Where are you stuck in Phantom Blade Zero? Find your fix by region

What is happening: Something won’t trigger and you can’t go on: the illusion in Leng Tu’s Study comes back, Myst won’t let you ask about the Ferryman, you fall into the void after a Banyan tree, or cobwebs seal the maze. Sometimes the autosave is already inside the problem.

Why it happens: They are known game bugs. The 3 autosaves overwrite themselves, so they can save the broken state.

How to fix it:

1. Find your case in the known-bugs table of the full guide.
2. Load your last manual save from before the problem (there are 20 manual slots on top of the 3 autosaves).
3. Avoid the trigger: in Leng Tu’s Study don’t travel or leave through a bell after taking the flower; talk to Myst before stepping onto the lake or the docks; save manually before every Banyan tree and before the Mirrorwood maze.
4. If the Traversal Talisman says you can’t travel “in the current state” and ladder prompts are missing, the game thinks you are still in combat: reload from the last bell.
5. On PC, if tutorial videos only show subtitles, one player fixed it by installing the missing Windows video decoder (msmpeg2vdec.dll).

How to check it worked: The mechanism triggers, the tale advances in the journal or the Traversal Talisman works again.

If it does not work: Rotate three manual slots, update to patch 1.0302256 or later and retry from an older point. Note: there is no manual saving on 66 Days, according to players.

Verification: S-GAME only confirms that patch 1.0302256 fixed “bugs that could block progress” and that Leng Tu’s is logged. Causes and workarounds come from players on the Steam forum and 3DM.

Full guide →

What is happening: You get hit on what looked like a perfect deflect, or you run out of Sha-Chi from blocking.

Why it happens: Holding block spends Sha-Chi on every hit; only a tap right before impact deflects. Red and dark attacks can’t be deflected. Pressing block again within 0.4 s leaves the next window at a third, and the window shrinks with difficulty (10, 8, 8 and 6 frames).

How to fix it:

1. Tap block right before the hit; don’t hold it.
2. Blue flash: deflect. Red flash: dodge at the last moment. Dark cue: always dodge.
3. Leave half a second between presses: mashing the button removes the perfect deflect.
4. When your Sha-Chi is low, swap weapons to refill it.
5. If it is too tight, Pathbreaker and Wayfarer give more leeway: more frames and blocking costs 0.66 and 0.33 times the Sha-Chi.

How to check it worked: When you deflect, the enemy’s Sha-Chi bar drops and yours doesn’t.

If it does not work: Equip the Reflex Talisman (+15 % leeway for perfect block or dodge) and practise on regular enemies before the boss.

Verification: The colour rule is cross-checked in our combat guides. Window and Sha-Chi figures are confirmed by AllThings.How and th.gl; the repeated-press penalty comes from a single source.

Full guide →

What is happening: You want to push the story without missing tales, items or trophies.

Why it happens: There are two points of no return (the stairs past the Green Serpent House in Pangzhen and “The Last Chance” bell), and some bosses close tales when they die, such as Jing Ye and Bai Chilian. The game gives no warning.

How to fix it:

1. Follow the area order in the full guide.
2. Before leaving the Valley, get the Boulderguard and hand in the first Primordial Stone.
3. In the Crimson Forest free Zhang on the Trail of Cages; before Jing Ye hand in the three herbs for “Apprentice Healer”; before Bai Chilian close the Valley and Forest tales.
4. Tick off what you do on the interactive missables list.
5. Save manually before every point of no return.

How to check it worked: The journal shows no open tales for the area and the missables list for that point is complete.

If it does not work: If you already passed the point, load an earlier manual save. If you don’t have one, it waits for the next cycle (New Game+).

Verification: Route and points of no return cross-checked with Vandal’s guide and the Steam forum. The Boulderguard part comes from GamerSky.

Full guide →

What is happening: The tale won’t start, gets stuck halfway or shows as “Failed” in the journal.

Why it happens: Almost always a boss or a point of no return closed it without warning. Sometimes a previous step is missing, or it is a bug: “Secrets of the Baishan Sect” requires its order, and in New Game+ “Honor Among Thieves” can loop forever.

How to fix it:

1. Look the tale up on the missables list: it tells you what closes it.
2. If it says “Failed”, load a manual save from before that boss or point.
3. Follow the tale’s steps in order; in “Secrets of the Baishan Sect” don’t skip any.
4. In New Game+, get the Blood Letter before talking to the Gentleman Thief.

How to check it worked: The tale shows “In progress” in the journal and the next step is marked on the map.

If it does not work: Without an earlier save it can’t be recovered in this playthrough: do it next cycle.

Verification: Missables list based on cross-checked guides. The Baishan bug is unconfirmed and the “Honor Among Thieves” one comes from a single source (Steam forum).

Full guide →

What is happening: You finished an area or a boss and don’t know where to go.

Why it happens: There is a prologue and 9 chapters, and some regions are optional (the Mandate Encampment and the Mountain of Imprisonment). The order isn’t always obvious.

How to fix it:

1. Pick your region in the selector on this page: you’ll see its chapters, bosses and tales.
2. Find your chapter in the full walkthrough and check which mandatory bosses you have left.
3. Open the interactive map to find the next bell and the area’s bosses.

How to check it worked: You reach the next mandatory boss or the next chapter starts.

If it does not work: Check the walkthrough for a missing mandatory boss in your chapter, or whether you are in an optional region.

Verification: Chapter order and mandatory bosses cross-checked in our walkthrough (Vandal and official sources).

Full guide →

What is happening: You die over and over against the same boss.

Why it happens: It may be an optional or secret boss far above the area’s level: the Puppet Scavenger (level 23) is in the Valley and Yucong (level 25) in the Crimson Forest. Unupgraded weapons and ignoring its weakness also matter.

How to fix it:

1. Check its level and type (story, optional or secret) on the all-bosses list. If it is optional and far above you, come back later.
2. Upgrade both your weapons before retrying.
3. Use its weakness: lightning and fire are the most common (21 and 20 bosses).
4. Drain its Sha-Chi to break its guard and execute it.
5. Test your build against that boss in the Build Creator’s combat simulator.

How to check it worked: Your win chance goes up in the simulator and you reach the second phase more often in the real fight.

If it does not work: Drop a difficulty: on Wayfarer and Pathbreaker the deflect window is wider and blocking costs less Sha-Chi. Or switch builds.

Verification: Levels, HP and weaknesses: PBZ Guide’s boss data sheet. The simulator is an approximate estimate, not the game.

Full guide →

What is happening: You go through portals and always end up in an identical room.

Why it happens: Only one portal per room moves you forward: the one you hear crying from. Pick another and the room starts over.

How to fix it:

1. Save manually before going in.
2. Walk up to each portal and listen: take the one with the crying (easier with headphones).
3. Vandal’s route: west, north, east, north; pick up the two flowers; then east, west, north, north.

How to check it worked: You reach the Threadbound Great Tree bell and then Bai Chilian.

If it does not work: If cobwebs block the way and won’t go away, it is a bug players report: load the manual save from before the maze.

Verification: Route according to Vandal’s guide; the crying clue comes from the game itself. The cobweb bug is unconfirmed.

Full guide →

What is happening: Your gear falls short and you don’t know what to combine.

Why it happens: Many pieces only shine together, and some arrive late. A late-game build won’t help you in the Valley.

How to fix it:

1. Filter the library by your current stage (to start: Wanderer’s First Step, Valley Blood or Red Lily).
2. Check its evidence level: “shown working on video” or “from an outside guide” have more backing than “experimental”.
3. Build it in the Build Creator and review synergies and clashes.
4. Test it in the simulator against the boss that is stopping you.
5. Upgrade the two main weapons first.

How to check it worked: Your win chance rises in the simulator and you last longer in the real fight.

If it does not work: Change style (for example, bleed to elemental against puppets, which ignore bleed) or try another build from the same stage.

Verification: Each build shows its evidence level. The simulator is an approximation.

Full guide →