Phantom Blade Zero has a fast-paced combat system that can feel overwhelming at first if you don’t grasp its underlying mechanics. That is not to say the combat is overly difficult, but balancing aggressive offense with split-second defensive reactions can prove to be a real challenge during the early stages of the game.
Moreover, you will also need to actively manage your Sha-Chi and other cooldowns to be effective during battle, both against bosses and mobs of enemies. This Phantom Blade Zero guide will explain all aspects of combat in the game, including both the offensive and defensive abilities that you need to master.
How does combat work in Phantom Blade Zero?
Combat relies greatly on managing a resource known as Sha-Chi in Phantom Blade Zero. Sha-Chi is denoted by a yellow bar that effectively functions as a combination of stamina and stagger. It is denoted by a yellow bar under the health bar, both for you and your enemies.
Sha-Chi as a stagger bar
If an enemy’s Sha-Chi bar is completely depleted, they become guard-broken and staggered. While an enemy is guard-broken, every single attack you land will interrupt them, allowing you to deal uninterrupted damage until their bar slowly regenerates. If your character’s Sha-Chi bar is depleted, you will also be staggered momentarily.
Sha-Chi as a stamina bar
Phantom Blade Zero does not have “heavy” attacks as such, but it does have Sha-Chi attacks. These Sha-Chi attacks or combos deplete the Sha-Chi bar gradually. At the same time, blocking or taking hits will also drain the Sha-Chi bar. Although it automatically replenishes at a slow rate, you need to manage it effectively to stay ahead of your enemy in battle.
Apart from managing Sha-Chi, combat features light basic attacks, heavy or Sha-Chi attacks, parries, dodges, unique weapon abilities, ranged/secondary tools called Phantom Edges, and execution finishers.
Sha-Chi mechanics and weapon switching explained in Phantom Blade Zero
The most crucial element of Phantom Blade Zero’s combat is Sha-Chi management. Simply put, aggressive play drains enemy Sha-Chi, while poor defense or overextending drains your own.
Basic attacks vs. Sha-Chi combos
Standard light attacks (Square or X on controller / Left-click on mouse) do not consume any Sha-Chi. Heavy attacks (Triangle or Y on controller / F on keyboard) have a blue hue and consume a portion of your Sha-Chi. These attacks deal significantly higher Sha-Chi damage to enemies, depleting their Sha-Chi bar in turn. Combining light and heavy inputs creates Sha-Chi combos.
Note that you should be careful while using Sha-Chi combos. Simply spamming these combos might cause you to spend too much of your Sha-Chi, leaving less for defense. That said, Sha-Chi attacks and combos are the fastest way to break an enemy’s guard and open them up for heavy attacks.
How weapon switching restores Sha-Chi
You can equip two weapons at a time in Phantom Blade Zero, and swapping between them restores your Sha-Chi. This is an instantaneous process, and you get all of your Sha-Chi when you swap your main weapon. However, once you switch your weapon, there is a cooldown before you can do it again.
As such, you should not swap your weapons at any time. There are two major scenarios in which you should ideally use this mechanic:
- Extending combos: When your Sha-Chi runs low at the end of a heavy sequence, swap weapons to instantly refill your bar and continue attacking or seamlessly transition into a defensive guard.
- Defensive recovery: If your Sha-Chi is nearly depleted and you risk being guard-broken, swap weapons while on the defensive to instantly regain your gauge.
Also read – Phantom Blade Zero walkthrough: How to complete Diverging Paths
Offensive combat abilities in Phantom Blade Zero
Beyond basic strikes and weapon swaps, you have access to several specialized offensive tools:
Power Surges
Power Surges are unblockable special attacks in Phantom Blade Zero that are unique to each primary weapon (L2 or LT on controller / Q on keyboard). However, you will need to fill up a special gauge called Sha-Chi Essence in order to use them. Both your primary weapons share a single Sha-Chi Essence gauge. This gauge automatically keeps filling as you keep hitting enemies with your attacks in the game.
Power Surges are best used in two key moments:
- Interrupting enemy pressure: If a boss has you cornered or you are about to run out of Sha-Chi, triggering a Power Surge grants invincibility frames (i-frames), stuns the enemy, and turns the fight back in your favor.
- Ending a guard-break punish: Right as a guard-broken boss is about to recover their Sha-Chi bar, trigger a Power Surge. This interrupts their counter-attack, knocks off a large chunk of their freshly recovered Sha-Chi, and often knocks them down.
Sha-Chi Essence completely disappears when you die, and you will need to build it up again by fighting enemies. As such, you should not aim to hoard it for too long.
Weapon Skills
Upgrading weapons to specific levels (5, 10, 15, and 25) unlocks active or passive weapon skills. For example, weapons like Sanguine can activate temporary damage and Sha-Chi depletion buffs (L1+Triangle or LB+Y / Right-click+F), while others grant specialized active combat moves.
Phantom Edges
Phantom Edges are secondary ranged or heavy off-hand weapons (activated with R2 or RT / Left-Ctrl), such as heavy axes for breaking shields or chains for crowd control. Using them consumes Remnant Sparks, a limited resource that recharges when resting at bells.
Executions and Assassinations
When an enemy’s health drops below a certain threshold, and their guard is broken, an execution prompt appears in Phantom Blade Zero. Executions trigger unique, invulnerable animations that instantly eliminate the target and fully replenish your Sha-Chi. If another enemy is nearby during an execution or stealth assassination, a quick-time event (QTE) prompt might appear that allows you to chain a double-execution.
Defensive options and attack colors explained in Phantom Blade Zero
Defense in Phantom Blade Zero is fast and active, and revolves around both parries and dodges. Holding down guard (L1 or LB / Right-click) slowly drains your Sha-Chi over time and drains even more when taking hits. Therefore, passive blocking is not advised.
Instead, you need to defend based on the color of the enemy’s attacks.
- Blue Flash Attacks: These are heavy incoming strikes. Parrying a blue attack at the exact moment of impact costs no Sha-Chi, restores a large portion of your Sha-Chi gauge, and leaves the enemy briefly open to counter-attacks.
- Red Flash Attacks: These attacks cannot be blocked or parried. You must dodge them (R1 or RB / Spacebar). Perfect-dodging a red flash attack restores Sha-Chi and creates a prime opportunity to punish.
- Dark Grey Attacks: Certain boss attacks completely wipe out your Sha-Chi bar even if you attempt to block or parry them. You must dodge away from these entirely. If you accidentally take a hit from a dark attack and lose all Sha-Chi, instantly swap weapons to recover.
Best combat tips for Phantom Blade Zero
Here are the best practical tips to keep in mind when mastering combat in Phantom Blade Zero:
- Attack and defend simultaneously: Do not wait to defend or attack like traditional RPGs. You need to actively keep using both simultaneously during fights. Parries and dodges have virtually no wind-up, so tap parry or dodge mid-combo when an enemy swings, then immediately continue your assault.
- Prioritize heal-over-time items: Medicines come in various forms, including instant spot-heals and gradual heal-over-time effects. Because bosses rarely rely on one-shot mechanics and you will frequently trade minor hits while maintaining aggression, heal-over-time items keep your health topped off continuously throughout long encounters.
- Use executions and Power Surges for breathing room: Executions and Power Surges give complete invulnerability during their animations. Executions also fully restore your Sha-Chi bar. Always prioritize finishing off guard-broken targets in crowded fights to regain momentum and safety.
- Keep track of weapon swap cooldowns: Always monitor your 5-second swap cooldown. Unlocking passive skills in the skill tree that reduce weapon swap cooldowns or increase Remnant Spark capacity should be high priorities early on.
- Kite around the arena when needed: Some bosses like Peng Meng have moments where they are very slow. If you are low on health or Sha-Chi, simply kite around the arena and create distance. This will also give you enough breathing room to plan your next offensive combo.
Read more – All Phantom Blade Zero difficulty settings (and which one should you choose)
That’s all for the Phantom Blade Zero combat guide. For more articles, check the following:
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Edited by Anindit Sinha
