Wandering Sword is a pixel-style RPG featuring a young swordsman named Yuwen Yi. Early in the story, Yuwen Yi suffers from a lethal poison. Though he recovers quickly, he embarks on a journey to become stronger.
Throughout his adventures, Yuwen Yi encounters various characters. Some of these characters may challenge you to combat and, if you emerge victorious, reward you with valuable items. Additionally, after meeting specific requirements, you can recruit certain NPCs. If you have enough Affinity with some of them, they might even teach you unique combat skills.
How to Raise Affinity
The most effective way to enhance your Affinity with any character is through gifts. Simply approach the NPC, select the ‘Observe’ option, and then choose the ‘Gift’ option from the character menu screen.
Some NPCs won’t accept gifts at all. Usually, you’ll need to complete a specific quest related to those characters before you can start giving them gifts.
Using the ‘Observe’ feature on any NPC opens up their character menu, where you can view their inventory, stats, and preferences. You’ll find a list of items they would accept as gifts under their preferences.
Thanks to the game’s unlimited inventory system, you can stockpile an assortment of items. If you’ve been gathering resources, chances are you’ll have a few items that these characters would appreciate. Items that can be gifted to characters are marked with a heart icon in the gifting menu.
Once a character’s Affinity meets specific levels, such as 20 or 40, the quality of the items they will accept improves. This is why it’s wise to start gifting characters with lower-rarity items that match their preferences. Higher-rarity items will eventually become un-giftable after reaching certain Affinity levels.
If you’re looking to boost Affinity quickly, consider gifting higher-rarity items, as these will raise Affinity more significantly, based on their current Affinity level.
For instance, a high-rarity item might increase a character’s Affinity by 16 points if their Affinity is below 20. Once you surpass that threshold, the same item could raise it by eight points, and halved again after reaching 40.
If you run low on items to gift, sparring with those NPCs can yield rewards, allowing you to take back some items from their inventory that you can then gift again, based on the item’s rarity. Look for a small fist-and-palm icon next to an NPC’s name to identify characters you can spar with.
The Advantages of Boosting a Character’s Affinity
Raising a character’s Affinity takes considerable effort and resources, so you should focus on strengthening only select characters’ Affinity. Here are the primary characters to concentrate on:
- Any character eligible for recruitment into your party.
- Any character capable of teaching you fighting skills.
- Any character who has high-value items in their inventory and can be sparred with.
In rare instances, improving a character’s Affinity may unlock new quests or advance existing ones.
As you progress through the game, you’ll come across certain characters who can join your party once specific conditions are met. However, these characters are often hard to find. You can identify them by using the Observe option and checking for an Invite option in their character menu or looking for a small panther-like icon next to their name.
Some NPCs, like Wang Shitou at the inn in Luo Village, can teach you combat skills. You can see if a character can impart any skills by using the Observe option and checking for a Consult option in their character menu.
If you find that an NPC has valuable items, consider checking if you can spar with them. You must first raise their Affinity to at least 20, after which you can engage in repeated sparring sessions, even clearing out their entire inventory.
For characters that don’t fit into the three mentioned categories, it’s best not to waste your resources on them and instead focus on characters who provide worthwhile rewards.
