Beginners Guide for Wuthering Waves: Tips and Tricks

Wuthering Waves is a clone of Genshin Impact, which has adopted many mechanics from the original but is not devoid of unique features. Some of them may raise questions, so we have prepared a guide for beginners to briefly tell you about all the features of the new game.

First, you need to decide on which platform you will play. There are several available platforms — PC and phones based on Android and iOS. The game will also be released on consoles, but later. After that, register on the official website of the game. This is necessary to save progress, as you can start playing on a PC and then continue from the same place on your phone.

Just like in Genshin Impact, you will have a whole team of heroes, but you will choose the main one at the very beginning. Decide on the gender — that's all that is required. Otherwise, the boy and girl have identical characteristics. The plot also does not change.

You will mostly explore the world on foot, but there are some bonuses. Almost at the very beginning, you will get a glider, which allows you to glide from high objects until your stamina runs out. The same tool is available in Genshin Impact.

However, what wasn't there is the grappling hook. The gadget will be unlocked through the story and will allow you to quickly climb heights even in battle. In addition, sprinting does not consume stamina outside of battle, which also saves your time. Heroes can also run along vertical walls and automatically cling to obstacles, as well as climb (nothing new here).

Interestingly, the gadget selection menu slows down time, which gives you the opportunity to combine various devices and achieve an incredible level of mobility.

There will be a number of other tools in the arsenal that simplify navigation. For example, a scanner will highlight objects of interest, and a levitator will lift an item into the air, which will be useful in puzzles.

Some Echo abilities and personal skills of characters will also allow you to speed up, but we will talk about this below.

It will not be superfluous to have tall heroes in the squad. Strangely enough, this matters, as tall characters run faster and spend less stamina on climbing.

The game has a fast travel mechanic for previously explored areas. For this, you will need resonance beacons and Nexuses. Both types of structures serve the same purpose, but Nexuses also open interesting objects on the map, while beacons are just points for «teleportation». All towers, as well as other places to explore, can be found on the interactive map in our guide.

For exploring the world, you can receive rewards from the Pioneers Association. Similar to the Travelers' Guild in Genshin Impact, the Association grants bonus rewards for almost every routine action aimed at uncovering the map and local secrets.

To perform activities, complete quests, and events, you need to spend wave plates. One such plate is automatically restored every 6 minutes. Special currencies like «crystalline solvents» or «astrites» allow you to exchange them immediately for 60 plates. Overall, this mechanic is a natural limitation, akin to energy in mobile games.

By completing quests, you will gain Unity experience. Simply put, this is player experience, regardless of the heroes used. The higher the experience, the more features are available to you. Every 12 hours, with a certain amount of Unity points, you can increase the world level (SOL-3 phase). Monsters become harder, but the rewards are higher. The good news is that the world level can also be lowered.

While traveling, you may notice a swarm of golden butterflies. Don't miss them. As soon as the hero approaches, the butterflies will start moving. Follow them to discover a treasure or another interesting place.

In various places in the world, there are golden cubes called Sonance Caskets. They are worth collecting because the finds can later be exchanged with a relic trader.

Tidal Legacy is a special place where you need to defeat a strong enemy to unlock a star (purple or white). After the victory, activate the star to receive rewards and some other items that can be exchanged for upgrade resources.

The world of Wuthering Waves has many puzzles, but they are roughly divided into several types — use a physical object to, for example, burn an obstacle; place objects on platforms using a levitator; fix signal decoders, where you need to connect tiles of the same color with non-intersecting lines. In the future, other tasks will surely appear, but in any case, they should not be skipped, as they are a relatively easy way to get rewards and resources peacefully.

Bosses are certainly present in the game. You can view all their locations on the interactive map. To engage in a battle, you will need to pay 60 wave plates, but the reward is worth it. Bosses provide resources for significant upgrades to heroes and weapons.

The range of activities is quite large, and we will highlight the main ones that are especially important. Firstly, do not ignore events and activities. Some of them are time-limited and will give you the opportunity to obtain new heroes.

Secondly, be sure to visit a number of locations and points of interest. The first one is the Simulation Zone. This is a series of battles for which you will receive resources to upgrade heroes, weapons, and Echo. The participation cost is 40 plates.

Forgery Trial is another activity. The cost is the same as in the previous one. Here you will receive specific materials for weapons.

Bosses — no surprises, kill strong opponents for 60 plates and receive many rewards. On average, bosses respawn every 3 minutes after being defeated.

Tacet Fields — activities for Echo development. It involves several battles. The cost is 60 plates.

Tower of Adversity — especially dangerous dungeons that are also time-limited. Do not come here too early. This type of entertainment is for the most upgraded resonators. The tower is divided into zones. The first is stable, consisting of 4 stages. The second is experimental, consisting of 8 stages and will require several teams of resonators (about 3). The third zone is dangerous, with 10 stages accordingly.

Depths of the Phantom World — a «roguelike» where the team of resonators receives random upgrades that simplify further progress. The stages also change each time, but a boss invariably awaits you at the end. The plus is that the Depths do not require plates.

Resonators are all playable heroes. Many of them join your team through the story or after events, while others will have to be obtained in the local Gacha, called Summon. Resonators stand against the silent dissonances — bosses. A distinctive feature of all resonators is their susceptibility to a particular element:

All resonators are divided by rarity. The most useful are those with a rarity of 4 or 5 stars.

Each hero has an impressive list of characteristics that will gradually increase.

As we wrote above, each hero is good in a certain element. Accordingly, they have resistances or weaknesses to some of them. The same applies to enemies. While you can always defeat weak opponents with just physical attacks, you will have to think about the team composition for bosses to achieve the perfect combination. If you make a mistake, the monster will have resistance to elemental attacks, and your efficiency will significantly decrease, which will naturally affect the difficulty of the battle.

This division is conditional, as heroes can be tailored to your needs, but most characters initially have a certain predisposition to a role in the squad. Conditionally, all roles can be divided into three large groups:

Main Damage Dealers (main-DPS) — the main striking force of the squad and those who deal the maximum damage;

Secondary Damage Dealers (sub-DPS) — mainly needed to give the main damage dealers time to recharge their skills. Sub-DPS also deal decent damage and can strengthen your main characters;

Supports — heroes created for support. Supports include those who heal and those who apply various defensive buffs or shields. As a rule, such characters are not strong in direct confrontations but can absorb quite a lot of damage.

We have a separate guide on this topic. Here, it is only important to note that you have quite a bit of room for imagination. Even the not-so-strong heroes can be adjusted, and your main goal is mutual support. Look for characters that will complement each other well. It is important to know that there are always three people in the team. You can't take more into the squad.

When creating a team, it is important to understand that each hero wields only one type of weapon and will not use another. There are 5 means of killing in the game:

Weapons only affect the area of effect and the hero's position in battle. It is logical that a character with a heavy broadblade should not appear far from the center of the battle, and conversely, the pistol wielder should be kept on the sidelines.

For all Genshin Impact lovers and other similar gacha games, the system is familiar, but if you are a newbie, banners can be confusing. Banners open up the opportunity for the local casino, where by spending some amount of special rare resources you can get new characters or equipment. In Wuthering Waves, there are three types of banners:

A special feature of Wuthering Waves is that by leveling up the data bank, you reduce the cost of heroes and increase the chance of getting especially rare ones, as well as the variety of Echo. To progress, you will have to catch various creatures to fill in information about them.

Echo is another distinctive feature of the game that competitors do not have. By killing enemies, you will periodically notice orange holograms that remain in place of their bodies. The frequency of their appearance directly depends on the level of the data bank. This is Echo. Each hero has a certain limit of points (initially 8), which can be spent on installing several Echo. Each Echo costs a certain number of these points, so it won't be possible to install all the most expensive ones in any case.

The character will receive the active and passive abilities of the creature they killed and whose Echo they activated. It is important that the first Echo in the column will give an active skill, which can turn you into the same monster or give other powers. All other Echo give only passives.

Essentially, Echo is a variant of artifacts from Genshin Impact, but more advanced. As with artifacts, the number and specific composition of the Echo chain matter. Some particularly strong bonuses you will receive by collecting a strictly defined sequence. Read more in the separate guide.

Along with characteristics, each hero has a number of indicators that will improve over time. The first is, of course, the level. The higher it is, the more powerful the hero. There are 90 levels in total, divided into 6 ascension stages. To move from one stage to another, you will need to collect a certain set of resources, after which the level increase will continue. The second indicator is abilities. These are active skills that can also be improved up to level 10 for another set of resources. Finally, the resonance chain is a variant of constellations from Genshin Impact. This indicator can be developed using hero duplicates.

The leveling of equipment and weapons occurs in a similar way. There are also 90 levels and their own 6 ascension stages. And yes, you understood correctly — a special set of resources will be required.

Echo can also be improved. For this, duplicates of creatures and special resources will be needed. As a result, the buffs received by the hero will increase.

Combat is very reminiscent of Genshin Impact. You have a normal attack, a strong attack, a «Resonance Skill» that will gradually recover after each use, «Resonance Release» or simply an ultimate, «Forte Chain» — an individual ability of the hero, as well as «Outro» and «Intro» abilities.

The Resonance Skill can be either offensive or defensive. The beauty is that it can be used quite often, and no special conditions are required for activation.

With Resonance Release, things are a bit more complicated. Activation requires it to be charged by fulfilling a mandatory condition, such as an extreme dodge.

The Forte Chain gauge is located just above the character's health. Activation of the individual skill requires individual conditions, so each resonator has its own.

Outro and Intro skills are activated when the hero exits combat and enters combat, respectively. They also have a separate gauge to the left of health — the Concert energy.

Don't forget that you also have an active Echo skill, which will either transform you into another creature or summon it as an assistant.

An important difference from Genshin Impact is the presence of parries. When a yellow circle appears around the enemy, press the attack button. The hero will automatically counterattack and either knock off the enemy's shield or stun them.

Dodges work a bit unusually. If you manage to dodge an attack at the very last moment, the maneuver will be considered extreme. You will instantly replenish the gauge for Outro and Intro abilities, as well as deal a powerful counterattack.

Under the health bar of particularly strong enemies and bosses, there is a white bar called the vibration strength. Simply put, this is the resistance that decreases from attacks and any damage. When the bar is empty, the enemy will be incapacitated for a while, and the hero will deal a strong finishing move. The fastest way to reduce vibration strength is with counterattacks, so you will need to parry often.

Yes, the game has cooperative mode right from the start, but there is one catch. Access to cooperative adventures opens at Unity level 30, so you won't be able to play from the very beginning in a company.

The local battle pass is called the «Pioneer Podcast.» By completing set tasks, the player can receive some rewards. The podcast is divided into free and paid (for real money). The rewards in the latter are significantly better accordingly.

If you are a beginner, understanding all the information above will not be easy. Therefore, at the beginning, just study the game and go through the storyline. The initial stages are quite easy to master, allowing you to get used to the basic mechanics of the game without top characters and special upgrades.

Keep in mind that spending resources on average weapons makes no sense, you will quickly find a replacement, and the materials may come in handy for something more worthwhile.

Do not rush to increase the world level so as not to find yourself in an impassable situation. Also, don't forget to use crafting. There are masters in the game who will create equipment for you with their own hands. Sometimes it will be no worse than what you buy or find.