Genshin Impact Windtrace Event Guide

By | January 3rd, 2023 | Categories: Genshin Impact

Everybody’s favorite hide-and-seek game is back in Genshin Impact version 3.3! While most of its rules are the same, there are new locations, forms, and abilities to explore. Let’s see how things have changed (or stayed the same) in this article!

Table of Contents

A Refresher on the Rules

A group of four will receive roles as the Hunter or the three Rebels. In the simplest terms, the former must find where the latter is within a time limit. Otherwise, the latter will win the game. The locations are closed off, so the participants have a big enough but limited area to play in. It’s not too small that the game is over in a flash, nor too big that the Hunter needs a few minutes to explore the whole map.

Sometime during the game, Favor will appear on the map randomly. These can charge up your Secret Favors, significantly benefiting whoever gets them.

Windward Arts

Both Hunters and Rebels have arts to use in the game. Strategic use of these arts is necessary for winning the game. While it seems unfair that the lone Hunter has to find 3 people, they have several abilities to make up for it.

They take the place of your character’s Normal Attack, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst for the game’s duration.

Hunter Windward Arts

Mysterious Hunch (Normal Attack)

Using this ability will briefly show the locations of the hidden Rebels. It has a 40-second cooldown.

Hunter’s Net (Normal Attack, New in 3.3)

Hold the button to throw out a net. It will reveal any Rebel in disguise and destroys Beacons in the area. Using this ability on a Beacon will not obstruct sight like in other contexts. The Hunter will receive a hint if opponents are caught in the net.

Sensor Aura (Normal Attack)

The ability scouts the area around the Hunter. If a scouted Rebel moves within the next 5 seconds, they will be marked with a pillar of light for 5s. Has three charges and a 4-second cooldown.

Capture! (Elemental Skill)

Dispel a nearby Rebel’s disguise and capture them. Has three charges and a 5-second cooldown. It can be used even when gliding, swimming, or climbing.

Imprisoning Curse (Elemental Burst/Secret Favor)

This ability destroys a Rebel’s disguise and imprisons them in a cage, restricting movement and arts. The Hunter then has 40 seconds to find the incapacitated Rebel to capture them.

Insight (Elemental Burst/Secret Favor)

It reveals the locations of all Rebels and marks them with a pillar of light. The signal follows the other players’ movements for 20 seconds. During this time, Rebels can’t use disguises.

Hunter’s Intuition (Elemental Burst/Secret Favor)

With this skill, Hunters can use this to reveal the location of one Rebel in the minimap. It also dispels disguises and keeps those from being used again for the duration of the ability. It lasts for 1 minute.

Rebel Windward Arts

Concealing Beacon (Normal Attack, New in 3.3)

Place a Concealing Beacon. Any nearby Rebel will be invisible within range and will not be discovered by the Hunter’s Capture! ability until it is destroyed. If a Hunter uses that ability to break the beacon, their vision will get obstructed.

Transparency (Normal Attack)

Puts the Rebel in an invisible state for 5 seconds. Dispels any disguise worn, so the Hunter will notice if you use it nearby. Watch out because their abilities still take effect even during this state. This skill will not make you immune to getting caught. Its cooldown is 30 seconds.

Disguise (Elemental Skill)

The Rebel randomly disguises itself as a location-appropriate object. You can hold the button to remove it. Even under its effects, you can still move around. Be careful, though. The disguise will disappear if you glide, swim, or climb.

Starstep (Elemental Burst/Secret Favor)

The Rebel will have enhanced Movement SPD for 30 seconds.

Illusory Beacon (Special Skill, New in 3.3)

Rebels who have been caught can use this ability to confuse the Hunter. It works much like a Concealing Beacon. If the Hunter uses Capture! on a Beacon, their vision gets obscured.

Maps and Locations

New to this version of Windtrace, players must have the Statue of Seven related to the area unlocked before getting it as a map in this activity. The available locations are:

Beneath the Stone (Chasm Surface Mining Area)
Deeper Tides (Suigetsu Pool, Watatsumi Island)
The Pearl of Sango (Sangonomiya Shrine, Watatsumi Island)
Rustic Village (Konda Village, Narukami Island)
Terrace Patrol (Qingce Village, Liyue)
Water-Runners (Vimara Village, Sumeru)
Sacrosanct Dominion (Vissudha Field, Sumeru)
Gold Beyond the Grains (Chatrakam Cave, Sumeru)
Small-Town Guerilla War (Springvale, Mondstadt)
Winery Confrontation (Dawn Winery, Mondstadt)
Drifters in the Terrace Depths (Qingce Village, Liyue)
In a City of Yore Concealed (Qiongji Estuary, south of Guili Plains, Liyue)

You can also choose which maps you want to encounter in games. If you don’t like the terrain of one of the maps, you can deselect it from the list to avoid it. That’s the challenge, though! Plus, with this more extensive pool of areas, each game will differ from the last.

If you want, you can scout the areas beforehand. However, there are differences between the Windtrace version and the one in the overworld. Still, the general position of structures will be the same, so you can strategize beforehand.

Achievements

Win or lose, you get a variable amount of Windtrace Coins depending on what you’ve achieved during the round. Here are all the possible ‘achievements’ that can increase your earnings. Coin values will also be noted in parentheses.

Victory (150)
Every captured Rebel as a Hunter (100)
Favor gained (100)
Finishing the game with remaining time left as a Hunter (1 coin for every second)
Time you remained free as a Rebel (1 coin for every second)
‘Rapid Offensive’ (50, the Hunter ends the game within 30 seconds of using a Secret Favor)
‘Final Countdown’ (150, the Hunter captures all Rebels in 120 seconds)
‘Cleanup Time’ (100, the Hunter captures all Rebels within the time limit)
‘The Hunter’s Defeat’ (50, the Hunter lets one Rebel escape)
‘The Hunter’s Error’ (50, the Hunter lets two Rebels escape)
‘No Return’ (50, the Hunter fails to capture any Rebel)
‘Last Spark’ (100, be the sole Rebel that survives the round)
‘Safe Withdrawal’ (50, the Rebel got marked by Mysterious Hunch 3 times but achieved victory by escaping)
‘In Broad Daylight’ (100, the Rebel got marked by Sensor Aura 3 times but won the game)
‘Fight to the Finish’ (150, the Rebel achieves victory without getting captured)
‘Tacit Understanding’ (50, the Rebel achieves success through their teammates escaping after getting captured)
‘So Close, but So Far’ (50, the Rebel is the last one to get captured)
‘Recon in Force’ (50, be the first Rebel to get captured)
‘Utter Chaos’ (50, be the second Rebel to get caught)
‘Faint Presence’ (50, the Rebel achieves victory without using a disguise)
‘Here Goes Nothing’ (50, the Hunter successfully captures a Rebel who is using Transparency)
‘Lightspeed Tackle’ (50, the Hunter captures a Rebel who is under the effects of Starstep)
‘The Professional’ (50, the Hunter catches multiple Rebels in disguise)
‘The Mocking Way’ (50, the Rebel survives and wins the game even after getting marked by the Hunter’s Intuition)
‘No Capture, No Dice’ (50, the Rebel wins without getting caught after the Hunter uses Insight)
‘Master Molter’ (50, the Rebel wins the game even after getting trapped in a Hunter’s Imprisoning Curse)
‘I’ll Give You 2.5 Minutes’ (50, the Hunter catches 2 Rebels within the last minute and wins the game)
‘Reverse Sweep’ (100, the Rebel gains the Favor and triumphs as the last remaining one)
‘Tailwind Assault’ (50, be the Rebel who gains the Favor and wins the game)
‘So Close’ (50, the Rebel claims the Favor but still gets caught)
‘Bait-Breaker’ (50, the Hunter destroys 3 Concealing Beacons)
‘Round ‘Em Up’ (100, the Hunter catches more than 1 Rebel in a single use of Capture!)
‘Lucky Escapee’ (100, the Rebel gets hit by a Hunter’s net but evades them and wins)
‘Phantom Broadcast’ (50, stay in a hidden state near a Beacon for 30 seconds)
‘Undetectable Territory’ (50, set up Illusory Beacons as an Observer and obscure the Hunter’s vision once)
‘Divisional Architect’ (50, the Observer uses Illusory Beacons to obscure the Hunter’s vision 3 times)
‘Bait Layer’ (50, the Observer deploys at least 3 Illusory Beacons)
‘Symmetrical Opposition’ (50, the Observer deploys at least 7 Illusory Beacons)

Windtrace Tips

As a Hunter:

Keep a reserve charge of your Capture! ability. You’ll need it if you suddenly encounter a Rebel.

You can use whichever ‘Normal Attack’ abilities. The new one could be a useful one with the introduction of the Beacons. You can still select which one you prefer the most.

The best Secret Favor you can use is Insight. It’s the one that reveals all the Rebels, which is something you need if you’re having trouble. If you’re a more successful Hunter, you can use the other abilities since it’s more likely that one Rebel will be left. Still, you can’t guarantee that, so Insight is the best choice.

Choose the tall male characters to use. They cover more ground faster than other models. The second best is the medium male characters. As a Hunter, the worst you can pick is any of the small female ones, as other characters easily outrun them. However, you could choose whoever you like to play as.

This event will leave you paranoid about oddly-placed items, some of which occur naturally. You might do better if you suspect ‘naturally’ placed ones, but this doesn’t always work. Still, thinking like a Rebel could help you find them.

Checking areas you’ve passed before might yield new insights.

Hunters should know which items Rebels can disguise as. This saves the time it takes to check everything because they can be sure those things aren’t concealing other players.

As a Rebel:

Stay calm. Panicking when the Hunter is near can give you away. Transparency is your best friend, though the Concealing Beacon sounds like a good idea too.

Sometimes, a Hunter’s instincts betray them. Going back to somewhere you were ‘found’ could be good, as they have been convinced you’re not there and won’t check there again.

There are many strategies and styles you can use as a Rebel. Now with the Illusory Beacon, you can help others even when you’re captured early.

Mona (at the time) had an unfair advantage where players could hold the sprint button and not move to stay in her ‘hidden’ mode indefinitely. This has since been patched out, so don’t try using it again. Though Ayaka was released later, her alternate sprint won’t work either. Both characters will normally sprint during the game.

You (or your teammates) can grab the Favor before the Hunter does. This prevents them from using their Secret Favor and makes it more likely that the Rebels will win.

General Tips

The achievement list may look daunting, but you don’t have to go out of your way to get them. You’re sure to achieve two or three in every game, so don’t worry about farming coins. Enjoy every game you play.

Playing co-op with friends won’t give you any coins. That would make it purely for fun after you’ve farmed enough coins for yourself.

Since the event isn’t particularly competitive, some players don’t take it too seriously and goof around. That makes it an excellent opportunity to make new friends!

Make sure to have fun in Windtrace! Check back when the event recurs to see what’s changed.