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With so many online games locking strength and style behind gacha paywalls, it’s easy to wonder whether Where Winds Meet follows the same path. Players stepping into Jianghu for the first time might ask if this is another pay-to-win game or not? While the game does have gacha, thankfully, the answer leans in favor of skill over spending.
Is There Gacha in Where Winds Meet?
Yes, Where Winds Meet has gacha — but it only applies to cosmetics such as outfits, accessories, visual effects, and weapon skins. Gear level is not tied to real-money purchases by any means. That means your character progression still comes from levels and mastery over your Martial and Inner Way Arts styles.
Currently in Season 1, the game offers 21 character cosmetic items from Celestial Echo and Solemn Echo gacha banners and Draw Shop, including 5 outfit sets. Other cosmetics include one mount, two weapon skins, four special animations, along with several player avatars and nameplates. That’s out of 250 items total, which you can get mostly from completing missions, Achievements, and buying from vendors.
Celestial Echo is the paid gacha banner, costing you 160 precious Echo Beads/Pearls per pull. Meanwhile, Solemn Echo is the free-to-play banner that requires 1 Lingering Melody, which can be traded using 200 Echo Jades in the Jianghu Treasures menu. Pulling gacha in Where Winds Meet then rewards you with the Draw Shop currency, Harmonic Core.
Where Winds Meet gacha uses a 150-pull pity system, separated between the premium and free banners. For those wondering, unfortunately, the item draw rates can be a bit intimidating:
- Outfit and mount: 0.0415% chance.
- Harmonic Core: 0.747% chance.
Should I Spend Money on Echo Beads?
Echo Beads are premium currencies used exclusively for cosmetic purchases — whether gacha or individual purchases. As mentioned before, paid cosmetics offer no stat advantages. Whether you’re competing in PvP Arenas or exploring in PvE, they won’t make you stronger.
However, mount skins do come with additional, if minor, skills. Some examples include Wayfinder for automatic waypoint navigation, Ride Together which lets another player hop on, and there are skills to auto-loot nearby items. Here is the full list of individual items currently available for Echo Beads, along with the currency exchange rates:
- 600 Echo Beads = $9.99.
- 1,800 Echo Beads = $29.99.
- 3,000 Echo Beads = $49.99.
- 6,000 Echo Beads = $99.99.
| Category | Item Name | Price (Beads/Pearls) |
|---|---|---|
| Outfit | Goosecap Glory | 60 |
| Grand Line Dreamer | 60 | |
| Moonlit Night | 60 | |
| Touch of Cloud | 60 | |
| Mount | Spirited Courser | 1,280 |
| Qin Horse | 1,280 | |
| White-browed Goose | 680 | |
| Horskie | 680 | |
| Snow Oath | 60 | |
| Outfit Set | Magpie’s Nocturne | 2,580 |
| Ninth’s Pawnshop | 2,580 | |
| Celestial Knot | 2,580 | |
| Celestial Vanguard | 2,580 | |
| Crimson Sand | 2,580 | |
| Ephemeral Bloom | ||
| Golden Scales | ||
| Blossom Tears | ||
| Azure Resolve | ||
| Snow Fox | 1,280 | |
| Strife For Peace | 1,280 | |
| Hidden Scent | 1,280 | |
| Wings of Destiny | 1,280 | |
| Crimson Vow | 680 | |
| Nocturne Scarlet | 680 | |
| Divine Feather | 680 | |
| Weapon Skin | Thawing Touch | 680 |
| Wooden Stick | 680 | |
| Formless Silence | 680 first time, 540 for second purchase, 320 for subsequent purchase | |
| Animation | Ink Splash | 1,280 |
| Cloud of Ink | 1,280 |
Are Monthly Pass and Battle Passes Worth the Money?
Aside from cosmetic gacha and microtransactions, Where Winds Meet also offers Passes as part of its monetization system. These come in two types: Monthly Pass and Battle Passes, each offering different benefits. The Monthly Pass is located in the Shop menu, while the Battle Passes can be found in the Season tab.
If you’re willing to spend a little, the Monthly Pass easily offers the best value in the entire cash shop. For just $5, you’ll receive the following rewards by logging in daily over 30 days:
- 90,000 Coins.
- 300 Echo Beads/Pearls, totalling 3,600 Pearls.
- 100 Echo Jades, totalling 3,000 Echo Jades.
- 50 Battle Pass XP, totalling 1,500 XP.
- 1 Lingering Melody after 20 days.
The Monthly Pass also stacks like MMO subscriptions. You can buy it multiple times to extend its duration, perfect if you plan to play long-term. Compared to buying Beads directly, the value per dollar is significantly higher.
The Battle Pass comes in three tiers: Free, Elite for $9.99, and Premium/Collection for $19.99. Premium doesn’t include any direct pay-to-win items, as it mainly improves convenience.
With that in mind, if you only care about progression, then buying the Elite Pass is enough. If you want smoother inventory management and exclusive nameplate drip, then you can go with Premium/Collection.
| Feature | Elite | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $19.99 |
| Lingering Melodies | N/A | 2 |
| Level boost | N/A | +10 |
| Bonus Medicine capacity | +1 | +2 |
| Bonus inventory slots | +12 | +18 |
| Cosmetics | 6 in Season 1 | 6 + 2 in Season 1 |
| Portable Merchant access | Yes | Yes |
| -10 Aspiration requirement bonus | Yes | Yes |
As such, spending money or pulling gacha isn’t necessary to enjoy Where Winds Meet. That might change in future updates, but for now, your wallet can stay cultivating dollars.
