Phantom Blade Zero Walkthrough: Crimson Manor, Illusory Pipa, Baishan Sect Quest and Beginner Tips

Phantom Blade Zero is out now on PS5 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store). It launched worldwide at 10:00 a.m. Beijing time on October 29, which was the evening of October 28 in the Americas. The standard edition is $59.99 on Steam.

This walkthrough covers the questions players get stuck on most: how to get into the Crimson Manor, how to repair the Illusory Pipa, how to finish Secrets of the Baishan Sect, and the beginner habits that make the first regions far less painful. Expect light spoilers for locations and boss names.

Quick answers

How to enter the Crimson Manor

You'll find the Crimson Manor's door within the first few hours, but it has a puppet-shaped lock and won't open until much later. The key is the Puppet's Tongue, the reward for the side quest The Herald's Illusion.

The quest is simple to describe. Three Spectral Gates (glowing portals) lead to the realm of the Three-Eyed Puppet, a figure hanging from hundreds of strings. Each visit opens one of its eyes. Each gate sits just past a region's final boss, so you'll reach them naturally as you progress.

Spectral Gate 1: Village of Lu

• Follow the main quest in the Village of Lu until you go down the well.
• At the Puppet Testing Grounds, defeat Yuzan, No. 3 Musician Puppet. Block her blue and white orbs to reflect them back, and dodge the red ones.
• After the fight, go into the opening beside the puppet-locked door and through the tunnel to the gate. Step through and interact with the Three-Eyed Puppet to open the first eye.

Spectral Gate 2: Mandate Encampment

• The Mandate Encampment gate is near the Village of Lu, and you need a key from Pangzhen to open it.
• Push through to the Training Grounds in the north and defeat Yubi, No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet, who fights with wind and lightning.
• The portal is in the large pavilion by the Training Grounds bell. Go through for the second eye.

Spectral Gate 3: Mountain of Imprisonment

• You need the repaired Illusory Pipa (see below) to clear the mist at the Weeping Mistgate in the northeast of Meigu Lake.
• Fight up the mountain and defeat Huangxing, the Kunlun Renegade. He drops the Flying Guillotine Phantom Edge.
• Use the Flying Guillotine on the device in his arena to open the pit, then carefully drop down ledge by ledge to the bottom. After the cutscene, the portal is at the back of the chamber.
• The Three-Eyed Puppet opens its third eye and gives you the Puppet's Tongue and the Crystal Puppet Eye (Yin).

Opening the manor

Go back to the Crimson Manor and use the Puppet's Tongue on the lock. Inside you'll find documents about the Herald, and further down there's a hidden boss fight that includes Acolyte Hansui. That fight is part of the Acolyte questline and leads toward the game's true ending, so don't skip it if you care about that ending.

Illusory Pipa: all three part locations

After you beat Bai Chilian and wake up in the Village of Lu, you'll have the Broken Illusory Pipa in your inventory. Continue the main story into Pangzhen until you reach the Order's underground tavern, where Myst offers to fix it if you bring her three parts.

Boss tip: Yan Qiansui is a zither puppet, like Yuzan. Block her blue projectiles to send them back at her, and dodge the red ones.

Bring all three parts back to Myst to repair the Illusory Pipa. It's the tool that dispels the mist barriers in exploration, including the one blocking the Mountain of Imprisonment. That's why you need it for the third Spectral Gate. Back in Pangzhen, the repaired Pipa also opens the barrier on the building next to the Marketplace Bell, where the Don't Forget Me tale wraps up. Our Pangzhen collectibles guide covers everything else in town.

Note that the Backplate and the second Spectral Gate are both in the Mandate Encampment Training Grounds, so you can do them in one trip. If you're running Secrets of the Baishan Sect, examine Bi Taotao's body before this fight (see below).

Secrets of the Baishan Sect walkthrough

This side quest (a Wulin Tale) runs across two regions and pays out two weapons and an accessory. It can fail at two points, both flagged below.

Part 1: Crimson Forest

1. After beating Jing Ye, the Outlaw, cross the rope bridge past the Outlaw's Trap bell. Two Baishan disciples, Ju and Lanlan, are arguing there. Talk to Lanlan to start the quest.
2. Pick it up before you fight Bai Chilian, the boss at the end of Crimson Forest. Once that fight is over, the quest can no longer be accepted.
3. Head to the Cliffside Lodge (the mountain lodge). Climb to the upper floor and grab the Crimson Forest Cellar Crank. The area is full of poison fog, so grab it and get out.
4. Use the crank on the mechanism on the ground floor to open the way down to the cellar.
5. Clear the enemies below, then climb to the raised area. The Crimson Forest Secret Chamber Crank is next to a body by a chest.
6. Use it on the second mechanism and talk to the wounded Junior Sister Meng. That ends the Crimson Forest part.

Part 2: Mandate Encampment

1. Later in the story, at the Mandate Encampment, go to the Confinement Bell and descend the chained rope.
2. Defeat Wu Lengshuang, the Soft Sword. He drops the Soft Snake Sword and a Blackstone Fragment.
3. Climb the steps beyond and examine Bi Taotao's body in the field of flowers. This sets the objective "Defeat Bi Taotao's puppet form", which you complete in the next fight.
4. Finish at the Training Grounds with Yubi. With the quest active, her fight drops the Baishan Stormswords and the Broken Vessel accessory.

Don't fight Yubi before you examine Bi Taotao's body. If you kill her before the "Defeat Bi Taotao's puppet form" objective is active, the Tale fails and you miss the Broken Vessel. The Stormswords drop either way.

Completing the Tale unlocks The Last of Baishan trophy. When you reach the Mandate Encampment, do these steps as you go rather than rushing to the end of the region.

Beginner tips that actually matter

• Parry blue flashes. A well-timed block (L1 / LB) on a blue-flash attack does heavy damage to the enemy's Sha-Chi.
• Dodge when the screen goes black. These attacks drain your Sha-Chi if you block them, so get out of the way.
• Swap weapons to refill Sha-Chi. Each equipped weapon has its own Sha-Chi bar. Switching gets you out of a near guard break.
• Use your free attacks. Regular attacks don't cost Sha-Chi and chip the enemy's bar. Save your Sha-Chi combos for after a parry or a guard break.
• Examine everything. Notes, writing on walls and objects give Remnant Dust and sometimes start side quests. Blackstone, Sha-Chi Amber and Memory Flowers raise your attack, Sha-Chi and HP.
• Collect Memory Flowers before region bosses. Several secret fights, including Dusk and Yan Qiansui, only open once you've found an area's Memory Flowers.
• Upgrades are refundable. You can reset a weapon or Phantom Edge and get your materials back, so upgrade whatever you are using now and swap freely.
• Rest at Bells. Resting refills your medicine and Phantom Edge charges, and Bells are also how you fast travel.
• Use stealth. Assassinations from behind hit very hard, and you can often chain into a second nearby enemy.
• Clear quests before leaving a region. Some side quests can fail if you push the story too far, so wrap up anything with a reachable marker before you move on.
• Come back later. Some optional bosses and blocked paths are meant to be returned to. Paths you can't get past early usually need a Phantom Edge you'll earn later.

PC requirements in brief

The minimum PC spec on Steam is an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 1660 6GB or RX 5500 XT 8GB, aiming at 1080p/30 fps with upscaling. You need 145 GB of free space on an SSD. SSD installation is required. A physical PS5 edition is planned for 2027, and the game is digital only for now.

You can find it on Steam.