How to Beat Peng Meng, the Axemaster in Phantom Blade Zero

Peng Meng, the Axemaster, is widely described as the first "real" boss of Phantom Blade Zero. You meet him in Weeping Creek Valley shortly after the tutorial-style fight with Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute, and he is the point where the game stops holding your hand. Jagged Steel teaches the basic language of parrying and perfect dodging with on-screen prompts; Peng Meng expects you to read his attacks yourself. This guide walks through what makes him dangerous, how to approach the fight, and what he leaves behind.

Where to find Peng Meng

According to TechWiser's Phantom Edge list, Peng Meng waits north of the Outpost bell in Weeping Creek Valley. Rest at that bell before you go in. Bells are your checkpoints in Phantom Blade Zero, and they are also where you spend materials on weapon upgrades, so it is worth checking whether you can level your blades one more time before the attempt. If you want to see the bell and the surrounding area, our interactive map marks the region's points of interest, and the Weeping Creek Valley region guide lists everything else that is worth collecting nearby.

Understanding his moveset

Phantom Blade Zero colour-codes enemy attacks. A blue flash is a move you should parry, and a red flash is a killer move that cannot be blocked, so you need to perfect dodge it instead. Peng Meng uses both, and he mixes them with heavy, slow axe swings that look easy to block but drain your Sha-Chi quickly.

The move every source warns about is his back slam. PCGamesN notes that if this attack connects it strips away all of your Sha-Chi. Sha-Chi is the resource you spend to block and to perform heavier combo attacks, so losing it at once leaves you guard-broken and wide open. Phantom Blade Atlas describes it as a black-flash slam combined with a grab, and its advice is the same as PCGamesN's: do not try to absorb it, get out of the way.

His sweeping attack should also be dodged rather than blocked. The wide arc of the axe means standing your ground costs a lot of Sha-Chi even if you guard successfully.

The main parry opportunity comes after a sequence of stamps. PCGamesN points out that once he finishes stomping, the follow-up is a blue attack. If you parry it cleanly you get a Ghoststep, the counter-dash behind an enemy that opens them to punishment.

Positioning

Phantom Blade Atlas recommends staying at his flank rather than directly in front of him. A big two-handed axe user covers a lot of space in front of his body, but his recovery after a heavy swing leaves his sides exposed. Hugging his flank also makes his grab easier to sidestep, because you are already moving at an angle when it comes out. Avoid backing yourself into walls; you need room to dodge the sweep.

Recommended weapons

The same guide suggests bringing a fast weapon and pairing it with Jagged Steel, which applies bleed. Bleed builds up while you land quick hits, and it rewards the short punish windows Peng Meng gives you after his heavy swings. Fast weapons also let you get a few hits in and roll away before his next slam lands, instead of committing to a long animation.

Because switching weapons in Phantom Blade Zero fully restores Sha-Chi (a mechanic described on the game's Wikipedia page), a useful habit here is to swap blades whenever your Sha-Chi bar is low after blocking a series of axe swings. The swap has a cooldown, so do not waste it, but it can save you from being guard-broken right before a back slam.

Step-by-step approach

1. Open by circling to his side and baiting a single swing.
2. Punish with two or three quick light attacks, then reposition.
3. When he starts stamping, stop attacking and wait for the blue follow-up, then parry.
4. Use the Ghoststep window to land your strongest combo.
5. The moment you see the black-flash slam or the grab wind-up, dodge away rather than through him.
6. If your Sha-Chi is running low, switch weapons to refill it.

Patience matters more than damage output. Most failed attempts come from getting greedy after a parry and then eating the back slam.

Rewards

Beating Peng Meng awards the Dread Axe Phantom Edge. TechWiser lists it as a Destructive edge with 309 damage and 208 guard break, and it has an important exploration use: it breaks iron chains. That matters later, because the chained gate in front of Wan Jun, the Coppermaul in the Mandate Encampment needs the Dread Axe before you can earn the Bashpole edge. The Dread Axe can later be Soul Tempered with the Blood Oath Dagger to gain the Rapid Charge effect.

The fight also counts toward the boss trophies; see the trophy guide for the full list. Every Phantom Edge and its tempering material is collected on our Phantom Edges page.