Wandering Sword - Resource Guide - v1.3

Spreadsheet for all the information and resources that I could compile for the game.

Credits

Most of the info in the spreadsheet was compiled by me but for some of the most obscure stuff I used other sources and walkthoughs on the net as guide.

• Really in depth guide for perfect ending (need to translate from chinese): https://www.bilibili.com/opus/998162034664144919?spm_id_from=333.999.0.0
  
• Huge thanks to "{5LINE}Cows with Guns" for their great and comprehensive character guide go check it out: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038171486

Lastly, I tried to be as thorough as I could but since I have no brain and don't know how to write its possible I made a mistake somewhere or a typo and such. If you spot any just put a comment and I'll try to rectify it.

Thank you!

Spreadsheet

After having memed the community with my previous relationship guide (don't read it),
I decided to compile as much data for this game as I could since there was so many missable items and events. What was initially an attempt to keep track of which NPC I had robbed challenged, turned into a complete database of everything I could find.

I went a bit crazy with the images, because I though it looked cool, but it does make the sheet MUCH bigger memory wise, sorry about that. As a result, it might take a small amount of time to load (no its not trying to steal your data).

I'll say it once DO NOT send me private messages to get access, I will bock you. All you got to do is create a copy of the sheet to be able to edit it to track your own progress.

Anyway here is the link. Just copy paste this into your favourite browser and create a copy:

* Base game: DONE (missing old nanjiang arc)
* The Southern Chronicles: DONE
* Echoes of Ash and Dust: DONE

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K_qPs8IH-relSXdUx7U4BIklrW0UjtWc8cRg-7b_x4I/edit#gid=1757359013

Walkthrough

Wandering Sword is a very open handed RPG. Many quests can be done at any point since a big part of the game is about exploration (you know "wandering"). What follow is but one way to go through the game feel free to experiment at your own pace. However please be advised that a LOT of the content is gated behind insanely obscure requirements. I'll do my best to highlight them but if you follow the guide you will unlock 90% of the content on your first playthrough. I will mention the places where the game branches here and there but some of it require at least 2-3 partial playthroughs.

Main quest

This section is a list of all the main quests of the game by completion order.
You have to complete them in order to unlock the next one.
I tried to highlight the branching paths, important side quests and rewards.

Tips:
Rushing the main quest is a bad idea. Lots of quests can fail or just disappear if you advance the main story too much too fast. The game will warn you tho so continue at your own discretion.

Side quests

This section is a list of all the side quests I found in the game. Many of them can be completed before others. As a result the order is not absolute but it guarantee that you should not miss any if done in this order. I tried to highlight rewards and quest dependencies as much as I could but there is so much I might have missed some. Some of the rewards listed are drops from boss fights which are random (manual should not be tho did not do too much testing on that) so don't worry too much if you got different rewards.

Tips:
Side quests are the meat of the game. In Wandering Sword entire regions questlines count as side quests. 75% of the characters you can recruit are gated behind side quests. Most of the manuals, blueprints, recipes, and sparagirismes are obtained from side quests. Farming monsters does give you gear and Martial Points to increase your skills but once your capped that's it. The only way to get stronger is to find more manuals or blueprints which are gated by sidequests. (Or farm the Boss of the Mirage Waters and pray to RNJesus that he drop Pills).
Long story short do side quests.

Chest/Gathering

This is a checklist of all the chest I found in the game ordered by locations. I also compiled a list of gathering items ordered by location like ores, wood and fishes for the gathering enthusiasts.

There is a LOT of data so use the shortcuts on the left side to navigate.

Tips:
Some chests have a VERY tight collection time frame. I mention them in the guide but as a rule once you enter a village or a dungeon try to clean it up as much as possible. Some locations are one time only so beware. Many chests are hidden behind the environment, old school RPG style, so watch out for that too. (No I am not gonna put a picture of every chest location).
Long story short hug the walls and look behind everything and you will never miss a chest.

NPC

This is a complete database of all the NPCs in the game you can consult including the content of their bag (that was a mistake, please don't update the bag again dev please). Additionally every NPC that you can train with have their entire Martial Arts kit in there too. I tried to highlight as much as possible when the NPCs would change position or even disappear. There is so much changes however so if I made a mistake tell me and I'll update it.

Tips:
Life is cheap in the Wuxia world and many NPC "disappear". Sometime as soon as you talk to them even ONCE even. Take the habit to consult EVERYONE you find. Usually I try to steal challenge to an "honorable duel" NPC that have pills, manuals, recipes, blueprints then if they have a unique move (especially cultivation) I try to learn it asap.
How do you know if its unique or has no manual? Well you check in the Martial Arts section of course!!!
Long story short inspect everyone and free them from their worldly possessions.

Vendors

This section is a simple dump of all the merchant and vendors that I could find to make ingredient lookup easier when crafting foods or pills.

Weapon

This is a complete list of all the weapons in the game ordered by type including unique ones or NPC only. Most of them can be crafted (some can only be crafted like Tier 1, for now anyway).

Tips:
Weapons are your best source of damage by far after meridian upgrade so try to stay up to date at least on the main character. Its pretty easy to get up to Tier 3 relatively early in the game but anything past that is harder and require some grinding. All of the best weapon in the game (Tier 1) are either obtained from quests or unique to an NPC. This make Tier 2 realistically the easiest to achieve reliably for most of the team. Crafting weapons does make a huge difference. The big change start at Tier 5 when you start seeing the unique weapon bonuses like more Qi on doges, life steal... you know the good stuff. So as soon as you can replace any pieces you have with a crafted version of the same tier.
Long story short craft you weapons.

Armor

This is a complete list of all the armors in the game ordered by type including unique ones or NPC only. Most of them can be crafted.

Tips:
Armors are your best source of defense by far after meridian upgrade so try to stay up to date at least on the main character. Its pretty easy to get up to Tier 3 relatively early in the game but anything past that is harder and require some grinding. All of the best armors in the game (Tier 1) are either obtained from quests or unique to an NPC. Some can be dropped or "generously offered" after a "fair fight" with NPC, check the NPC section for this. This still make Tier 2 realistically the easiest to achieve reliably for most of the team. Crafting armors make a HUGE difference, way more than weapons. The big change start at Tier 5 when you start seeing the unique armor bonuses. As a rule Garment give damage reduction (nice), Headgear give give HP/MP regen (busted), Shoes give doge and makes you run faster on the map and in the towns (insane), Accessory give more money, martial points and pure stats (godlike).
Long story short craft your armors.

Material

This is a complete list of all the materials in the game ordered by rarity and type. I included location for most of them (some can only be crafted like ingots). Most of those can only be gathered (use the gathering section to see where) like ores, woods and fishes.

Tips:
In order to craft you need materials so you know what to do. You will max your gathering stats in no time way wayyyy before anything else. Crafting the best equipment require you to level the skill so you need materials to dump into the craft to gain those levels.
Long story short gather everything.

Consumable

This is a complete list of all the consumables in the game ordered by type and rarity. I did not include location for any of them since most of them can be crafted (some can only be crafted, for now anyway).

Tips:
The most valuable consumable are the elixirs (pills and such) most can be crafted and some farmed (If you like pain). Most of the time you will want the main character to get those. The Southern Chronicles does change this a bit since some of your party members will now have to fight by themselves so plan accordingly. The main character does have access to 99% of the cultivation techniques in the game so he should not be missing too much meridian points in that regard.
Long story short use them on main character or hoard them until you hit a road block.

Rarity

This is a (mostly) complete list of all the rarities in the game ordered by type and rarity.
Most of them can be bought or looted from enemies.

Tips:
For some reason, people don't want to have a "friendly spar" with you right away. You need to give them 10 guqin or a truckload of board games before they agree to "mutually improve your skills". As a result its really important to have a wide variety of rarity to gift the NPC to improve affinity. Past a certain level you will need a gift of greater rarity to keep improving affinity. Usually epic items are enough to reach 80 (most skill affinity requirements). Some NPC dont like rarity but materials or weapons/armor (to each their own)
Long story short keep all the rarities to "gift" NPC.

Manual

This is a complete list of all the martial art manuals, blueprints, recipes and spagirismes in the game ordered by type. I included the location for all of them (some can be obtained from multiple sources).

Tips:
Martial Manuals are part of the unlockables of the game. Each martial manual you collect is tracked and can be carried over into New Game + (for a price). They are the prime reason for multiple playthoughts since some manuals are gated behind exclusive quests or different branching paths in the story. (Dam you Rain of Flowers).
There is a trick to unlock some exclusive martial manuals without multiple playthoughs tho. Manuals are tagged as unlocked in the New Game + shop as soon as you save with the manual in the inventory. This means that if you have a decision to make that would result in you collecting the manual (now or later) you can save before the decision, get the manual, save in a different slot and reload your first save. This way you have the manual unlocked but you can still make a different choice (AKA save scumming).
They are the best source of power for both skill, meridian and gear. Most of them can be learned by the whole team and they never expire so you can have a big reading party with everyone.
Long story short collect as many manual as you can(gota read them all).

Martial Arts

This is a list of all the Martial Arts I could find in the game ordered by weapon and type. I highlight if the Martial Art has a manual or not (for consulting optimisation) and if you can learn it by consulting and if so who is the best candidate to do so. Some Martial Arts cannot be learned by the main character or have neither a consult option or a manual to learn from. Usually this means that the move is tied to story/quest progress or is exclusive to a character.

Tips:
Martial Arts are part of the unlockables of the game. Each martial art you learned is tracked and can be carried over into New Game + (for a price). They are MUCH easier to find than manuals.
The same trick for unlocking them can be applied (save scumming) but its less useful really.
Long story short learn as many martial art as you can especially the cultivation technique (even more so the ones you cannot learn through manuals see sheet).

Quest Item

This is a list of all the quest items I could find in the game ordered by collection time. Most of those items are used automatically so its just there for completion sake. Since the first update some quests where removed or modified and some items were rendered useless as a result. I put those in a separate section as I could not find them anymore.

Tips:
Some quest items are usable (cooking books, letters etc) but most of them are just there for fluff.

[Alter Schwede]

@Lovise you mixes up bai weiyi and baijin… bai weiyi is the one who u need to let die during the nanjiang arc

[Lovise]

Tried for the celestial sword; didn't work. So is there a time on when do you let bai die? I didn't rescue him in the city when the general give you the quest to get the info on the yuan army. Afterward, Ye is still alive after Song tried to assassinate the general. Need more details plz

[Alustor]

Hello @Alter Schwede for the quest 'Frozen Corpse in Beishan' you are right I forgot a choice at the end when you find Chen in Fancheng city. I believe one choice gain affection and the other lower it. It does not matter however as long as you keep his affection under 70 you will be able to recruit Chen othewise You have to kill him until he is dead, not cool

[Alustor]

Hello @prachyakirati thanks for the kind message. I heard they added a new chest there I'll play the game again at some point and add the missing chest at that time thanks for pointing it out.

[prachyakirati]

Hi.Thanks for your amazing spreadsheet.
There's one more hidden chest
During quest "Gusu Lantern Festival" around right corner on the lower stage
1.Xin Metal Pill
2.Fanyang Straw Hat

[Alter Schwede]

About the celestial yang sword manual, I read somewhere about how to get it
From this here:
Celestial Yang Sword Manual

You have to let Bai Weiyi die. This will lead to Ye Fei dying much later at Xungu pass, since noone is there to save him.

I had to say I really hate how you can only get some manuals by making a certain choice, which will only resolve much much later... Especially, since the choice usually involves purposely avoiding the "right" route.

[Alter Schwede]

For the quest Frozen Corpse in Beishan, after searching for Chen Linxi, there is a missing step. You have the option to defend him or trust Zhan Wuxing.
I chose to defend him, but I don't know what will happen if u choose otherwise. Maybe it doesn't matter what you chose?

[Alter Schwede]

For Hui Da the Strange Monk 2, spring thunder guqin can also be found in the inn in yanfu town. An NPC named Guo Rong has it and u can spar with her for it.

[☯~Shady Divider~☯]

Wanted to give a warning out there to anyone else who does the "Refined Bear-Snake Pill" side quest, and has a rather absent mind sometimes like myself.

When you get the two pills from Zhang the Physician, DO NOT immediately consume them. Take them to Daoxuan first. I was following the spreadsheet, and mindlessly popped the pills on Yi before talking to Daoxuan, I didn't get the Floral Pill along with it's Spagirism. Hit me immediately that one of the pills was meant for Daoxun, and I prematurely consumed. Fortunately, I saved just before doing the quest line, so just did it again in about 5 minutes.
The spreadsheet does tell you to take them to Daoxun, but I guess i became too reliant on the Notes portion of quest lines, and figured that since there wasn't a note, it was fine. It should be obvious but... well... eheh... (You do keep both pills regardless, saying you can have his).

[Alustor]

Hello @cc3v_apv thanks for the kind message. Interesting there is so many hidden permutation based on which character you have its crazy.

For the fight with Xiao Hanguang and Shangguan Hong in Mingjian Manor I remember reading something about it being random between Yuwen Yi, Shangguan Hong and Ye Fei but I could not verify this.