Windrose: 6 Tips For Surviving Solo
Windrose is a tough game, there is no way around it. Even in the easier difficulty settings, enemies hit like trucks and can overwhelm you easily, even all the way down to the Coastal Dodos. That doesn’t mean it is insurmountable, though.
Windrose: Thomas Richards Boss Guide
With our 6 tips for surviving solo, you’ll find that conquering the Coastal Jungle and beyond in Windrose is possible, even if you’re braving the seas all by your lonesome.
Complete The Two Tutorial Quests First
Windrose bombards you with missions early, and it doesn’t do a great job in telling you which ones you should do first. You’ll most likely do what I did, which is focus the Main Quests (yellow icons), but you shouldn’t. The only Main Quest you should prioritize is “I Need A Bigger Boat”, which unlocks access to the first ship in the game.
Before you progress through any others, though, you should focus on complete the two Tutorial Quests, which are unfortunately hidden all the way down at the bottom of your Adventure page. They are:
- How My Shore Adventure Began
- How My Sea Adventure Began
The first leads right into the second and, while they don’t give any direct rewards, they unlock access to the most important aspects of the early game. Completing both tutorial quests will lead you right to the Tortuga Market, where you can progress your reputations with all four factions and buy important items.
Recommended Level Is Based On Your Items, Not Your Character
Sticking to the topic of quests, Windrose does a pretty poor job in explaining what exactly its level recommendations mean. Like most people, I though that it was based on character level. It seems like the game itself thinks that, as it identifies enemies with red lettering if your character level is below theirs.
The thing is, your character level is pretty much irrelevant. What truly matters is your weapon and armor level, and the same goes for your ship equipment. When you hover over a quest and it says “Recommended Character Level 5”, this means that your enemies (or enemy ships) will be level 5.
If you try to complete it even at Character level 8 but with items level 3 or 4, it will be a struggle. But if you go there with your items or ship equipment at the recommended level, you will have a much easier time.
Keep Your Rested Status On
You might’ve noticed that every time you are in your base or in your ship (actual ship, not the tiny Boat), you become Rested. This is an effect that buffs your Stamina regeneration two or threefold. It is crucial for making you deadlier in combat and to speed up your wood and ore farming.
The amount of time your Rested bonus remains is based on how high your Base’s comfort is. At Comfort level 15 our bonus lasts for over 23 mins, plenty of time. It does go away after dying, though, so be sure to stick around in your base to get it back or, if you are stranded on an Island without access to your base, just head onto your Ship and you will get the same bonus you would in your base.
Only Board Ships With Chest Icons
Taking down enemy ships is a great way to farm Piastre (silver coins) and ship consumables in Windrose. The game lets you know that Boarding an enemy ship wields more resources, but it rarely is worth it.
Most enemy ships navigate in groups and, more often than not, you will spot a couple of combat-focused ships, like Gunboats, escorting a ship with a chest icon, like a Hauler.
While it is technically true that all ships wield more loot when your Board them, there is a magnitude difference based on ship type. As an example, if you Board a level 2 Gunboat you receive 3 bonus Piastre, which is nothing. If you Board a Hauler of the same level, though, that will net you 50 Piastre.
Do keep in mind, though, that Boarding Haulers is tougher. Even low level ones will have close to 10 enemies to take down, so be sure to upgrade your Boarding Party equipment.
Always Place A Tent
Like everyone has been saying, Windrose is quite difficult. Death is part of the experience and will happen constantly, so you should be prepared. One great habit to develop is to place a tent down every time you reach a new island.
Interact with it to set it as your revive point and that way you won’t need a multi-minute walk back if you get destroyed by a group of Boars. A better way to do this is to place down a Fast Travel building, but a tent is much cheaper.
Funnel Enemies To Chokepoints
One of the toughest (and clunkiest) parts of Windrose is fighting groups of enemies. Unfortunately, you will be doing it a lot, especially when Boarding ships or trying to clear enemy camps.
Windrose does not deal with groups fights well. The game has a tough time letting you switch your lock-on target and if you’re not facing your enemy, your Parries will often miss.
To minimize the issues that you get in group fights, try to funnel your enemies into chokepoints. When Boarding ships, use the stairs or those small rooms and fight enemies at the doorstep. When fighting in ruins or camps, funnel them into tents or smaller ruins.
This will still be clunky, but you will often be able to hit a couple enemies at once and, crucially, you can keep them all in front of you for more reliable blocks and parries.
