How to Beat Zuo Shang
Both prologue fights, the 2,900 and 8,000 HP bars, every red-flash tell, and the guard-break loop.
Every story-order boss in one list, with the optional fights kept separate. The page also settles the number problem: why you will see 39, 50+ and 74, and why none of them is an official total.
Phantom Blade Zero does not hand you a boss list. It hands you a health bar, a title, and sometimes a second title ten minutes later. That is why three different boss counts are floating around, and why a page that simply says "39 bosses" without explaining itself is asking to be corrected in the comments.
Start here. Pick the section that matches what you need. Every row in the main table is in the order you meet it, and a tested guide is linked wherever one exists.
There is no official boss total for Phantom Blade Zero. S-Game has not published one, and the community sources do not agree because they are counting three different things. Here is the honest version.
| Count | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 39 | Deduplicated story-order encounters: 28 main-line fights, 9 optional or regional fights, and 2 ending fights | This page, cross-checked against the source lists below |
| 50+ | Every independent boss, including the optional clusters at Mandate Encampment, Mountain of Imprisonment and Meigu Lake | Beebom's "over 50 bosses" count |
| 74 | Every health-bar title, so a boss that returns with a second title is counted twice | AllThingsHow's 74-entry boss list |
The Phantom Blade Zero Wiki homepage shows a count of 39, but its boss index only exposes 32 individual boss pages. That gap is one more reason not to treat any single number as gospel.
The 39 in this guide is a route map. It keeps one row per encounter, folds multi-phase fights into the row where they belong, and moves the optional fights that do not fit the story path into their own table. Add those optional fights back in and you pass 50. Count each health-bar title separately, including second forms such as the Sacrificial Serpent and Queen of Iron and Jade, and the same content stretches to 74. None of those numbers is wrong. They are answering different questions.
The order below follows the critical path, region by region. Multi-phase bosses stay on one row; the guide column explains what changes between their health bars. Optional fights that sit inside a region are marked as optional but kept in place, because you can meet them in that order without leaving the area.
| # | Boss | Region | Type | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zuo Shang | Prologue | Main (tutorial) | Fight guide |
| 2 | Zuo Shang, the Order's Shadow Sovereign | Prologue | Main | Fight guide |
| 3 | The Hunt, Hunter of the Order | Prologue (carriage) | Main | Fight guide |
| 4 | Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute | Weeping Creek Valley | Main | Fight guide |
| 5 | Peng Meng, the Axemaster | Weeping Creek Valley | Main | — |
| 6 | The Hunt, Sixfold Scythe | Weeping Creek Valley (Great Waterfall) | Main | Fight guide |
| 7 | Hua, Deadly Betrothed | Weeping Creek Valley (Flesh Lily Fields / Sha-Chi Tower) | Optional | — |
| 8 | The Puppet Scavenger | Weeping Creek Valley (Crimson Manor basement) | Optional | — |
| 9 | Acolyte Hansui | Weeping Creek Valley (same arena as the Puppet Scavenger) | Optional | — |
| 10 | The Gold-Masked One | Weeping Creek Valley / Crimson Forest / Meigu Lake (Lóng Pillar trials) | Main / side | Pillar guide |
| 11 | Mó Yuan, Leader of the Bastion of Mó | Weeping Creek Valley (fifth Lóng Pillar) | Main | — |
| 12 | Hua Qianxiao, the Sword Fanatic | Crimson Forest | Main | — |
| 13 | Stone Hand Iron Fever | Crimson Forest | Main | — |
| 14 | Jing Ye, the Outlaw | Crimson Forest | Main | — |
| 15 | Bai Chilian, Lady of the Twin Serpents | Crimson Forest | Main | — |
| 16 | Bai Chilian, the Sacrificial Serpent | Crimson Forest | Main | — |
| 17 | Yucong, No. 34 Twisted Puppet | Crimson Forest | Optional | — |
| 18 | Zhuo Bi, the Gatekeeper | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 19 | Master Bi Hai of Kuye Temple | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 20 | Master Bi Yuan of the Tianxuan Sect | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 21 | Yuzan, No. 3 Musician Puppet | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 22 | Acolyte Yanru | Village of Lu | Optional | — |
| 23 | Dusk, the Puppeteer | Village of Lu | Optional | — |
| 24 | Mu Xiaokui, Young Mistress of the Order | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 25 | Mu Xiaokui, Queen of Iron and Jade | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 26 | Jade Dancer, Young Mistress's Guardian | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 27 | Iron Fiend, Young Mistress's Guardian | Village of Lu | Main | — |
| 28 | Blaze | Pangzhen | Main | — |
| 29 | Cavalrybane | Pangzhen | Main | — |
| 30 | Wu Xuan | Pangzhen | Main | — |
| 31 | Gu Wanyue | Pangzhen | Main | — |
| 32 | Chang Hong, the Thunder Spear | Pangzhen | Main | — |
| 33 | You Loong, Blackwater Crew Leader | Pangzhen (pond) | Main | — |
| 34 | Soulclaimer, Elite Shadow Warden | Pangzhen (Dockside Warehouse) | Optional | — |
| 35 | Qiu Feng, the Crimson Boneblade | Mirage Estate | Main | — |
| 36 | Jade-Face | Mirage Estate (snowy courtyard) | Optional | — |
| 37 | Crusher and the Saw | Giant's Lair | Optional | — |
| 38 | Meng Hua | Mount Soulrend (Soulrend Cliff) | Ending (standard) | — |
| 39 | Zuo Shang, the True Lóng | Mount Soulrend (The Fallen Dream) | Ending (true) | — |
Names, regions and types are confirmed for all 39 rows. Exact levels and HP values for entries 28–39 have not been recorded yet, so they are deliberately absent rather than guessed. TODO
These encounters are the reason one player finishes with 39 boss fights and another swears the game has more than 50. Most sit in optional clusters rather than on the critical path, and a few have order information that the sources still disagree on. They are listed separately so the story table stays usable.
| # | Boss | Region | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberrant Three-Faced Puppet | Weeping Creek Valley (Challenge Rift) | Three-Headed Doll |
| 2 | Xie Qiudong, the Divine Healer | Pangzhen | Not listed |
| 3 | Flame, the Lion Grandmaster | Pangzhen | Not listed |
| 4 | Acolyte Leiting | Pangzhen Backstreets | Leiting's Thunder Mask |
| 5 | Acolyte Guhe | Meigu Village | Guhe's Venom Mask |
| 6 | Yubi, No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet | Mandate Encampment | Baishan Stormswords |
| 7 | Corpse-Eating Xue | Mandate Encampment | None |
| 8 | Wan Jun | Mandate Encampment | Bashpole |
| 9 | Wu Lengshuang | Mandate Encampment | Soft Snake Sword |
| 10 | Red, the Mysterious Swordswoman | Dovecote tower | Twin Fish Pendant |
| 11 | Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars | Swordsman's Summon / Training Grounds | Training Grounds Key |
| 12 | Illusory Pipa Repair | Pangzhen | Illusory Pipa Phantom Edge |
| 13 | Kui Yanyan, the Deranged | Mountain of Imprisonment | Missing Lift Crank |
| 14 | Iron Butcher, the Frenzied Brute | Mountain of Imprisonment | Not listed |
| 15 | Bi Feng, Giant Saber Commander | Mountain of Imprisonment | Not listed |
| 16 | Huangxing, the Kunlun Renegade | Mountain of Imprisonment (The Lady's Shrine) | Flying Guillotine |
| 17 | Zhu Yuan, the Searing Blade | Meigu Lake | Not listed |
| 18 | Grief-Striken Jin | Meigu Lake | Not listed |
| 19 | One-Eyed Archer | Meigu Lake (One-Eyed Isle) | One-Eyed Bow |
| 20 | You-Loong, the Frenzied Blackwater Crewleader | Meigu Lake | Not listed |
| 21 | Yan Qiansui, the Zither Maiden | Meigu Lake (Sunken Opera House) | Illusory Pipa Strings, Fanatic's Fragment |
| 22 | Heartpiercer, Elite Shadow Warden | Meigu Lake (White Serpent House) | Sundering Dual Axes |
| 23 | Leng Tu, Herald of the Veil | Soulrend Cliff | Not listed |
| 24 | Yuding, No. 12 Crescent Blade Puppet | Not confirmed | Not listed |
Xie Qiudong and Flame are deliberately outside the 39 because their chapter and position are still marked TBD in the source list. "Not listed" means the source does not record a reward, not that the fight has none.
If you are following the story rather than hunting a specific boss, this is the order that keeps the back-tracking down. Optional fights are listed beside the region where they sit, not in a separate walkthrough.
| Region | Story order | Optional in the same area | Go deeper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Zuo Shang (twice), then The Hunt in the carriage | None; the carriage fight is scripted and ends in a cutscene | Zuo Shang · The Hunt |
| Weeping Creek Valley | Jagged Steel → Peng Meng → The Hunt (full two-phase fight) → Mó Yuan at the fifth Lóng Pillar | Hua, Deadly Betrothed; the Puppet Scavenger with Acolyte Hansui; the first Gold-Masked One pillar | Jagged Steel · Jagged Steel weapon |
| Crimson Forest | Hua Qianxiao → Stone Hand Iron Fever → Jing Ye → Bai Chilian (two forms) | Yucong; the Gold-Masked One returns | No dedicated guide yet |
| Village of Lu | Zhuo Bi → Master Bi Hai → Master Bi Yuan → Yuzan → Mu Xiaokui (two forms, with Jade Dancer and Iron Fiend) | Acolyte Yanru; Dusk | No dedicated guide yet |
| Pangzhen | Blaze → Cavalrybane → Wu Xuan → Gu Wanyue → Chang Hong → You Loong | Soulclaimer in the Dockside Warehouse; Xie Qiudong and Flame, whose place in the order is unconfirmed | No dedicated guide yet |
| Mirage Estate and Mount Soulrend | Qiu Feng → Meng Hua → Zuo Shang, the True Lóng (true ending path) | Jade-Face; Crusher and the Saw in the Giant's Lair | All endings |
| Optional clusters | Not part of the critical path | Mandate Encampment, Mountain of Imprisonment and Meigu Lake: Yubi, Wan Jun, Wu Lengshuang, Kui Yanyan, Huangxing, One-Eyed Archer, Yan Qiansui, Heartpiercer and others | 24 optional bosses table |
Three fights now have full breakdowns with health values, attack tells and punish windows. The Lóng Pillars page covers three more encounters with their routes. The cards below say which is which.
Both prologue fights, the 2,900 and 8,000 HP bars, every red-flash tell, and the guard-break loop.
The Great Waterfall route, 18,720 and 20,645 HP, the 15 m chain, and the hook grab.
Arena route, the two masked adds, the heavy combos and the punish windows.
Three encounters, three routes, and what each one leaves behind.
The boss list is the spine, but it does not tell you what to carry into the fights, what the endings ask of you, or what changes after the credits. These pages cover the rest of the set.
What to carry before the first upgrade wall, and what to leave behind.
Where the blade comes from, what it does, and when to leave it in the bag.
The three systems everything else builds on, explained without spoilers.
A parry-first setup for the first half of the game, with cheap substitutions.
Every branch, the true ending chain, and the last safe point to clean up.
How to start the second cycle and what the harder bosses keep from the first run.
The material for each weapon type, the three caps, and revert rules.
The eight regional counts, missable bells and per-region map completion.
There is no official total. You will see three numbers: 39, over 50, and 74. Our 39 is a deduplicated story-order list; add the optional encounters outside it and the count passes 50, which matches Beebom's over-50 figure; count every health-bar title separately, including bosses that return with a second title, and you get 74.
No. S-Game has not published a boss total. 39 is our own deduplicated count of story-order encounters, built by cross-checking boss lists and guides. Treat it as a route map, not an official figure.
Because a second health bar can carry a second title. Zuo Shang, The Hunt, Bai Chilian and Mu Xiaokui all return with a new name above the bar, so a list that counts titles separately records them twice. We keep one row per encounter and describe the phases in the linked guide.
We list 24 optional encounters that sit outside the 39-row story list, from Acolyte Leiting in Pangzhen to Yuding, No.12 Crescent Blade Puppet. That is why the total number of independent bosses goes past 50.
Zuo Shang. He is fought twice in the prologue, at 2,900 HP and then 8,000 HP, and both fights end in a cutscene rather than a results screen.
Yes. Entry 39 is Zuo Shang, the True Lóng at Mount Soulrend, the final fight on the true ending path. Entry 38, Meng Hua, is the standard final boss.
Where the sources disagree on a chapter name or an optional boss's position, the page says so instead of picking one silently.
Data is based on the current version of Phantom Blade Zero. Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us with a screenshot and we will re-test it.
Keep going
Both prologue fights, the red-flash tells and the guard-break loop.
The Great Waterfall route, both health bars and the hook grab.
Arena route, adds, heavy combos and the punish windows.
How to start the next cycle and which systems survive it.
The regional counts behind every fast-travel node and save point.
Steam, PS5 and WeGame prices, the deluxe premium, and which key store still has stock.
Critic scores, per-language Steam reviews and playtime, weighed into a Buy, Wait or Skip verdict.
Which pads work on PC, what DualSense actually does here, and what still needs a mod.