Where Winds Meet hands you eight weapon families and two slots to fill. Sword, fan and spear are the three you will weigh first, and only one of them is a safe opening commitment.
The reason is not raw damage. It is that nothing you invest comes back. Inner Ways points, Martial Point upgrades and Refine Arts stay with the weapon you spent them on, and the Basic Talent Tree cannot be respecced at all. Picking wrong costs you a season, not an evening.
Verdict
The Nameless Sword is the weapon to build around, and it is already in your bag on hour one. It clears story content, world objectives and elite camps solo, it stays relevant in a party, and it pairs cleanly with the Heavenquaker Spear for pack damage. The spear takes second place: excellent in a group, slower alone, and the Stormbreaker variant is the honest answer if you would rather tank than out-damage. The Panacea Fan is the game's only real healer weapon and it is very good at that one job, which is exactly why it is the wrong first pick for anyone who plays alone more than half the time. Commit to the sword, dump your resources into Arsenal nodes, and reconsider the fan once your first weapon is finished.
The Best Weapon to Level First Is the Nameless Sword
The Nameless Sword is the weapon to level first, and the gap is not close. It is the only one of the three that clears content with nobody else logged in.
The Panacea Fan cannot do that. It is the dedicated healer weapon, built around keeping other people upright, and its damage reflects that. The spear sits between them: strong on packs, slower on a single target.
I rebuilt an account from zero this season and ran the fan on purpose for the first twenty hours. World objectives took me roughly twice as long, and I finished none of the elite camps alone.
Sword, Fan or Spear: What You Cannot Take Back
Nothing transfers between weapons
Talent points do not follow you. Inner Ways points, Martial Point upgrades and Refine Arts are tied to the weapon you spent them on. Drop the weapon, drop the investment.
The Basic Talent Tree is stricter still: there is no respec. A node you set is set for the account.
Spend in this order:
- Arsenal nodes first — the multiplicative bonus only fires on nodes you have unlocked.
- Weapon tiers second — flat stats, far less return per resource.
- Cosmetics last, and only once the build is finished.
What being wrong actually costs
On my main I still carry a spear I stopped using in the spring. The points are in it, and none of them came back when I moved. When the decision is unrefundable, take the weapon that works in every mode.
Start Where Winds Meet — free on PC and console
The Nameless Sword is in your bag from the first hour. Build your Arsenal nodes around it before you spend a single Martial Point anywhere else.
Go to the official page →When the Spear or the Fan Is Your Best First Weapon
Level the spear first if you play in a group most nights. Heavenquaker's combo meter rewards sustained pack damage, and Stormbreaker gives you the taunt and the sixteen seconds of damage reduction a party actually asks for.
Take the spear over the sword when:
- you run dungeons with the same people every week
- you would rather hold a boss in place than out-damage it
- someone in your group is already on a sword
Take the fan when:
- you want instant group invites and you do not mind slow solo play
- you have a fixed partner who plays DPS every session
- healing is what you enjoy, not a role you tolerate
Do not take the fan as a solo player. You will spend your evenings looking for someone to hit things for you. That is a schedule problem, not a build problem.
What Would Move the Sword Off the Top
The Heavenwill Gauntlets, added in July 2026, are the first real challenger. They sit behind the Mohist Hill Sect and a reputation purchase, so they are not a first-week answer. Community rankings have not settled on them. Finish your sword before you chase them.
The healer queue is a trap you can spring by accident. Equip a healing weapon and the game files you as a healer even when you left the role unticked. Unequip the fan before you queue as DPS.
Your machine is not part of this decision. Choose the weapon first, then deal with the install size and the lighter client in our PC requirements piece.
Three weapons, one column that settles it: what happens when nobody else is online.
| Criterion | Sword (Nameless) | Spear (Heavenquaker) | Fan (Panacea) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier on current community lists | S | S | S, healer only |
| How you get it | Free, starting weapon | Free, starting weapon | Unlocked in the world, later |
| Group role you fill | DPS | DPS, or tank with Stormbreaker | Healer, and only healer |
| Solo story and world objectives | Self-sufficient | Self-sufficient, best on packs | Needs a partner |
| Queue it puts you in | DPS | DPS or tank | Healer, even if unticked |
| Talent points refunded if you drop it | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Best partner weapon | Heavenquaker Spear | Nameless Sword | Soulshade Umbrella |