Phantom Blade Zero hands you two primaries and two Phantom Edges, then asks you to build a whole fighting style out of them. The arsenal is wider than it first looks: 25 base weapons, five Soul-Tempered transformations, and a separate edge kit that covers defence, crowd control, and puzzle-gating. This guide covers where each weapon comes from, what it actually does, and which ones deserve your finite Dust.
Base Weapons vs Soul-Tempered Forms
The game counts 30 “main weapons,” but that number is misleading. There are 25 base primaries you acquire as drops, quest rewards, or defaults — and 5 Soul-Tempered forms that transform an existing weapon permanently at the Myst in Pangzhen.
| Category | Count | How you get it | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base primaries | 25 | Drops, quests, defaults, hidden phases | Yes — Revert refunds 100% |
| Soul-Tempered forms | 5 | 5,000 Dust + 1 weapon-specific material | No — permanent, no refund |
| Phantom Edges | 24–26 documented | Drops, quests, tool gates | Yes — Revert refunds 100% |
The five transformations are Sanguine→Infernal Rogue, Sanguine Reach→Blazing Edge, Sanguine Twin→Shadowless Edge, Broken Blade→Drunken Sword, and Wild Oriole→Tianmiao. Every other weapon gains a named tempered effect instead of a new identity. For the full tempering system, see Soul Tempering explained.
There is no colour rarity system. “Rarity” in this game means acquisition class — whether a weapon is a default, a boss drop, or a quest reward. Tier labels like S and A are guide terminology, not in-game data.
All 30 Weapon Forms and Where to Find Them
The tables below list every form, including the five Soul-Tempered transformations. The Form column marks whether an entry is a base weapon or a tempered upgrade; only the tempered forms are irreversible.
One-Handed (12)
| Weapon | Form | Source | Signature effect | Missable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Sanguine | Base | Prologue auto | Parry trainer: Back to Basics/Falling Petal/A Light Touch/Basic Forms | No |
| Sanguine | Base | Default Ch.1 | Heavy sword; Chi-Infused Blade; Phantom Execution Lv10 (all 1H) | No |
| Jagged Steel | Base | Weeping Creek Valley — boss | Bleed/Blood Loss; Blood Blade stacks; temper bleeds through block | No |
| Tianxuan Bronze Sword | Base | Village of Lu — Bi Yuan | High shield-break; cheap block but parry disabled; temper blocks while Guard-Broken at HP cost | No |
| The Fanatic’s Broken Blade | Base | Crimson Forest — Hua Qianxiao | Drink → Tipsy, flying swords; damage falls off with distance | No |
| The Fanatic’s Drunken Sword | Tempered | Temper Broken Blade | Reforged; no falloff; Drunk 20s; Lv30 extends Tipsy | No |
| Wild Oriole Sword | Base | Village of Lu — dock after Mu Xiaokui | Oriole Song waves; Oriole Mark increases damage/Sha-Chi depletion | Yes |
| Tianmiao Wild Oriole Sword | Tempered | Temper Wild Oriole | Mu Tianmiao’s sword joins combos; stronger waves; Potent Mark Lv2 | No |
| Soft Snake Sword | Base | Mandate Encampment — Wu Lengshuang | Deflect-counter; free guard/sidesteps; Sword Blossom Shield; 25% chip through block | No |
| Freezing Chaos | Base | Late Crimson Forest — Yucong No.34 | Threefold Shift: Steel/Chaos/Frost; Chaotic Flame; Chill→Frozen | Quest-risk |
| Aureate | Base | Mount Soulrend — Zuo Shang | Golden Long Sword on swap/blue parry; Living Swords; Sword Energy Burst | Quest-risk |
| Infernal Rogue | Tempered | Temper Sanguine | Transformed Sanguine; full page unpublished | No |
Dual-Wield (9)
| Weapon | Form | Source | Signature effect | Missable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanguine Twin | Base | Weeping Creek Valley — rack below Yu’er | Fastest Sanguine pair; Shadow Execution Lv10 (all DW) | No |
| Shadowless Edge | Tempered | Temper Sanguine Twin | Phantom Double; unpredictable attacks; Shadow Execution Lv2/3 | No |
| White Serpent & Crimson Viper | Base | Crimson Forest — Bai Chilian | Twin Serpent Dance loops/ramps; throw short blade for Viper Mark; ranged execution; temper adds serpents | No |
| Parting Hooks | Base | Pangzhen — Soulclaimer | Counter stance; temper makes blue parry auto-Counter; Lv25 counters Black-Flash | No |
| Sundering Dual Axes | Base | Meigu Lake — Heartpiercer | Baleful Aura; Triangle throws latching axes; temper adds second gauge tier | No |
| Baishan Stormswords | Base | Mandate Encampment — Yubi No.21 | Wind/Thunder gauges → Blessing; Lightning Storm; Lv25 Blessing 50s | No |
| Seamless Death | Base | Mountain of Imprisonment — Jade-Face | Ring throws; Phantom Step teleport dodge; Afterimage Feint | No |
| The Lady’s Fan | Base | Mount Soulrend — Meng Hua | Arcane Sigils (Fire/Lightning/Ice); Sigil Burst; Lv25 third sigil + Chaos beam | No |
| Fiend Saws | Base | Village of Lu — Mu Xiaokui hidden phase | Fiend-Aura Erosion; Fiend Form unblockable 10s; temper adds 3s after eruption | Yes |
Two-Handed (9)
| Weapon | Form | Source | Signature effect | Missable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanguine Reach | Base | Weeping Creek Valley — rack behind Forge | Wide sweeps; Blade Force; Fatal Execution Lv10 (all 2H) | No |
| Blazing Edge | Tempered | Temper Sanguine Reach | Fire/shield-break; inherits Blade Force | No |
| Scarlet Wraithblade | Base | Weeping Creek Valley — Hua, Deadly Betrothed | Red Spider Lilies slow/drain/explode; Lv25 White Spider Lily | No |
| Outlaw Warblade | Base | Crimson Forest — Jing Ye | Lifesteal; Triangle converts HP to Recoverable HP; temper up to +25% damage | No |
| Armybreaker | Base | Pangzhen — Cavalrybane | Thrust on swap/blue parry; Mighty Rush; temper makes rush uninterruptible | No |
| Juggernaut | Base | Mountain of Imprisonment — Bi Feng | Parry → Red Edge; Crimson Wheel Slash; temper refunds stacks on marked enemies | No |
| Whiteshadow | Base | Meigu Lake — 4 Acolyte Masks → mirror | Chill→Frozen; Frost Strike; Lv25 dash to Frozen; temper freezes through block | Quest-risk |
| Crescent Blade | Base | Mirage Estate — Yuding No.12 | Crescent Storm → Qinglong Form 30s; Qinglong Cleave executes weaker enemies | No |
| Bonesaw | Base | Mount Soulrend — The Crusher and The Saw | High shield-break; parry buffs next attack; Bloodsaw makes all hits bleed | No |
The Two Permanently Missable Blades
Fiend Saws is the more painful loss. It sits behind a hidden phase of the Mu Xiaokui encounter in the Village of Lu. Miss it and the best unblockable-burst weapon in the game is gone for the run. Its temper, Endless Fiend Form, extends the unblockable window by 3 seconds after eruption — a genuine boss-killer.
Wild Oriole Sword is a dock pickup in the Village of Lu after the Mu Xiaokui sequence. Its Oriole Song waves and Oriole Mark increase damage and Sha-Chi depletion, and it tempers into Tianmiao Wild Oriole Sword, which adds Mu Tianmiao’s sword to your combos.
The Feather Bow edge is the only edge consistently flagged as missable, tied to the “Purge the Sect” quest in Weeping Creek Valley. Several other edges — Puppeteer’s Bell, Illusory Pipa, War Wagon, Ink Cut, Inanis’ Radiant Fan — are quest-linked and may close if you progress past their windows. Check the missables checklist before leaving any region.
Upgrade Priority: Where Dust Actually Goes
Weapon upgrades run to Lv30 (the “Overwhelming Force” achievement). Milestones at Lv5/10/15/25 grant standard perks; 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 grade | Solvent | Dust per level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | Forged/Twinned/Broadplate | Solvent | ~900–5,850 |
| 10–20 | Polished | Concentrated | ~5,445–11,700 |
| 20–30 | Flawless | Universal | ~12,870–26,910 |
A single weapon to Lv30 costs roughly 310,000 Dust plus 100+ metal and 50+ solvent. Do not spread this across ten weapons. Revert refunds 100% — free below Lv10, but above that you need a Reforge Talisman.
Best Early, Mid, and Late Picks
Early (Ch.1–2): Wooden Sanguine teaches parrying for free. Jagged Steel is your first real damage spike. Sanguine Twin is the fastest early option; Sanguine Reach handles crowds.
Mid (Ch.3–5): Scarlet Wraithblade, White Serpent, Soft Snake, Parting Hooks, and Baishan all complete their kits here. This is where builds start to differentiate.
Late (Ch.6+): Fiend Saws, Freezing Chaos, Lady’s Fan, Aureate, Whiteshadow, and Bonesaw are capstone-heavy weapons with the highest ceilings.
For a full ranking, see the best weapons tier list.
Practical Use: Loops and Matchups
The core combat loop is: dump weapon A’s strings → swap-attack (refills Sha-Chi) → dump weapon B → swap back. Weapon swap quick-attacks are free Sha-Chi, so never sit on a full gauge.
- Bleed builds (Jagged Steel, Bonesaw, Flying Guillotine) are useless against Puppets, Golden, and Phantom enemies.
- Frozen targets take more damage — Freezing Chaos, Whiteshadow, and Loong Trident set this up.
- Wet boosts Lightning and Frost and counters fire; You Loong’s Deluge and Loong Trident apply it.
- Blue flash = parry, red flash = dodge. Red is unblockable and unparryable. No exceptions.
- Guard Break empties the enemy’s yellow bar; Falling Petal Strike, Token of Pursuit, and Bonesaw’s Cruel Advantages amplify the punish.
A Route Through the Arsenal
- Prologue: Take Wooden Sanguine. Learn parry timing on trash mobs.
- Ch.1: Grab Sanguine as default. Push Jagged Steel to Lv5.
- Weeping Creek Valley: Collect Sanguine Twin and Sanguine Reach from the racks. Do not skip the Forge.
- Village of Lu: Before the Mu Xiaokui sequence, confirm you can reach the hidden phase for Fiend Saws. Grab Wild Oriole Sword at the dock afterward.
- Mandate Encampment: Soft Snake and Baishan Stormswords. Meet the Forge; unlock Bell upgrades.
- Pangzhen: Parting Hooks from Soulclaimer. Meet Myst to unlock Soul Temper.
- Ch.4+: Commit one main to 25/30. Temper only when the material is in hand.
Sources & Confidence
Primary sources are Fextralife’s Combat, Weapons, Phantom Edges, and Upgrades pages, cross-checked against GameRant, KeenGamer, egamersworld, allthings, and pbz.gg. The biggest uncertainty is the weapon count itself: Fextralife lists 29 pages, official material says 30, and some databases reach 33 including edges. Location conflicts for Whiteshadow and Freezing Chaos remain unresolved, and no official damage or frame tables exist — all tier rankings are provisional.
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.