Beating the Phantom Blade Zero Bai Chilian boss fight isn't easy as this serpentine woman moves erratically and quickly, and can deliver some devastating blows. However, as always with these boss fights, knowledge is power, and so is blocking, parrying, and dodging. Learn Bai Chilian's attack patterns and take in the tactics I've laid out below, and the fight will become much easier to manage – just be aware that there's a second phase that mixes things up a bit!
Phantom Blade Zero Bai Chilian phase 1 tips
Bai Chilian, Lady of the Twin Serpents, is a story-critical boss, so you can't progress until you've defeated her. Despite her often-rapid movement, she isn't as difficult to bring down as she seems – if you've already beaten the Phantom Blade Zero Three-Faced Puppet, you should have very few problems! With all of that in mind, here are my tips for beating Bai Chilian in Phantom Blade Zero:
- Let Bai Chilian come to you: Bai Chilian frequently switches between ranged and melee attack combos, the former of which can easily catch you out if you're constantly rushing into her attacks. Like most other tougher bosses, let her rush you and meet her with blocks and parries to chip away at her Sha-Chi bar until her guard breaks and you can retaliate.
- Get out of the way of her ribbon snakes: Bai Chilian has a couple of attacks that involve large snakes made of ribbons trying to crash into you. I found it was best to get out of the impact area of the snakes as quickly as possible, usually with frantic dodging. However, Bai Chilian will sometimes teleport and move a lot in these moments, which can pull your camera around in awkward ways that make dodging the snakes trickier.
- Watch out for her brutal combo: Most of Bai Chilian's attacks are fast but have obvious windups that mean they're not that difficult to block or parry with a bit of practice. However, she has a Sha-Chi draining strike (screen briefly turns black and white) which she can rapidly chain into a lethal red-flash attack. Worst of all, she can do this out of a teleport, making it very unexpected. I've no real advice for this attack other than being ready to dodge to the side to avoid it at any time.
- Jagged Steel is a great weapon for this boss: As a human boss, Bai Chilian is affected by the bleed damage Jagged Steel can inflict. As soon as you break her guard, I recommend attacking ferociously with it to deal hefty damage. The Outlaw Warblade is also very good, but is considerably riskier to use due to its self-wounding properties. And the trusty Wooden Sanguine is also still useful as a parrying tool at this stage in the game.
Phantom Blade Zero Bai Chilian phase 2 tips
Once you've depleted Bai Chilian's health bar, she'll transform into the Sacrificial Serpent for a second boss fight – thankfully there's a checkpoint! Despite having a radically different moveset since she can now swing around using puppet-like strings, much of the same logic and tactics from phase 1 applies, but here are some additional tips:
- Blocking is arguably better than parrying for some attacks: For this phase, Bai Chilian gets some much faster and slightly less predictable attacks, notably the ability to sucker punch you with her attached ribbon snakes. She can also turn into a blender and fly around the arena to try and eviscerate you. The parry timing on these attacks can be tough, so be prepared to block in anticipation instead.
- When you break Bai Chilian's guard, get to her as quickly as possible: If you take more than a couple of seconds to reach Bai Chilian and start attacking, she will recover from her staggered state and can start moving around and attacking you. Attack quickly and she won't be able to retaliate, letting you get plenty of hits in while her Sha-Chi regenerates.
- Survive long enough and you'll get help from an Illusion of the Chord: This character seems to join the fight once you've chipped away about 20% of Bai Chilian's health and makes the fight significantly easier when it comes to breaking Bai Chilian's guard.
- Don't bother trying to destroy the big snakes: Bai Chilian gains a new ribbon snake move where she summons several large but idle snakes that can be individually destroyed while she sits in the middle. Destroying these snakes takes a large chunk out of Bai Chilian's Sha-Chi bar, but I always found it better to just stay out of the way and let the Chord fire a big Sha-Chi-destroying ball, giving you a chance to charge in afterwards.
Once you've beaten both phases of the Bai Chilian fight, you'll get the Broken Illusory Pipa, a crucial story item that's tied to the Phantom Blade Zero Whence The Weeping quest. You'll also get a very good dual-wield weapon, the White Serpent & Crimson Viper swords, and the Resonance Talisman Accessory, which increases your maximum Sha-Chi – both very useful to have for the journey ahead.
This also marks the end of the Crimson Forest region, as you'll be immediately whisked to the next region. Hopefully you've already completed the Phantom Blade Zero A Healer's Mercy quest and answered the Phantom Blade Zero Nimble Thief questions though!
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