Unofficial guide · Launch edition · Last checked Confirmed Reported Conflict After unlock
Phantom Blade Zero merchants and NPCs: who sells, who upgrades, and Quick Hand's Requests
Upgrades and shops sit with a handful of named people, and one of them, the thief Quick Hand Zhang, has a hideout in five regions. This page says where each is, what they do, and which quests hang off them. Reported· Fextralife
The short version
No guide has a finished NPC list yet. We cross-read Fextralife's NPC pages, PowerPyx's region pages, Game8, PC Gamer, Game Rant and GameSpot and put an entry in the main tables only when two publishers agree. Single-source details are labelled. Prices are in Remnant Dust, the in-game currency, and we have not checked any of them in game.
Merchants and NPCs at a glance · sources
People on this page
10: 9 named by two or more publishers, 1 by one (The Peddler)
Free Quick Hand Zhang on the Crimson Forest path. If you skip it, his shop and the Quick Hand Pendant gift stay closed. Quick Hand ZhangReported· PowerPyx
Upgrades unlock one at a time: Forge in the first region, Jewel in the Village of Lu, Myst and the healer in Pangzhen. Who does what
Yu'er, the Brooding Old Archer and the Shadow Warden hand out tales that close at the Crimson Forest boss. Quest givers
Upgrade and service NPCs
Each of these is named by at least two publishers. Where we say a place or a step is from one source, it is marked in the cell.
Service NPCs · sources
NPC
Where
When
What they do
Status
Forge Blacksmith
Weeping Creek Valley: Her smithy is at the Outpost, the camp near the first region's Outpost Bell. Fextralife calls the place the Mandate Outpost.
First region, at the Outpost.
Weapon and Phantom Edge upgrades. The upgrade materials are sold by The Peddler at the same camp (one source). Festering Secrets starts from the guards beside her smithy. Upgrades are covered on the upgrades page. Upgrades and Soul Tempering
Village of Lu: Cliffside shop, down the hill from the Crossroads Bell (PowerPyx).
From your first visit to the Village of Lu, the third region.
Accessory upgrades. GameSpot says most top out at level 2 with a Tainted Crystal Shard and a few reach level 3 with a Refined Indigo Crystal (one source). Accessories
The steps for each upgrade (materials, levels, what Soul Tempering changes) are on the upgrades page, and Jewel's accessory upgrades are covered with the accessory list. Game8's merchant list names Forge and Quick Hand Zhang only; PowerPyx, GameSpot and Fextralife agree on Forge's job.
Quick Hand Zhang
Quick Hand Zhang is a thief you free in Crimson Forest. He then runs a shop and a treasure-return quest at a hideout in each of five regions: Crimson Forest, Village of Lu, Pangzhen, Meigu Lake and Mirage Estate. Reported· PowerPyx
Crimson Forest: caged on a cliff path, freed by turning a crank near the Trail of Cages Bell. His first hideout is by the Thieves' Camp Bell. You have to free him on the Crimson Forest path. If you do not, his shop and the Quick Hand Pendant gift stay shut (PowerPyx). PowerPyx's Crimson Forest page adds that the crank is at the end of the cave on the cliff, and that you get a few collectibles later from him. Reported· PowerPyx
To start the quest, talk to Zhang at his hideout and ask about the relics and the other dens. PowerPyx files it as both Quick Hand's Request and The Wily Hare's Three Dens, which is the quest name we use on the Side Tales page. Reported· PowerPyx
The five hideouts and their rewards
At each hideout you find a set of green-glowing treasure chests in the region, bring them back, and Zhang pays out. The reward and the treasure count agree between PowerPyx and PC Gamer except where marked. Locations of the chests are in each region's collectible guides, not repeated here.
Treasure counts for the Meigu Lake turn-in differ: PC Gamer describes three chests and says three per region (four in Pangzhen), while PowerPyx's trophy guide lists Meigu Lake at four.
PC Gamer All Quickhand's Request treasure locations in Phantom Blade Zero Three chests described for Meigu Lake; 'three treasures in each location (four in Pangzhen)'.
PowerPyx Phantom Blade Zero Trophy Guide & Roadmap Crimson Forest 3, Village of Lu 3, Pangzhen 4, Meigu Lake 4, Mirage Estate 3.
How we handle it: The totals are 13 treasures (PC Gamer's pattern, four regions) or 17 across five regions on PowerPyx's counts. Check the in-game list at the Meigu Lake hideout.
PC Gamer's guide says there is one more hideout near the end of the game and left it out because it was under embargo. PowerPyx places it in Mirage Estate, which is the fifth row above.
PC Gamer thinks he gets a new Heart for each new den, possibly tied to finishing his treasure hunts. We have not seen any guide list his full stock.
The Peddler: one source only
Fextralife is the only guide that names this merchant. The Peddler is a merchant at the Outpost in Weeping Creek Valley who sells upgrade materials. Fextralife lists eight items, all priced in Remnant Dust. Reported· Fextralife
The Peddler · one source
Item
Qty. as listed
Cost (Remnant Dust)
Forged Metal
6
1,040
Twinned Metal
6
1,040
Broadplate Metal
6
1,040
Solvent
12
832
Exotic Copper Ingot
3
1,040
Darkfire Charcoal
3
1,040
Mechanical Gear
3
1,040
Ancient Timber
3
1,040
Scroll →
Columns are item, the quantity Fextralife lists, and the cost in Remnant Dust. Fextralife does not say whether the quantity is a stock cap or a per-purchase amount. PowerPyx does say upgrade materials can be bought from the store as well as found. Reported· Fextralife
Quest givers and the tales they start
These people are not shops, but you will find their quests at the same camps. Each links to the tale's full entry.
Quest NPCs · sources
NPC
Where
When
Tales
Status
Yu'er
Weeping Creek Valley: Ravine past The Lady's Rift Bell first, then the Outpost.
Fextralife says she moves after you beat The Axemaster and clear the courtyard. Game Rant says after you beat Peng Meng and rest at the Crane Bell. These may be the same fight under two names.
Flesh Lily, Apprentice Healer (Medicine Case) and A Healer's Mercy (Calming Gourd, at the Thieves' Camp Bell). Apprentice Healer and A Healer's Mercy close at the Crimson Forest boss. Apprentice Healer
Yu'er's two timing notes differ in the boss they name (The Axemaster in Fextralife, Peng Meng in Game Rant). Both put her at the Outpost afterwards. Whether they are the same fight is something we will check in game. The full tale list, with what closes when, is on the Side Tales page.
Questions
Where is the blacksmith in Phantom Blade Zero?
Forge, the blacksmith, is at the Outpost in Weeping Creek Valley, the first region. Meeting her unlocks weapon and Phantom Edge upgrades, and you can then upgrade from any Bell.
A treasure-return quest from the thief Quick Hand Zhang. Each of his hideouts, in five regions, asks you to bring back a set of treasures. Finishing all of them unlocks the Steam achievement Lost and Found.
PBZ