Phantom Blade Zero Bosses: Boss List, Order and Tips

How many bosses are there?

Pre-release coverage put the count at more than 50 bosses. The official Steam achievement list confirms 19 boss achievements. Several of them cover groups, such as a pair of blade masters, three Shadow Wardens and four Great Puppets, so they name more than 25 individual foes. Mini-bosses and optional fights not tied to achievements make up the rest.

The list below uses those official achievement names. Every boss achievement is hidden on Steam, so the names stay folded here too.

Boss list (in rough story order)

The first few are in the order most players meet them, judging by how many players had each achievement the day after launch. Later entries follow Steam's achievement order, which may not match your route exactly.

Show the boss list (boss names and titles)Click to reveal

#	Boss	Achievement	Notes
1	Axemaster Peng Meng	The Axe's Grudge	The first big wall for most players. About half of Steam players had beaten him by the day after launch
2	The Hunt, Hunter of the Order	The Hunt	One of Soul's former comrades in the Order
3	Hua, the Bride	Scarlet Wraithblade	Drops the Scarlet Wraithblade sword. On Hellwalker, one white flower becomes three
4	Hua Qianxiao, the Sword Fanatic	A Thousand Cups Drained
5	Bai Chilian, Lady of the Twin Serpents	The Shattered Mirror
6	Mu Xiaokui, Young Mistress of the Order	Will We Meet Again?
7	Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster	The Lion's Spirit Lives On
8	Chief Disciple of the Seven-Stars	Sword Against the Seven-Stars
9	Huangxing, the Kunlun Renegade	Crossroads of Blood
10	The Puppet Scavenger	Nothing Goes to Waste
11	Lei Dang, the Tiger Cannon	All Return to Dust
12	The Blizzard Blademaster	The White Shadow
13	The Saw and the Crusher	Saw It Through	A two-boss fight
14	Not named in the achievement	All Dreams Must End	Achievement text: "All Schemes Come to Nothing"
15	You Loong, Yan Qiansui and the One-Eyed Archer	Master of the Misty Waters	Blackwater leader, Zither Maiden and archer in the Meigu Lake area
16	The Four Great Puppets: Yuzan, Yubi, Yuding, Yucong	The Four Freed
17	Zhu Yuan and Commander Bi Feng	The Two Blade Masters
18	The three Shadow Wardens: Cavalrybane, Soulclaimer, Heartpiercer	Three Wardens Fall
19	You Loong, Blackwater Crew Leader (twice)	Turning the Tide	Beat him a second time

How boss fights work

• Sha-Chi decides fights. Blocking drains your Sha-Chi meter. Perfect parries, dodges and hits drain the boss's. Break theirs to open them up.
• Power Surge interrupts. Landing attacks fills Sha-Chi Essence. When it's full, a Power Surge (L2 on PS5) overpowers the boss and interrupts their attack. Save it for a dangerous combo.
• Bosses drop Phantom Edges. Many Phantom Edges come from defeated bosses, and some open paths you couldn't reach before. After a big fight, check for areas you can now get into.
• Some bosses punish the obvious. One boss carries a spiked shield that damages you when you attack it, so read a boss's gear before you go all in.

Boss behavior on higher difficulties

On Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days, bosses don't just get more health. The director said the team changed "the AI and enemy behavior trees." Hands-on reports describe bosses that react to your spacing, bait your parries with feints and counter moves you repeat. One example: Hua, the Bride turns one white flower into three on Hellwalker. More in difficulty modes explained.

General boss tips

1. Learn one parry window at a time. On Pathbreaker, boss combos are fixed and learnable.
2. Bring two main weapons that combo well. Swap mid-string for extra damage. See the weapons guide.
3. Keep a Phantom Edge for the opening. They're limited-use, so spend them when a boss is staggered.
4. Finish Memory Flower sets. Each completed story set raises your maximum health.
5. Use bells. They're your checkpoints and fast-travel points, so rest before a boss door.