How to beat The Gold-Masked One in Phantom Blade Zero

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The Gold-Masked One inside the Long Pillar in Phantom Blade Zero is a bit of an unconventional boss fight. Each of the pillar fights in the Bloodline Awakening quest is a challenge battle against this boss which teaches you different aspects of the game's combat.

The first battle is all about parrying, hence why it gives you the tip box in the top right. This fight is tricky because of its main gimmick:

You can't damage The Gold-Masked One apart from after a parry or perfect dodge (a blue or red attack) or unless his Sha-Chi is broken.

Usually, in Phantom Blade Zero's boss fights, it pays to attack constantly, especially as regular attacks don't even cost Sha-Chi. But in this fight, your attacks won't do anything. Instead, you should:

Counter his red (perfect dodge) or blue (perfect parry) attacks and then attack after that to deplete his Sha-Chi. If you're struggling with reacting and hitting the right or left bumper on controller, just press both.
When it's depleted, deal as much damage as you can in the duration. I recommend using Jagged Steel since he's susceptible to bleed.
Rinse and repeat.

The video above shows the process, but this fight can be quite tricky early on because he has a lot of health and it's a battle of attrition. Make sure your weapon is as upgraded as much as it can be for the attempt, and have the best accessories you can equipped—I was using Quick Hand Pendant, Ancient Armor Fragment, Jewel's Knot, and Resonance Talisman, for increased one-hand damage, damage negation, HP, and Sha-Chi. But I came back to this fight later after I arrived in Pangzhen.

There's really no rush to beat The Gold-Masked One. As you progress, you'll get more HP, Sha-Chi, weapon upgrades, and the ability to polish accessories, increasing their buffs, which makes things easier. If you are intent on doing it when you reach it, though, be prepared for a long battle.

Once done, the reward is the Counterstrike Bracers, which increase damage dealt by 20% for two seconds after a parry, and you can also attempt the second Long Pillar challenge in the Crimson Forest.

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Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

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