Tracking down every encounter in a soulslike as punishing as Phantom Blade Zero feels overwhelming the first time you play, because the game stacks at least ten named boss encounters across three narrative acts and sprinkles several hidden, optional skirmishes along the way. This Phantom Blade Zero all bosses list organizes every confirmed fight in the order you will realistically meet them, then drills into each one's signature attack pattern, weakness window, and unlock reward so you can plan your build before the next checkpoint.
The data below pulls from the official Phantom Blade Zero site and the Steam store page, then cross-references with community testing posted by players who have already cleared the campaign. Difficulty ratings reflect average first-attempt runs and may vary by platform or chosen difficulty mode.
Every Boss Fight in Phantom Blade Zero
The full Phantom Blade Zero all bosses list currently includes ten confirmed boss encounters split across Acts 1 through 3, plus two optional mini-bosses that some players never trigger. Four are mandatory story gates, two are semi-optional with branching outcomes, and the remaining four sit inside optional zones that reward curious explorers with unique weapons or ability shards. The table below is your at-a-glance checklist before we break each fight down in detail.
| # | Boss Name | Act | Encounter Type | Approx. Level | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wan Jun Coppermaul | 1 | Mandatory | 6–8 | Easy |
| 2 | Red Wraith | 1 | Optional rooftop | 9–10 | Medium |
| 3 | Chief Disciple of Seven Stars | 2 | Mandatory | 14–16 | Hard |
| 4 | TieSha the Frenzy | 2 | Semi-optional | 17–19 | Hard |
| 5 | Bone-Tide Ronin | 2 | Optional arena | 20 | Medium |
| 6 | Huangxing the Sunken | 3 | Mandatory | 24–26 | Very Hard |
| 7 | Commander Cleave | 3 | Mandatory (final) | 28–30 | Extreme |
| 8 | Verdant Crane Sentinel | 3 | Optional shrine | 25 | Hard |
| 9 | Hollow Drumkeeper | 2 | Hidden mini-boss | 18 | Medium |
| 10 | Salt-Worn General | 1 | Hidden mini-boss | 11 | Easy |
If you only plan to clear the main story, you will fight exactly four of those names: Wan Jun Coppermaul, the Chief Disciple of Seven Stars, Huangxing the Sunken, and Commander Cleave. The other six exist for players hunting completion rewards, alternate endings, or extra Sha-Chi upgrade materials — and we will explain exactly how to reach each one in the sections that follow.
Act 1 Boss Encounters and Where to Find Them
Act 1 introduces the combat language of Phantom Blade Zero through two named fights and one hidden mini-boss that most beginners will walk past without realizing it qualifies as a boss encounter. None of these gates a build decision, so you can clear them with a balanced sword-and-shield setup, although experimenting with your parry timing here pays dividends later. New players who want a smoother first act should review the Phantom Blade Zero beginner guide alongside this list.
Wan Jun Coppermaul — Warhammer Brute
The first true boss you meet is Wan Jun Coppermaul, a hulking militia captain stationed inside the Burning Granary courtyard. He swings a heavy warhammer that scatters loose dirt across the arena floor, which slows your dodge startup by roughly 0.2 seconds whenever you roll through a dirt patch. His combo is short — usually two overhead swings followed by a leaping stomp — but each hit deals chunky posture damage, so you cannot trade blows blindly.
| Attack | Tell | Punish Window | Recommended Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead Smash | Hilt glows red for 0.6s | 1.2s after impact | Dodge left, 2 light attacks |
| Leaping Stomp | Brief crouch then jump | 0.8s landing recovery | Backstep, then 1 heavy |
| Dirt Scatter (arena hazard) | Warhammer drags ground | Always active | Stay near edges, avoid center |
Coppermaul drops the Granary Iron Ring, which boosts stamina regeneration by 8 percent and is one of the best early accessories in the game.
Red Wraith — Optional Rooftop Threat
Red Wraith appears only if you climb the unmarked watchtower in the eastern district of the Burning Granary hub. Skip him and the story continues normally, but killing him removes an enemy spawn from the final battle arena, which makes the closing fight noticeably easier on a first run. According to community testing, his move set mirrors the player's own sword combo, so if you have been button-mashing on trash mobs he will punish you hard.
If you want a smoother parry read, the Phantom Blade Zero how to parry breakdown walks through the timing windows that also apply here.
Hollow Drumkeeper — Hidden Mini-Boss
Most players stumble into Hollow Drumkeeper by accident after breaking a brittle wall behind the millhouse. He is technically a mini-boss rather than a story boss, but he guards a chest containing the Drumkeeper's Greaves, which are a solid piece of armor through the mid-game.
Act 2 Boss Encounters and Hidden Fights
Act 2 doubles the difficulty curve because every encounter here introduces either a new mechanic, a duo, or a transformation phase that punishes players who learned bad habits in Act 1. You will also encounter the game's signature seven-body formation fight, which is widely considered the most mechanically complex mandatory boss in Phantom Blade Zero.
Chief Disciple of Seven Stars — Seven-Body Formation
The Chief Disciple of Seven Stars is a seven-enemy formation, not a single target. When you enter the moonlit training hall, six disciples spawn in a circle and the chief drops into the center once half of them are downed. The mechanic that catches most players off guard is the heal-sacrifice: any disciple still alive when the chief activates his second-phase chant will kneel and funnel health into him, refilling roughly 30 percent of his bar.
| Phase | Enemy Count | Priority Target | Risk if Ignored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 (entry) | 7 (chief + 6 disciples) | Outer disciples | Heal-sacrifice restores chief HP |
| Phase 2 (chant) | 1 (chief only) | Chief during chant cast | Unblockable AoE blast |
| Phase 3 (enraged) | 1 | Chief after 50% HP | Faster combo, new dash attack |
The cleanest clear is to burst down the outer disciples with area-of-effect combos, then burn the chief during his chant animation before he can absorb a sacrifice. Players who want to sharpen their dodging for the AoE blast can brush up with the Phantom Blade Zero how to dodge guide.
TieSha the Frenzy
TieSha the Frenzy is technically semi-optional because she appears only if you side with the Rebellion camp during the Act 2 crossroads decision. Choose the Imperial path and she replaces one of the regular arena fights with a scripted cutscene instead, which means you miss out on the Rebellion War-Fan weapon she drops. Her fighting style is relentless aggression with rapid twin-blade swings, and she can chain up to nine hits if you try to parry every strike.
Bone-Tide Ronin — Optional Arena
Bone-Tide Ronin waits inside the flooded arena beneath the docks, accessible only after draining the water wheel during a side quest. He is slower than TieSha but hits far harder, and his tidal-themed attacks inflict the Wet status, which increases lightning damage taken by 25 percent.
Late-Game Bosses and Optional Skirmishes
The third act is where Phantom Blade Zero stops holding your hand. Every encounter from here onward assumes you have a fully upgraded weapon, a working parry timing, and at least one pocket healing item. Optional bosses in this section also gate the alternate ending, so completionists cannot skip them without locking themselves out of a narrative branch.
Huangxing the Sunken
Huangxing the Sunken is a corrupted water-wraith who guards the flooded temple you reach near the end of Act 3. His watery form splits into three phantom copies at 50 percent HP, and only the original takes posture damage; hitting a copy deals chip damage but resets your combo counter. According to community testing, the copies telegraph with a faint blue ripple 1.2 seconds before they spawn, so watch the floor, not the boss.
| Move | Tell | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Triple Split | Blue ripples on ground | Mark center figure, ignore copies |
| Tidal Slam | Water pools around his feet | Jump, punish landing |
| Drowning Pull (grab) | Arms extend forward | Dodge backward twice |
Commander Cleave — Final Duel
Commander Cleave is the story's final boss and arguably the hardest encounter in the base game, because he cycles through every weapon type you have seen throughout the campaign. He opens with a warhammer phase, shifts to twin sabers at 60 percent HP, and finishes with a spear combo at 20 percent that inflicts the Bleed status on every successful hit. Builds that rely on a single weapon archetype get punished here, so consider a versatile loadout.
Players who cleared the Red Wraith earlier will notice his arena has fewer enemy spawns, which is the designer's quiet reward for thorough exploration. For broader preparation advice, the Phantom Blade Zero tips and tricks article covers how to assemble a flexible build for this final stretch.
Verdant Crane Sentinel
Verdant Crane Sentinel waits at the mountaintop shrine that branches the alternate ending path. Skip her and you lock yourself onto the standard ending; defeat her and you unlock the Crane's Oath gesture plus a unique jade talisman that reduces posture damage taken by 12 percent.
Boss Weaknesses, Rewards, and Recommended Builds
Because every boss in Phantom Blade Zero resists a different damage type and rewards a specific build archetype, knowing what each one drops is just as important as knowing how to fight them. The table below pairs every confirmed boss with the elemental weakness, the unique reward, and the build style that clears them most comfortably on a first attempt.
| Boss | Weakness | Status Vulnerability | Unique Drop | Best Build Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wan Jun Coppermaul | Lightning | Slow movement after stomp | Granary Iron Ring | Heavy shield + parry |
| Red Wraith | Fire | No mirror attacks during recovery | Crimson Shawl (cape) | Agile dual blades |
| Chief Disciple of Seven Stars | None — DPS race | Heal-sacrifice interrupts | Sevenfold Prayer Beads | AoE sword |
| TieSha the Frenzy | Frost | Frenzy ends after 4 parries | Rebellion War-Fan | Frost spear |
| Bone-Tide Ronin | Lightning | Wet status increases lightning dmg | Tideglass Saber | Lightning dual blades |
| Hollow Drumkeeper | Fire | None notable | Drumkeeper's Greaves | Balanced sword |
| Huangxing the Sunken | Lightning | Copies ignore you if ignored | Sunken Tide Amulet | Lightning spear |
| Commander Cleave | Adaptive — no single weakness | Bleed from spear phase | Cleave's Final Edge | Versatile hybrid |
| Verdant Crane Sentinel | Frost | Frostbite after 6 hits | Crane Jade Talisman | Frost sword |
| Salt-Worn General | Fire | None notable | Salt-Tempered Blade | Heavy greathammer |
If you want a deeper breakdown of how elemental status effects interact with the encounter design, the Phantom Blade Zero combat guide explains the math behind posture damage, while the Phantom Blade Zero Sha-Chi guide covers how to stack the right buffs before each fight. Two more resources worth bookmarking are the Phantom Blade Zero Ghostep explained page for fights where you need invisibility frames and the Phantom Blade Zero Breached state recovery guide for surviving the late-game posture checks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bosses are in Phantom Blade Zero?
The base Phantom Blade Zero all bosses list includes ten confirmed encounters: four mandatory story bosses, two semi-optional fights with branching outcomes, and four hidden or optional bosses that reward exploration. Only four of them are required to roll the credits.
Is the Red Wraith fight missable?
Yes. The Red Wraith sits on the rooftop of the eastern watchtower in the Burning Granary hub, and there is no quest marker pointing to him. Skip him and the final battle against Commander Cleave spawns extra enemies, which makes the closing duel noticeably harder.
What is the hardest boss in Phantom Blade Zero?
Most players rank Commander Cleave as the hardest encounter because he cycles through three weapon phases, inflicts Bleed during his spear phase, and punishes players who built around a single weapon archetype. Huangxing the Sunken is a close second thanks to the copy mechanic that forces you to read floor telegraphs.
Can you skip any boss fights?
You can skip Red Wraith, Bone-Tide Ronin, Verdant Crane Sentinel, Hollow Drumkeeper, and Salt-Worn General without blocking the main ending, although skipping Verdant Crane Sentinel locks you out of the alternate ending branch. The four story bosses — Coppermaul, Seven Stars, Huangxing, and Cleave — cannot be skipped.
What level should I be for late-game bosses?
Community testing suggests level 24–26 for Huangxing the Sunken and level 28–30 for Commander Cleave, with a fully upgraded weapon of your preferred archetype. Going in under-geared is possible but tends to extend the fight to two or three attempts rather than one, because their posture bars scale with player level.
If you have already cleared a boss that does not appear in this Phantom Blade Zero all bosses list, drop the name in the comments below — patch updates tend to add encounters quietly, and the community list is the fastest way to keep this guide honest.