| Chapter 1: Beginner's Guide |
│ | Chapter 2: Character Development |
│ | Chapter 3: Dailies |
│ | Chapter 4: Monetization |
This Beginner's Guide, last updated in May 2025, is intended to help make Age of Wushu a less painful experience for free-to-play beginners by addressing common issues and questions. To access the game, see: How to download Age of Wushu.
The guide is split into multiple chapters. In this first chapter, we address common questions new players have about the current state of the game and provide a step-by-step walkthrough of the character creation process.
Is Age of Wushu still alive?[]
Yes. New players regularly try the game, and old players occasionally return to scratch that nostalgia itch. The game is still getting updates and new content, but not very often. As one of the only Wuxia-inspired MMOs available for western audiences, Age of Wushu provides a very unique experience compared to other games.
The most recent major update, released on September 4, 2024, introduced a new Great School and a Reclusive Faction.
Number of Players[]
The number of players can be roughly estimated using the Martial Arts Blessing lottery. Each week, approximately 500 players win this lottery. However, this figure only accounts for those with an active VIP Subscription who have also accumulated enough Daily Activity points. Assuming that most players have a VIP Subscription, the total number of active characters likely falls between 500 and 1,000. It's worth noting that multiaccounting is fairly common in this game, so a portion of these characters may belong to the same individuals.
Is this game pay-to-win?[]
The game is widely regarded as pay-to-win, particularly in PvP due to the advantages provided by the 99 Sets. However, even with substantial financial investment, it is nearly impossible to fully catch up to players who have been active for over a decade. This is not an endorsement of account purchasing, but rather a reminder that new or returning players should not feel pressured to match veteran progress. Those who enjoy PvE can focus on experiencing the game at their own pace.
For players interested in PvP, the 24v24 Group Martial Arts Competition provides a more balanced environment, as all participants enter the arena at max level and can choose from a variety of Martial Arts styles.
Are there bots in the game?[]
In the early years of Age of Wushu, automated farming and stall-bots ran rampant—so much so that players reported Script Stealing, School Spying, Kidnapping, Life Skill, and stalling bots flooding every area. As the population of the game started dropping, the economic incentive for running long-term bots dwindled dramatically. Today active bots are almost never seen in the open. While bots can keep markets well-supplied, they undermine legitimate play and violate the Terms of Service.
Character Creation[]
In Age of Wushu the first thing the player must do is create a character. This is not a choice that should be made lightly as the player can only have one character per account. Characters that haven't reached the Strength of "First Understanding" can be deleted instantly. Once a character reaches this level, deletion will instead require a 48-hour waiting period.
School[]
- Main article: School
The player must choose one of eleven available Great Schools. Some of the schools are gender-locked, so players should decide their path carefully during character creation.
The character can only be an active member of one school at a time. Each school will give the player access to a different set of Martial Arts Skills and Internal Skills. It is possible to leave a Great School and join another, but this process will cause the player to lose all of their learned school skills.
The following list summarizes commonly held opinions about each school. It is not intended to be comprehensive, as players may develop their characters in a wide variety of ways. For example, while Emei’s "Rosy Cloud Stab" set is not mentioned due to its low popularity, it is noteworthy for its unique ability to heal other players' yellow HP and can even be used to heal the boss when joining the Forbidden Instance Assassins.
| Great School | Key Characteristics | |
|---|---|---|
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Shaolin | The Shaolin are front-line bruisers with significant area-of-effect Stuns in their "Bhodidharma's Stick" set. The Shaolin Internal Skills provide self-healing. Only male players can join the Shaolin. |
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Wudang | The Wudang are masters of sustain. They are capable of switching their Energy and HP, and recovering their Energy by parrying attacks. Their signature move, "Opening the Tai Chi" in the "Taiji" set, provides Red Armor, granting immunity to stuns and knockbacks. |
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Emei | The Emei are a flexible school capable of adapting to various roles. In group content, the "Golden Diamond Soft Palm" set offers valuable area-of-effect buffs, while "Departing Sting" delivers solid damage for PvE scenarios. For PvP, the "Yu Nv Sword" set is a strong choice, as it provides an anti-air skill, forcing the opponents to stay grounded lest they be hit out of the air. The "Green Lotus Script" Internal Skill provides sustain through self-resurrection, enabling clutch recoveries and turning the tide in close battles. Only female players can join the Emei. |
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Beggar's Sect | The Beggar's Sect excels more in PvP than in PvE. Their "Lotus Palm" set is well-known for its effective anti-air skill, while the "Dog Beating Staff Technique" is famous for it disabling effects. The Internal Skill "Tianyuan Mental Skill" boasts incredibly high Brawn stat, but its defense-reducing special effect is notoriously bad for PvE, as NPCs typically lack defense stats. The "Spirit Snake Stick" set is scheduled to receive major buffs in a future update, which will make it the school's highest DPS set. |
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Scholars | The Scholars feature burst damage and crowd-control in PvP, while retaining solid utility in PvE. The "Falling Flower Sword" includes a spinning attack that grants Red Armor and allows movement, making it a popular choice for both initiating and retreating in PvP. The "Leisure Kick" set features the Rage Move "Green Shadows of a Maiden", capable of delivering high single-target damage. For players seeking a more supportive playstyle, the "Boundless Sword" set offers DPS buffs for teammates. |
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Tangmen | The Tangmen are ranged burst specialists who utilize Hidden Weapons. They are the only Great School that fully capitalizes on the Dexterity stat, which enhances the damage of many of their skills. The "Runic Demon" Internal Skill provides a significant boost to DPS. |
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Royal Guards | The Royal Guards is a PvP-oriented school, with their popular "Soul Chasing Claw" providing ranged immobilization and stack-based damage amplification. The "Blood Killing Knife Skill" set provides Life Steal, making it an effective PvE set for the Royal Guards. |
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Wanderer's Valley | The Wanderer's Valley is the most popular school for solo PvE content, as their "Perish Blade" set is celebrated for its unmatched Life Steal and high DPS. This impressive DPS hinges on a self-inflicted debuff applied by the skill "Ravaging Venom." However, since this effect is classified as a debuff, it can be inadvertently removed by any allied ability that dispels negative effects. Consequently, "Perish Blade" users are poorly suited for group play with supportive Emei players, whose debuff-cleansing skill can disrupt the effectiveness of the set. |
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Ming Cult | The Ming Cult is a versatile Great School capable of excelling in both PvE and PvP, with a slight emphasis on PvP performance. Four of its five skill sets grant Yellow Armor, offering strong resistance to crowd-control effects. The Ming Cult possesses Bow skill sets, enabling strong ranged options. |
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Tianshan Sect | The Tianshan Sect stands out as one of the most visually striking schools, thanks to their signature Freeze mechanic—a specialized form of Stun. This school is often recommended for newcomers due to its straightforward combos and high burst damage. However, its endgame PvE performance is generally considered weak. Tianshan sacrifices defense and self-healing in favor of raw offensive power, resulting in relatively fragile survivability. |
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Kunlun Sect | The Kunlun Sect is devastating in small-scale skirmishes with their crowd-control combos. The "Kunlun Induction" Internal Skill provides self-healing and unmatched single-target burst DPS. |
Another thing to bear in mind is that the three Great Schools introduced after the original eight (Ming Cult, Tianshan Sect, and Kunlun Sect) are notably less developed. They do not have access to the fourth and fifth Internal tasks (which provide free script pages), they lack School Arrays, and their school zones may feel empty due to the absence of filler NPCs and Life Skill resource nodes. Much of their in-game content also appears to be translated using AI, which may result in unclear or confusing descriptions.
Unsure which Great School to join? Players can delay the choice by skipping the beginner quest and joining the Xu Family Manor, a Jianghu Faction. It has the lowest Strength requirement among them, requiring only Self Recollection at level 11. Unlike Great Schools, Jianghu Factions allow graduation, letting players keep their learned skills. This makes the Xu Family a practical option for those who want to progress without committing to a school right away.
Name[]
The character's name cannot include spaces. The name can be changed after character creation, but it is very expensive to do so. The Name Change Document can be purchased from the game's Cash Shop. The item costs 99 
Gold, which can only be obtained by spending real money.
Facial customization[]
The character's face can be changed later by using a Makeover Certificate. There's no need to worry too much about perfecting the character's appearance during creation, as two of the certificates can be obtained for free from the tasks A Makeover and Gift from Heaven.
The selected hairstyle appears only when the character is not wearing any headgear. Each headgear and cosmetic outfit in the game features its own designated hairstyle. For example, wearing the Shaolin outfit causes the character to appear bald.
Gender[]
The character's gender cannot be changed after character creation. The game contains gender-locked content, such as single-sex schools and the marriage system (same-sex marriage is not possible in the game). Additionally, some outfits look drastically different depending on gender.
Backstory[]
During character creation, the player may choose from one of four different backstories. Depending on the backstory chosen, the player character will start in a different town and has a different main questline. The starting town will be set as the player's default Teleport Point, but the player is able to change it for free.
The questline for the backstory The Tale of Tianshan Sword is currently bugged. Instead of receiving a normal questline, the players are assigned a task called Between Life and Death that cannot be progressed. To gain access to their storyline tasks, they must first complete a portion of the Wulin Chronicles. Doing this will also cause the bugged task Between Life and Death to disappear.
| Backstory | Starting Town |
|---|---|
| Phoenix Pledge | Qiandeng Town |
| The Tale of Tianshan Sword | Yanyu Villa |
| The Nameless Sword | Jiming Posthouse |
| A Scholar’s Legend | Chengdu |
Skipping the Tutorial[]
The correct answers to the questionnaire.
Not a fan of tutorials? The tutorial can be skipped by submitting the correct answers to the questionnaire. Selecting a wrong answer will force the player to enter the tutorial.
This is an open PVP game—should I be worried about getting killed?[]
Being randomly attacked is not a regular occurrence as the penalty for unjustified killing (gain of Infamy) is more significant than the penalty of dying (loss of Silver Coins).
However, If you are participating in Kidnapping, School Spying, or Forbidden Instances, being attacked by other players is part of these activities, as they will gain rewards for doing so. You shouldn't take it personally and you are encouraged to do the same.
Why are my gathering Life Skills failing?[]
Non-VIP players have an extremely low chance of succeeding with most gathering Life Skills (Miner, Hunter, Woodcutter, Fisherman, Herbalist, and Poison Maker) unless they purchase the Gathering Secrets book. The item can be purchased in Jinling (1140,1571) for 
250 Liang Silver Coins. However, this trade is not available to fresh beginners; the character's Strength must be Flows With Chi or higher to qualify for the trade.
The Farming Life Skill can be used by free-to-play players without fail. As such, the Chef is a good manufacturing Life Skill option for players who do not want to purchase the VIP Subscription.
Where is everyone?[]
Online players often spend a lot of time in Suzhou, as it hosts the most active player-driven market in the game. To understand the abbreviations used by the community, see: Age of Wushu terminology.
| Scene (area) | Coordinates | Server time |
|---|---|---|
| Suzhou (Mortuary) | (330, 750) | 24/7 |
| Suzhou (Marketplace) | (520, 400) | 24/7 |
| Chengdu (Impart Knowledge) | (836, 673) | 07:30 - 09:00
13:30 - 15:00 19:30 - 21:00 22:00 - 23:30 |
Common Mistakes to Avoid[]
- Avoid using your inventory expansion items until necessary, as they have a set expiration time that starts counting down as soon as the expansion item is activated.
- When using your Great School's headmaster NPC to teleport for School Spying, ensure you haven't reached the daily limit of 5 School Spying missions, or you risk wasting a teleportation token.
- The "Leave" button in the School Spying interface is used to abandon the task. Beginners often mistakenly click it, expecting it to teleport them back to their school.
- Avoid accepting the Jade Smith's quest until your Strength has reached Peak of Power or higher. Completing the quest too early will fill your inventory with Jade Dolls, which you won't be able to equip until you meet the Strength requirement.
- Great School disciples gain access to a special task that allows them to join their affiliated Reclusive Faction. Many new players finish this task without realizing, until it is too late, that their character will be moved from their current school to a different one.
- It is strongly advised not to learn the Lightweight Flying Skill. This skill cannot be toggled off, and it will often unintentionally consume valuable Flying Points when attempting to jump in midair, potentially hindering the player's movement efficiency.
I'm looking for (topic) and I can't find it, where can I find more information about the game?[]
This is the current situation of Age of Wushu community resources:
Official Website[]
The official website (http://www.ageofwushu.com/) is not only extremely bare-bones but also contains inaccurate information about school release dates, largely due to the content being copy-pasted from the Chinese version of the site. While there is a "News" section, the developers never publish patch notes when the game is updated.
Official Forums[]
The official Age of Wushu forums were closed ten years ago, and with their shutdown, countless player-created guides and resources vanished from the internet.
YouTube[]
Although Age of Wushu still enjoys an active presence on YouTube, the vast majority of new community uploads are PvP highlight reels rather than in-depth guides. This emphasis on flashy duels over instructional walkthroughs means new players looking for tutorials will often need to turn elsewhere for structured guidance, or rely on decade-old video guides that may no longer be accurate.
Discord[]
Instead of posting full walkthroughs or detailed tutorials on public websites, many Age of Wushu players stash their guides in Discord servers like dragon hoards. The problem? Discord was never meant to be a wiki—it's more like a chatroom with a search function that gives up halfway through.
There are dozens of Discord servers floating around, most run by big guilds who guard their secrets like kung fu scrolls. To access them, the player has to prove their worth, join the guild, get the Discord invite, then leave and repeat the process like a wandering monk on an eternal pilgrimage—just to collect guide fragments one at a time.
Reddit[]
The r/AgeOfWushu subreddit is no longer a hub for guides. Most posts focus on regional release comparisons, Discord server advertisements, general complaints about the game, and speculation about Age of Wushu 2, although there is no confirmed evidence that a sequel is in development.
WushuWiki[]
WushuWiki is still alive and kicking, but it's largely a one-person operation. If the info you need isn't already there, it might take a while—unless you politely ping the lone wiki warrior (Orkki on Fandom, Ork in-game) and convince them to prioritize your topic over documenting silly items like the Failed Star War Pet. Of course, you could edit the wiki yourself… but let's be honest, most people only discover the edit button by accident.
Just a heads-up: the vast majority of the content on this wiki—including this Beginner's Guide—comes from the perspective of a Shaolin player with intermittent experience throughout the game's lifespan. As a result, information on certain other schools may be limited. Nevertheless, WushuWiki strives for comprehensive coverage and upholds the principle that all data should be freely accessible. Although the official developers do not publicly share patch notes, the WushuWiki administrator translates and publishes them for the community's benefit.