Phantom Blade Zero has been off to an impressive start since its October release, shooting to the top of the Steam charts with a massive peak of 833,921 concurrent players. It sold 4 million copies in its first 72 hours, instantly making it one of 2026’s best-selling games, even though it was a PS5 console exclusive and hasn’t had a physical release yet. Beyond its sales, the wuxia action RPG has been widely praised for its stylish visuals and fun martial arts gameplay.
However, while the game has been marketed as a much more player-friendly alternative to FromSoftware and its soulslike kin, some players have struggled with a certain early-game boss: Hua, the Deadly Betrothed.
“Why does every game have at least one complete BS boss design like this?” a Redditor complained. “No matter how great a game is, there is that one endlessly teleporting, BS boss designed not to challenge, but just infuriate. Fix this BS in the next patch – please!” While not everyone agrees that Hua is overtuned (the post with that quote is heavily downvoted), it seems S-GAME Studio responded regardless.
Phantom Blade Zero’s first major patch, version 1.0302256, comes with a long list of bug fixes and adjustments, including changes to Hua. The patch notes read: “Reduced the frequency of grab attacks used by Hua, Deadly Betrothed on Wayfarer and Pathbreaker difficulties. Other difficulty settings are unaffected.”
One of Hua’s deadliest attacks is a lunging grab that deals massive damage. While the attack is telegraphed by a bright red flash, it can be tricky to avoid because you’ll need to dodge it rather than parry or block. This is particularly tough because she often does her grab right after launching spectral white lilies that cover much of the screen. Although Hua is an optional foe, she’s a classic early-game “filter” boss meant to ensure the player has mastered certain mechanics before proceeding.
What else is in the patch?
Beyond changes to Hua, Phantom Blade Zero’s new patch has several other smaller tweaks. It includes improved performance in certain areas and has changes to the shader compilation process on PC that reduce startup times. Other bug fixes include reducing stuttering when using a controller via Bluetooth on PC, fixes for progress-breaking situations, cutscene fixes, problems with hair rendering on certain graphics cards, and more.
The full patch notes can be found below.
New Features
● Added “Hit Sound Intensity” and “Hit Impact Sound Intensity” options to the audio settings.
● [PC] Added support for remapping “Interact / Talk” for both keyboard and controller.
Improvements and Adjustments
● Improved performance in certain areas.
● Adjusted the combat behavior of certain bosses and enemies, along with the functionality of certain environmental mechanisms.
● Reduced the frequency of grab attacks used by Hua, Deadly Betrothed on Wayfarer and Pathbreaker difficulties. Other difficulty settings are unaffected.
● Improved weapon hit feedback and adjusted the volume of certain sound effects and dialogue.
● Updated weapon descriptions, certain skill descriptions, and controller button icons.
● [PC] Updated the shader compilation process to significantly reduce startup times. Ray tracing shaders will no longer be compiled by default at startup. Players who previously had Ray Tracing disabled will need to recompile shaders on their first launch after installing this patch. This is a one-time process and should take only a short time. Players who previously had Ray Tracing enabled can start playing without recompiling shaders. If you enable Ray Tracing in the settings, the required ray tracing shaders will be compiled separately the next time you restart the game.
● [PC] Reduced stuttering that could occur when using a controller connected via Bluetooth.
● [PC] NVIDIA Reflex now works when set to “Auto” with V-Sync enabled.
Bug Fixes
● Fixed issues that could prevent progression under certain conditions.
● Fixed environmental issues that could cause the player character to become stuck.
● Fixed various issues with cutscenes and visuals.
● Fixed several combat-related issues.
● Fixed an issue that caused character hair to render incorrectly on certain AMD graphics cards with specific driver versions.
