How to Beat Bai Chilian, the Sacrificial Serpent in Phantom Blade Zero

Bai Chilian is the chapter boss of the Crimson Forest and the fastest enemy most players will have met at this point in Phantom Blade Zero. She dashes around the arena, vanishes and reappears, and fights in two phases. Many players hit a wall here. The good news is that her patterns are readable once you know which attacks to respect and which openings to take.

Before the fight

Check that your weapons are upgraded and that you have medicine stocked. GamesRadar's suggested weapons are Jagged Steel, for its bleed, and the Outlaw Warblade, which you get from the Ying Ye fight earlier in the region. The Warblade's lifesteal makes it easier to recover health over a long fight. If you want to plan your loadout, try our build planner.

Phase one: Lady of the Twin Serpents

GamesRadar's first piece of advice is to let her come to you. Bai Chilian covers distance much faster than Soul, so chasing her only exposes you to her approach attacks. Hold your position, keep lock-on active and react.

PCGamesN stresses lock-on for another reason: some of her blue and red attacks come down from above, and without lock-on it is easy to lose track of her and miss the colour cue entirely.

Her ribbon snakes are projectiles that slither toward you; dodge them rather than trying to block. The more dangerous mechanic is her black-and-white Sha-Chi drain. GamesRadar explains that this drain sets up a red attack. Watch for the black and white effect, and as soon as it ends, expect the red follow-up and perfect dodge.

PCGamesN's general approach is to block a lot and then attack when her Sha-Chi breaks. She is aggressive, and attempting to trade blows with her usually loses. Steady blocking breaks her down, and Jagged Steel's bleed keeps ticking while you wait.

Phase two: the Sacrificial Serpent

When she transforms into the Sacrificial Serpent, there is a checkpoint, according to GamesRadar, so a death in phase two does not send you all the way back.

The second phase introduces an ally. At around twenty percent of her health, GamesRadar says you need to help that ally. Do not tunnel-vision on the boss at that point. Phase two also introduces summons. The recommendation is to clear two of them; doing so lets you guard-break Bai Chilian and open her up for a big damage window.

Key tips

• Be patient in phase one. Let her come to you.
• Never stand still against the ribbon snakes; sidestep them.
• After the black-and-white drain, a red attack follows.
• Keep lock-on active for attacks from above.
• In phase two, take care of the summons and support your ally.
• Use weapon switching to refill Sha-Chi after long blocking strings.

Rewards

Defeating Bai Chilian gives you the White Serpent and Crimson Viper paired swords. According to Phantom Blade Guide, she also drops the Resonance Talisman. That matches the AllThings.How accessory list, which describes the Resonance Talisman as a Support accessory granting +15% Sha-Chi. It is a strong accessory for any build that relies on blocking or heavy Sha-Chi combos; you can find it in our accessories database.

With the Crimson Forest finished, the story moves to the Village of Lu, where you meet Mu Xiaokui. For more on the forest region, see the Crimson Forest guide.

General boss tips that apply here

These rules come up again and again in PCGamesN's boss breakdowns and games.gg's duel tips. Parry blue flashes and perfect dodge red ones; red attacks cannot be blocked safely. Watch your Sha-Chi bar, because running it dry leaves you Guard-Broken. Switching between your two main weapons quickly refills Sha-Chi, which games.gg highlights as a key defensive trick. Save your heaviest combos and Phantom Edge skills for the moment the boss is Guard-Broken. If a fight is a wall, th.gl confirms you can lower the difficulty outside combat to widen parry and dodge windows, and the Reflex Device accessory (AllThings.How) adds another 15%. For more, see our beginner tips, all bosses in order and the build planner.