Introduction

Self Introduction

Hi, I'm Naka! I've played Windwalker since 50 cap in NADN, and have playing on Project Duck since June 2019. I have tried out different classes here and there (mostly Ice Witch and Dark Summoner), but I find myself always coming back to Windwalker as her playstyle is so unique and fun!

I've worked on editing and publishing player guides here at Project Duck, and now it's time for me to write one of my own! By the way – if you're interested in learning about other classes, we have a Class Guide Archive. - Vino

Class

Windwalker is a fast-paced melee class that relies on combining different passive skills in order to stay alive while dishing out damage. Additionally, her ability to stay in the air gives extra DPS time for certain mechanics while other classes may have to run away. This class relies on iframes (similar to Gladiator and Tempest), which is crucial to keeping up consistent DPS.

Unlike a majority of classes, a lot of Windwalker's playstyle revolves around using her passive mobility skills instead of active skills. A lot of her skills will flow into each other, which makes her playstyle relatively smooth. This guide aims to give you a better understanding of Windwalker's gameplay and how her skills work together.

Skills

Archer

[Willow Kick]: This isn't meant to do incredible damage, but is key to maximizing your [Falling Star] damage.

[Multi Shot]: I never use this as DPS, but instead for certain damage and SA break based mechanics where you have to break things (ex: Desert Dragon Nest, Dragon Phase 2 Sand Bind or Ice Dragon Nest, Dragon Phase 1 Walls).

Acrobat

Please note that "Instant" and "Awakened" are interchangeable – I am referring to the same skill.

[Somersault Dance]: Not a damage dealing skill but a life saving one due to its full iframe. You can use this after [Eagle Dive EX] by right clicking afterwards.

[Ring Shot]: Applies a -20% critical resist debuff. Honestly, it's pretty awkward to chain into the rotation, but try to use it when you can. I sometimes use this skill to dodge stomps while also debuffing the boss.

[Air Pounce]: Super useful for adjusting your positioning and overall getting a better view of the boss (for calling out mechs/better visibility in general). This is essentially what is resetting your Ultimate, [Falling Star]. Again, this skill isn't meant to do a lot of damage but is key to resetting your Ultimate.

• Note that you do not have to be in contact with the boss to use one [Air Pounce]. This gives you more flexibility in terms of chaining together different passives for mobility.
• [Air Pounce] has an Awakened passive which gives a 20% chance of increased damage for [Blooming Kick], [Eagle Dive], [Swift Attack], [Rising Storm], and [Cyclone Kick]. I've personally incorporated this into my playstyle through use of [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] (flip into [Air Pounce]) and [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] (same thing).

[Eagle Dive EX (Instant)]: Quick, bursty, and chains into [Somersault Dance]. Its damage is a bit under [Blooming Kick (Instant)] but I find myself still using this for bursting out a boss right before a bar mechanic, or mechanics like Ice Dragon Phase 2 Crystals. This is one out of four main Awakening Instant skills that make up your DPS outside of [Falling Star]. Please note that on other servers and live servers, this is the main DPS skill used while trying to reset your Ultimate. However, Project Duck has adjusted % for all four awakening skills so this is no longer prioritized.

• [Eagle Dive EX] on its own isn't really used, unless I happen to be out of bubbles by some chance and [Flash Kick] is down.
• Note that [Eagle Dive EX] and [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] do have the tendency to bug out sometimes, leading to a suuuuper weird long descent to the ground. You can choose to either cancel this (using [Flash Kick]) or just right click into [Somersault Dance] (after landing) if the boss is using a mechanic.

[Spiral Kick EX]: Super useful for safely adjusting your positioning (due to full iframe) and chaining into [Air Pounce]. This skill is also useful for pushing objects as well. This is an important utility skill that is key to maintaining consistent DPS on Windwalker.

• There's three different variations of [Spiral Kick EX], depending on whether you right click, left click, or spacebar.
• Right click: chains into another [Spiral Kick] (note that this second [Spiral Kick] is not iframed)
• Left click: chains into [Spirit Shot], I find myself never using this
• Spacebar: lift, very similar to [Blooming Kick EX]'s lift – I also use this to chain into [Air Pounce]

[Blooming Kick EX (Instant)]: One of your top DPS skills apart from [Falling Star]. The second part of this skill lifts you up in the air and is super useful to reposition and/or [Air Pounce] right after.

• [Blooming Kick EX] also applies a +20% damage dealt debuff to enemies. This is important to remember as you may want to use your bubbles on another Instant skill – but again, it depends on the situation.

[Falling Star]: Your #1 damage dealer (should appear at the top of your skill spread). On Project Duck, this skill will continue to do the same % of damage as it would while [Showtime] is up – thus, it's important to keep on resetting this skill over and over as you DPS (regardless if [Showtime] is up or not).

[Spirit Boost]: Not much else to say other than to use this off CD. If you're using [Party Spirit Boost/Spirit Ascension], have a good understanding of boss mechanics and timing so you don't waste the buff because of a buff wipe.

• There is generally no big difference between going [Spirit Boost] vs. [Party Spirit Boost/Spirit Ascension] in a raid situation (you are  sacrificing your damage in the latter choice for increased party DPS from your teammates). I would not advise going [Party Spirit Boost] when running 4-man content.

Windwalker

[Showtime]: Again, use this off CD. This skill gives Windwalker even more mobility and you can quickly reset your Ultimate as [Air Pounce] and all your other passives no longer have cooldowns.

[Rising Storm EX (Instant)]: I never use this in BTG, but I do find myself using this during certain raid mechanics such as Ice Dragon Nest Phase 2 Spears 'n Stomps Mechanic. The rule of thumb I generally use for this is to avoid using it unless you are 1) dodging a stomp or 2) dodging a mechanic, as it launches you up in the air (and often too high to maximize your damage with other skills).

• I never use [Rising Storm EX]. There are much better skills to use that maximize your DPS.

Awakening

[Swift Attack (Instant)]: I also don't find myself using this, as [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] provides a debuff along with an easy lift into [Air Pounce], and [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] deals quick burst damage. However, this skill is super useful – its pretty much a full iframe for its full duration – for dodging some of those wonky mechanics that you can never seem to properly tumble or iframe.

• [Swift Attack]: I use this to dodge, same as [Swift Attack (Instant)].

[Flash Kick]: Spam this off cooldown. This skill isn't meant to do damage but is what you need to consistently generate bubbles alongside [Air Pounce]. Additionally, this skill lets you get out of certain animation locks such as the end of [Falling Star].

Invincibility Frames

Windwalker has many iframes, but the majority of them only have small windows so be smart in how you utilize them – the potential to chain a lot of these skills together gives you the potential for extended iframes.

• [Kick Shot]: The first few frames where you bend yourself in half while briefly going forward.
• [Chain Tumble]: Pretty much the whole animation.
• [Ring Shot]: Initial jump in the air.
• [Somersault Dance]: Entire animation.
• [Butterfly Float]: Basically the entire animation.
• [Cyclone Kick]: First two kicks.
• [Falling Star]: From the moment when you are in the air to the moment right before you strike a pose on the ground.
• [Spiral Kick]: Basically the whole thing.
• [Rising Storm]: When you do the splits and spin to win.
• [Swift Attack]: Basically the whole thing.

Pushing Skills

Windwalker isn't that great at pushing, but there's still some skills that allow you to help out with whatever object you need to be pushing. Skills are listed in order of most to least push potential.  

• [Spiral Kick] / [Spiral Kick EX]: right click after [Spiral Kick] for an extra push (aka to activate the EX)
• [Cyclone Kick]: initial first three kicks
• [Spirit Shot]: I prefer to [Spirit Shot] after I've used [Spiral Kick EX] to push
• [Twin Shot]: just aim
• [Multi Shot]: this honestly barely pushes but if you're desperate use it (or just right kick...)

If you have [Showtime] up you can spam [Spiral Kick] → [Spiral Kick EX] → [Spirit Shot] (→ [Butterfly Float] backwards to chain into [Spiral Kick] again) over and over and over and over and over!

Skill Build

Windwalker has a couple SP left over so I throw them into random skills (aka [Magic Arrow], [Multi Shot]) that I can use when waiting around for mechanics (ex: Ice Dragon Phase 2 50% Mech when you don't have mark and you want to use skills you'll never use in a normal DPS rotation). If you want the extra SP feel free to stick it into [Twin Shot] or whatever random thing you want.

Apart from this, the skill build is pretty straightforward: max Windwalker tree, get your [Somersault Dance] and 485734958 passives, and you're good.

Unified Skill: Ultimate CD

Skill Crests

[Falling Star DMG] / [Showtime Buff Duration] / [Spirit Boost CDR] / [Air Pounce DMG] / [Blooming Kick DMG] / [Eagle Dive DMG]

+1 [Falling Star]

Gameplay

Mobility, Dodging, and Repositioning

Windwalker has the ability to constantly change her positioning, so it is important to understand how her passives (along with [Flash Kick]) can chain together, as this can give you extended iframes. I would highly recommend practicing chaining different passives together in BTG. Here are some examples:

• [Chain Tumble] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Butterfly Float]
• [Chain Tumble] --> [Spiral Kick] --> (right click) [Spiral Kick] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Butterfly Float]
• [Air Pounce] --> [Butterfly Float] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Butterfly Float]

Keep in mind that you can [Chain Tumble] in any direction, which gives you a lot more flexibility with chaining together your passives. I'll often use [Chain Tumble] or [Butterfly Float] backwards to dodge skills (holding S) and then [Spiral Kick] forward to maintain my positioning so I can continue DPSing.

[Rising Storm EX (Instant)] is also a super useful vertical repositioning skill. I don't find myself using this frequently in content, but its quick animation lets me safely dodge stomps at the last second. Do keep in mind that DN is DN and you can still get randomly grounded sometimes – if this happens just run away and stop trying to DPS!

Flying

An OG aspect of Windwalker's kit – flying doesn't do too much but can sometimes help you dodge some mechanics, such as Ice Dragon's Plummeting Mechanic and buff wipe during Perimeter. (RIP those were some good times afking during Ice Dragon Nest Dragon Phase 1..) Additionally, learning how to fly will help you to understand how chaining passives work together.

Fastest way to launch yourself in the air is to [Rising Storm EX (Instant)] x2 before going into the flying rotation. Make sure you have max stack of bubbles (100).

After this, there's three different ways you can continue to "fly" – you can also choose to combine a mix of these rotations.

As you continue to generate bubbles (god bless passively generated bubbles) you can insert some [Rising Storm EX (Instant)] to gain height quickly. Have fun!

Resetting [Falling Star]

[Air Pounce] is essential to resetting [Falling Star] (which is a big chunk of Windwalker's DPS). Because of this, it's important to reset this skill as quickly and as often as possible. Here are some of my general tips:

• If [Falling Star] is hovering around a 40-50s CD, I will {[Willow Kick] -->}[Air Pounce] --> [Butterfly Float] backwards --> [Spirit Shot] forwards --> [Air Pounce] to reset it.
• Alternatively, you can [Air Pounce] near the top of the boss, [Flash Kick] afterwards, and [Air Pounce] again as you drop towards the ground.
• Always [Willow Kick] before [Falling Star]. If you need to drop to the ground quickly in order to do this, [Moon Kick] or [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)].
• [Flash Kick] at the end to get out of animation lock.

Showtime and Spirit Boost

This is a bit obvious, but always [Showtime] and [Spirit Boost] before you DPS. [Showtime] has a longer CD than [Spirit Boost], but it also has a longer duration to make up for this. Don't bother trying to [Spirit Boost] and [Showtime] at the same time after you use both in the beginning of your rotation.

[Party Spirit Boost/Spirit Ascension] can also be used off cooldown. As of now (until Ice Dragon Nest [Vahrcore] comes out), there are no mechanics that require you to save this for burst. It's just not necessary.

Rotation

{[Spirit Boost] and [Showtime] -->} [Ring Shot] --> [Butterfly Float] backwards --> [Air Pounce] or [Spiral Kick] --> [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] --> [Willow Kick] --> [Falling Star] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] -->  [Air Pounce] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] or [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Willow Kick] --> [Falling Star] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] --> [Somersault Dance] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] or [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] --> [Willow Kick] --> [Falling Star] --> [Flash Kick] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] --> [Somersault Dance] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] --> [Willow Kick] --> [Air Pounce] --> [Falling Star] --> [Flash Kick]

Tl;dr keep resetting [Falling Star] – I do it differently every time honestly so don't feel that you have to follow this rotation to a T. My rotation isn't perfect (I'm way too lazy to optimize every single [Air Pounce] and [Flash Kick]...) 😬

Also some of this is honestly muscle memory so I don't even know if I wrote down the rotation correctly... sorry LOL

Skill Spread (Raid vs. BTG)

BTG is not always the most accurate indicator of how a class plays in a raid situation, as there are mechanics that will stop your flow of DPS. Because of this, the skill spread in raid vs. BTG will differ – [Rising Storm EX (Instant)] generally always appears in my raid spreads but never in my BTG spreads (since I don't use it in BTG). Additionally, [Eagle Dive EX (Instant)] will also tend to be even with (rather than below) [Blooming Kick EX (Instant)] as I find there to be burst instances where I want to use up all my bubbles in 1-2 seconds.

Conclusion

Windwalker is a fun class that shines because of her unique mobility. She's really never boring to play and I honestly continue to enjoy playing her even after years and years LOL...

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me at naka#0323. 🥰✨