There’s nothing more frustrating than trekking across Wuthering Waves’ lush open world, spotting a glowing luxury chest just off the path, only to run face first into a wall of spiky, glowing purple thorns that won’t budge no matter how many times you slash at them with your main DPS. I’ve been there too, spending 10 minutes spamming every skill in my kit before I realized I was missing one key detail to get past them. If you’re wondering how to get rid of thorns wuthering waves hides across every region of its map, we’ve got you covered with all the tested methods we’ve picked up across 200+ hours of exploration, no paid characters required.
How to Get Rid of Thorns in Wuthering Waves: First Grab the Right Resonator
First, you need to know one core rule: all thorn patches in Wuthering Waves are only vulnerable to Fusion elemental damage. Any other element, or physical damage, will bounce right off the brambles without making a dent. The good news is you don’t have to pull for a limited 5-star Fusion character to clear these obstacles. You can get a perfectly viable Fusion resonator completely free within the first 5 hours of gameplay.
The easiest option for new players is Yuanwu, a 4-star Fusion Catalyst user you unlock by completing the side quest “A Sword for the Departed” in the Jinzhou region. His elemental skill has a wide area of effect, making it perfect for hitting multiple cores on larger thorn patches at once. If you haven’t unlocked that quest yet, you can also switch your main character (Rover) to Fusion attribute once you reach the end of Chapter 1 of the main story, which takes most players 3 to 4 hours to complete.
Once you have a Fusion resonator in your party, clearing most small thorns is as simple as switching to that character and hitting the glowing purple core in the center of the patch with their elemental skill. Larger patches that block entire paths or cave entrances will have 2 to 3 separate cores you need to hit within 10 seconds of each other to fully destroy the bramble, so plan your skill usage accordingly. If you have Yuanwu, his elemental burst can hit all cores at once even if they’re spread out, which saves a ton of time.
Common Mistakes That Stop You From Clearing Thorns Fast
If you’ve spent 10 minutes smacking a thorn patch with no progress and can’t figure out how to get rid of thorns wuthering waves keeps putting in your path, the odds are you’re making one of these common mistakes I see new players make all the time:
- Using non-Fusion elemental attacks: Aero, Glacio, Spectro or physical damage won’t do anything to thorn patches, no matter how high your attack stat is.
- Only hitting one core on large thorn patches: Multi-core thorns require all glowing nodes to be hit within 10 seconds of each other to fully destroy the patch.
- Forgetting to recharge your elemental skill before approaching: If you run out of energy for your Fusion skill, you’ll have to wait for it to cool down or find an energy orb nearby to activate it.
- Hitting the thorns from too far away: Fusion attacks need to make direct contact with the glowing core, not just the outer bramble, to count as a valid hit.
One mistake I made constantly when I first started playing was trying to hit the outer part of the thorn patch instead of the glowing core. The bramble itself is invulnerable, so you have to aim directly at the bright purple node to deal damage. You don’t need any special items or consumables to clear thorns either, despite what some random forum posts might say. All you need is the right element, no potions or quest items required.
What Rewards You Get For Clearing Thorn Patches
If you’re still on the fence about taking the time to learn how to get rid of thorns wuthering waves has scattered across its regions, these rewards should be enough to convince you. Most small thorn patches hide common chests that give character experience materials, weapon upgrade ore, and 10 to 15 Undaunted Stars, the premium currency you use for pulling new characters and weapons.
Larger thorn patches that block entire areas usually hold far better rewards. I’ve found multiple hidden luxury chests behind thorn patches that had 5-star weapon ascension materials, 50 Undaunted Stars, and exclusive lore notes that unlock hidden side quests. Some thorn patches even block access to hidden teleport waypoints, which save you hours of travel time later on when you’re exploring remote parts of the map.
If you’re working on building a Fusion character, thorn patches are also one of the best sources of Fusion ascension materials early in the game. I farmed all the materials I needed to max out Yuanwu’s level just by clearing thorn patches across the Jinzhou region, without having to run any ascension domains at all. That saved me a ton of resin I could use for other upgrades instead.
Shortcuts to Find All Thorn Patches in Your Region
You don’t have to wander around aimlessly looking for thorn patches to clear. There are a few simple tricks you can use to find every single one in your current region in just a few minutes. The first tool you should use is the exploration compass you unlock when you hit Adventure Rank 12. You can set the compass to search for hidden puzzles, and it will ping any nearby thorn patches, elemental totems, or other uncompleted puzzles within a 500 meter radius of your current location.
You can also keep an eye on your mini-map as you explore. If you see a small, unmarked purple glowing icon on the edge of your map, that’s almost always a thorn patch or another Fusion elemental puzzle. If you don’t have a Fusion resonator unlocked yet when you find a patch, just mark it with a custom pin on your map so you can come back later once you have the right character. I have over 20 of these pins saved on my map from when I first started playing, and it saved me hours of searching later on.
If you’re working on 100% exploration completion for a region, you can also check the region’s exploration progress page. It will tell you how many hidden puzzles you have left to complete, and thorn patches count towards that total. That makes it easy to tell if you’re missing any patches in a region before you move on to the next area.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get rid of thorns wuthering waves scatters across its open world is way simpler than most new players make it out to be. You just need a Fusion resonator in your party, a steady aim for the glowing cores, and you’ll be unlocking all those hidden rewards in no time. Don’t stress if you can’t clear a patch right away when you find it, just mark it and come back later when you have the right tools. If you’re still struggling, try swapping to a Fusion character with a wider AoE skill to make hitting multiple cores faster. Happy exploring!