This Phantom Blade Zero Beginner’s Guide covers 15 useful tips to help you progress easily, discover hidden rewards, improve your combat skills, and prepare for tougher boss fights. From finding powerful accessories to choosing the right weapons, these are things worth knowing as you explore the game.
Beginner’s Guide – Phantom Blade Zero
Read the tips below to get better at the game quickly:
Find the Reflex Device
One of the most useful accessories you can find early on is the Reflex Device, which increases your parry and perfect dodge timing window by 15%. Missing it means making combat harder than it needs to be.
After defeating the first region’s boss, don’t immediately leave through the waterfall. Instead, use the Tower Summit Bell to return to the top of the Ascension Tower.
Now that you have the axe from the boss, you can grapple to a higher section of the tower and collect the Camp Key. This key unlocks the entrance to Creek Valley Plains.
Head inside and make your way back through the area towards the cellar of the Ascension Tower. You can use an explosive enemy to open a hidden entrance along the way, but continue towards the upper section of the tower.
Once you reach the top, deal with the enemies and look beside the bell. There is a place where you can insert your device and collect the Reflex Device.
Explore Optional Areas for Upgrade Materials
Exploration is important because enemies and bosses become much harder when your character is underpowered. Without enough health and damage, some fights can turn into long and frustrating battles.
You can find several types of equipment upgrade materials by exploring, including forged metal, polished brass plates, and solvents. These resources help improve your weapons and equipment.
However, many of these materials are not placed along the main route. You will often need to explore optional areas, including paths that lead away from your main objective, to find them.
The same applies to materials used to upgrade your Phantom Edges. Make sure you investigate side areas instead of rushing straight through each region.
Discover Materials to Unlock More Abilities
Exploration also gives you the resources needed to unlock additional abilities.
The ability tree does not rely on dust alone. You will also need materials such as Black Stones, Shashi Embers, and Banyan Hearts to progress further.
The material requirements increase as you unlock more skills. For example, later upgrades may require two, four, and then six of a particular resource.
If you want to unlock stronger abilities, make sure you search optional areas and collect these materials whenever you find them.
Search for Hidden Accessories
Accessories are another important reward for exploring the world. Some of them provide useful bonuses that can make a noticeable difference during combat.
For example, the Counter Strike Bracers increase your damage by 20% for two seconds after successfully parrying an enemy. Since parrying is such a regular part of combat, this can be particularly useful.
Another accessory is Cavalry Bane, which increases damage against mounted enemies by 25%.
You never know what kind of enemy or boss you might encounter later, so collecting different accessories gives you more options when preparing for fights.
Investigate Every Map Scroll
Whenever you notice a scroll marked on your map, take some time to investigate it. These usually point towards optional quests that can reward you with valuable items.
The rewards may include Glow Dust, weapon upgrade materials, Black Stones, or Shashi Embers.
Completing these activities can make your character stronger and give you access to more upgrades. Rather than ignoring the scrolls and following only the main objective, try to complete them whenever possible.
Choose Your Phantom Edges According to the Enemy
You have more combat options than just your two main weapons. You can also equip two Phantom Edges, and choosing the right ones can make certain encounters much easier.
Some bosses have shields that require specific Phantom Edges to break through, while others can be heavily staggered using weapons such as the Iron Gauntlets.
Your Phantom Edges should therefore be selected according to the enemies you expect to face. Having the right equipment can help you deal with certain defensive mechanics much more effectively.
Switching Weapons Restores Your Shashi
Your two main weapons also have different uses during combat.
Light attacks using the square button do not consume Shashi, allowing you to attack without using this resource. Heavy attacks using the triangle button, however, consume Shashi while damaging the enemy’s stamina and increasing their stagger bar.
If your Shashi runs out, you don’t necessarily have to wait for it to recover naturally. Switching to your second weapon immediately restores it.
This gives you another opportunity to block, parry, and use Shashi-based attacks to break an enemy’s stance.
Use One Weapon for Parrying and Another for Damage
A useful combat strategy is to give each of your main weapons a specific role. Use one for defending and parrying, then switch to the other when an enemy becomes staggered and vulnerable.
For example, Jagged Steel is a weapon you can obtain relatively early. It inflicts bleeding and can cause blood loss. After upgrading it, you can also use its Blood Blade ability when an enemy is guard-broken to build up even more blood loss.
Use your first weapon to parry attacks and break the enemy’s guard. Once the enemy is vulnerable, switch to Jagged Steel and use Blood Blade to deal additional damage.
Another option is the Outlaw Warblade, which becomes available in the second region. This weapon can restore your health through its attacks.
Its Shashi combo converts some of your health into recoverable health, which you can regain by attacking normally. This allows you to sacrifice health for powerful attacks and then recover it by continuing to hit the enemy.
It also has an ability called Bloodthirst Frenzy. Once charged, it unleashes a series of attacks that restore health with every hit.
Combining weapons with different effects can give you a strong advantage, especially when you time your attacks around an enemy’s stagger.
Make Use of Your Medicines
You can equip two medicines; one assigned to the D-pad’s up button and another to down. Both are replenished whenever you rest at a bell.
At the beginning, you receive a basic healing gourd that restores 40% of your health. However, exploring the world can unlock other medicines with additional effects.
For example, some can reduce incoming damage by 20% for 15 seconds while restoring 40% health over 10 seconds. Others reduce your Shashi consumption, which can be useful when using weapons that require a lot of it.
The Scarlet Wraith Blade, for instance, creates flowers that rapidly drain an enemy’s Shashi, but using this weapon also consumes a large amount of your own resource. A medicine that reduces Shashi consumption can help you use it more effectively.
The important thing is to choose medicines that complement your weapon and combat style.
You will also need to explore to find additional medicines. They are often located along optional routes rather than the main path, so don’t ignore alternative areas.
Spend Your Store Currency Carefully
After reaching the outpost in the first region, you will gain access to a store that becomes available through your belt. More items are added as you progress through the game.
The store allows you to purchase upgrade materials for your main weapons and Phantom Edges. However, you should not spend your currency on every material you come across.
A better approach is to buy only what you urgently need. For example, if you’re preparing for a boss and your weapon is just 20 materials short of an upgrade, purchasing the missing amount makes sense.
But if you need another five, eight, or ten materials, consider whether the purchase is worth it. Your available dust is limited, so save it for situations where a small purchase can make an immediate difference.
Prioritise Abilities Over Small Weapon Upgrades
Another important decision is choosing between upgrading your weapons and unlocking abilities.
Some ability upgrades can cost around 20,000, while others may require even more. Although this can seem expensive, unlocking a new ability can be more beneficial than spending the same resources on a small increase in weapon level.
For example, Masterful Flow costs 30,000, but the additional ability can provide more value than a minor damage increase from another weapon upgrade.
Since enemies do not continuously respawn throughout the world, your resources are limited. Think carefully about where you spend them and prioritise upgrades that improve your overall combat options.
Don’t Waste Time Waiting for the Outpost Guards
At the outpost, you will come across two guards who prevent you from moving forward because of the Mask Walkers in the area.
There is also a questline connected to this location that you might be unable to complete immediately.
To get past this point, you first need to clear the first region and then complete the second region as well. Only after progressing through both areas will you be able to finish the remaining part of the questline.
If the guards are still blocking your way, don’t keep returning to the same location expecting something to change. Continue progressing through the regions and come back later.
Leave Dragon Trials Until You’re Stronger
While exploring, you will come across Dragon Statues that take you to special areas containing different challenges and trials.
These trials can be tempting to complete as soon as you discover them, but doing so too early can make things unnecessarily difficult.
For example, after completing the first region, you might not have enough health or damage to handle the trial comfortably. Instead of repeatedly struggling with it, move into the second region, collect more upgrades, and return when you’re stronger.
The same advice applies to the Dragon Trial in the second region. Consider leaving it until you have progressed further, possibly into the third or even fourth region.
There is no need to rush these challenges when your character is not properly upgraded.
The Dread Axe Is Excellent Against Shields
The Dread Axe is one of the most useful Phantom Edges, particularly when dealing with enemies carrying shields.
Instead of spending time trying to get around their defence, you can use the axe to smash their shields and open them up to attacks.
Upgrading the Dread Axe also gives you access to a useful move: double-tapping RT performs an instant fully charged strike. This can be especially effective during boss fights.
With the Flowing Chi upgrade, certain Phantom Edges can also be used to counter specific enemy situations. For example, they can respond to a regular enemy’s red flash ranged attack or follow up when an enemy has less than 50% health and is guard-broken.
These attacks can deal heavy damage and may also hit nearby enemies. If an enemy survives, you can potentially follow up with an execution. Executions also provide invulnerability frames, giving you a useful moment of protection.
Overall, the Dread Axe is worth keeping in your loadout, especially when you encounter shielded enemies.
Be Patient When Fighting Bosses
One final tip for boss fights is to avoid attacking constantly. Sometimes, taking a slower and more defensive approach is much more effective.
Instead of trying to break a boss’s guard as quickly as possible, focus on watching its movements and waiting for it to attack. You can then concentrate on parrying its moves, especially the blue attacks, which can help break its guard faster.
When the boss performs a red attack, dodge behind it and look for an opportunity to strike.
Trying to rush every encounter can make certain bosses unnecessarily difficult. By staying patient, learning their attack patterns, and choosing the right moments to counterattack, you can make fights much more manageable.
You do not always need to overwhelm an enemy with constant attacks. Sometimes, a few well-timed parries and punishments are all you need.
That is all for this guide. Additional Phantom Blade Zero guides are linked below:
This concludes our Phantom Blade Zero Beginner’s Guide. If you want to add anything to this guide, feel free to use the comment section below.
