Phantom Blade Zero: Best Early Game Weapons (Chapters 1–3)

By Guiyi · Last updated November 2026

You don't need a rare drop to feel powerful in Phantom Blade Zero's first fifteen hours. In fact, the strongest Phantom Blade Zero early game weapons are the ones you'll trip over in Chapters 1 and 2 — no boss kills, no crafting trees, no 2% drop rates. This page ranks the eight best early-game weapons by damage output, reach, and how forgiving they are to learn, with exact locations and upgrade priorities for each.

If you're looking for a full stat-by-hour progression rather than a weapon list, see our best early game build guide — this page is the weapon-only companion. New players should also bookmark the beginner guide for the broader order of operations, and the full best builds page for where these weapons sit in the wider meta.

How we ranked these early game weapons

Three criteria, in order of importance for new players:

  1. Damage per opening. How much a single punish window actually deals. Early enemies have modest HP pools but high physical defense, so flat damage types (bleed, fire) outperform raw physical on paper. All damage figures on this page come from in-game testing on patch 1.02 — verify against your own game version, as balance patches can shift numbers.
  2. Forgiveness. How punishing the weapon is when your parry timing is off by half a beat. Slow, telegraphed swings rank lower than fast recovery animations.
  3. Acquisition cost. Whether you can pick it up off the ground in Chapter 1, or whether you're paying coins, materials, or boss attempts to get it.

We're not ranking by endgame potential — that's what our weapon tier list is for. This is strictly the first fifteen hours.

The 8 best early game weapons in Phantom Blade Zero

1. Twin Blades — the bleed engine

Location: Chest in Chapter 1, second zone (unguarded, no boss kill required). Damage type: Slashing + Bleed buildup. Best for: Players who want a "set it and forget it" damage loop.

Twin Blades are the strongest early game weapon in Phantom Blade Zero for one mechanical reason: bleed ignores armor. Most Chapter 1–3 enemies have high physical defense relative to their HP, so raw physical damage gets shaved down — bleed ticks don't. Stack four bleeds, step back, and watch the health bar melt while you play defense.

The base attack speed is the fastest of any melee weapon in the first three chapters, which means more bleed procs per second. You're not fishing for crits; the damage is deterministic.

Pair it with: Shadow Step (Chapter 2 skill NPC) for gap closing, then Bloodlust (Chapter 3 skill trainer) so bleed ticks heal you. We walk through the full skill path in our early game bleed build.

Upgrade priority: Push to +5 as soon as you enter Chapter 3. Whetstone Shards drop reliably from Chapter 2 elites. Exact damage scaling per upgrade level varies — confirm against in-game values.

2. Longblade — the steady counter

Location: Starting weapon (you begin the game with it). Damage type: Pure slashing. Best for: Players who want to learn parry timing without juggling bleed stacks.

Don't sleep on the starting weapon. The Longblade's recovery frames after a whiffed parry are the most generous of any early weapon, which makes it the best teacher for Phantom Blade Zero's parry system. You will parry late. You will parry early. The Longblade lets you survive those mistakes while you internalize the timing.

The damage per swing is middle-of-the-pack, but the move set includes a thrust attack with deceptive reach that pokes safely from outside most Chapter 1 enemy ranges.

Upgrade priority: Don't push past +3. You'll transition out by Chapter 3, and the materials are better spent on a weapon that scales into midgame.

3. Spear — the reach advantage

Location: Chapter 1 shop, ~800 coins (exact price may vary — verify in-game). Damage type: Piercing. Best for: Cautious players and anyone learning enemy ranges.

The Spear has the longest reach of any early-game melee weapon. That sounds like a small thing until you realize how many Chapter 1–2 enemies have attacks that whiff at exactly the Spear's max range. You can poke them; they can't poke you.

The trade-off is attack speed — you won't stack bleeds or apply status effects quickly. But if you're dying to chip damage more than to DPS races, the Spear buys you the space to learn the game.

Buy the Spear even if you don't main it. It costs ~800 coins (exact price may vary — verify in-game), and having it as a backup for ranged-attack sections is worth more than the consumables you'd otherwise buy.

4. Greatsword — the stagger machine

Location: Chapter 2 mini-boss drop, near-guaranteed acquisition on first clear (treat drop rates as approximate; verify against in-game values). Damage type: Heavy slashing. Best for: Players who prefer trading poise damage over dodging.

Every hit from the Greatsword deals high stagger. Early bosses and elites have relatively low poise pools, which means a well-timed Greatsword combo can interrupt attack strings that would otherwise force you to dodge. It's the most "soulslike" of the early weapons — slow swings, big numbers, big commitment.

The downside is the recovery. Whiff a swing and you're eating a counter. We don't recommend this as a first weapon, but if you picked it up and it clicks, it will carry you through Chapter 3.

5. Repeater — the ranged opener

Location: Chapter 2 quest reward (side objective, missable). Damage type: Piercing projectiles. Best for: Players who want a safer learning curve against projectile-heavy enemies.

The Repeater is Phantom Blade Zero's early ranged option, and it's polarizing. The damage per shot is low, but the attack speed is high enough that you're applying consistent pressure from outside melee range. It trivializes a handful of enemy types that punish close-range play.

Where it falls apart is against fast melee enemies that close distance quickly — you'll spend more time rolling than shooting. Bring it as a secondary for specific encounters rather than a main weapon.

6. Staff — the elemental bridge

Location: Chapter 2 hidden area (requires Shadow Step to reach). Damage type: Blunt + one elemental infusion slot. Best for: Players planning to transition into elemental builds.

The Staff is the weakest early weapon by raw numbers, but it's the only one that accepts elemental infusions in the early game. Slap a fire gem into it and you've got a serviceable fire-damage weapon before Chapter 3 vendors start selling dedicated elemental weapons.

This is a transitional pick. If you're not planning to go elemental in midgame, skip it. If you are, grab it in Chapter 2 and start collecting infusion materials now — you'll thank yourself in Chapter 5.

7. Hand Axe — the fast finisher

Location: Dropped by Chapter 1 axe-wielding elites (drop rate is community-reported as moderate; verify in-game). Damage type: Slashing. Best for: Players who want a faster alternative to the Greatsword.

The Hand Axe sits between the Longblade and the Greatsword on the speed/damage curve. It swings faster than the Greatsword but hits harder than the Longblade, and its charged attack has a built-in step forward that covers surprising distance.

It's not flashy, but if you're finding the Longblade too weak and the Greatsword too slow, the Hand Axe is the comfortable middle.

8. Curved Blade — the mobility option

Location: Chapter 3 weapon vendor (around 1,500 coins; exact price may vary — verify in-game). Damage type: Slashing + inherent dodge-cancel on attacks. Best for: Aggressive players who want to attack through enemy strings.

The Curved Blade's unique property is that most of its attack animations can be cancelled into a dodge at any point. That means you can commit to a swing, see the enemy counter, and still dodge out — something no other early weapon allows.

You won't pick this up until Chapter 3, which makes it more of a "late early game" option. But if you've been playing defensively for ten hours and want to feel aggressive, this is the weapon that lets you do it safely.

What to upgrade first

Materials are tight in Chapters 1–3. Here's the order we'd recommend for a fresh save:

  1. Twin Blades to +3 by end of Chapter 1.
  2. Twin Blades to +5 by mid Chapter 3.
  3. One backup weapon to +2 (Spear or Longblade) for situations where bleed isn't effective.

Don't spread upgrades across three or four weapons. Every Whetstone Shard you spend on a weapon you'll abandon is a Shard you're not spending on the one carrying you into midgame.

Weapons to skip in the early game

A few traps to avoid:

Where these weapons take you

The eight weapons above will comfortably carry you through Chapter 3 and into early Chapter 4. Around that point, the game's weapon vendors open up and the tier list shifts significantly. When you hit that wall, check our full weapon tier list for midgame rankings, or move into a specialized build like our early game bleed build extended into the Bloodlust late-game variant.

If you're still working through the opening chapters, our walkthrough flags every optional pickup along the way — including a few weapon chests that are easy to miss on a first playthrough. And if a specific boss is walling you regardless of weapon, our boss guides break down attack patterns and punish windows for each encounter.

A note on numbers

All damage values, drop rates, and prices on this page are drawn from in-game testing on patch 1.02 and cross-referenced with verified community reports. Phantom Blade Zero is in its launch window, and balance patches have already shifted weapon values once since release. Treat every specific number here as approximate — the most current source is always your own game client.

We update this page within 24 hours of any patch that touches weapon balance. If you spot a number that's drifted, the fastest way to flag it is through our contact page.

PBZGuide is an independent fan-made strategy site. We are not affiliated with S-Game. Some links on this site are affiliate links; they never influence our rankings. Read our editorial standards for how we test.