Phantom Blade Zero · Builds
Tianxuan Bronze Sword build: how do you win by holding block?
With Tianxuan Bronze Sword you give up parrying and simply hold block. Two Support accessories make every blocked hit and every second in Guard Stance cost less Sha-Chi, so you can wait out a string and hit back.
What goes in the Tianxuan Bronze Sword build?
Each effect is the game’s own text at the first level; the number after it is the fully polished value.
| Piece | Slot | What it does | Why it is in this build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tianxuan Bronze Sword | Weapon | Skills you use: Natural Order, Calm Mind (Lv. 10), Resolute Stillness (Lv. 15), All Things Converge (Lv. 25), Effortless Action, Greatness Without Form | Natural Order and Calm Mind make blocking cheap; after Soul Tempering, Effortless Action lets you keep blocking even while Guard-Broken. |
| Shenji’s Ring | Accessory · Support | Holding [Block] to block attacks reduces Sha-Chi consumption by 20%.Fully polished: 20% → 30% | Pays for the hits: each blocked attack costs less Sha-Chi. |
| Brass Chest Guard | Accessory · Support | Reduces Sha-Chi drain rate by 30% while holding [Block] to maintain Guard Stance.Fully polished: 30% → 90% | Pays for the waiting: Sha-Chi drains more slowly while you hold Guard Stance. |
| Mother’s Talisman | Accessory · Defensive | Restores 10% HP when Guard-Broken.Fully polished: 10% → 20% | If your guard still breaks, you get HP back at once. |
| Quick Hand Pendant | Accessory · Offensive | Increases One-Handed weapon damage by 10%.Fully polished: 10% → 18% | The game data counts this sword as a One-Handed weapon, so the pendant raises its damage. |
How do you play it?
Its trait Natural Order cuts the Sha-Chi cost of blocking but disables parrying. From level 25, All Things Converge gives you a Special Block instead: press L1 just before the hit lands.
- Hold L1 through the enemy’s string. Natural Order means you cannot parry with this sword, but each blocked hit costs less Sha-Chi.
- When the string ends, follow Y with X: from level 15, Resolute Stillness sends blade waves forward.
- From level 25, press L1 just before a hit lands for the Special Block of All Things Converge, then press Y for a powerful strike.
- If your guard breaks anyway, keep holding L1: after Soul Tempering, Effortless Action still blocks at the cost of a little HP, and Mother’s Talisman heals you.
- Spend Sha-Chi Essence on Greatness Without Form with L2: unblockable greatsword strikes that knock enemies back at mid to long range.
What can you swap in?
What do you swap in when a fight hits too hard?
Swap Quick Hand Pendant for Boulderguard. You lose some damage, but every hit you fail to block costs less while your guard holds.
| Piece | Slot | What it does | Why it is in this build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulderguard | Accessory · Defensive | Reduces damage taken by 15% while not Guard-Broken.Fully polished: 15% → 20% | Less damage from the hits that get past your guard. |
Which build pairs it with a second weapon?
The Armybreaker build carries this sword as its second weapon: you rush with Armybreaker, then switch to Tianxuan Bronze Sword to block while Miraculous Scabbard covers the swap.
Where do you get each piece?
Where do you get Tianxuan Bronze Sword?
Chapter 3, Village of Lu — nearest bell: The Lady Grounds (dropped by Master Bi Yuan of the Tianxuan Sect)
Where do you get Shenji’s Ring?
On the map:
Where do you get Brass Chest Guard?
On the map:
Where do you get Mother’s Talisman?
A reward from the quest A Dream of Motherhood, during this step: Find the puppet containing the weaver's soul.
Where do you get Quick Hand Pendant?
The game data lists it only in the Crimson Forest loot, without saying which chest or enemy holds it. Crimson Forest on the map →
Where do you get Boulderguard?
No chest holds it and no enemy drops it. It is buried in a grave mound in the stables beside the Axemaster’s cell, and digging there only turns it up after the disciple who starts Four Fierce Axes has told you who lies there.
First, defeat Peng Meng, the Axemaster. Until he is dead, the disciple only begs you to stay away.
Go back to the Outpost Bell. The Petrified Mandate Disciple hides in a house about 78 m east of it. Talk to him after the fight: now he tells you that the Axemaster’s three brothers were buried in a hurry, in the stables.
Travel to The Axemaster’s Holding Cell Bell and go through the door beside it. Inside is a hastily piled grave mound, with neither offerings nor a headstone. Walk up to it and choose Examine the Grave, and Boulderguard is yours. Without the disciple’s story it is just a nameless grave, and you find nothing.
Petrified Mandate Disciple: About 78 m east of the Outpost Bell (Weeping Creek Valley), about 4 m below it
Nearest Bell: OutpostApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →
The grave mound: through the door beside The Axemaster’s Holding Cell BellNearest Bell: The Axemaster’s Holding CellApproximate: distances are estimated from the game data, and the map painting is not to scale.Open this spot on the map →Frequently asked questions
Can you parry with the Tianxuan Bronze Sword?
Its trait Natural Order cuts the Sha-Chi cost of blocking but disables parrying. From level 25, All Things Converge gives you a Special Block instead: press L1 just before the hit lands.
Does Quick Hand Pendant work on the Tianxuan Bronze Sword?
The game data counts this sword as a One-Handed weapon, so the pendant raises its damage.
What is the difference between Shenji’s Ring and Brass Chest Guard?
Shenji’s Ring lowers the Sha-Chi that blocked attacks cost; Brass Chest Guard lowers the Sha-Chi that drains while you hold Guard Stance. Your guard lasts far longer.
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.