A few questions about Winds of Change

    I stopped playing shortly before WoC and there's a couple things I'd like to check before I start the story line quests.

    1. I saw that some quests have hard mode specific versions. Am I able to do them on normal mode first and then hard mode a second time on the same character?

    2. Once I finish the last quest, do the zones go back to normal? If so, is there a way to reactivate the special mobs and such like with taking a bounty quest does for the WiK zones?

    3. Is there anything special I could potentially miss forever? Like certain storyline quests, unique items, prime farming spots, etc.

    4. About how long is the entire thing in terms of time spent playing?

    5. How would you rate the difficulty of it when done in HM?

    IGN: Zurathustra Spoke

    1. You can complete Winds of Change both in NM and HM, but the Hard Mode for each quest is only available after you've completed that quest in Normal Mode first. And yes, with the same character.

    2. After completing WoC, the zones will remain like WoC. To go back to normal you have to talk with the Herald of Purity in Kaineng, which gives you a mission that simulates how was Cantha before Shiro's defeat. As long as you have that mission active, you will encounter Afflicteds again.

    3. Yes, once you finish WoC in both NM or HM, you cannot repeat the missions again with that character, you have to do it with another different. There's one mission in particular to farm Ministerial Commendations (to change them for Purity Weapons), gold weapons like Dragon/Platinum staves and green weapons, which is called A chance encounter and it's the mission number 18 in the walkthrough. Some people leave their character theres in HM so they can farm that place forever.

    4. It's super long. In Normal Mode is easier, but anyway since there are 35 missions it will take many hours. In Hard Mode you are going to sweat blood with some quests if you don't know the tricks (I can assist you if you need help, or any other member of this forum I'm sure will gladly help you too).

    5. WoC in Hard Mode, I was able to analyze after completing it, has certain missions that, let's say, are not well balanced. They abused with the damage, level and quantity of enemies that spawns in short time and the skills they bring, killing you in massive spikes if you don't know how to avoid them. Mission number 22, Ever closer to the edge, is one of those that you can complete with a trick without having to fight (almost), and Finding Jinnai is a mission that somple people say it's easy and another it's ultra hard. In this last one I died like 30 times before completing it, and it was thanks to the help of another real person that we managed how to do it. For some reason you can't always complete Finding Jinnai like other people do in YouTube videos, because it also depends of the profession of your main chracter and how this affects in the gameplay, for example with a Warrior tanking is easier than an Elementalist (which was my case).

    Edited 3 times, last by Ostona (October 24, 2021 at 2:02 PM).

    Quote from Ostona

    1. You can complete Winds of Change both in NM and HM, but the Hard Mode for each quest is only available after you've completed that quest in Normal Mode first. And yes, with the same character.

    2. After completing WoC, the zones will remain like WoC. To go back to normal you have to talk with the Herald of Purity in Kaineng, which gives you a mission that simulates how was Cantha before Shiro's defeat. As long as you have that mission active, you will encounter Afflicteds again.

    3. Yes, once you finish WoC in both NM or HM, you cannot repeat the missions again with that character, you have to do it with another different. There's one mission in particular to farm Ministerial Commendations (to change them for Purity Weapons), gold weapons like Dragon/Platinum staves and green weapons, whic is called A Change Encounter and it's the mission number 18 in the walkthrough. Some people leave their character there in HM so they can farm that place forever.

    4. It's super long. In Normal Mode is easier, but anyway since there are 35 missions it will take many hours. In Hard Mode you will swear blood with some quests though, if you don't know the tricks (I can assist you if you need help, or any other member of this forum I'm sure will gladly help you too).

    5. WoC in Hard Mode, I was able to analyze after completing it, has certain missions that, let's say, are not well balanced. They abused with the damage, level and quantity of enemies that spawns in short time and the skills they bring, killing you in massive spikes if you don't know how to avoid them. Mission number 22, Ever closer to the edge, is one of those that you can complete with a trick without having to fight (almost), and Finding Jinnai is a mission that somple people say it's easy and another it's ultra hard. In this last one I died like 30 times before completing it, and it was thanks to the help of another real person that we managed how to do it. For some reason you can't always complete Finding Jinnai like other people do in YouTube videos, because it also depends of the profession of your main chracter and how this affects in the gameplay, for example with a Warrior tanking is easier than an Elementalist (which was my case).

    First of all, you are awesome! Thanks for the detailed response with all the great information, it's a big help to know. So for question 2, so long as I have a particular quest in my log I can do the "standard" cantha zones if I group with another person and won't have the difficulty amped up?

    For point 5, well, I'm going to be in for a rough time I think. My main is a necromancer so tanking isn't exactly my specialty and when I have to pull going MM isn't a thing either. But I do enjoy the challenge of making weird builds for a very specific purpose., thanks a bunch for the heads up that I may end up dying a hundred times before I figure things out. Looking forward to dying a lot while I fine tune my heroes O.o

    IGN: Zurathustra Spoke