The Phantom Blade Zero Hua boss fight is an optional encounter early in the game, and she's quite a tough one to beat. Wielding a massive sword and summoning flowers that sap your Sha-Chi, this puppet bride really tests your positioning as you need to constantly stay moving to stay out of danger. While she moves slowly, she also has some fast and savage attacks to be aware of, including a lethal grab attack that's not always easy to avoid. So, bear my tips in mind when facing Hua in Phantom Blade Zero and you'll cut her strings with ease.
Phantom Blade Zero Hua boss fight tips
Hua can have a lot going on in her boss fight but once you know how to deal with her attacks and powers, she's quite simple and doesn't require any specific weapons to beat – although, as my Phantom Blade Zero tips say, you might want to use the Wooden Sanguine sword to parry as you'll deal substantial guard break damage, which is great against Hua. As with pretty much all combat in Phantom Blade Zero, you just need to stay focused and react quickly:
- Most of Hua's attacks are slow and easy to parry: She swings her massive blade around in wide slashes which are all pretty easy to parry, even during her combos. Parry as much as you can and you'll deal solid Sha-Chi guard damage and wear her down. One of the only attacks that can be tricky to deal with is her teleport, where she will suddenly reappear from a different angle attacking immediately.
- Watch out for her overhead attack: Just make sure you don't try to parry her overhead slam that turns your screen briefly black and white as this will drain so much Sha-Chi in one go that you'll often end up guard broken and vulnerable to other attacks. However, heavy attacks like this one also mean a longer recovery time for Hua, giving you a chance to get a couple of slashes in and wear her down.
- Be ready to dodge her grab: Hua has one red-flash attack and it's a brutal grab that deals substantial damage. It was responsible for several deaths of mine, and she often uses it at the end of a combo, so be ready to dodge rather than parry.
You'll also want to avoid all flowers! Hua summons several types of flower throughout the fight, each complicating things in different ways:
- Red flower patches: While standing in these flower patches or rings, your Sha-Chi steadily drains. After a while, they'll explode. Get away from them as quickly as possible. Don't confuse these with the lighter-red flowers already in the arena – thankfully, these ones don't drain your Sha-Chi!
- Large white flowers: Hua will throw out several of these at once and they'll aggressively seek you. If one hits, you'll be briefly incapacitated, allowing Hua to instantly perform her grab attack. Blocking them is best but they can also be dodged.
- Large red flowers: If one hits, it deals damage and drains Sha-Chi. These often orbit Hua and will eventually converge and explode. Stay away from them as best as you can.
Successfully stay out of the way of all the flowers and make good use of punish phases from breaking her guard and you'll defeat Hua eventually. Depending on the level of your weapons, this fight might be quite a slog, so, if you're struggling, I recommend coming back to Hua once you've done most of what there is to do in the Weeping Creek Valley.
But defeat Hua and you'll get her Scarlet Wraithblade, a hefty armament whose Sha-Chi attacks summon those draining flower patches, and it's pretty good! Before leaving the boss arena, make sure you also collect the Phantom Blade Zero Flesh Lily that Yu'er requested and gather the remaining book pages to complete the Hua The Bride book.
Weeping Creek Valley has plenty of other quests and things to find like the Phantom Blade Zero cell key but you don't need to worry about the Phantom Blade Zero Whence The Weeping quest.
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