I have noticed that there are not many updated Windwalker guides around. So I wanted to share an in-depth guide that focuses on skill builds and basic skill sequences to assist players interested in playing it. The goal is to help formulate viable strategies that fits you.
Windwalker deals damage and quickly weaves in and out of battle by chaining together their aerial and ground attacks. Do try and prioritize your stronger skills along with during Spirit Boost to make use of its cooldown recovery effect. And try to fit reset combos in between if you can.
To reset the ultimate is still valuable to use. Yet, it is not necessarily the primary focus anymore which is a good thing. If a move puts you in the air, then might as well start the reset sequence with . Then do something worthwhile on the ground and see where it will go from there. The ultimate is not going to disappear so no need to rush. It shares an internal cooldown anyways. Keep calm and combo on!
The battle quickly shifts when activating Showtime. Put most of your focus towards going all-out with relentless aerial smashes while still weaving in quick moves in between. As long as the movement is good then the damage should take care of itself.
Support the party by sharing critical% boost and applying +damage% debuff.
Debuffs and Power-Ups
Debuffs
Blooming Kick+: -20% physical and magical defense debuff on-hit. EX skills stack with other debuffs.
Ring Shot: -20% critical resist debuff.
Power-Ups
Fury of the Owl: +10% flat increase to critical chance for 300 seconds (party).
Wisdom of the Owl: +90% flat increase to critical chance for 28 seconds (self).
Spiritual Focus: +27% increase to Agility stat for 180 seconds.
Spirit Boost: +40% action speed and movespeed and -40% cooldown recovery time for 22 seconds (self).
Showtime: -90% flat cooldown reduction for all passive skills for 30 seconds. Transforms Falling Star into Quake Barrage for 100% more damage.
Shortbow Mastery: +1.6 meter attack range and +19.5% damage.
Class Mastery I: Using Air Pounce or Eagle Dive increases damage stat by +10%. Enables Falling Star reset if you stay in an air state for 3 seconds.
Class Mastery II: Enables Rising Storm → Cyclone Kick. Increases damage stat by +10%.
Spirit Boost Tips
Spirit Boost helps refresh your skills and evades.
Find a good time to use at the start or middle of an attack sequence. Ideally you would want to use it for many of your skills to increase damage over time. Not just to idle and wait for one skill on a very long cooldown.
The increased action-speed advances the frames in skill animations making it safer.
Cooldown recovery helps refresh skill cooldowns over a period of time. Every second helps.
For lower [6-12 sec] cooldown, it yields Δ+2.5 to 1.75 extra uses.
For medium [15-20 sec] cooldown, it yields around Δ+1.07 to 0.8 extra casts.
For long [30-40 sec] cooldown, it yields between Δ+0.53 to 0 extra uses (or 16 to 0 seconds).
For super long [60-90+ sec] cooldown, it grants no additional uses and skill will come up 16 to 14 seconds sooner (or 26.7% to 15.5% time reduction per spirit boost).
Works best for skills with a 20 second or lower cooldown. At 30 seconds is still passable with a decent time surplus. Right at 40 seconds is the break even point at 18 seconds saved. For 60 seconds skills, it would be 16 seconds saved. For 90 seconds and beyond, it levels off at 14 seconds saved.
Archer Tree: Yellow passives are the main point of interest here.
Pick up evades and health 4, mana 4, mana regen 4.
Somersault Kick is a necessary move used prior to Somersault Dance.
Moonkick is optional. Use in tandem with Aerial Evasion to get down safely. Good setup move for bouncing players in pvp as well.
Fury of the Owl nets some free critical%.
Put leftover 11-21 points into either Magic Arrow, Willow Kick, Multi-Shot, or Twin Shot just to get to next tree. Not really core for pve but good for pvp.
Wisdom of the Owl power-up is mainly for Heroes’ Battlefield, St. Haven Defense, and other equalized content. It is only a self-buff now. If you wish you may put points into this instead.
Acrobat Tree: Skill point allocation can vary greatly here for windwalkers.
Blooming Kick 10, Cyclone Kick 13, and Furious Winds 13 have good standalone damage and growth. Max especially if you plan to use technique accessories.
Falling Star 2 since it is the ultimate skill.
Butterfly Float 4 for the 1 second cooldown helps with chaining aerials.
Chain Tumble 5/6 is great for more mobility.
Pick up the other evades and power-ups .
Divide the remaining points between Spiral Kick, Air Pounce, Eagle Dive, or Somersault Dance. Vanilla acrobat skills have some unique hitboxes so just try your best to land most of the hits.
A balanced build. Your choice for more points into either Spiral Kick or Somersault Dance. They would both have similar damage per hit. Though it seems more acrobat players have a natural talent for flippers compared to twisters. Air Pounce 6 unlocks 1-2 extra pounces for utility and resets.
For “dips and flips” and “whips and flips” sets. Marionette 16 instead of Spiral Kick would be an option. Geared more towards tempest-inspired acrobats.
For “pounce and slide” aerial-based options during Showtime. Air Pounce is still a useful skill yet sorely needs updated damage values suited for 90-cap. Fun build for experienced aerial-inclined acrobats.
Windwalker Tree: Just pick up and max everything.
Showtime, Rising Storm 11, and all of the skill EX passives and class mastery .
Main Damage:
Quake Barrage
Blooming Kick Rising Storm
Falling Star Furious Winds Cyclone Kick
Spiral Kick Somersault Dance Air Pounce Eagle Dive
Main Nuke:
+ Rising Cyclone Instant Quake Barrage
Low Cooldown Options:
→ Spiral Kick with Blooming Kick
Falling Star →+ Eagle Dive with Somersault Kick+Dance
Damage Charts
The method was simply to attempt and use all of the skills as they came off cooldown. Then, to balance it with reset combos and Showtime-related activities. And after the dust settles see where they all ended up. Full 90-epic +11 gear were used for the test runs.
Analysis
Quake Barrage under Showtime should still be the most damaging series of moves. Keep in mind that the damage reading can get inflated due to area of effect on multiple targets. Blooming Kick is our most dependable low cooldown go-to move. The rest of the skills are decent yet come with longer cooldowns. So the smart use of Spirit Boost will be ever essential in helping the windwalker keep up the momentum. Rising Storm + Cyclone Kick instant proves to be a potent damage pairing. While Air Pounce and Spiral Kick or Eagle Dive with Somersault Dance were just side damage from attempting so many reset combos.
The charts may not really show it that well. However, my run times have decently improved by a few whole minutes. And I did not need wait around as much for Showtime to come back up. So the ratios for Quake Barrage have been reduced by 15-25% and Falling Star by 2-3%. While the other skills did increase modestly well together and shared some more of the workload. So the damage options outside of Showtime are a little more reliable now.
By incorporating a more balanced style, it seems to yield more consistent and reproducible results from one run to the next. In contrast, at least for me the “reset-only” meta has yielded rather volatile results due to being unlucky with critical resist. A common issue that less experienced acrobats may encounter is running out of moves. To have more flexibility and consistency is a step in the right direction for a mobility-oriented class.
A damage crest for a preferred skill would be a solid choice. Other options such as action speed or cooldown has increased synergy and effectiveness with Spirit Boost.
Recommended Crests
[Falling Star damage+]: Quake Barrage during Showtime will be much of your damage.
[Spiral Kick cooldown-]: Lowers cooldown (7.2 sec) to better sync up with Spirit Shot (6 sec) and Air Pounce (6 sec) for aerial reset combos.
Optional Crests
[Blooming Kick reset-chance+]: 16% chance for back-to-back damage.
(Activates at two points: “spinning back kick” and “rising backflip kick” portions. Using both together would actually bring it up to a 32% chance.)
[Furious Winds action-speed+]: Quicker means safer to use. Less need to cancel.
[Rising Storm cooldown-]: Lowers cooldown to 32 seconds for less downtime.
(19 sec under Spirit Boost, ~25 sec when Spirit Boost runs out.)
[Showtime duration+]: Extra +6 seconds for +1 more Quake Barrage.
[Spirit Boost cooldown-]: Saves 9 seconds of downtime for a useful buff.
Other damage+ crests +20%. Probably Blooming Kick, Cyclone Kick, or Rising Storm would be good choices.
Personally, the skill crests that I use are Falling Star damage+, Spiral Kick cooldown-, Rising Storm cooldown-, and Blooming Kick (damage/reset).
[Falling Star] crest powers up Quake Barrage which is quite potent during Showtime. Thankfully, to reset vanilla Falling Star is not quite as one-track as it was before. Yet, it is still helpful during buff wipe scenarios as a part of a balanced attack.
I use [Spiral Kick cooldown-] to simplify the timing for reset combos and it also frees up Eagle Dive. It helps improve “flow” with minimal wait time or fumbling in the air. Resets will be a frequently used combo, so may as well trim the micromanaging aspect to a more enjoyable level.
I also chose [Rising Storm cooldown-] since it works well with Spirit Boost. It can help improve damage over time and induce more Cyclone Kick instant activation. In terms of a single cast, the damage+ option has the edge. While the cooldown- helps release subsequent casts off in a shorter span of time which may increase overall damage.
Effect Spirit Boost has over time for Rising Storm damage+ and cooldown- crests
Time elapsed (in seconds)
No crest
+20% damage
-20% cooldown
0
100%
120%
100%
19
100%
120%
200%
22
200%
240%
200%
44
200%
240%
300%
60
300%
320%
300%
70
300%
320%
400%
120
500%
600%
600%
170
600%
720%
800%
300
1100%
1320%
1300%
315
1100%
1320%
1400%
The results from the synthetic tests were much closer than I expected. Generally, the cooldown option sets the pace for reaching new damage heights. While the damage option plays catch-up with more of lull when spirit boost is down.
[Blooming Kick (damage+ or reset+)] would be a good option. Damage would be the more solid and safer choice. While the reset option depends more on luck in a similar way to Dragoon/Flurry play. I feel the decent odds can be worth the gamble.
[Showtime duration+] lets you get off +1 more Quake Barrage. The risk would be that buff wipes can make this crest near ineffective. It can be well worth it if used at the right time.
[Spirit Boost cooldown-] is a great standard option for many acrobats. Having it up sooner may help increase overall damage over time. Assuming no buff wipes, the downtime reduces to 13 seconds from 22 seconds.
But that is just me though. Feel free to choose whatever you want.
Last crest: Offensive, Ultimate, or any 3rd stat agility. Okay to use a Fierce Crest as you gear up.
Talismans
Life-giving or Wise talisman can be swapped with anything else (elemental, ultimate, etc.)
Armor and Weapons
Armor: +10 armors. Any 90-Epics (ok mainstream), Prophet Unique (so-so cost/perf ratio), 80-RDN-Legendary (great set bonuses, raid-focused), Cor-nura Evo Unique (fd enthusiast).
Weapons: +10-12 shortbow and quiver. Any 90-Epics (ok mainstream), Coma Evo Unique (great), Nightmare Evo Unique (great), 80-RDN-Legendary (great set bonuses, raid-focused), Cor-nura Evo Unique (fd enthusiast).
The defense from any Lv.90 armor can greatly help a melee class such as the acrobat. Of course, RDNL weapons and armors are a premium option. Great amount of damage, hp, and set bonuses at the expense of lower defense stats. A mix might be a good option.
Accessories
High agility Necklace and Earrings. High physical or elemental Rings.
Usable option for necklaces would be vitality (main) with agility (secondary). Maybe defenses (p.def/m.def) with balanced (str, agi, int) would be okay too.
The next best choice for earrings would be balanced (str, agi, int).
For rings, anything that has physical damage as the main stat would be usable.
Technique Accessory options
Choosing the technique accessory route is now a more attractive option than it was in previous level caps. Using technique accessories on maxed rank skills enables a +10% board damage bonus (similar to 6, 11, 16 power spike for most skills). Consider the skills that places high on your damage charts as candidates.
My choices are Blooming Kick and Rising Storm rings, Cyclone Kick earrings, and Spiral Kick costume bow. Blooming Kick and Rising Storm usually get good results so they appeal to me. I would probably try for those ones first. Cyclone Kick was something I settled upon for some extra spike in the instant’s damage. And Spiral Kick since I already have the bow.
Lv.80 Windswept Necklace, Lv.90 Windswept Earrings, and Lv.90 Destructive rings would work as a good starter set. Other premium options include RDN accessories for the set bonus, DDNL elemental rings for the spark percents, or maybe Radiants. Supply varies so it may or may not be a viable mainstream option depending on the server.
As always… up to you.
Dragon Gems
Windswept gems with health. Physical dmg% gems or element% gems (conversion). 90-gems can be enhanced to +10 and more. It requires plenty of materials and jelly to do so. Legendary gems are also available to craft for greater stats.
The sections here and below can be used as a guideline for new players wishing to learn the class on a deeper scale. It also can be useful for returning acrobats looking to brush up on their game.
Section 5: Fundamentals
Many of the more powerful windwalker skills have fairly lengthy animation frames to finish. Find a good time to commit. Staying safe is important so you may have to sacrifice some damage and escape by using invincibility frames of another skill. That would put you either in the air or further along on the ground. And some things can only be done while in the air or ground. If you notice then certain skills will actually be greyed out or on cooldown.
Good to understand how each move interacts and combos with the next for more effective resource management and movement. That way a more intuitive and fluid style of play can be enjoyed.
Skill Types
Ground moves (ground state)
Blooming Kick – Step forward for a spinning back kick.
Blooming Kick EX – Regular version followed by a rising flip kick into the air.
Cyclone Kick (evade) – Perform a series of twister kicks finishing in the air.
Furious Winds – Concentrate a dome of wind energy around oneself.
Kick Shot (evade) – Dash forward and backflip, followed by 3 arrows.
Marionette – Launch whip daggers to pull mobs towards you.
Ring Shot (evade) – Flip upwards, shoot down a circle of arrows for knockback.
Rising Storm (evade) – Spin like a top and pull mobs in for launching dropkick.
Somersault Kick – Backflip kick launches enemies in the air.
Air → Ground: when you run out of aerials and need to land
Spiral Kick, Eagle Dive, Moon Kick
Ground → Ground: extra gap closing to connect another attack
Spiral Kick, Kick Shot, Tumble
Air → Air: for airtime and flying
Spiral Kick, Spirit Shot, Air Pounce, Butterfly Float
Pushing Moves: for moving obstacles out of the way
Good ones: Spin Kick, Spiral Kick, Kick Shot, Spirit Shot, Multi-Shot, Twin Shot, Ring Shot
Do not use: . Keeps object in same spot.
Evades and Escapes
Invincibility Frames to avoid damage
Full duration: Tumble or Chain Tumble, Somersault Dance
Partial duration: Butterfly Float, Ring Shot, Kick Shot, Cyclone Kick, Rising Storm, Falling Star, Roll on floor (double-tap directional), Pin Wheel (wake-up attack).
Power I-frames when hit to escape taking further damage
Power Tumble, Aerial Evasion, Counter Ring Shot
Gap Closers
Tumble + Chain Tumble
Butterfly Float → Spiral Kick
[+] → → → → (with : → )
Skill Canceling
Most skills → , , , other skills
Not able to cancel:
Skill Links
1. Spiral Kick can connect into many skills once slowing animation surfaces (Not a true cancel). If going for damage, then you would want to delay activation until right before contact so the hits will land.
→ [, , , ] (quick rise to air)
→ [, , ] (will be in air eventually)
→ [, , ] (still on ground)
2. Eagle Dive EX connects to Somersault Kick into follow-up (usually )
→ +
→ → [, , , , etc.]
3. Many skills can connect to Butterfly Float.
[, , , , , , , ] →
4. Butterfly Float can transition into various aerial moves, except.
→ [, , , , ]
5. Rising Storm to Cyclone Kick instant technology. Like many other instant skills, it is possible to fit extra moves during 1.5 second window while in mid-air. Adjust to your target or just for extra style.
→ (Standard)
→ → (Too high, get lower. Moonkick usually up)
→ → (Too high, get lower. Class mastery 1 bonus)
→ → (If low air, possible to connect all 3. Class mastery 1 bonus)
→ [+] (Connect from relatively close)
→ [+] → (Connect from further away)
→ [++] → (Style points)
Damage sequences
Here are some basic “building block” Windwalker sequences for ideas that players may build upon. At its core acrobat moves are very much like lego pieces. Add, omit, or rearrange certain parts to whatever works for you and the situation.
Aerial Assault: → → → [ OR ]
Somersault Flips: → [+] → → [+]
Kick and Scoop: → (flip) → → [ OR ] → →
May be followed up with: , , , , , , , → for max damage.
Aerial Assault is a good for getting into the aerial game quickly. Somersault Flip initiates from semi-close range for series of spin attacks. While Kick and Scoop does a quick whiff-punish to set up juggle attacks into aerial game.
Basic all-in: → → [+] → + →
Something short and sweet for one of those “dps windows”.
Extended sequences:
→ [ → + → +(reset)] → → [ → +] → → → [+] →
→ → [+] → [+ → + → +(reset)] → → + → →
→ + → → [ → + → +(reset) → +] →
It does requires a delicate balancing act between air and ground. As long as you understand how to maneuver between the two, then it should be fine. Just try to have fun with it.
The Falling Star ultimate can be reset by gaining enough airtime. Airtime is acquired by using aerial moves consecutively for 3 seconds. The order does not matter as long as the moves used are categorized as “aerial”. So expect to chain together either Butterfly Float, Spirit Shot, Spiral Kick, Air Pounce, or Eagle Dive often. Try and drag out the animation of each move for as long as possible.
Air Pounce adds more airtime and leeway to the start of reset combos. Rely less on final frame moves such as full distance Spiral Kick or last second Eagle Dive. Since the reset finishes earlier, then you are more easily able to use right-click for extra damage. This method is actually fully compatible with Spirit Boost or a Lencea’s Harmonize.
Eagle Dive ender requires some more precision especially when dealing with uneven ground. Use the active version when linking from .
Falling Star can be more safely used as a counter-attack to make use of its starting i-frame. Read and look for an opening prior to using it.
I do not expect everyone to learn flying right away. Although these flying techniques can also be used to reset the ultimate too. So learning one can actually help with the other. Mostly just for the fun 22 seconds it lasts.
Great place to practice would be in “Eyes of the Goddess” dungeon in Arendel Lv.75-80 portal. It has a very big crater so you can freely practice mechanics and not have to worry about touching the ground. For convenience there is even a portal at the bottom which sends you straight back to the top.
Get really high in the sky with Rising Storm or Pounce on a big monster. Need both Showtime and Spirit Boost power-ups in order to fly.
1. Beginner – Spiral-Shot method
→ [+] → [ → +]
Hold [back / shift ]. Then, quick alternating right and left clicks.
What the goodness?! ʕ •́؈•̀ ₎ This guide ended up being much lengthier than I anticipated. Well, I hope by reading this guide that it was able to help you gain greater insight on the Windwalker. Much of it is naturally learned just from playing. Have fun and stay flying!
NamiMuffin, windwalker player from NA server
Preliminary Thoughts on Lv.93 Awakening for Windwalker
The Windwalker will gain a new “Air Current” bubble resource system which increases the damage and availability of skills. Perhaps “Slipstream” or “Tailwind” would be good alternative names for it. New active skills in “Flash Kick” and “Swift Attack” are also added to the mix. The animations are on point and both look quite fun to use. The new Spiral Kick looks interesting to try and master. It may also mark the return to aerial relevance for Air Pounce. I feel these changes have the makings to help reinvigorate play for the windwalker.
Though I have yet to try it out. My initial impressions of the awakening looks promising so far. There appears to be more open-ended possibilities in what we can do especially in the air. Probably expect some new “airwalker” combos and much less “tempwalker” stuff as the core gameplay.
Skill crest options seem pretty open for now. The big question is whether to build more around Showtime or Air Current? Or maybe even some utility. It would depend on your favorite skills to use. Probably any of the “Air Current” empowered skills such as Blooming Kick, Rising Storm, or Eagle Dive would be a good place to start. Falling Star, Air Pounce, or Spiral Kick could be good too. Spirit Boost and Butterfly Float would have its uses. And it appears that tech accessories would scale very well with our main skills.
It is going to be interesting to see all the creative combinations. Something in particular that I am curious to try out would be a “99-percent only” windwalker skill build. Many windwalker skills were improved so it makes good sense to use them more often. I plan to explore and learn the new windwalker and many of its possibilities. Hopefully I can link a brand new guide in the future. It should be fun whenever 93-cap becomes available. ^-^
Change Log
ver.1.3: 8/05/16. Changed wording order to improve overall readability (in playstyle, skill build, and new technique for skill links sections). Added stat growth for gearing section. Added “Eyes of Goddess” as practice area for flying section. Added preliminary thoughts for Lv.93 Windwalker Awakening.
ver.1.2: 5/05/16. Updated skill builds and rankings as a result of the acrobat buff of April 2016 for NA server. Updated gearing section regarding stats and technique accessories. Added descriptions for individual skills.
ver.1.1: 3/13/16. Added fundamentals section and updated combo sequences.
ver.1.0: 2/02/16. Launched windwalker guide detailing builds and gearing options along with reset combo sequences.
2 thoughts on “Dragon Nest – Windwalker Lv.90 PvE Guide ver.1.3 by NamiMuffin [updated 8/05/16]”
Thanks for the guide and the combo section, I was so confused this week since I returned to play on monday (I don’t play since cap 60) and many things have changed.
Dreampuff Scribbles 
Thanks for the guide and the combo section, I was so confused this week since I returned to play on monday (I don’t play since cap 60) and many things have changed.
I hope you update this, I will follow it ❤ !
Cheers !
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Welcome back to DN! Yes, much has changed since then. I am glad the guide helps. More updates are on the way.
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