Acolyte Yanru is an optional boss that you will encounter in the Village of Lu region of Phantom Blade Zero. This boss is tied to the Secrets at the Heart of the Lake side quest and uses fire-elemental attacks. For the most part, Acolyte Yanru uses ranged attacks, but she also has a few tricks up her sleeve if you manage to get too close to her.
You can defeat Acolyte Yanru easily by dodging out of her ranged attacks. Some attacks can also be parried, but their frequency is very low. This boss guide will explain how you can easily defeat Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero.
Where to find Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero?
Acolyte Yanru is located in the Village of Lu region, and the closest Bell to it is the Terraces. It is an optional boss that you will encounter after defeating Master Bi Hai. Once you have defeated Master Bi Hai, keep following the path forward till you reach the Terraces Bell. From here, keep heading forward, and you should see a paddy field with a singular matron puppet and a scarecrow behind her.
Defeat the matron puppet and then interact with the scarecrow. Doing so will prompt a cutscene where Soul removes a talisman from the scarecrow, and you will automatically be sent to the boss fight arena with Acolyte Yanru. This arena also has a Bell so you can directly resume the fight if you fall inside the arena.
How to defeat Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero
Acolyte Yanru uses long-range fire attacks for the most part, but she also has a close-range flamethrower attack. The key to this fight will be dodging instead of parrying, and here are the weapons that you should use to defeat the boss:
- Primary weapons: Outlaw Warblade, White Serpent & Crimson Viper
- Phantom Edges: Dread Axe, Hunter’s Chain Sickle
- Medicines: Healing Gourd, Kuye Dew
- Accessories: Resonance Talisman (+1), Medicine Case (+1), Livingwood Talisman
Both Outlaw Warblade (received after defeating Jing-Ye) and White Serpent & Crimson Viper (received after defeating Bai Chilian) are great options for this fight. Ideally, you should use the dual swords to deal close up damage, especially since the Crimson Viper can deal continuous damage around Soul with its skill. The Outlaw Warblade is a better option if you cannot perfectly dodge all of the boss’s attacks, since this weapon will let you heal yourself with its hits.
Read more – Phantom Blade Zero weapon tier list
Acolyte Yanru attacks in Phantom Blade Zero
Acolyte Yanru is a single-phase boss fight in Phantom Blade Zero, and she has no transformations during the fight either. The boss’s primary weapon is a giant staff-sized paintbrush, although no melee attacks come from it. Acolyte Yanru’s attack pattern is also very straightforward, and you can dodge all her attacks with proper timing. Here are all the attacks that Acolyte Yanru uses in Phantom Blade Zero:
- Aerial barrage: Acolyte Yanru will teleport from sight and float in the air. She will create six clones of herself, and each of these will dive at you one after the other to deal damage. After this sequence, the main body of Acolyte Yanru will move horizontally and keep throwing five smaller fireballs. All of these attacks can be dodged easily.
- Giant fireball: After the barrage sequence, Acolyte Yanru will throw one giant fireball towards you. The initial strike itself does not cause any damage, so you do not need to dodge it. Once this fireball hits the ground, it will form a flaming ring at the point of contact.
- Fire ring: The fire ring can come either from the giant fireball, or Acolyte Yanru can create it during her other combos as well. In either case, the ring will explode one second after being formed, and is a red attack. You can perfect dodge this to counterattack Acolyte Yanru.
- Fireball barrage: Acolyte Yanru remains stationary and shoots multiple fireballs at you. You can either parry or dodge these attacks.
- Flamethrower: The boss only uses this attack when you are close to her. The flamethrower is unidirectional, and it never changes its direction. Acolyte Yanru can use this attack up to four times back to back, and she can only change direction in between two successive flamethrowers.
- Arena bombs: Acolyte Yanru can summon several small stationary flames that spawn at your location in the arena. Getting hit by these causes a small explosion and deals damage. The flames automatically dissipate after a while.
- Teleportation: Acolyte Yanru can teleport across the arena, although she does not use this attack a lot.
Note that if you are hit by any of Acolyte Yanru’s fire attacks, you will be afflicted with the burn status effect that will drain your health continuously for a short duration. Moreover, it seems that the boss does not have any blue flash attacks or grey/dark attacks at all. The only red attack that she has is the fire ring, and it is fairly easy to counter once you get the timing right.
How to beat Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero
Here are the tips and tricks to easily defeat Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero:
- Master dodges: The most important thing that you need to remember is to dodge at the right moment. Most of Acolyte Yanru’s attacks can be dodged, and you can even finish the fight without taking a single hit if you time them right.
- Perfect dodge the fire ring: Keep an eye out for the red flash on Acolyte Yanru the moment the fire ring completes itself. If you time it right, Soul will directly jump towards the boss and counter. This not only saves you from the explosion damage from the fire ring, but also deals a good chunk of damage on the boss.
- You can parry the fireball barrage: The fireball barrage from Acolyte Yanru can be parried, and these can deplete the boss’s Sha-Chi bar very quickly. If you have enough Sha-Chi, try to parry these instead of dodging. In case you are dodging this attack, do so in haphazard directions instead of dodging in one direction only.
- Backstab during flamethrower attack: If you manage to corner Acolyte Yanru and force her to use flamethrower, your target should be to immediately get behind her. Since the boss is stationary during the attack, her back is exposed, and you can deal a lot of damage during this time.
Also read – Phantom Blade Zero combat guide: Sha-Chi mechanics, offensive and defensive abilities, and best tips
Rewards for defeating Acolyte Yanru in Phantom Blade Zero
Defeating Acolyte Yanru grants the story item Yanru’s Blazing Mask in Phantom Blade Zero. This is not a weapon or an item that you can use during combat, but it seems to be related to the Secrets at the Heart of the Lake side quest. The mask has the following in-game description:
“A mask engulfed in a fierce, undying flame. The Forbidden Ruins have been sealed shut ever since an intruder caused havoc within. Even the four Acolytes tasked with hunting down traitors can no longer enter on their own.”
Check out other boss guides from Phantom Blade Zero:
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Edited by Anindit Sinha
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