Winds of Valen — Guides

🔄 Gear Swapping Guide

Gear swapping is the core skill expression in Winds of Valen. Here is how to set it up, when to do it, and what to practice.

This game is built around gear swapping. The hotbar (Q, W, E) exists specifically for weapons, shields, and potions so you can swap instantly during combat. Mastering this is what separates new players from experienced ones — especially in boss fights and PvP.

🎮 Setting Up Your Hotbar

The hotbar has 3 slots bound to Q, W, E by default. These can be rebound in settings. Load them with the items you switch between most during combat:

Recommended setup (PvE boss example):
Q — Main weapon (e.g. 1-handed sword)
W — Alternate weapon (e.g. 2-handed sword or bow)
E — Active shield (e.g. Block Shield, Parry Shield, or Ward Shield)

Recommended setup (general combat):
Q — Primary weapon
W — Shield
E — Health potion or alternate shield

💡 Potions can also be placed on the hotbar. Potion keybinds can be rebound in settings separately from Q/W/E.

⚔️ When to Swap — PvE

In PvE, gear swapping is primarily about matching your shield to the incoming damage type and your weapon to the enemy's weakness. The key moments to swap:

Boss changes weapon — watch the boss's weapon animation. A glowing weapon means magical damage → swap to Warding Shield. A standard heavy weapon → swap to Block Shield. A rapier → swap to Parry Shield.
Adds spawn — add enemies often use a different damage type from the boss. Identify their type and adjust if needed.
You switch to training your shield — go to Defence stance and swap to the shield you want to level.

🗡️ When to Swap — PvP

In PvP (Darklands), gear swapping becomes a mind game. Both players constantly adapt to each other:

Situation	What to Do
Opponent equips Block Shield	Switch from heavy weapon to pierce or slash weapon
Opponent equips Parry Shield	Switch to heavy weapon (2H sword or heavy bow)
Opponent equips Ward Shield	Switch from magic to melee damage
You don't know their setup	Open with a damage type and watch how they react

💡 Agility (animation speed) in PvP lets you fake an attack animation to bait a shield swap — then swap your own weapon before actually landing the hit.

🛡️ Shield Flicking

Shield flicking means briefly equipping a shield to absorb an incoming hit, then swapping back to your weapon to continue attacking. This is especially useful with 2-handed weapons since you cannot hold a shield while attacking, but can swap to one in the moment before an enemy's hit lands.

Watch the enemy's attack animation.
Press the shield hotkey just before the hit connects.
Immediately press your weapon hotkey to resume attacking.

💡 The Elven Greatsword has the best DPS in the game when combined with shield flicking — the 2H damage bonus plus the ability to absorb hits reactively makes it very strong.

🏃 Practising Gear Swapping

The community wiki site includes a dedicated Combat Practice tool — a browser-based exercise for practising weapon and shield swaps with your hotkeys, including keybinding practice. It is designed exactly for building muscle memory for gear swapping before you apply it in real fights.

Practice with low-risk enemies first (Goblins, early Skeletons) to build the habit.
Set up presets in the Equipper tool to plan which gear sets you'll swap between.
Start with just 2 items on the hotbar (weapon + one shield) before adding more complexity.

💡 Key Rules to Remember

Using a potion stops your attack — this is intentional. Plan potion use between attack animations.
Cancelling an attack before it lands → 1-second cooldown. After landing → normal full cooldown.
In PvP, you cannot log out during combat. Force-closing leaves your character in-world for 60 seconds.
2-handed weapons (Elven Sword, Skeleton Sword, Spear, Goblin Axe) cannot be paired with a shield simultaneously — you must swap.