Phantom Blade Zero · Builds
Summon build: how do you let your summons do the fighting?
This build spends Remnant Spark on allies. Puppeteer’s Bell summons a Sword-and-Shield Puppet and a Spear-and-Shield Puppet, three accessories make every summon cheaper, stronger and longer-lasting, and Shadowless Edge adds a Phantom Double that goes for the enemy you attack.
What goes in the summon build?
Each effect is the game’s own text at the first level; the number after it is the fully polished or upgraded value.
Nuo Mask’s text names Summon-type Phantom Edges. Puppeteer’s Bell is one, and so are Swordsman’s Summon, Kuye Temple Prayer Beads and Inanis’ Radiant Fan; Artifice-type Phantom Edges such as Illusory Pipa are not in its text.
| Piece | Slot | What it does | Why it is in this build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puppeteer’s Bell | Phantom Edge | Skills you use: Fortified Shields (Lv. 5), Counter Guard (Lv. 15), Mindless Impact (Lv. 25), Abyssal Bell, Elite Puppet | Fortified Shields makes both Puppets’ shields much tougher, Counter Guard has them hit back after they block, and Mindless Impact raises every summoned Puppet’s Guard Break. Soul Tempered into Abyssal Bell, it summons one more powerful Puppet (Elite Puppet). |
| Shadowless Edge | Weapon | Skills you use: Shadow Form | Your weapon summons too: the Phantom Double matches your Attack and Guard Break and goes for the enemy you are attacking. |
| Nuo Mask | Accessory · Support | Reduces the Remnant Spark cost of Summon-type Phantom Edges by 1. Summons gain Berserk, slightly increasing their damage while active.Fully polished: Reduces the Remnant Spark cost of Summon-type Phantom Edges by 1. Summons gain Berserk, greatly increasing their damage while active. | The heart of the build: each summon costs 1 Remnant Spark less, and summons hit harder while Berserk. |
| Fine Thread | Accessory · Offensive | Increases the damage and Sha-Chi depletion caused by summon objects by 50%.Fully polished: 50% → 100% | Summons deal more damage and deplete more Sha-Chi. |
| Puppet’s Wooden Heart | Accessory · Support | Increases summon duration by 25%.Fully polished: 25% → 50% | Longer summons mean fewer re-summons, and a new summon always replaces the old ones. |
| Hunter’s Insight | Accessory · Offensive | Increases damage dealt and Sha-Chi depletion against attacking enemies by 7%Fully polished: 7% → 15% | Your own hits do more to an enemy that is attacking, and with Puppets in its face it attacks a lot. |
| Manor Medicine Pot | Accessory · Defensive | Using Medicine has a 8% chance not to consume a use.Fully polished: 8% → 15% | Each Medicine you drink has a chance not to use up a dose. |
| Lament Draught | Medicine | Increases damage dealt to enemies by 10% for 30 seconds and restores 20% HP.Fully upgraded: Increases damage dealt to enemies by 20% for 40 seconds and restores 40% HP. | More damage to enemies for 30 seconds, plus HP: drink it as the summons go in. |
How do you play it?
Puppeteer’s Bell only summons in areas dense with Sha-Chi, when its icon glows. Summons do not stack: summoning again replaces the ones on the field, so let them run their time.
- Wait for the Puppeteer’s Bell icon to glow, then press R2 to summon the Sword-and-Shield Puppet and the Spear-and-Shield Puppet.
- With Shadowless Edge in hand, press L1 + Y for Shadow Form: a Phantom Double appears for a few seconds.
- Attack the enemy you want the double on: it goes for the enemy you are attacking, and picks its own target otherwise.
- Stay close to the Puppets and let them take the blows: from level 15, Counter Guard has them hit back after every block.
- Once the double is gone you must wait a few seconds before summoning another. Summon the Puppets again only when they have left the field, since a new summon replaces them.
What can you swap in?
Which other Phantom Edges does Nuo Mask make cheaper?
Swordsman’s Summon and Kuye Temple Prayer Beads are Summon-type too, so Nuo Mask, Fine Thread and Puppet’s Wooden Heart work on them the same way. The first summons a band of swordsmen, the second a group of bronze fist fighters; like the bell, both summon only where Sha-Chi is dense. Inanis’ Radiant Fan is also Summon-type, but it makes a field that restores HP and Sha-Chi instead of summoning fighters.
| Piece | Slot | What it does | Why it is in this build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swordsman’s Summon | Phantom Edge | Skills you use: Sword Wave (Lv. 5), Lesser Sword Formation (Lv. 15), Master Swordsmen | From level 5 the captain throws sword waves (Sword Wave), from level 15 the swordsmen fight in formation (Lesser Sword Formation), and Soul Tempering (Master Swordsmen) swaps in stronger swordsmen. |
| Kuye Temple Prayer Beads | Phantom Edge | Skills you use: Golden Body (Lv. 5), Bronze Formation (Lv. 15), Golden Formation | From level 5 the bronze fighters can turn invulnerable (Golden Body), from level 15 they fight in formation (Bronze Formation), and Soul Tempering (Golden Formation) turns them into three gold fighters. |
Can you bring Illusory Pipa as well?
As your second Phantom Edge, yes, but count on its full cost: Illusory Pipa is an Artifice-type Phantom Edge, and Nuo Mask’s text names only Summon-type ones. Press R2 repeatedly to play Sonic Blades. Sonic Mindseal: when a Red Sonic Blade hits a Guard-Broken enemy, that enemy turns and attacks the others, which helps in a crowded fight (powerful enemies are immune).
| Piece | Slot | What it does | Why it is in this build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illusory Pipa | Phantom Edge | Skills you use: Sonic Mindseal | For crowds: Sonic Mindseal turns weaker Guard-Broken enemies against the rest while your Puppets hold the line. |
Where do you get each piece?
Where do you get Puppeteer’s Bell?
Chapter 3, Village of Lu — nearest bell: Broken Puppet Pit Entrance (dropped by Dusk, the Puppeteer after collecting 6 Firefly Memory Flowers)
Where do you get Shadowless Edge?
Forged by Soul Tempering Sanguine Twin with Chaos Twin Daggers
Where do you get Nuo Mask?
It comes in 3 fragments; the map marks 6 places for them:
All three fragments are in Mirage Estate. Nuo Mask Fragment: Joy: from the Leng Tu’s Study Bell, go into the house on the right; the fragment lies on a table, about 56 m south-west of the Bell.
Nuo Mask Fragment: Sorrow: from the Shaded Bamboo Path Bell. All we know for this one is where it lies on the map: about 97 m north-west of the Bell and about 13 m higher. We don’t have a turn-by-turn route for it yet, so steer by the map card below.
Nuo Mask Fragment: Wrath: from the Opera House Bell. It is the easiest one to miss, so the route has its own section below.
Start at the Opera House Bell. Face the Bell and keep walking to its left. Climb two flights of steps one after the other, then drop down behind the screen wall: the fragment is right there.
Don’t climb back up yet. The Executioner’s Headscarf and a Ritual Wine are further down the same way, so take them now.
At the Nuo Mask Altar Bell. The Old Beggar stands about 19 m north of it. Talk to him with all three fragments and he puts the Nuo Mask together for you.
If you haven’t lit that Bell yet: from the Estate Rear Gate Bell, keep turning right and you reach it.
Nuo Mask Fragment: Joy (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 65 m north of the Nuo Mask Altar Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 6 m below it
Nearest Bell: Nuo Mask AltarApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Joy (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 56 m south-west of the Leng Tu’s Study Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate)Nearest Bell: Leng Tu’s StudyApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Sorrow (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 66 m north of the Nuo Mask Altar Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 6 m below itNearest Bell: Nuo Mask AltarApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Sorrow (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 97 m north-west of the Shaded Bamboo Path Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 13 m above itNearest Bell: Shaded Bamboo PathApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Wrath (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 65 m north of the Nuo Mask Altar Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 6 m below itNearest Bell: Nuo Mask AltarApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Wrath (the map marks this fragment in two places): About 160 m north-east of the Training Grounds Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 47 m above itNearest Bell: Training GroundsApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Nuo Mask Fragment: Sorrow: About 97 m north-west of the Shaded Bamboo Path Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 13 m above itNearest Bell: Shaded Bamboo PathApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Start: Opera House BellNearest Bell: Opera HouseApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Old Beggar: About 19 m north of the Nuo Mask Altar Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate)Nearest Bell: Nuo Mask AltarApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →Where do you get Fine Thread?
A reward from the quest Quick Hand’s Request, during this step: Deliver all the treasures from the Village of Lu to Quick Hand Zhang.
Where do you get Puppet’s Wooden Heart?
On the map:
Picking it up also completes a step of the quest A Puppet’s Wooden Heart: Tell the Songstress Puppet of Pei's fate.
Where do you get Hunter’s Insight?
The game data lists it only in the Weeping Creek Valley loot, without saying which chest or enemy holds it. Weeping Creek Valley on the map →
Where do you get Manor Medicine Pot?
It comes in 4 fragments; the map marks each one:
Medicine Pot Fragment: Body: About 21 m east of the Huang Manor Crossroads Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 7 m above itNearest Bell: Huang Manor CrossroadsApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Medicine Pot Fragment: Chain: About 29 m east of the Huang Manor Crossroads Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate)Nearest Bell: Huang Manor CrossroadsApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Medicine Pot Fragment: Handle: About 17 m south-east of the Huang Manor Crossroads Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate)Nearest Bell: Huang Manor CrossroadsApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
Medicine Pot Fragment: Lid: About 40 m north-east of the Huang Manor Crossroads Bell (Pangzhen · Mirage Estate), about 4 m above itNearest Bell: Huang Manor CrossroadsApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →Where do you get Lament Draught?
In a chest in the Training Grounds Depths of the Mandate Encampment (Chapter 5).
Where do you get Swordsman’s Summon?
Chapter 5, Mandate Encampment — nearest bell: Tower Rear Exit (reward in Daughter of the Dark Sect; Soul Tempered via The Undying Heroic Spirit)
Where do you get Kuye Temple Prayer Beads?
Chapter 3, Village of Lu — nearest bell: Smuggler’s Tunnel Entrance (dropped by Master Bi Hai of Kuye Temple)
Where do you get Illusory Pipa?
Chapter 4, Pangzhen & Chapter 7, Meigu Lake — nearest bells: Myst’s Tavern & Weeping Mistgate (Soul Tempered from Heartrend Pipa in Illusory Pipa)
Frequently asked questions
Which Phantom Edges does Nuo Mask work on?
Nuo Mask’s text names Summon-type Phantom Edges. Puppeteer’s Bell is one, and so are Swordsman’s Summon, Kuye Temple Prayer Beads and Inanis’ Radiant Fan; Artifice-type Phantom Edges such as Illusory Pipa are not in its text.
Where can you use Puppeteer’s Bell?
Puppeteer’s Bell only summons in areas dense with Sha-Chi, when its icon glows. Summons do not stack: summoning again replaces the ones on the field, so let them run their time.
How do you make the Phantom Double attack the right enemy?
Attack the enemy you want the double on: it goes for the enemy you are attacking, and picks its own target otherwise.
Read next
Sources for this page 3
- Every name and effect is the game’s own text Official Phantom Blade Zero launch localisation tables, accessory table and Medicine texts: every item’s effect at its first and at its fully polished or upgraded level, and each weapon’s skill texts, checked 8 November 2026.
- Where each piece comes from Official Phantom Blade Zero game data (chest and pickup positions, quest rewards, boss drops), the same as on each piece’s own page on this site.
- Which pieces go together, and in what order you use them Our reading The combinations and the order of play are ours, put together from the item and skill texts above.