Skyweave guide: steering a balloon with height alone

What you are really controlling

A Skyweave balloon has no rudder. You control two things: how hot the air in the envelope is, and the base wind you have set on the dial. Everything else follows from those.

The envelope starts each flight at 70°C. At 62°C the balloon neither rises nor falls. Every degree above that pushes it up, every degree below lets it sink.
The burner heats the envelope by 2.4°C a second with the starting burner. It is the only thing that uses fuel.
On its own the envelope cools by about 0.2°C a second, a little faster the higher you are.
Venting cools it by 4°C a second and cuts the burner while you hold it.
Temperature is capped between 25°C and 110°C.

The balloon does not respond instantly. Vertical speed eases towards the target the temperature sets, and horizontal speed eases towards the wind over a couple of seconds. Plan a few seconds ahead: stop burning before you reach the height you want.

Height is your steering

The wind you set on the dial is the wind at ground level. As you climb, it turns: about 29 degrees for every 100 metres. It also strengthens by about 10% per 100 metres, up to 30% stronger at 300 metres and above. On top of that, it wobbles a little on its own and gusts by up to about 18%.

That gives you a simple method for heading somewhere:

Note the direction you want to go relative to the wind arrow at ground level.
Work out how far round the wind needs to turn. Each 100 metres of height is roughly 29 degrees.
Climb or sink to that layer, then hold the height with short burner taps.

You can also turn the dial itself during a flight. Arrow keys rotate it and the bracket keys change strength, from 3 to 18 metres a second. Choosing a landscape sets the dial to that map's usual wind: 6 over Hoàn Kiếm, 7 over West Lake and Jade Coast, 8 over Đà Nẵng, 9 over Alpine Meadow and 11 over Amber Dunes.

Fuel and how long you can stay up

Fuel drains only while the burner is lit. The basket decides how fast:

Basket	Price	Burner time on a full tank
Wicker	owned	about 154 s
Reinforced	160	about 288 s
Expedition	360	about 481 s

The burner you own changes how much heat each second of fuel buys. The Twin burner (180) heats 50% faster and the Efficient burner (380) twice as fast as the Single, for the same fuel per second. A stronger burner therefore needs shorter bursts and makes a tank last longer in practice.

When the tank is empty you are gliding. The envelope cools, the balloon sinks, and the flight ends when you touch down. Landing costs nothing.

The flight ends at the edge

A flight ends when the basket gets within 1.5 metres of the ground, when you press Land, or when you drift 900 metres from the launch point along either map axis. That edge is the real limit on a long flight in a strong wind. If the wind is carrying you straight out, use height to swing it sideways so you spend more time over the map.

Encounters

The first encounter arrives 20 to 35 seconds into a flight, and each later one comes 25 to 50 seconds after the last ends. You always get five seconds of warning, and each lasts 14 to 22 seconds.

Landscape	Birds	Storm	Strange current
Jade Coast	45%	30%	25%
Amber Dunes	30%	25%	45%
Everywhere else	30%	45%	25%

A storm adds 2 to 6 metres a second of wind and pushes you up and down. Gain some height before it hits so the downward swings do not put you on the ground.
A strange current adds a steady lift of up to 3 metres a second and swings the wind direction back and forth. Expect to climb; vent a little if you are near the height where your wind layer changes.

An encounter only counts if you are still in the air when it ends.

Landscapes and their air

Alpine Meadow has ridge lift that rises and sinks as you cross the mountains, by up to 0.6 metres a second.
Amber Dunes has thermals that only ever push up, by up to 1 metre a second, which saves fuel.
The city maps have gentle hills and the landmarks. A landmark counts when you pass within 85 metres of it horizontally while below 180 metres above the ground.

How threads are earned

When you land, the flight pays:

40 threads for each landmark you have never found before.
One thread per 10 seconds aloft, plus one per 100 metres travelled, plus 15 per encounter ridden out, with this part capped at 150 per flight.
The reward for any achievement you unlock for the first time.

Achievement	Condition	Threads
Hello, sky	30 seconds airborne	70
Above it all	90 m above the ground	120
Catch the wind	45 km/h	100
Birds of a feather	within 24 m of a flock	100
After the rain	ride out a storm	130
Something in the air	ride out a strange current	100
Three horizons	20 s in any 3 landscapes	150
Wandering spirit	1 km in total	100
Made by you	apply your own balloon design	50

A few are easy early. A small flock circles near the launch point at around 30 to 46 metres up, so a slow climb near the start often earns Birds of a feather. Catch the wind is about 12.5 metres a second, so turn the dial up to 13 or more and climb a little. A landscape only counts towards Three horizons if that flight lasts at least 20 seconds.

What to buy first

You start with 300 threads. The Reinforced basket at 160 nearly doubles your burner time and is the best first buy. After that, the Twin burner makes altitude changes quicker and fuel go further. Balloons raise lift: the Grand horizon (340) has the most lift and the steadiest ride, while the Cloud voyager (480) responds fastest but is the least stable.

If you're stuck

Keep landing short of landmarks? Climb early to find the layer heading their way, then sink below 180 metres only as you approach.
Running out of fuel fast? Burn in short taps and let the balloon drift near neutral instead of holding the burner.