Opening the Phantom Blade Zero Crimson Manor is a long and difficult process that you won't complete until you're very far into the game – basically, if you're reading this because you've just stumbled upon the manor under the Weeping Creek Valley Sha-Chi Tower, don’t worry about it for now!
What makes it so complicated is that getting the necessary tongue key ties into several other side quests that will take you all over the game world, and the Crimson Manor quest itself links to an even greater over-arching side quest. But, to help you out, I've explained the entire process of getting inside the Crimson Manor – be aware that there are some story spoilers below!
How to get the Phantom Blade Zero Crimson Manor key
To get inside the Crimson Manor, you need to get the Puppet's Tongue key by going through three hidden portal doors found across the game, all of which lead to the Three-Eyed Puppet (this is 'The Herald's Illusion' quest).
The arduous part is therefore finding those doors, especially since two of them are in far-flung regions of the game, so you need to make sure you have access to those regions first. To reach the Mandate Encampment, you need the Phantom Blade Zero Mandate Encampment Key. And to get to the Mountain of Imprisonment, you must have repaired the Illusory Pipa, which you can only do if you have found Myst in Pangzhen and thoroughly explored the Village of Lu, the Mandate Encampment, and Meigu Lake for the missing parts.
With all that in mind, here are the locations of the three secret doors:
- The first door is accessed after defeating Yuzan, No.3 Musician Puppet, in the Village of Lu's smuggler tunnel. From the Puppet Testing Grounds Bell and facing the door into the tunnel proper, go left and into the large cavern to find the portal.
- The second door can be found after defeating Yubi, No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet, at the end of the Mandate Encampment, so you need the Phantom Blade Zero Training Grounds Key first. Once you've defeated Yubi, walk through the building next to the arena and you should easily spot the portal at the end of a long tunnel lit with red candles.
- The third door is found after defeating Huangxing, the Kunlun Renegade, at the summit of the Mountain of Imprisonment. Use your newfound Flying Guillotine Phantom Edge to trigger the statue switch and open a pit in the floor. Jump down carefully and you'll find the Chord at the bottom, completing the Phantom Blade Zero Whence The Weeping quest in the process. A cutscene will play which ends with Soul talking to Lady Inanis. Once this is done, turn around and go through the portal to get back to where you found the Chord and you'll find another portal, this one leading to the Three-Eyed Puppet.
When you go through the final door, interact with the Three-Eyed Puppet and it'll give you the necessary Puppet's Tongue, completing 'The Herald's Illusion' quest in the process, and finally giving you access to this mysterious subterranean mansion. The puppet also hands over its own Yin blue crystal eye and says that you need to find the Yang eye within the Crimson Manor, which is all for the 'Secrets at the Heart of the Lake' quest.
Anyway, fast travel to the Crimson Manor and interact with the lock to insert the tongue and open the door. Plunder the manor then head out the back and jump down the pit, carefully working your way to the bottom.
You'll be faced with a double boss fight against the Puppet Scavenger and Acolyte Hansui here. Neither are that tough, with the former's huge bulk making it slow and easy to hit and the latter being quite easy to overwhelm up close, so long as you dodge and block plenty of their ice attacks. Kill the pair and you'll get the Yang eye and Hansui's Frost Mask, thus finally completing the Crimson Manor quest!
But now you've got the Yin and Yang crystal eyes and the 'Secrets at the Heart of the Lake' quest to wrap up. If you haven't already, you need to defeat the other three Acolyte boss fights found at scarecrows around the game – there's one in the Village of Lu, Pangzhen, and Lake Meigu – and take their masks to the Four Guardians' Mirror on the icy western side of Lake Meigu. This will take you to a special area where you'll eventually get to use those two crystal eyes, but only after you defeat the Blizzard Blademaster.
You've got to spend quite a lot of time in the Mandate Encampment for this quest, so make sure you grab Moji's House Key in Phantom Blade Zero while you're there. You'll also be facing a lot of bosses along the way, and it helps to have the best Phantom Blade Zero Accessories equipped.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
