If you’re like most new Wuthering Waves players, one of the first things you want to do after getting used to the flashy combat and beautiful open world is team up with friends to take on bosses and hunt for rare loot. A ton of new players reach out every week asking when do you unlock coop in Wuthering Waves, and it’s easy to get confused by outdated beta info floating around online. I’ve run through the unlock process twice now: once for my main account on launch day, and once for a fresh alt I made last month to play with a group of friends who just picked up the game. I know all the little roadblocks that can slow you down, and exactly how to speed through the requirements if you’re eager to start playing with others.
When Do You Unlock Coop in Wuthering Waves: Exact Unlock Requirements
Let’s cut straight to the point to avoid any confusion from old guides. For the full, global release of Wuthering Waves, you unlock co-op mode after meeting two non-negotiable requirements: you need to reach Account Level 18, and you have to complete the third act of Chapter 1, titled “The Shoreless Isles”. Beta unlock requirements don't apply to the full release of Wuthering Waves, so ignore any old posts that say you can unlock it at level 16, that information is no longer valid.
You don’t have to complete any side quests or event content to hit these requirements, but you will likely hit a level gap right around the end of Chapter 1 Act 2, where you need to earn a couple more account levels to unlock the final story quest for Act 3. That gap is intentional, it’s designed to give you time to get used to your Resonators’ combat kits and explore the open world a bit before you jump into multiplayer.
Once you finish the final cutscene for Chapter 1 Act 3, you’ll get a pop-up tutorial for co-op mode, and the multiplayer icon will appear in the top right corner of your main menu. You don’t have to complete any extra steps after that to access the feature, you can start sending invites to friends right away.
Fastest Ways to Hit Coop Unlock Requirements Without Burnout
If you’re in a rush to play with friends, you can cut your total unlock time down to around 5 or 6 hours of playtime, as long as you focus on high-yield activities that give the most account XP per minute. I tested this on my alt account earlier this month, and I managed to hit level 18 and finish the required story quest in just over 5 hours, without skipping any cutscenes entirely.
Daily training tasks give more account XP per minute than any other activity, so make sure you complete all four daily missions as soon as they unlock at Account Level 10. They only take 10 to 15 minutes to finish each day, and they give 800 total account XP, which is almost a full level up in the early game. If you only play for an hour a day, doing your dailies will cut your total unlock time in half.
When you hit that level gap right before Chapter 1 Act 3, skip the long side quests and focus on these quick XP sources instead:
I made the mistake of grinding 2 hour-long side quests when I hit the level gap on my first playthrough, and that wasted so much time. I could have run around collecting chests and beacons to hit the required level in 45 minutes instead, so learn from my mistake and prioritize fast, low-effort XP sources when you’re trying to unlock coop quickly.
What You Can (and Can't) Do in Wuthering Waves Coop After Unlock
A lot of new players assume they can do everything in the game together once they unlock coop, but there are some important limitations you should know about before you invite your friends to your world. Knowing these limits ahead of time will save you a lot of frustration when you first start playing together.
You can explore the entire open world together, fight world bosses, clear domains for upgrade materials, hunt for rare chests, and take on most overworld challenges as a group. You can also adjust the world level of the host to match the lowest level player in the group, so your lower level friends won’t get one-shot by high level enemies when they join your world. All players get to keep any loot they collect while in someone else’s world, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on rewards if you join a friend’s lobby.
There are a few key restrictions though. You can’t progress main story quests together, each player has to complete the main campaign on their own. You also can’t claim story quest rewards or trigger story cutscenes while you’re in a coop session, you’ll have to leave the lobby to do that. Only the host can activate story-related interactables, so if you join a friend’s world that’s further along in the story, you won’t be able to trigger any quests that you haven’t unlocked in your own playthrough yet.
Some limited-time events also have single-player only sections, so check the event details before you invite friends to help you grind event rewards. Most event challenges allow coop play, but the story sections of events are almost always single-player only.
Common Coop Unlock Mistakes to Avoid
I’ve seen a ton of new players run into easily avoidable issues when trying to unlock coop, so I put together this short list of mistakes to watch out for to make your unlock process as smooth as possible.
Don't join random coop lobbies before you finish the main story unlock requirement, you’ll just get an error message even if someone sends you an invite. The co-op feature is completely locked until you meet both the level and story requirements, so there’s no way to bypass the unlock process by joining someone else’s world.
Don’t skip the co-op tutorial pop-up when you first unlock the feature. I did this on my main account, and I spent 20 minutes clicking through every menu tab trying to find the invite friends button, before I realized I had to go back to my notification center to open the tutorial first. The tutorial only takes 30 seconds to complete, and it shows you exactly how to adjust your lobby privacy settings and send invites to your friends list.
If you’re playing across multiple devices, make sure your account is properly linked before you start grinding for the coop unlock. Your unlock progress is tied to your account, not your device, so you won’t lose access to coop if you switch between PC and mobile, but you will have to log into the same account to access it.
Don’t rush through the early story just to unlock coop if you’re a casual player. The early chapters of Wuthering Waves have some really great character moments and world building, and you’ll miss out on a lot of that if you’re just skipping cutscenes and grinding XP nonstop. Most casual players hit the unlock requirements naturally within 8 to 12 hours of playtime, so you don’t have to force it if you’re enjoying the single-player content.
At the end of the day, the wait to play with friends isn’t too long even if you take your time exploring every corner of the map. Most players will hit the requirements to unlock coop in Wuthering Waves within a week of casual play, and you can cut that time down drastically if you follow the tips we laid out above. Just remember to have fun with the process, and don’t be afraid to slow down and enjoy the early game content before you jump into multiplayer with your friends.