If you've been grinding solo through Wuthering Waves' main story quests and tough world boss fights, you've probably wondered if you can team up with friends to take on challenges together or explore the vast open world of Jinzhou as a group. The good news is that co op is fully supported across all platforms, but you have to meet a few simple prerequisites before you can access the feature. If you're stuck figuring out how to enable co op in Wuthering Waves, this guide walks you through every step, from unlocking the feature to troubleshooting common connection issues that pop up when you try to play with others.
Prerequisites You Need to Meet to Enable Co Op in Wuthering Waves
Before you can jump into multiplayer, you have to tick a few boxes first, and these requirements are the same no matter what platform you play on. First, you need to reach account level 18, which you can hit fairly quickly by completing main story quests and opening chests across the map. You also need to finish the third act of the prologue quest, "A Road to Home," which unlocks most of the game's core features once you wrap it up.
You do not need to link a third-party social account to access co op, but linking your Discord or console account can make it faster to find friends you already play other games with. Crossplay is enabled by default across PC, mobile, PlayStation, and Xbox, so you don't have to worry about being locked out of playing with friends who use a different device. If you play on multiple devices, your co op unlock progress carries over as long as you log into the same account.
Step-by-Step Process to Turn On Co Op and Invite Friends
Once you've met all the prerequisites, enabling co op only takes a few taps or clicks. You can access the feature any time you're not in a restricted instance, like a story quest or dungeon run that's limited to solo play. Follow these steps to get your session up and running:
- Open the main menu by tapping the three-line icon on mobile, pressing Esc on PC, or hitting the Options button on console
- Select the "Friends" tab from the side menu, then choose "Add Friend" to send invites to other players using their unique 9-digit in-game UID
- Head back to the main menu and select the "Co Op" icon, which will appear as a two-person silhouette once you've unlocked the feature (it will be grayed out if you haven't met the prerequisites yet)
- Choose to either create your own co op session or join a friend's existing open session from your friends list
- Adjust your session privacy settings to "Friends Only" or "Public" depending on who you want to join your world, and set activity preferences if you're opening it to random players
If you create a session, you're the host, so other players will join your version of Jinzhou. You can set limits on what activities guests can participate in, from collecting open-world resources to fighting world bosses, so you don't have to worry about random players joining and taking all your rare upgrade materials. Each co op session can hold up to 4 players total, so you can bring three friends along for any activity, from exploring hidden caves to taking on the game's toughest endgame bosses.
Common Co Op Issues and How to Fix Them Quickly
Even if you've met all the prerequisites, you might run into a few snags when trying to start or join a co op session. Most of these issues have simple fixes that take less than a minute to try, so you don't have to waste time troubleshooting instead of playing. The most common issue people run into is the co op icon being grayed out, which almost always means you haven't finished the required prologue quest or hit account level 18 yet. Double check your quest log and account level to rule that out first.
If you're getting a connection error when trying to join a friend's session, make sure both of you have stable internet connections, and that neither of you has a pending game update that needs to be installed. Outdated game versions can cause crossplay conflicts, even if you're playing on the same device. If you're in a story quest instance, you won't be able to join or host co op sessions until you finish the quest or exit the instance manually, so make sure you're back in the open world before you try to start a session.
Another common issue is friends being unable to join your world even if you have an open session. This usually happens if your world level is 2 or more levels higher than theirs, which is a safety feature to keep lower-level players from getting one-shot by high-level enemies in your world. You can lower your world level temporarily in your settings to let them join, but note that enemy difficulty will scale to the highest level player in the session, so you'll still get appropriate rewards for your level.
Fun Activities to Try Once You Have Co Op Enabled
Now that you have co op up and running, you can do way more than just grind for upgrade materials with friends. A lot of the game's open-world content is designed to be more fun with a group, and some limited-time events are only available in co op mode. One of the most popular co op activities is taking on world bosses, which drop rare ascension materials for your characters and weapons. Fighting bosses with a team lets you cover all elemental weaknesses, so you can beat them in half the time it takes to do it solo.
You can also explore hidden areas that are hard to reach solo, like the floating islands in the Cloudrest Region, which require coordinated platforming and puzzle solving to access. I've spent hours with friends just racing across the map on our mounts and competing to see who can find the most hidden chests in an hour, which is a great way to unwind when you're tired of grinding quests or boss fights.
You can also participate in limited-time co op events that offer exclusive rewards like limited-edition character costumes, premium in-game currency, and rare weapon ascension materials that you can't get from solo play. These events usually rotate every few weeks, so keep an eye on the in-game event tab to make sure you don't miss out. Co op is also a great way to meet new players who share your playstyle, especially if you join public sessions focused on specific activities you enjoy.
Co op is one of the most underrated features in Wuthering Waves, and it turns even the most repetitive farming runs into a fun social experience. Now that you know how to enable co op in Wuthering Waves, you can start teaming up with friends to take on tough endgame challenges, explore every hidden corner of Jinzhou, and earn exclusive rewards you can't get on your own. Don't forget to adjust your privacy settings to fit your preferences, and if you run into connection issues, run through the quick fixes we covered earlier to get back to playing in minutes. Next time you log on, grab a friend or two and try out a new activity you haven't done solo before – you might be surprised how much more fun it is.