How to Beat Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster in Phantom Blade Zero

Flame, the Lion Dance Grandmaster, is one of the most memorable fights in Pangzhen. He is a masked lion dancer wreathed in fire, and the battle ends with a duel on top of lion dance poles. It can be very punishing if you walk in unprepared, but there is a simple trick that removes most of his danger: arrive with water.

Beat You Loong first

Every source agrees on the order. Before you fight Flame, defeat You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew, the optional boss near the Lion Dance Hall bell. TechWiser lists the reward as You Loong's Deluge, an Artifice Phantom Edge. PCGamesN explicitly tells players to finish You Loong before the flame-masked boss.

Kung Fu Punk and AllThings.How explain why. Hitting Flame with You Loong's Deluge applies a Wet status. While he is wet, his fire is extinguished and many of his fire attacks are disabled. Equip the Deluge as one of your two Phantom Edges before you enter.

You Loong himself is worth knowing. PCGamesN says to watch his bubbles when he dives underwater, and that a red attack follows his spinning trident moves. When he shoots water as a red attack, you can dodge it and interrupt him with your own attack.

Phase one

In the first phase, keep Flame wet as often as you can. The colour rules apply as usual: Kung Fu Punk and AllThings.How say to parry his blue-flashing strikes and dodge his red-flashing attacks. For his fire streams, sidestep rather than holding guard; blocking a continuous stream of fire wastes Sha-Chi and may still leave you burning.

A defensive accessory helps a lot here. AllThings.How lists Flameward, which halves fire damage and Burn buildup, and it is found in Pangzhen near the South Gate Bridge. See our accessories database for more.

Phase two: the Lion Grandmaster's Final Dance

The second phase changes the arena. According to Kung Fu Punk and PBZ Builds, Flame first calls in disciples. Clear them out, and when the game prompts you, execute the final one. After that the fight moves onto the lion dance poles.

PCGamesN's main tip for the poles is to move only when he fires, not constantly, because movement between poles can feel a little unresponsive. PBZ Builds adds that you should stay aligned with him so you can deflect or trade the fireballs he throws, and that you should avoid the fire burning at the base of the poles.

Checklist

• Defeat You Loong and equip You Loong's Deluge.
• Bring Flameward if you have it.
• Keep him Wet in phase one.
• Parry blue, dodge red, sidestep fire streams.
• Clear disciples, then execute the last one on the prompt.
• On the poles, move only in response to his shots.

Reward

Beating Flame gives you the Dormant Flaming Mane. PCGamesN notes that you cannot use it immediately. TechWiser explains that you take it to Lei Dang at Jingyang Hall to awaken the Flaming Mane Phantom Edge, an Artifice edge that burns away vines blocking certain paths. Its Soul Tempering material is the Blazing Lion Head, which grants the Chaotic Flame effect.

The Flaming Mane is also needed for the true ending route: the Acolyte Lei Ting mask in Pangzhen is reached using it near the Pond of Fading Song, according to games.gg's true ending guide. Read our true ending guide and the Pangzhen region guide for details.

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.