Phantom Blade — The Severing Wind
Stage 14 · Counter specialist — parries normals on reaction; punishes predictable pressure.
Phantom Blade is the gateway to the final gauntlet and the most cerebral fight in the campaign. He parries your normals on reaction, which flips the usual dynamic: here, throwing out attacks carelessly gets you countered and punished for 1.7× damage. The player who wins is the one who is unpredictable.
At 770 HP he is the tankiest of the mid-campaign bosses, and his Mirror Edge parry stance means you cannot simply out-poke him. Every offensive decision has to account for the parry — this is a fight about reading and misdirection, not raw execution.
Boss stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Stage 14 |
| Health | 770 HP |
| Speed | Fast (1.1×) |
| Damage | Very high (1.7×) |
The three phases
Like every boss, Phantom Blade runs a three-phase AI that escalates at 66% and 33% remaining HP. Each transition adds aggression and speed — and opens a brief invincible intro you can use to charge Ki.
Phase 1 (100% – 66% HP)
He parries obvious, repeated normals and answers with Phantom Cut. Vary your timing early and learn which of your attacks he reacts to.
Phase 2 (66% – 33% HP)
Mirror Edge parry frequency rises and Blade Storm dashes close distance. Lean on throws (Q+A) to open his guard, since throws beat the parry stance.
Phase 3 (33% – 0% HP)
He parries faster and teleport-slashes with Phantom Cut more often. Ki Burst (Shift+E) on wakeup is a strong panic option to reclaim space when his pressure spikes.
Signature moves & how to counter them
Mirror Edge
Parry stance. A stance that parries incoming normal attacks on reaction and opens him up to a hard counter.
Counter: Throws (Q+A) beat parries — a parry stance cannot catch a grab. Mix throws into your offense and never feed him the same normal twice in a row.
Blade Storm
Multi-hit dash. A fast forward dash with several hits that both closes distance and applies pressure.
Counter: Dodge-roll through it or depth-shift off the line. Do not try to block-and-poke your way out — that plays into the parry.
Phantom Cut
Teleport slash. A short teleport into a slash, used to punish whiffs and re-open pressure from an angle.
Counter: React to the teleport with a dodge-roll, then punish the slash recovery. Keep your own attacks short so a whiff never invites this.
How to beat Phantom Blade
Break your patterns. Phantom Blade reads and parries repeated normals, so vary your timing and never run the same blockstring twice — he will parry the second iteration and counter for huge damage.
Mix in throws (Q+A). A parry stance cannot catch a grab, so throws are your key to cracking his defense. Condition him to expect a normal, then throw instead.
Keep a panic button ready. Ki Burst (Shift+E, 50%) on wakeup clears space when his pressure spikes in phase 3, and its invincible startup can blow through an incoming Phantom Cut.
Recommended Ki specials
Ki Burst (50%) as a wakeup/panic reversal; Throw (Q+A) as your primary parry-breaker rather than a special.
Common mistakes
- Repeating the same normal or blockstring — he will parry the repeat and punish it.
- Relying purely on strikes; without throws you cannot open the parry stance.
- Whiffing long attacks, which invite Phantom Cut punishes.
TL;DR
Stay unpredictable, use throws to beat the parry, dodge Blade Storm, and keep Ki Burst as a panic button.
More boss guides
- Previous: Titan (Stage 13)
- Next: Frost Sovereign (Stage 15)
See the full boss roster, brush up on the core mechanics, or review the command list before you climb the ladder.