How to beat Hua, Deadly Betrothed in Phantom Blade Zero

Hua, Deadly Betrothed is one of the first optional bosses in Phantom Blade Zero, below the Sha-Chi Tower in the Weeping Creek Valley, but you'll have to defeat her if you want to find a Flesh Lily for Yu'er.

The trickiest part of this fight is avoiding Hua's spider lilies, but here are some tips to defeat her, plus a video above of my successful run employing these strategies:

• Avoid her lilies and stay mobile: There are three types of lily in this fight:
  • Those that bloom periodically and when she attacks, before exploding.
  • Those that patrol the arena and explode when they all meet in one spot.
  • White lilies she fires out that track and stun you, letting her follow up with a red grab attack. These are the most dangerous, especially as she teleports to attack you after she fires them. Make some distance and either dodge or block them when you're sure she isn't attacking.

• Learn to counter her red grabs: This is Hua's deadliest attack, when she flashes red, grabs you and deals a lot of damage with a decapitating slash. If you're struggling to react, remember, red attacks are right bumper to parry, blue attacks are left, though you can just press both if it's less confusing. Hua also seems to attempt a grab if you get clipped by the red flying lilies, so watch out.

• Use the Dread Axe to extend your damage phase: After you stun Hua, you'll be able to safely damage her for a while, but you can extend your damage phase a bit by charging the Dread Axe Phantom Edge to its first level towards the end (until it pings blue) as this will knock her over.

• Prepare yourself: I recommend upgrading a weapon to Level 5 to unlock its ability. I used Jagged Steel (though bleed doesn't work on her), so use whatever's comfortable. Remember you can buy more upgrade materials from the outpost merchant. Also, make sure to upgrade your healing art and grab the Focus Pill medicine from the chest up the hill to the left (just after The Axemaster's Holding Cell bell). You'll have to use the axe to smash open the way.

• Remember the fundamentals: You can attack with X without it costing stamina, but when you stun her, you should use Y combos instead for extra damage. When your weapon is charged, remember to use LT to perform a special combo. Also, parry her attacks as much as possible, as this will retain your stamina for attacking, dodging, and blocking.

• Dodge her stamina draining attacks: She'll occasionally perform a downwards slam where she gives off a smoky black aura—this means her next attack will drain all your stamina, so it's better to dodge, especially as it summons a bunch of lilies which explode afterwards. Dodging, in general, is very useful in this fight.

It can be a tricky fight early on, but she doesn't have all that many combos, and her blue parriable attacks are quite predictable, coming at the end of her four hit sequence. The real key to this fight is making sure you don't get hit by the lilies by making space and being mindful of the arena, while also countering her deadly red grab attacks.

Once you beat her, you'll get the Scarlet Wraithblade weapon, which can also summon exploding lilies.