How to get the Dread Axe

Getting it

Peng Meng is a required boss in the first region, so you cannot walk past the axe. PowerPyx marks the reward story-related; Game8 files him under the chapter Against the Flow; Fextralife puts the fight at the Mandate Outpost. Steam names him Axemaster Peng Meng and gives a bronze achievement for the kill. Reported · PowerPyx Our Peng Meng boss guide covers the fight, and the Against the Flow walkthrough has the route.

Phantom Edge, not a weapon

It belongs with the Phantom Edges, the secondary tools that spend Remnant Sparks (they come back at Bells, per Fextralife). Fextralife and Game8 give it the Destructive subtype and starting stats of 309 damage and 208 Guard Break. Reported · PowerPyx

How it plays

Hold the button to charge, up to two stages, then release for a heavy cleave. Each stage hits harder, and each use costs one Remnant Spark. Fextralife lists upgrades that speed up the charge, let you double-tap for an instant full-power strike, cut damage while charging, and let you charge while running. We have only that one source for the move list, and Game8's own skills section is still empty. Reported · Fextralife Wiki

Pairing it

Shield-breaking is the point. Game8 charges the axe against Zhuo Bi to break his stagger bar, and against Hua it recommends releasing at the first charge level to knock her over near the end of an opening. Our Zhuo Bi guide and Hua guide show where. Game8 also puts it in its early loadout beside Jagged Steel and the Hunter's Chain Sickle. Reported · Game8

Chains and what to do after

Once you own it, the axe breaks iron chains even when it is not equipped. PowerPyx goes back to the Outpost Bell right after the fight, breaks the chains nearby and clears the house up the stairs for a Sha-Chi Amber Fragment. Reported · Fextralife Wiki See Sha-Chi Amber Fragments for the rest.