chi Mystic skill, or launch into aerial chains. Outside battle, you can annoy NPCs with pressure points, sprint up walls, glide through the air, drink the wrong wine to become a dog playing mahjong. None of these links back to Gacha; it’s just the game’s playful things.
That’s rare when monetization steps back and lets the rest of the game shine. The gacha is there, but not a core part. By keeping it cosmetic-only, Where Winds Meet avoids the burnout loop that drags down so many free-to-play games. You play it because the world is exciting, not after a timer or banner tells you to log in. If more gacha games went this route, I wouldn’t complain.
