The best skills to unlock first in Phantom Blade Zero are Fluid Form, Healing Art, Steady Composure, and Boundless Capacity Lv. 1. Together, they cost 20,000 Remnant Dust and give you pursuit attacks, extra healing, stronger counterattack potential, and another accessory slot.
After that, your priorities should follow the problems you’re having. Running out of Medicine between Bells calls for a different investment than constantly exhausting Sha-Chi during a boss fight. Here’s a practical purchase order, followed by alternatives for survival and combat resources.
In brief:
- Train Fluid Form for free, then prioritize Healing Art and Steady Composure at 5,000 Remnant Dust each.
- Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 adds an accessory slot for 10,000 Dust. Buy it when you have something useful to equip.
- Advanced skills require collectible thresholds and progress along their linked paths. Budget for earlier nodes as well.
- Published PC captures document a whole-tree reset with a Remnant Dust refund. Reset reporting also specifies refunded Banyan Hearts.
Best Early Skill Purchase Order in Phantom Blade Zero
This order prioritizes immediate combat benefits. The cumulative total assumes you buy every listed skill.
| Order | Skill | Cost | Total spent | Prerequisite | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fluid Form | Free | 0 | First node on the Blackstone path | Quick Pursuit after qualifying combat actions |
| 2 | Healing Art | 5,000 | 5,000 | First node on the Memory Flower path | One additional Medicine use |
| 3 | Steady Composure | 5,000 | 10,000 | First node on the Sha-Chi Amber path | Better interruption chance on your next light attack after dodging or parrying |
| 4 | Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 | 10,000 | 20,000 | Fluid Form | One additional accessory slot |
| 5 | Thousand-Mile Stride | 10,000 | 30,000 | Healing Art | Faster sprint after two seconds of running |
These opening nodes have no collectible requirement listed. Their costs and effects are documented in the skill database and ability list.
Thousand-Mile Stride is the flexible purchase. Delay it if you need your next upgrade to help in combat. Bring it forward when you’re spending more time exploring and revisiting areas.
Why These Are the Best Skills to Unlock First?
1. Fluid Form: Take the Free Pursuit Ability
Fluid Form enables Quick Pursuit after a perfect dodge against a red-flash attack, a parry against a blue-flash attack, a guard break, or a kill. Follow the qualifying action with a light or heavy attack within the allowed window.
Practice it against separated enemies. Closing the gap promptly can help you reach a ranged attacker before it gets another comfortable shot.
2. Healing Art: Your First Paid Purchase
Healing Art adds one Medicine use for 5,000 Dust. That makes it an easy first recommendation while you’re still learning encounters.
An extra heal can give you more time to recognize a boss’s later attacks. You still need a safe moment to use Medicine, so avoid treating the additional charge as permission to trade hits.
3. Steady Composure: Improve Your Follow-Up Attacks
Steady Composure improves the interruption chance of your next light attack after a dodge or parry.
The wording describes a chance, so treat it as help with counterattacks rather than a guaranteed interruption. Use a short follow-up and watch the enemy’s response before committing to a longer string.
4. Boundless Capacity: Buy It When You Can Fill the Slot
An extra accessory slot gives you another way to adapt your setup. Its immediate value depends on your inventory.
Before buying it, choose the accessory you intend to add. If you have no useful spare, keep the Dust available until the slot serves a clear purpose.
5. Thousand-Mile Stride: An Exploration Purchase
Faster travel is useful when revisiting routes, collecting missed items, and moving between objectives. For a player currently stuck at a boss, however, I’d prioritize a combat upgrade first.
The exception is a survival route that continues toward Blood Remedy: Thousand-Mile Stride sits earlier on that path, so include it in the budget.
How Skill Prerequisites Work
Open Train Abilities at a Bell to inspect the tree. Buying a later node involves both the required progression along its path and the relevant collectible count.
| Path | Collectible used for unlock thresholds |
|---|---|
| Blackstone | Completed Blackstones |
| Sha-Chi Amber | Completed Sha-Chi Ambers |
| Memory Flower | Complete Memory Flowers |
Four Blackstone fragments form one Blackstone, and four Sha-Chi Amber fragments form one Amber. Memory Flowers require completing their associated sets.
These counts are unlock thresholds. Having enough Dust alone does not make every node available. Check the preceding node and the requirement shown on the selected skill before planning a purchase.
Best Follow-Up Skills for Survival
Endless Renewal Lv. 1
Cost: 20,000 Remnant Dust.
Collectible requirement: One Blackstone.
Earlier path: Fluid Form → Boundless Capacity Lv. 1.
Total Blackstone-path investment from scratch: 30,000 Dust.
Assassinations and executions restore HP and Sha-Chi. This makes it a useful target for players who lose resources while clearing groups.
Its triggers also explain its limits. If you’re struggling through a long boss phase with few execution opportunities, prioritize options you can use during that phase.
Blood Remedy
Cost: 20,000 Remnant Dust.
Collectible requirement: One Complete Memory Flower.
Earlier path: Healing Art → Thousand-Mile Stride.
Total Memory Flower-path investment from scratch: 35,000 Dust.
Defeating enemies has a chance to restore Medicine. Consider it when ordinary encounters leave you short on healing before reaching the next Bell.
Because recovery is chance-based and requires kills, it is better suited to exploration than a plan that depends on receiving a heal at a precise moment.
Best Skills for Sha-Chi and Phantom Edge Resources
Masterful Flow Lv. 1: Shorten the Weapon-Swap Cooldown
Node cost: 30,000 Dust.
Requirement: One Blackstone.
Earlier path: Fluid Form → Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 → Endless Renewal Lv. 1.
Total path cost: 60,000 Dust.
Masterful Flow reduces the weapon-switch cooldown by two seconds. Prioritize it if switching is already part of your fighting routine and the cooldown regularly interrupts your plans.
Redirect Force: Recover Sha-Chi Through Defense
Node cost: 40,000 Dust.
Requirement: Two Blackstones.
Earlier node: Masterful Flow Lv. 1.
Total path cost through Redirect Force: 100,000 Dust.
Redirect Force restores Sha-Chi when you dodge or parry an enemy attack. It rewards defensive actions you should already be practicing.
It is a follow-up target with a substantial investment. A recommendation to “buy Redirect Force early” should account for its preceding skills and collectible requirement.
Still Depths Lv. 1: Carry Another Phantom Edge Charge
Node cost: 30,000 Dust.
Requirement: One Sha-Chi Amber.
Earlier path: Steady Composure → Flowing Chi → Endless Renewal Lv. 2.
Total path cost: 65,000 Dust.
Still Depths adds one maximum Remnant Spark. Choose this route when Phantom Edge charges are the resource you keep exhausting.
Flowing Chi costs 10,000 Dust, while Endless Renewal Lv. 2 costs 20,000 and offers a chance to recover Remnant Spark through executions. Those earlier purchases should be part of your decision.
Keep the resources separate: Sha-Chi supports your combat actions, Remnant Spark powers Phantom Edges, and Sha-Chi Essence is associated with Power Surge. Improving one does not automatically solve a shortage of another.
Which Skill Route Should You Choose?
| Your main problem | Recommended priority | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Running out of heals during boss attempts | Healing Art, then a useful accessory through Boundless Capacity | Benefits you can prepare before the fight |
| Losing health while clearing groups | Endless Renewal Lv. 1 | Recovery through assassinations and executions |
| Reaching the next Bell with little Medicine | Blood Remedy | Possible refills from defeated enemies |
| Waiting too long to switch weapons | Masterful Flow Lv. 1 | Shorter switching cooldown |
| Exhausting Sha-Chi despite successful defense | Work toward Redirect Force | Recovery tied to dodging and parrying |
| Running out of Phantom Edge charges | Work toward Still Depths Lv. 1 | Higher Remnant Spark capacity |
These are situational recommendations. Spend according to what repeatedly ends your attempts, and include the full path cost when comparing alternatives.
How to Respec Skills in Phantom Blade Zero
- Interact with a Bell.
- Open Train Abilities.
- Use the displayed Reset command, which is P.
- Read and accept the reset prompt where shown.
- Retrain the abilities you want to keep.
The reset clears training across the tree and refunds Remnant Dust. Also, the Banyan Hearts spent on abilities are refunded as well. Fluid Form returns to its untrained state, so remember to activate that free ability again.
Take a screenshot of your current setup before resetting. And that will give you a reference when rebuilding around one changed priority.
This procedure applies to character abilities. Weapon reforging uses a separate menu and its own rules. On controller or with remapped controls, follow the on-screen Reset prompt.
What Should You Buy With Your First 20,000 Remnant Dust?
My recommended combat foundation is Fluid Form, Healing Art, Steady Composure, and Boundless Capacity Lv. 1, provided you can use the extra accessory slot.
From there, choose one problem to address. Build toward healing between encounters, shorter weapon-swap cooldowns, defensive Sha-Chi recovery, or more Phantom Edge capacity. A focused purchase plan makes it easier to notice whether the next skill actually improves your fights.
