Aberrant Three-faced Puppet in Phantom Blade Zero: Where to Find the Rift Fight in Chapter 1

Phantom Blade Zero places an optional boss in Chapter 1, “AGAINST THE FLOW”. The Aberrant Three-faced Puppet is not on the main path. It waits inside a Rift in Weeping Creek Valley, and the game warns you about the fight before you go in.

Quick answer: The Rift is a glowing statue pile a few metres from The Lady’s Rift bell in Weeping Creek Valley. Press E at it and choose Enter. The game warns that challenging it recklessly may be unwise.

Where to find the Rift in Weeping Creek Valley

Go to the bell named The Lady’s Rift in Weeping Creek Valley. Ringing it brings up a map of the nearby area, including wooden scaffolds and a waterfall. The available commands are Traverse, Train Abilities, Save, and Leave. If the fight goes badly, Soul returns to this bell.

Ink-painted map of a misty valley with wooden scaffolds, a river, and two labeled location markers. — The map of Weeping Creek Valley shows wooden scaffolds and a waterfall, with map completion at 7%.

The Rift is only a few metres from the bell and is easy to spot: seated stone monk statues form a cluster beneath red cloth, amid golden mist and sparks.

Soul at the statue pile with red cloth and golden mist next to The Lady's Rift bell in Phantom Blade Zero — The Rift: seated stone statues under red cloth, a few metres from the bell

How to enter the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet Rift

Walk up to the statue pile until the E prompt appears.

Press E. The game shows this warning: “Powerful Sha-Chi pours from the Rift. Challenging it recklessly may be unwise. Enter?”

The Rift warning Powerful Sha-Chi pours from the Rift in Phantom Blade Zero — The warning before you enter

Choose Enter. Picking Leave closes the prompt and keeps you outside. After you choose Enter, a white flash moves Soul into a separate arena.

Enter and Leave options at the Rift in Phantom Blade Zero — Choose Enter to go in

Inside the Rift: The arena and the three masks

You enter a stone courtyard featuring stairs, red lanterns, and banners. Beyond it, a plaza has a red carpet that runs to a red temple gate. The fight takes place in this plaza.

Soul on the stone stairs of the Rift courtyard with red lanterns in Phantom Blade Zero — The courtyard with stairs and red lanterns inside the Rift

The first time you enter, a short intro plays. A puppet hangs by red threads above the gate, and three masks speak in turn.

The puppet hanging from red threads above the gate in Phantom Blade Zero — The puppet hangs from red threads above the gate

Frost Mask tells the others to hush at the arrival of someone, then asks if this is the person the Herald mentioned. Steel Mask says the Herald pledged his word to them, while Chaos Mask gives no answer and snores.

Chaos Mask speaking during the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet intro in Phantom Blade Zero — Chaos Mask during the intro

After the lines, a boss bar labelled “ABERRANT THREE-FACED PUPPET” appears. That bar means you are in the right fight.

Cloaked swordsman in a conical hat on a stone courtyard facing a distant enemy before a red-lit temple, health bars visible. — The player, wearing a straw hat, faces the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet across a stone courtyard in front of a red temple.

How much HP the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet has

On PATHBREAKER difficulty, the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet has 88,830 HP.

What you get for beating the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet

Killing the Puppet gives you the THREE-HEADED DOLL, a story item. Once it goes down, a flash sends Soul back to the statue pile outside the Rift.

Aberrant Three-faced Puppet attacks and what happens when you die

Challenging the Puppet during the opening of Chapter 1 can leave you defeated just seconds after combat begins. Its attacks include:

Fast lunging slashes
A technique that forms a dark sphere resembling a portal on the plaza
A big sweeping red arc that can finish Soul off

A dark portal-like sphere on the plaza during the Aberrant Three-faced Puppet fight in Phantom Blade Zero — The dark portal-like sphere on the plaza, with the Medicine tutorial prompt

Two tutorial prompts can appear during the fight. One says “Press [1] to switch weapons and fully restore Sha-Chi!” and the other says “Press [R] to use Medicine and recover HP!”

When Soul dies, the DEAD screen appears, after which Soul returns to The Lady’s Rift bell at full HP.

Later entries leave out the intro. Starting with your second entry, the boss attacks as soon as you reach the plaza.