There are three different
Phantom Blade Zero endings; one bad, one slightly less bad, and one True Ending which lets you face the final boss, granting the “Final Battle” ending and “With Heart and Blood” achievement. But to get this perfect ending, besides following the main quest, you have to complete a variety of side activities.
The cut-off for completion seems quite generous—though Inanis implies there’s a point of no return just as you enter the Mirage Estate, as long as you complete these steps before the final boss of the area, you seem to be fine. Here’s what you need to do
1. Complete the Secrets at the Heart of the Lake quest
(Image credit: S-Game Studios)
You first get this when you discover one of Firefly’s Memory Flowers in the Village of Lu, but the main steps of the quest are:
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Defeat the four scarecrow acolytes to get their masks .
The first is Acolyte Yanru in the Village of Lu.The second is Acolyte Lei Ting in Pangzhen—you can get to her once you acquire the Flaming Mane Phantom Edge on the west side of the town and then burn the barrier near the Pond of Fading Song bell to access her location.The third is Acolyte Guhe in Meigu Lake on the east village dock island.The fourth is Acolyte Hansui in the Crimson Manor —entering requires a load of other quest progress. You’ll need to fix the Illusory Pipa , complete Whence the Weeping , plus the Mandate Encampment area, so this stage is definitely the longest (all the details you need are in the linked Crimson Manor guide).
Enter the Phantom Illusionist’s realm via the mirror in northwest Meigu Lake .
You’ll need the four Acolyte masks to enter.
Fight through the area to defeat the final boss, which will summon a puppet statue.
Insert the Yin and Yang eyes into the puppet and end the ritual .
You get both of these in the course of opening the Crimson Manor: one from the hanging puppet who gives you the tongue to unlock it, and the second from the Puppet Scavenger boss in the manor.
This will teleport you to the ritual. Kill all the puppet monks to end it and complete the quest.
2. Complete the five Long Pillars in the Bloodline Awakening quest
(Image credit: S-Game Studios)
There are five Long Pillar challenges battling the Gold-Masked One that you need to complete to get the True Ending, plus these are good as the later ones give you Soul Tempering materials for some of the game’s best weapons:
The first Long Pillar is in Weeping Creek Valley . Use the Hunt’s Scythes to grab the key on top of the Sha-Chi tower to unlock the area with it.The second Long Pillar is in the Crimson Forest , just off the main path after Stone Fist Iron Fever, near the start of the Mirrorwood.The third Long Pillar is in east Meigu Lake on an island.The fourth Long Pillar is in the Phantom Illusionist’s realm which you need the Acolyte masks to enter, so I suggest doing this as you pass through doing the Secrets at the Heart of the Lake quest.The fifth Long Pillar is in the Mirage Estate . This is the second-to-last area in the game. You can access the pillar close to the Willow Pavillion, where you’ll find a path you can grapple to with the Hunt’s Scythes if you backtrack a little.
3. Complete all of Quickhand’s Requests
(Image credit: S-Game Studios)
Though I haven’t seen this requirement mentioned elsewhere, I’m pretty certain you have to complete the Quickhand’s Request quests for the True Ending, which involve finding treasures throughout each region and delivering them to the thief.
This is all covered in the linked guide with videos showing the locations, plus this quest gets you two otherwise inaccessible Phantom Edges, Flying Dagger and Goldblaze, so is worth completing anyway.
So what does the True Ending get you?
You can also choose to start New Game+ with Inanis (Image credit: S-Game Studios)
If you’ve done everything above, Inanis should tell you right before you emerge onto the peak of Mount Soulrend (after the Mirage Estate) that there’s nothing more she can do to prepare you. I assume, if you haven’t completed everything necessary, she gives you a point of no return warning that you still have unfinished business.
The True Ending sees you fight Leng Tu, Meng Hua (the lady), and Zuo Shang, but the other ending doesn’t let you fight Zuo Shang’s second form, so you get an extra boss fight this way. If you’ve done all of the above, you’ll also get:
The Hunt outfit
The Kindred outfit
The Blizzard outfit
The Legacy outfit
The Radiant Heart story item
After this, you can choose to start New Game+ by speaking to Inanis and pick to tweak difficulty as well if you want. You’ll carry over your weapons and Phantom Edges, too.
