The Scroll of Taiwu: Beyond The Dome: Beginner's Survival Guide

A practical primer for surviving your first Taiwu heir: how time works, how to learn martial arts from sects, how combat and injuries work, how to grow Taiwu Village, and how the inheritance system carries progress across generations. It also covers the September 2026 DLC wave.

Researched September 2026 — current as of patch #260903 (Sept 3, 2026); the Steam store now lists the game's release date as June 16, 2026. English UI terms follow the official English patch notes, but some systems have translated names that differ between versions. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Version note: The Scroll of Taiwu first hit Early Access in September 2018 and became a Chinese breakout hit even before it had an English translation. ConchShip later rebuilt the game (the rebuilt "official version" went live on September 21, 2022, on the same Steam page), and the version sold as The Scroll of Taiwu: Beyond The Dome is the current one, with official English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and Korean. Older guides written for the 2018 build often describe systems that have since changed, so check the date on anything you read.

Quick Start

Every world is random. Maps, NPCs, and enemies are procedurally generated, so a walkthrough can't tell you where things are. Learn the systems instead.
Time passes in months. Actions like traveling, gathering, reading, and visiting use up time. At month's end the world simulates: NPCs age, marry, fight, fall ill, and die. Plan your month before you act.
Pick a starting focus and stay with it. Choose one weapon family and one inner-art (Qi) path from a sect you can reach. Spreading across five sects early leaves you weak at everything.
Make friends before making enemies. NPC relationships decide who teaches you, trades with you, and marries into your family. Blood feuds follow you across generations.
Build up Taiwu Village from month one. Assign villagers to resource and industry buildings. The village funds everything later.
Read books, don't just collect them. Martial arts and Fine Arts (crafting and life skills) only progress when you actually study them.
Watch injuries and poison. Outer and inner injuries and poisons carry over between fights. Heal before picking another battle.
You will die, and that's part of it. When the heir dies, you pass the sword to a successor. What you build (village, relationships, family) carries forward.

How the World Works

Time and actions

Each month gives you a limited amount of time for actions.
Travel across the world map costs time based on distance and terrain.
At month's end, the world advances: NPCs act independently, sects change, events happen, and your village produces resources.

The martial world (jianghu)

The world has fifteen martial sects, each with its own region, values (orthodox, heterodox, or in between), techniques, and politics. Examples include Shaolin, Emei, Wudang, the Valley of Flowers (Baihua), the Five Venoms sect, and the Xuannu sect. The official English names vary a little between versions.

Sects offer:

Martial arts manuals and teachers for their signature techniques.
Missions and sect events that raise your standing.
Sect tournaments and contests. The official patch notes mention sect-contest encounters (such as the Xuannu sect's contest) and the Wulin Tournament.

NPCs

Thousands of NPCs, each with their own relationships, goals, and life history.
Favorability decides whether they'll teach, trade, or help.
Wariness tracks how suspicious an NPC is of you. The patch notes mention it resetting when a new Taiwu takes the sword.
NPCs can become sworn siblings, spouses, enemies, or apprentices.

Martial Arts and Growth

Category	What it does
Qi Arts (inner arts)	Shape your True Qi, internal power, and many passive effects
Footwork Arts	Movement and dodging in combat
Unique Arts / Martial Arts	Attack skills: fist, finger, leg, sword, blade, polearm, whip, hidden weapons, and more
Fine Arts	Life skills such as crafting, medicine, poisons, music, and chess

Learning a technique

Get the manual. Buy it, earn it from a sect, get it as a gift from an NPC, or find it.
Read and study the pages. Each manual has pages you study separately. Reading progress is tracked in the Book Study interface, which can sort by study progress.
Orthodox vs Heterodox pages. Pages can be practiced orthodox or heterodox (reversed), which changes the technique's effects. Heterodox practice can be powerful but risky. The Aug 17, 2026 patch lets you switch techniques that haven't been broken through between Orthodox and Heterodox using an Arhat Statue.
Breakthrough. Using a technique at full strength needs a breakthrough attempt. Medicine can help during breakthroughs.

Attainment and talent

Attainment measures how skilled you are in a category. It gates what you can learn and how well you perform.
Talent measures how quickly you improve.
Secret Tomes: since the July 14, 2026 patch, the first Secret Tome that appears always matches Taiwu's highest Attainment (not counting Qi Arts, Unique Arts, and Footwork Arts). Specializing pays off.

True Qi and circulation

True Qi comes in several types (the patch notes list Nimble, Annihilation, and Protection among others). Different Qi Arts favor different types.
The Microcosmic Circulation interface shows your Qi Arts, can filter by completed or incomplete Qi growth, and supports Five-Element Transfer.
Qi Absorption and related cultivation activities raise your internal power over time.

Combat

Combat is based on classic wuxia ideas: "countering moves", "using everything as a weapon", and "the longer the blade, the stronger the strike".

Distance matters. Weapons have preferred ranges. Footwork decides who controls the distance.
Moves build up during a fight. Attacks and defense generate resources that power your martial arts, so a fight is about managing tempo, not just trading hits.
Hit locations and injuries. Hits land on body parts and cause outer injuries and inner injuries. Serious injuries weaken you in later fights until they're treated.
Poisons. Weapons and garments can be poisoned, and so can medicine. Poisons build up and need antidotes.
Weapon and armor durability. Gear wears down and needs repair.
Medicine in battle. You can use medicine from the Battle interface. Carry healing items.

Beginner combat rules:

Don't fight when injured. Rest or treat wounds first.
Match your weapon to your footwork and Qi Arts. A long weapon with footwork that keeps distance is a forgiving start.
Retreating is allowed. Losing a fight can have lasting consequences.

Taiwu Village

Your home base and long-term engine.

Build and upgrade buildings. Resource buildings and industry buildings produce materials and money each month.
Assign villagers. Assignment lists can be filtered by Work State, Workplace, and Location, which makes it easier to find the right person for each job.
Grant Professions to villagers to unlock special roles.
Grave Guarding: keep up the graves of past Taiwu heirs. Grave durability is tracked.
Stone Cell Contemplation, Five Venoms Ablution, and other special interactions help with cultivation and poisons.
Automatons can train Martial Arts or Fine Arts.

Early village priorities:

Buildings that produce basic resources and money.
Anything that speeds up studying or cultivation.
Storage and crafting buildings once you have a steady income.

Crafting and Medicine

Gather, craft, repair, and refine. You can forge weapons and armor and make medicinal pills yourself.
Poisoning items. Gear and consumables can be coated with poisons. The Sept 3, 2026 patch fixed an error when re-poisoning refined items.
Medicine is a combat stat. Healing and antidotes decide how many fights you can take in a row.

Family, Inheritance, and Legacy

Marry and raise children. Children inherit traits and become possible heirs.
Pass down the sword. When your Taiwu dies, a successor takes up the Taiwu sword. Your village, relationships, and legacy continue.
Choose heirs with good talent. A strong heir with high talent in your chosen path saves years of in-game time.
Past-life lovers. The game describes searching for a lover from a past life among the living NPCs, one of its signature relationship threads.

The Main Threat: Xiangshu

The Taiwu clan's great enemy is Xiangshu. Its corruption can drive characters into Mania and "obsession". The main storyline involves confronting its avatars across the world, and the patch notes mention a "Mystic True Demon" storyline. The July 14, 2026 patch made sure that storyline's follow-up quest stays available after Taiwu is cured of Mania.

September 2026 DLC Wave

In a Sept 17, 2026 announcement (with details shown on the Sept 23 dev livestream), ConchShip said three DLCs would arrive at the end of September. The announcement was Chinese-only, so here are the Chinese titles with descriptions:

DLC	Price	What it does
玄相通天 (Xiangshu Incarnation expansion mode)	Free	After a Taiwu heir is corrupted and turns demonic, you can skip the inheritance and go into the depths to face Xiangshu directly. On return, the main story is skipped, a new "Xiangshu Avatar" ambition, a special nine-tower building, and a new ending unlock, and several major antagonists can be destroyed or recruited
神龙归心	Free	After the Five-Dragons DLC gameplay unlocks, Taiwu can subdue divine dragons in battle with golden silk. They become mounts or take human form and join the village (10 new special dragon companions)
元鸡化影	Paid	Crickets can take human form (14 new interactive cricket characters) with special traits, and a new "cricket brawl" combat assist system

Existing DLC on Steam includes the paid The Transmogrifying Cricket, Green Hills Remain, and 碧霄蛇影 packs, the free Eight Years, One Journey, 跃马听香, and 五方神龙 (Five-Direction Dragons, needed for 神龙归心) packs, a cosmetic pack, and two soundtrack volumes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Learning from too many sects early. Focus beats breadth.
Fighting injured or poisoned. Wounds carry over and snowball.
Ignoring the village. No resources means no gear, no medicine, and no books.
Making enemies casually. Feuds and grudges can outlive your heir.
Hoarding manuals without studying them. Books do nothing on a shelf.
Heterodox practice without knowing the risks. Understand the effects before reversing pages.
Not planning an heir. A sudden death without a good successor sets you back years.
Following 2018-era guides. Many systems changed in the rebuilt version.

Advanced Tips

Use the new filters. The July 22, 2026 UI update added sorting and filters to the Book Study, Microcosmic Circulation, world map, character list, and village assignment screens. They save a lot of time.
Plan months around the world tick. Start long tasks early in the month so the month-end simulation doesn't catch you traveling.
Beggar shortcut: since the Aug 17, 2026 patch, the beggar shortcut button uses Gather Secrets instead of Silver Donation.
Secret Tomes follow your top Attainment. Build toward one category to get relevant tomes sooner.
Scripture Vault detailed mode shows Study information, and simplified mode shows book durability. Pick books that fit your current study plan.
Marriage rules: since the Aug 17 patch, NPCs can't marry into a distant region unless that organization has enough adults of the right tier. Keep this in mind when arranging marriages.
Save often and back up saves before major breakthroughs, fights, or story decisions.

FAQ

Is there an English version? Yes. The current Steam version supports English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.

Is it still Early Access? It spent years in Early Access (from September 2018, rebuilt in September 2022). The Steam store now lists a June 16, 2026 release date, and it still gets regular patches (the latest is #260903, Sept 3, 2026). Check the store page for its current label.

Which sect should I start with? Whichever sect is closest and whose techniques match the weapon you want. Worlds are random, so accessibility matters more than tier lists.

Is there a walkthrough for the main story? The world is procedural, so walkthroughs can only describe the story beats and systems, not locations. Focus on growing strong enough to face Xiangshu's avatars.

What happens when my Taiwu dies? You pass the sword to an heir, and the village, relationships, and world carry on.

What are the new September 2026 DLCs? Two free ones (the Xiangshu Incarnation expansion mode and the dragon companion update) and one paid (cricket companions), all announced for late September 2026.