Windrose Co-op Guide – How to Play With Your Friends

Windrose is a better game with friends. Naval combat with a full crew, splitting questing duties across multiple islands, having someone hold boss aggro while you reload your blunderbuss, the co-op loop is one of the strongest in the survival genre right now.

1. Co-op Quick Reference

Before getting into the details, use the table below for a snapshot of the most important multiplayer facts. It covers player limits, session types, loot behavior, and progression persistence so you know exactly what to expect going in.

2. How to Start a Co-op Session

Game Mode Selections

Windrose keeps its multiplayer setup straightforward once you know where to look. Any solo world can be converted into a co-op session without losing progress, and joining a friend’s game requires nothing more than an invite code.

The sections below explain how to host your own game and how to quickly join others.

How to Host a Game

Windrose does not require a separate multiplayer save. You can open any existing solo world as a co-op session at any time with no restart and no lost progress.

1. Launch Windrose and click Play.
2. Select Host a Game.
3. Choose an existing save file or create a new one.
4. In the World Properties panel, configure your Server Name, Password, and Max Players.
5. Click Confirm — the world loads and generates a unique invite code.
6. Share the invite code with your crew.

How to Join a Friend’s World

Invite Code Server

There are two ways to connect to a friend’s session, but both players must complete the initial tutorial first before the connection works reliably. If a player has not cleared the first objective, errors can occur.

Method 1: Invite Code

This is the most reliable method and works regardless of platform friend lists. Simply enter the host’s invite code to get started:

1. Click Play, then Connect to a Server.
2. Enter the host’s invite code.
3. Once connected, the server saves automatically. Future joins do not require re-entering the code.

Method 2: Steam Friends List

If you are playing on Steam, you can bypass the code system entirely as long as your friend’s session is already open and joinable:

1. Right-click your friend in the Steam overlay or Friends list.
2. Select Join Game.

3. World Properties Settings

Multiplayer Settings

The World Properties panel appears when hosting and contains settings most players skip past entirely. These options heavily impact difficulty and progression sharing, so understanding each setting before your first session will save a lot of confusion later.

Shared Quest Progress

Shared Quest Progress auto-completes any co-op quest for all players who have that quest active at the moment one player finishes it. The key condition is “active at the time” — meaning online and on the server when the quest is completed, not necessarily at the same physical location.

If a player is offline when their teammate finishes a quest, they will need to catch up to that step manually before the co-op sync resumes. Turn Shared Quest Progress on for casual groups, but turn it off for groups where everyone wants to experience quest content individually.

Co-op Enemy Scaling

Co-op Enemy Scaling adjusts the health and posture of land enemies based on how many players are currently online. At the default 1.0 scaling, each additional player adds approximately 10% to enemy HP.

Co-op Enemy Ship Scaling is a separate slider applying the same HP logic to naval combat. It is disabled at 0.0 by default, but you should enable it if your crew finds ship battles too easy. Use these scaling recommendations based on your group size:

• Duo (2 players): Default scaling (1.0) works well.
• Full crew (4 players): Reduce to 0.5–0.75 for an exploration focus; keep at 1.0 for a strict challenge.
• Casual/builder groups: Set to 0.25–0.5 for faster combat clears and more time building.

Additional Difficulty Settings

Three more settings are worth adjusting depending on your group’s experience level. Use the table below to fine-tune the baseline difficulty of your session.

4. How Progression Works in Co-op

Ship Loot

Progression sharing is the most misunderstood part of Windrose‘s multiplayer. Mixing up what carries between servers and what stays strictly personal leads to wasted time. The lists below break down exactly how your progress is handled.

What Is Shared

The following elements are permanently shared across all players on the server, meaning your actions directly affect your teammates:

• Quest progress — with Shared Quest Progress enabled, co-op-tagged quests are complete for all active players simultaneously.
• World resources — trees, ore deposits, and surface materials are shared. If a teammate clears an island’s Divi-divi trees, they are gone for everyone until the daily respawn.
• Enemy camps — a cleared Pirate Camp is cleared for the whole server until the 24-hour respawn cycle resets it.
• Base structures — everything built by any player exists in the shared world.
• Enemy scaling — scales to the total number of active players on the server, not by proximity.

What Is Personal

Your character, chest loot, and XP are entirely personal. Join any server and your entire build, gear, and inventory follow you with zero resets.

Chest loot is fully instanced, meaning every player receives their own independent drop from the same chest at the same time. XP comes exclusively from quests and exploration, not from killing enemies, so split quest objectives across players on different islands for the fastest progression for the entire server.

5. Dedicated Server Setup

Game Hosting Options

A dedicated server solves the biggest peer-to-peer problem: the world going offline when the host logs out. With a dedicated server, the world runs 24/7 regardless of who is online. You can choose to self-host for free or pay for managed hosting.

Option A: Self-Hosted (Free)

The Windrose Dedicated Server tool is a free download included with every Steam purchase. Running the game client and the server on the same PC requires at least 24 GB of RAM. Check that your hardware meets the requirements below before starting:

Getting the Server Files

The method to access your server files changes based on the storefront you purchased the game from:

• Steam: The dedicated server is a separate, free application in the Tools section of your library. Install it, then open its local files to complete setup.
• Epic Games Store / Stove: Server files are already included with the main game install. Open your installation folder, navigate to R5\Builds. Find the WindroseServer folder, and copy it to another location on your PC.

How to Launch the Server (Steam)

Windrose uses NAT punch-through to dynamically handle connections. In most cases, you do not need to manually forward ports as long as UPnP is enabled on your router and Windows Firewall allows WindroseServer.exe.

1. Open Steam Library, click the dropdown filter, and select Tools.
2. Find and install Windrose Dedicated Server.
3. Run it once, wait for the console window to stop scrolling, then close it to create the required config files.
4. Right-click Windrose Dedicated Server in your library, select Manage, then Browse Local Files.
5. Choose your launch method: StartServerForeground.bat (visible console window) or WindroseServer.exe (headless background mode).
6. Share the generated invite code with your crew so they can join via Connect to a Server in the main menu.

Option B: Managed Hosting via Nitrado (Paid)

Paid Servers in Nitrado

Nitrado is the official Windrose server hosting partner. From the game’s mode selection screen, choose Create a Dedicated Server, and you will be taken to Nitrado’s website to set it up.

1. Go to Nitrado or use the in-game Create a Dedicated Server option.
2. Select your slot count and duration, then confirm your order.
3. From the Nitrado dashboard, go to My Services and select your Windrose server.
4. Click Start Server and wait for the status indicator to turn green.
5. Find your server’s invite code in the web control panel.
6. Share the code with your crew.

6. Best Co-op Crew Compositions

Sailing the sea

Windrose does not enforce strict classes, but the four Talent trees naturally map onto co-op roles. Coordinating builds early makes a massive difference during boss fights and naval engagements. The setups below highlight the best synergies based on your crew size.

Standard 4-Player Crew

A full party should balance survivability with raw damage and base utility. This standard setup covers every combat angle while keeping the ship repaired and stocked.

Crew Responsibilities

• Frontliner: Hold boss attention, block heavy attacks, and use Revenge Heal aggressively.
• Duelist: Stack bleed on the boss and exploit high-risk burst windows.
• Marksman: Provide safe ranged damage, handle adds, and take over naval cannon duty.
• Support/Builder: Handle base management, potion supply, and ship repairs during naval combat.

2-Player Crew

When playing as a duo, covering survivability and ranged pressure, most content falls to those roles. Focus on these two hybrid roles to ensure neither player is easily overwhelmed:

• Player 1 (Toughguy/Fencer hybrid): Survivability plus melee damage. Handles the boss directly and absorbs aggro.
• Player 2 (Marksman): Ranged pressure, manages adds, and maintains stamina efficiency through distance.

Ship Combat Roles

During naval combat, role assignments shift regardless of your land-based talent builds. The Brig (16 cannons, 12 crew capacity) is the sweet spot for co-op groups, and every player on board should claim one of the defined jobs below before engagement starts.

• Helmsman (Captain): Steers the ship, manages speed and turning, calls attack angles. One player only.
• Cannoneer: Operates cannons, manages reload timing, and fires on the Helmsman’s call.
• Rigger / Sail Operator: Adjusts sails for wind advantage, manages speed during pursuit.
• Boarder: Prepares for boarding action, first on the enemy deck when boarding begins.

7. Fast Travel Bells

Fast Travel Bell

The Fast Travel Bells are the single most impactful co-op investment in Windrose. In co-op, slow travel between islands means players who die or disconnect can spend ten minutes sailing back to the action, killing the session’s momentum entirely.

Build a Fast Travel Bell at your base and at every island outpost you establish as your first priority. All players can use any Bell the host has built with no individual crafting required. This network unlocks co-op’s core strength: splitting up to complete quests on different islands simultaneously.

8. Common Co-op Issues and Fixes

Connection problems, quest sync failures, and unexpected difficulty spikes are common when starting out in multiplayer. Most have straightforward causes and quick solutions. The table below details exactly how to fix the most frequent co-op bugs.

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