Wuthering Waves has a way of making you feel incredibly small. You're standing on the edge of a cliff in Mt. Firmament, looking at the massive, frozen-in-time waves of the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage questline, and honestly, it’s a lot to take in. It isn't just a basic "go here, kill that" mission. This is the 1.1 update’s centerpiece, the moment where Kuro Games finally leaned into the "high-altitude exploration" promise they’d been teasing since the closed betas.
If you’ve been procrastinating on finishing the Main Quest Act VII, you’re basically locking yourself out of the best content in the game. Most players I talk to are obsessed with the aesthetics, but they’re getting stuck on the actual mechanics of the Mt. Firmament puzzles. It’s tricky. You have to juggle the Chronosorter mechanics—which literally let you rewind time to fix broken bridges or melt ice—while navigating verticality that makes the Jinzhou plains look like a flat parking lot.
The Reality of the Skyward Voyage Quest
Let's get one thing straight: the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage isn't just a map expansion. It’s a lore dump that actually matters. You’re following Jinhsi to the Loong’s Crest, trying to figure out why the Sentinel Jué is acting so erratic. It’s a heavy narrative. It’s emotional. But more importantly, it’s a platforming gauntlet.
The quest starts naturally after you finish the "Thaw of Eons" segment. You'll find yourself pushing upward toward the highest peaks of Mt. Firmament. What's interesting is how Kuro handles the "Voyage" aspect. It isn't a linear path. You're constantly looking for Leap Spirits and grappling points. If your movement isn't fluid, this quest will feel like a chore, but if you've mastered the dash-jump-grapple combo, it feels like playing a high-speed action movie.
People keep asking if they need a specific team for this. Honestly? No. But having someone like Jiyan or even just a well-built Rover makes the combat encounters between the puzzle sections much smoother. The enemies here, especially the Lightcrag Golem variants, have higher stagger bars than what you’re used to in the Central Plains.
Why the Chronosorter is a Love-Hate Mechanic
The Chronosorter is the "gimmick" of the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage, and it’s surprisingly deep. You find these golden, clock-like structures. When you interact with them, you can shift the state of the immediate environment between "Past" and "Present."
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Think about it this way. You see a treasure chest behind a wall of ice. In the "Present," that ice is solid. You use the Chronosorter to shift to the "Past" (or a warmer state), and the ice melts. But wait—now the bridge you needed to reach the chest is also gone because it hadn't been built yet. It’s that kind of logic. It forces you to actually think about the geography rather than just following a golden waypoint on your HUD.
I’ve seen dozens of players complaining on Reddit that their quest is "glitched" because a path is blocked. Nine times out of ten, they just haven't looked for the nearby Chronosorter to flip the environment state. It’s a classic case of the game expecting you to be observant.
Navigating the Loong’s Crest
Reaching the Loong’s Crest is the climax of the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage. This is where the scale goes from "big" to "overwhelming." You’re essentially climbing a mountain that is being orbited by a massive, temporal dragon.
The verticality here is insane.
You’ll spend a lot of time using the Photon Barrier puzzles. These require you to reflect beams of light into sensors to unlock gravity lifts. It’s very reminiscent of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but with that snappy, fast-paced Wuthering Waves movement. A tip that most people overlook: use your Levitator tool. You’ll need to pick up batteries or energy cores to power certain elevators. If you’re just running around trying to "hit" things, you’re going to get frustrated.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Mt. Firmament
A common misconception is that you can just "skip" to the end of the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage by climbing the back of the mountain. You can't. Kuro put up invisible barriers and high-altitude exhaustion zones to make sure you experience the narrative beats.
Another thing? The Echoes.
While you're doing the Skyward Voyage, you’ll encounter the Hooscamp Feline and the Glacio Dreadmane. Do not ignore these. The drop rates for the newer 1.1 Echoes seem slightly tuned up during the initial quest phase in Mt. Firmament. Plus, the new "Sentinel Jué" Echo you get at the end is arguably one of the best Spectro Echoes in the game right now. Its active skill deals massive AoE damage and provides a resonance skill damage boost that is basically mandatory for a Jinhsi main.
The Difficulty Spike is Real
If you’re Under Union Level 40, the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage might feel like a slap in the face. The world level scaling is aggressive here. The tactical holograms scattered around Mt. Firmament are even worse. I’ve seen players who breezed through the base game get absolutely humbled by the Heron or the Mephis clones in this region.
You need to have your weapons at level 60 or 70.
You need your skills leveled.
This isn't a "casual stroll" questline.
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Hidden Details in the Skyward Voyage
The environmental storytelling is where this quest really shines. If you look at the architecture of Hongzhen (the main village), you’ll see it’s built into the cliffs to hide from the temporal distortions.
- The "Frozen" Waterfalls: These aren't just for show. You can actually run on some of them during specific quest phases.
- The Windchimes: There are 61 Windchimes hidden around Mt. Firmament. Collecting them is part of the exploration, but the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage takes you past about 15 of them naturally. Don't forget to grab them; the rewards from the merchant in Hongzhen are too good to pass up (including Lustrous Tides).
- The Lore Documents: Keep an eye out for the "Tales of Mt. Firmament" books. They explain why the time-stop phenomenon is happening. It has everything to do with the Sentinel's power leaking into the atmosphere.
Actionable Steps for Completing Skyward Voyage Efficiently
Don't just rush in. If you want to finish the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage without tearing your hair out, follow this specific progression logic.
First, prioritize the Resonance Beacons. There’s nothing worse than falling off a cliff at Loong’s Crest and having to run five minutes back from the village because you forgot to tag a waypoint. There are beacons hidden in sea caves and on high spires that aren't immediately obvious on the map.
Second, upgrade your Grapple. Make sure you’re comfortable with the mid-air reset. Many of the platforming sections in the latter half of the voyage require you to grapple, jump, and then grapple again to a different point.
Third, check your Spectro resistance. Many enemies in this region deal Spectro damage. If your main DPS is Spectro-based (like Rover or Jinhsi), make sure you have a secondary DPS ready for the resistant mobs.
Lastly, pay attention to the "Truth" and "Lies" mechanic in the dialogue. While it doesn't drastically change the ending of the quest, it provides much more context on Jué’s motivations and the future of the Magistrate’s role in Jinzhou.
To wrap this up, the Wuthering Waves Skyward Voyage is a high-water mark for the game. It proves that Kuro Games can handle complex level design and meaningful verticality. Once you finish the main climb and defeat the boss, make sure to return to Hongzhen. There are several follow-up "side" tasks that unlock only after the main voyage is complete, including the high-tier exploration challenges that reward Astrite and advanced tuning materials. Get your team geared up, keep your eyes on the Chronosorters, and don't forget to look up—the solution to most puzzles is usually hovering right above your head.