In Age of Wushu, a school is an institution that teaches its members Internal Skills and Martial Arts Skill Sets. There are different types of schools: the Great Schools, Reclusive Factions, and Factions. A character can only be a member of one school at a time. Some of the schools will only accept female or male players exclusively. Characters who aren't active members of any school are called Vagrants.
In the game's beginner quest, players will be guided to join one of the Great Schools. It is possible, although more difficult, to directly join a Faction or a Reclusive Faction without joining a Great School first.
Types of Schools[]
Great School[]
The Great Schools are the largest schools and offer the most content. Each Great School teaches 6 Internal Skills, 5 Martial Arts Skill Sets, and a Meridian. Each Great School has approximately 10 different identity outfits. Members can leave by betrayal, training away, or in disguise.
| School | Primary Stat | Martial Arts | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal Skills | Meridian | |||
| Brawn | Tankiness | Barehanded | External | |
| Yang | ||||
| Staff (3) | External | |||
| Wudang | Breath | Internal Damage | Twin Swords | External |
| Single Sword | Yin | |||
| Yin, Yang, External | ||||
| Soft | ||||
| Barehanded | Yin, Yang | |||
| Breath | Energy | Barehanded | Soft | |
| Dagger | Yin, Soft | |||
| Twin Daggers | External | |||
| Yin | ||||
| Single Sword | Soft | |||
| Beggar's Sect | Brawn | Internal Damage | Quarterstaff (3) | External |
| Barehanded | Yang | |||
| External | ||||
| Scholars | Breath | Internal Damage | Single Sword | External |
| Soft | ||||
| Yin | ||||
| Twin Swords | Soft | |||
| Barehanded | Yin | |||
| Tangmen | Brawn | External Damage | Dagger (2) | External |
| Darts | External | |||
| Dagger, Bullet | External | |||
| Dagger, Darts | External, Yin | |||
| Royal Guards | Brawn | External Damage | Rope (2) | External |
| Single Blade | External | |||
| Yang | ||||
| Barehanded | Hard | |||
| Wanderer's Valley | Breath | Internal Damage | Barehanded | Yang |
| Twin Daggers | External | |||
| Twin Blades | Hard | |||
| Yin | ||||
| Single Sword | Yin | |||
| Tianshan Sect | Breath | Internal Damage | Twin Sword | Soft |
| Yin | ||||
| Single Sword | External | |||
| Soft | ||||
| Barehanded | Yang | |||
| Ming Cult | Brawn | Tankiness | Single Blade | Yang |
| Dagger | External | |||
| U, Arrow (2) | External | |||
| Staff | External | |||
| Kunlun Sect | Breath | Tankiness | Barehanded | External |
| Twin Swords | External | |||
| Musician (2) | Soft | |||
| Brush | Soft | |||
Reclusive Faction[]
The Reclusive Factions (also known as Subsects) are smaller schools, and each one is associated with one of the Great Schools. The Reclusive Faction have entry requirements that must be met in order to join. Members of a Great School can complete a short quest to Train Away at their school's affiliated Reclusive Faction. When joining a Reclusive Faction through the questline, the entry requirements are more lenient.
The Reclusive Factions teach 2 Internal Skills and 2 Martial Arts Skill Sets, and have 6 identity outfits. Their 2nd-tier Internal Skills are needed to unlock Reverse Meridians. Members can leave by betrayal or graduation.
| Reclusive Faction | Affiliation | Primary Stat | Martial Arts | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Internal Skill | ||||
| Shaolin | Brawn | Barehanded | External | |
| Staff | ||||
| Ancient Tomb Sect | Wudang | Breath | Single Sword | Yin |
| Twin Swords | Soft | |||
| Emei | Breath | Barehanded | Soft | |
| Twin Daggers | Yin | |||
| Changfeng Escort Agency | Beggar's Sect | Brawn | Staff (2) | External |
| Mount Hua Sect | Scholars | Breath | Single Sword | Soft |
| External | ||||
| Nianluo Dam | Tangmen | Brawn | Barehanded | External |
| Dagger, Darts | External | |||
| Blood Blade Clan | Royal Guards | Brawn | Twin Blades | Hard |
| Single Blade | External | |||
| Five Immortals Sect | Wanderer's Valley | Breath | Barehanded | Yin |
| Twin Daggers | Soft | |||
| Starry Pavilion | Tianshan Sect | Breath | Twin Swords | Soft |
| Single Sword | External | |||
| Shenji Camp | Ming Cult | Brawn | Single Blade | External |
| Staff | ||||
| Tianya Pavilion | Kunlun Sect | Breath | Brush | Yin |
| Musician | Yin |
Faction[]
The Factions are the smallest available schools. Golden Needle Sect and Xu Family Manor are easy to join. Villa of Beasts is slightly more difficult to join as it requires the player to own a pet. Palace of Shifting Flowers, Peach Blossom Island, and Rootless Clan are known as Secret Factions and are hard to join.
Each Faction teaches 1 Internal Skill and 1 Martial Arts Skill Set. Members can leave by betrayal or graduation.
| Faction | Primary Stat | Martial Arts | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal Skill | |||
| Golden Needle Sect | Brawn | Needle | External |
| Villa of Beasts | Brawn | Barehanded | External |
| Xu Family Manor | Brawn | Ruler (Dagger) | Hard |
| Breath | Barehanded | Soft | |
| Peach Blossom Island | Breath | Flute (Single Sword) | Soft |
| Brawn | Single Sword | Yin |
School Activities[]
School activities are various PvP events that school members can partake in. Some school activities are unavailable to certain types of schools. Members of a Great School cannot steal scripts from their own school. Members of a Reclusive Faction cannot steal scripts from their affiliated Great School.
| Event | Great School Disciple | Reclusive Faction Disciple | Faction Disciple |
|---|---|---|---|
| School Spying | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| School Patrolling | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Script Stealing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Script Protecting | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| School Tournament | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| School War | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Leaving a School[]
Players have the option to leave their school, allowing them to join a different school. There are three departure options and the difficulty and consequences of the methods are varied.
After leaving their school, the player cannot rejoin the same school for 24 days. The 24-day penalty does not apply to members of a Great School who leave to join their affiliated Reclusive Faction.
Train Away[]
Members of a Great School can apply for permission to train away, allowing them to join a Reclusive Faction or a Faction while remaining attached to their original school. Players cannot join another Great School while training away.
After completing the quest to train away, the school's titles will be temporarily lost, the school's Internal Skills will become capped at level 30, and the Martial Arts Skills will become capped at level 4 until the player returns to their Great School.
Betrayal[]
Members of any school can complete a short questline to betray their school. Betrayal will cause all of the school-specific Internal Skills, Martial Arts Skills, and Random Skills to be deleted from the character.
After betraying and entering a new school, the player can regain their lost Cultivation Points at Xiao Meili in Suzhou (507,-463).
Disguise[]
Members of a Great School can leave their school disguised, allowing them to join a Reclusive Faction or a Faction while remaining attached to their original school and retaining the full power of the Great School's Internal Skills and Martial Arts Skills. To leave a school disguised, the player must collect a long list of items. Players cannot join another Great School while disguised.
Disguised players will lose their school-specific identity outfits and titles.
Graduation[]
Graduation is available in Factions and Reclusive Factions. It allows players to leave without losing their learned Internal Skills and Martial Arts Skills. The player will only lose their Random Skills.