Frequently Asked Questions

This article serves to answer questions that players may frequently ask, or solve common issues that players may have. It is currently a work-in-progress.

Do not use this page to ask questions or to seek help. If you have a question that is not mentioned on this page, search the wiki for information make a post on the Arc Forums. There is a frequently asked questions thread available on the Arc Forums for players returning to the game.

About the Game
Q: Is Perfect World free to play? A: Yes, but it does have microtransactions through its in-game Boutique. It is possible to play the game without spending real-life money, however achieving end-game this way can be difficult and very time-consuming.

Q: When was Perfect World released? A: It was released in September 2008. Technically the game was in beta at this time, but the servers were never restarted after the beta ended.

Q: Will Perfect World ever come to console/mobile? A: Perfect World is exclusively for PC, and there are no plans to bring it to console or mobile. There is a mobile game named Perfect World Mobile that was created by the same developers, but it is completely separate from the PC version of Perfect World.

Q: Can I play my PWI characters in Perfect World Mobile? Can I transfer my characters to Perfect World Mobile? A: No. Perfect World Mobile is a completely separate game. It has different mechanics and takes place in a similar but different universe to PWI.

Installation and Logging In
Q: How do I download the game? A: Perfect World can only be downloaded through the Arc client, which can be downloaded from https://www.arcgames.com/en/about/client

Q: What is Arc? A: Arc is a platform created by Perfect World Entertainment to integrate all of its games into a single launcher. It can be used for other purposes such as chat, streaming, and redeeming Arc Codes.

Q: What are the system requirements? A: See System Requirements for information. Note that PWI is not well-supported on older Operating Systems such as Windows XP and Vista, and Arc may not function on these Operating Systems.

Q: Can I play the game on Mac or Linux? A: PWI is not supported on either of these Operating Systems. It is possible to play PWI on a Mac using Bootcamp, and it is possible to configure some Linux installations to play PWI but it may not be stable.

Q: Can I play the game without Arc? A: No. You need to launch the game through the Arc client or you will not be able to log into the game.

Q: Why can't I play the game with Steam? A: PWI is no longer possible to play through Steam as it was removed. If you previously played PWI through Steam, you will need to reinstall the game through Arc to be able to play.

Q: What is multiclienting? A: Multiclienting is the act of opening multiple game clients to log into multiple accounts simultaneously.

Q: Is multclienting allowed? A: Yes; you are allowed to play with up to 2 clients at a time, with no exceptions. For example, characters used to sell items through Consignment Shops count towards the multiclienting limit.

Q: Multiple people play in my household. Will we get banned? A: Everybody under the same household should be able to play without any problems. However, make sure that you have proof that multiple people do play in the same household in the case of an accidental ban.

Q: How do I multiclient? A: In early 2018 Perfect World Entertainment changed the way players log into the game, requiring them to use the Arc client to log in. Currently the only way to multiclient is through the following steps:
 * 1) Launch Arc and log into the game
 * 2) Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Esc)
 * 3) End the Arc process (found as Arc Update on Windows 10)
 * 4) Launch Arc again and log in with the second account that you want to use

Q: How do I force log now that we have to launch Arc? A: You cannot force log using the client as of early 2018. Many methods are shared through the player base but most are theories and are not 100% reliable. You can also find files shared online that enable the Force Log setting, though some may not be guaranteed to be safe. The only known reliable method to force logging otherwise is to keep the Arc client running while logged into an account. If you disconnect from the server a popup message will appear asking if you would like to reconnect. This does not always work if you encounter a server error, or your internet connection is not restored properly. It may not work if your client or computer has crashed.

Q: Why do we need to log in through Arc? A: Perfect World Entertainment has stated that players are now forced to log in through Arc in order to combat a botting issue across a few of its games. While this may have worked for a while initially, bots do find their way back into the game.

In-Game
Q: I was doing my Aware of Discord/level 39 cultivation quests and they disappeared! I cannot find any more cultivation quests in my quest log. Where do I find my next quest? A: To get the next quest, your character has to die. See the Aware of Discord section of the Spiritual Cultivation article for more details.

Q: When doing my cultivation quests, I killed the bosses in Valley of Disaster/FB59 and didn't get any kill credit. How do I complete the quest? A: The bosses you need to kill are actually located outside of the dungeon - you can find them fairly close to the dungeon. This change was made with the PWI Wings of Rebirth expansion. Note: For your cultivation quests between 59 and 99, all bosses you need to kill will be located outside of dungeons. Other quests such as Chrono Quests or Instance Quests still require you to kill the bosses inside their dungeons.

Q: What is Channelling? A: When casting a skill, a progress bar will show on your screen before casting - this is channelling. It can be interrupted by enemies, and increased or decreased by buffs, debuffs, and Gear Addons. You can also interrupt your own channelling by pressing the Esc key.

Q: What is Chi? A: Chi is a stat used to cast certain skills. It is shown as a yellow bar to the top-left of the screen where your character portrait is, and may have red bubbles next to it. Initially you will have no maximum Chi, but this can be increased by completing Spiritual Cultivation quests to have up to 399 Chi. The red bubbles beside the Chi bar are sparks, and represent a full bar of 100 Chi. Chi can be gained by attacking enemies, casting skills, using apothecary items, or embracing.

Q: How can I get new gear? A: You can most commonly acquire gear through completing quests, purchasing from an NPC, crafting, or killing monsters. At higher levels you can also craft types of legendary gear such as Twilight Temple, Lunar Glade, and more - these types of gear require materials from certain dungeons. There is also gear available when reaching certain Reputation ranks. You can also purchase gear from other players. For more information on what gear you can get at certain levels, see Gear Progression.

Q: How can I take screenshots? A: You can take screenshots by pressing the Print Screen key on your keyboard, or by pressing the F9 key and clicking the Screenshot button. With the F9 key option you can move the camera around or even remove the User Interface (UI) in your screenshot.

Q: Where can I find my screenshots? A: By default your screenshots should be found where Perfect World is installed, under the elements\screenshots folder. An example file path may be C:\PWI_en\element\screenshots. All screenshots will be named as a timestamp according to what time you took the screenshot (according to your PC's clock) in YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS format. Example: 2018-10-09 22-02-15 would mean the screenshot was taken on October 9th, 2018 at 10:02:15pm.

Q: How can I move the camera? A: You can rotate the camera by holding down the right mouse button and dragging it around. To zoom in and out use the scroll wheel on your mouse. You can also press the F9 key to show/hide camera mode and move the camera that way, especially when you want to take a screenshot.

Q: Can I invert the zoom in/zoom out? A: Yes. You can do this by opening the System Settings with the U key, clicking on the Game tab, and then checking or un-checking the Zoom checkbox at the top of the window, and then clicking the Confirm button.