How to Assassinate Enemies in Phantom Blade Zero (Stealth Kills)

Quick answer: Press C to crouch, approach an enemy that hasn’t noticed you from behind, and press E when the prompt appears on its back. Soul kills it in one move.

Stealth assassinations in Phantom Blade Zero skip the fight entirely. On PC, crouch is bound to C and the assassination prompt uses E, the interact key. The full layout is on the Phantom Blade Zero controls page. On controller, Jump and Crouch share one button, Cross on PlayStation and A on Xbox. The example below takes place in Weeping Creek Valley on PATHBREAKER, the default difficulty, against a sword-carrying bandit sitting by a campfire.

How to assassinate an enemy

Choose an enemy whose back is turned toward you. In Weeping Creek Valley, a bandit is seated by a campfire near tall grass, giving you a useful approach.

Press C to crouch, then advance through the tall grass toward the enemy. The screen edges grow darker when you crouch in the grass.

Crouched in tall grass with the screen edges darkened near a campfire bandit in Phantom Blade Zero — Crouched in tall grass, the screen edges darken

Keep closing the distance from behind. Once you’re right at the enemy’s back, an E prompt appears on it.

The E prompt on a bandit's back for a stealth assassination in Phantom Blade Zero — The E prompt appears on the enemy’s back

Tap E; Soul seizes the enemy and kills it with one finishing animation.

Soul performing a stealth assassination kill animation in Phantom Blade Zero — One press, one kill

Check the result. The bandit drops dead on the spot, even though it had a full health bar, and +101 Remnant Dust shows in the top-right corner of the screen.

The bandit dead by the campfire with +101 Remnant Dust in Phantom Blade Zero — +101 Remnant Dust from the assassination

Keep low as you continue forward. A second bandit is seated at the following campfire along the path; use the same method to eliminate it.

The next bandit at a campfire further up the path in Phantom Blade Zero — The next bandit waits at the next campfire

The Drop down to assassinate enemies below tutorial on a rooftop in Phantom Blade Zero — The game’s tutorial: “Drop down to assassinate enemies below”

What a stealth assassination gives you

You can immediately kill an unaware regular enemy without entering combat.
No damage taken and no health lost.
Remnant Dust, the same as any other kill. The campfire bandit gave +101.

Remnant Dust has its own uses, covered in the Remnant Dust guide. If an enemy turns to face you and a fight starts instead, you’ll need to dodge and parry your way through it.

Assassination achievement, accessory, and ability

The Bronze achievement Way of the Phantom asks you to “Perform a Chain Assassination”. It is listed with the rest of the Phantom Blade Zero achievements.

The Silent Wrap accessory “Reduces noise from footsteps and Assassinations by 50%.” It appears in the full accessories list.

The Endless Renewal Lv. 1 ability reads “Assassinations and Executions restore HP and Sha-Chi.” You train it at a Bell through Train Abilities, and it requires a Blackstone. It sits alongside the other skills in the abilities list.

How to assassinate an enemy

What a stealth assassination gives you

Assassination achievement, accessory, and ability

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