Phantom Blade Zero hands you two primaries and two Phantom Edges, then quietly asks you to spend a finite currency on a permanent decision. Remnant Dust does not respawn with the enemies, and Soul Tempering cannot be undone. The difference between a comfortable run and a wall is usually one weapon taken to Lv25 instead of five taken to Lv10.
This arsenal guide ranks the launch weapons, separates base blades from their Soul-Tempered forms, and maps acquisition to upgrade priority. Tier placements are provisional — S-GAME has published no official damage or frame tables.
How weapons actually work
Two primaries and two edges are equipped at once. Weapon swap quick-attacks refill Sha-Chi, so the core loop is: dump weapon A’s strings, swap-attack, dump weapon B, swap back. Sha-Chi is the yellow attack/guard gauge; Sha-Chi Essence is the purple pip that pays for Power Surge (1) and Zero State (3). Remnant Spark charges your Phantom Edge and refills at Bells.
Every weapon has its own strings: Square standard, Triangle Sha-Chi heavy, L1+Triangle unique, L2/Q Power Surge, R2 Phantom Edge. There is no colour rarity — “rarity” here means acquisition class. For the full resource picture, see the combat system explained.
Base weapons vs Soul-Tempered forms
Twenty-five base primaries exist, plus five Soul-Tempered forms, for thirty “main weapons.” Tempering is unlocked by Myst in the Order’s underground tavern in Pangzhen, around Chapter 4. Afterward, any Bell → Upgrade Equipment → Soul Temper.
Tempering costs 5,000 Dust plus one weapon-specific material, and it is permanent. Dust and material are not refunded. Five weapons transform outright:
- Sanguine → Infernal Rogue
- Sanguine Reach → Blazing Edge
- Sanguine Twin → Shadowless Edge
- The Fanatic’s Broken Blade → The Fanatic’s Drunken Sword
- Wild Oriole Sword → Tianmiao Wild Oriole Sword
Other tempered weapons gain a named effect instead of a new identity. Note that Infernal Rogue has no standalone page, so its moveset and Power Surge inheritance are unconfirmed.
The tier list
| Tier | Weapons | Why |
|---|---|---|
| S | Jagged Steel, White Serpent & Crimson Viper, Fiend Saws, Soft Snake Sword, Parting Hooks, Freezing Chaos | Bleed carry, best combo/range execution, best unblockable burst, best defence, best all-in-one elemental |
| A | Scarlet Wraithblade, Baishan Stormswords, Sundering Dual Axes, Whiteshadow, Juggernaut, Outlaw Warblade, Wooden Sanguine, Armybreaker, Seamless Death, Wild Oriole, Fanatic’s Broken Blade, Aureate, The Lady’s Fan, Crescent Blade, Bonesaw | Strong specialists: area control, elemental, parry payoff, sustain, reach |
| B | Sanguine Twin, Sanguine Reach, Sanguine, Tianxuan Bronze Sword | Functional and easy, but outclassed once a class Execution or a boss weapon arrives |
KeenGamer places Parting Hooks and Soft Snake in S; egamersworld puts Outlaw Warblade and Baishan in S. I keep those two in A because their best effects are conditional — Outlaw wants you holding Recoverable HP, Baishan wants its gauges built.
S-tier picks and how to use them
Jagged Steel (Weeping Creek Valley boss) is the generalist carry. It inflicts Bleed toward Blood Loss, stacks Blood Blade, and its temper — Iron Butcher Mask, from the Iron Butcher in Mountain of Imprisonment — adds Open Wounds, letting bleed pass through block. Bleed is useless against Puppets, Golden, and Phantom enemies, so keep a second blade for those.
White Serpent & Crimson Viper (Crimson Forest, Bai Chilian) is the combo and range answer. Twin Serpent Dance loops and ramps, the short blade can be thrown for Viper Mark, and it has a ranged execution. Its temper, Serpent’s Memory, assembles from four parts (Gall, Rattle, Slough, Venom Sac) and grants Hundred-Knot Serpents.
Fiend Saws (Village of Lu, Mu Xiaokui’s hidden phase) is the burst pick and a permanent missable. Fiend Form is unblockable for 10 seconds; the Heel Reinforcement Part from the Spar Jade Dancer in the Crimson Forest tower extends it by 3 seconds after eruption.
Soft Snake Sword (Mandate Encampment, Wu Lengshuang) is the safest parry kit: free guard and sidesteps, Sword Blossom Shield, and 25% chip through block. Parting Hooks (Pangzhen, Soulclaimer) is the counter specialist — its temper, Song of Parting, makes a blue parry auto-Counter, and at Lv25 it counters Black-Flash.
Freezing Chaos (late Crimson Forest, Yucong No.34) is the elemental all-in-one: Threefold Shift cycles Steel, Chaos, and Frost, with Chaotic Flame and Chill into Frozen. Frozen targets take more damage. Its location is contested — some sources place it in Mirage Estate.
Stage picks: early, mid, late
| Stage | Picks | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Early (Ch.1–2) | Wooden Sanguine, Jagged Steel, Sanguine Twin, Sanguine Reach | Parry teacher; first damage spike; fast dual; crowd two-hand |
| Mid (Ch.3–5) | Scarlet Wraithblade, White Serpent, Soft Snake, Parting Hooks, Baishan | Complete boss kits: AoE, combos, defence, elemental |
| Late (Ch.6+) | Fiend Saws, Freezing Chaos, The Lady’s Fan, Aureate, Whiteshadow, Bonesaw | Capstone-heavy weapons with the highest ceilings |
The strongest early weapon is Jagged Steel, and it stays relevant deep into the game. Wooden Sanguine is the cheap parry trainer — its perks (Back to Basics, Falling Petal, A Light Touch, Basic Forms) teach the timing that Soft Snake and Parting Hooks later reward.
Upgrade priority and the Dust budget
The Forge sits at Mandate Outpost in Weeping Creek Valley. After meeting her, any Bell opens Upgrade Equipment. Cap is Lv30; Lv5/10/15/25 are standard perks, and Lv20/30 upgrade passives. Lv10 unlocks a class-wide Execution — Phantom Execution for one-handed, Shadow for dual-wield, Fatal for two-handed.
| Bracket | Metal (1H/DW/2H) | Solvent | Edge material |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | Forged/Twinned/Broadplate | Solvent | Exotic Copper, Darkfire Charcoal, Mechanical Gear, Ancient Timber, Incense Ash |
| 10–20 | Polished | Concentrated | Otherworldly Copper, Blazing Charcoal, Precision Gear, Camphor, Illusory Ash |
| 20–30 | Flawless | Universal | Forged Otherworldly Copper, Searing Charcoal, Ying Gear, Forbidden Camphor, Lady’s Ash |
A single weapon from 1→30 runs roughly 310,000 Dust plus 100+ metal and 50+ solvent. That figure is an estimate drawn from the Juggernaut table and varies by class. Do not spread it across ten weapons.
A practical upgrade route
- Take your starting class to Lv10 for the class Execution — Sanguine, Sanguine Twin, or Sanguine Reach.
- Commit one main weapon to Lv25, then Lv30. Lv25 is the weapon’s identity; 30 is the Lv3 passive and stats.
- Bring a second weapon to 10/15 as a swap partner, and Revert the old one when you change your mind.
- Level edges to 10/15 for utility only — Bastion for defence, Feather Bow as an opener, Hunter’s Chain Sickle for range, Dread Axe or Tiger Cannon for burst, Inanis’ Radiant Fan for healing.
- Soul Temper only when the material is already in hand and you are sure. It is permanent.
Best long-term investments: Jagged Steel, White Serpent, Fiend Saws, Soft Snake, Parting Hooks, Freezing Chaos, Scarlet Wraithblade, and Outlaw Warblade.
Missables and edge warnings
Two primaries are permanently missable: Fiend Saws (Mu Xiaokui’s hidden phase in the Village of Lu) and Wild Oriole Sword (Village of Lu dock, after Mu Xiaokui). Feather Bow is the only edge consistently flagged as missable. Several quest-linked edges — Puppeteer’s Bell, Illusory Pipa, War Wagon, Ink Cut, Inanis’ Radiant Fan — may close if their quests do, though this is less firmly documented. Cross-check the missables checklist before leaving a region.
Sources & confidence
Primary sources are Fextralife’s Combat, Weapons, Phantom Edges, Upgrades, Builds, Accessories, and Abilities pages, cross-referenced with KeenGamer, egamersworld, allthings, GameSpot, PC Gamer, GameRant, and pbz.gg. The biggest uncertainty is numerical: no official damage, frame, or poise tables exist, so tier placements and the ~310,000 Dust estimate are guide-derived and provisional. Weapon and edge counts also conflict across databases, and the exact effects of Zero State remain undocumented.
Sources & further reading
- Weapons — Fextralife
- All weapons and locations — GameSpot
- All weapons and how to get them — KeenGamer
- Soul Tempering guide — AllThingsHow
We link to the primary source for every hard number. If a source conflicts, we say so in the text.
By the PBZ Guide Team · Reviewed by the editorial desk This page was translated with editorial review. Spot an error? Tell us. We link to the primary source for every hard number. If a source conflicts, we say so in the text.