Freezing Chaos.

The puppet Yucong carried Freezing Chaos, a one-handed sword with three distinct styles of fighting.

Cold rises along its edge, and black flame follows as it descends; the whole design rests on that contrast. Rather than demanding mastery of a single rhythm, it supplies three forms so you can choose whichever suits the enemy ahead: Steel against a lifted shield, Chaos against a large health bar, Frost against a target that keeps moving.

This is an endgame item. Its source is an optional boss linked with an extended side tale, and by the time most players get there, their preferred primary arms are long established.

Changing forms contributes to damage as well, because every change finishes with a heavy blow.

Because Phantom Blade Zero has no published 0–100 bars for stats, this page gives the weapon's numbers as they stand at level 1.

These numbers are taken from values the game itself lists for level 1; they were not confirmed through play.

Before you start:

• Get to the Mirage Estate in Pangzhen
• Hold Sanguine Reach together with what Soul Tempering needs to make it Blazing Edge
• Speak with Myst in the Order's tavern beneath Pangzhen

1. Kick off the Triple Threat tale by going to The Lady's Rift in Weeping Creek Valley, examining the statue by its Bell and walking into the Rift.
2. Beat the Aberrant Three-Faced Puppet within and pick up the Three-Headed Doll.
3. Far into the game, inside the Mirage Estate, locate the puppet's three Memory Flowers. They lie in the Training Grounds past Yuding, in Mourning Hall past Qiu Feng, and in Leng Tu's Study.
4. Obtain Scorching Flame materials, one set from Zhu Yuan under the Pangzhen Sha-Chi Tower and another by taking on the Long Pillar challenge in eastern Meigu Lake. Then Soul Tempering changes Sanguine Reach into Blazing Edge.
5. Go back to the Mirrorwood, blanketed in snow, in the Crimson Forest. With Blazing Edge equipped, beat Yucong, No. 34 Twisted Puppet, and Freezing Chaos is your prize.

Threefold Shift, a special that pays Sha-Chi to move among Steel, Chaos and Frost, is the core of Freezing Chaos. Each transition ends in its own powerful blow, so changing form adds to your damage instead of interrupting it.

The Steel, Chaos and Frost forms

Of all three forms, Steel has the top Attack and Guard Break, a fit for enemies with guards or shields.

Each hit in Chaos inflicts Chaotic Flame. That flame Ignites the target and gradually saps its HP and Sha-Chi, and every attack also drops a Floating Chaotic Flame. Pick this form against enemies with big health pools.

Chill is what Frost inflicts. A target that collects enough Chill freezes, so this form is the counter to quick opponents.

Chaos Erosion

For 1 Sha-Chi, the active art unleashes an unbroken barrage that passes through Steel, Frost and Chaos one after another. Blocking it is impossible.

Threefold Resonance

Threefold Resonance, an upgrade from Soul Tempering, boosts your damage and the Sha-Chi you drain from enemies for a short span once Threefold Shift is used.

Level bonuses

The weapon can be raised from level 1 up to level 60.

Soul Tempering

Strengths

• Its three forms handle a shield, a big health pool or a quick foe with no need to swap weapons.
• Because each Threefold Shift concludes with a powerful blow, switching forms gives extra damage rather than wasting time.
• Chaos Erosion cannot be blocked and runs through all three forms in a single chain.
• Chaotic Flame saps Sha-Chi along with HP, helping to wear enemies down.

Weaknesses

• Since shifting costs Sha-Chi, anyone who runs out of it forfeits the weapon's signature ability.
• Getting it takes a very long series of requirements, and it comes near the end of the game.

Best used for

• Extended battles with enemies that have lots of health, where Chaos gradually burns them down.

Twisted Puppet No. 34, Yucong, once held Freezing Chaos. That puppet had three faces, Steel, Frost and Chaos, and each of the blade's forms corresponds to one of them. The weapon's description in the game tells of an edge that climbs with cold that bites to the bone and drops with black flame behind it.