Quick answer: For the early main Weapons, Scarlet Wraithblade leads with Damage 240 and Guard Break 117. Jagged Steel shares its 240 Damage and inflicts Bleed. Dread Axe deals the most damage among Phantom Edges.
Phantom Blade Zero gives you a handful of weapons in Chapter 1, “AGAINST THE FLOW”, and the opening areas of Weeping Creek Valley. Every number below is a Lv. 1 value from the weapon’s own card on PATHBREAKER, the default difficulty. “Best” here means best among these seven weapons at Lv. 1. For every weapon in the game and where it drops, there is a full weapons list.
Early weapons compared
| Weapon | Type | Damage | Guard Break / Status | Standard Combo hits | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Scarlet Wraithblade | Two-Handed | 240 | Guard Break 117 | 4 | Defeat Hua, Deadly Betrothed |
 Jagged Steel | One-Handed | 240 | Status Effects 124 | 5 | Jagged Steel boss reward |
 Sanguine Twin | Dual-Wield | 200 | Guard Break 100 | 6 | Rack below First Meeting with Yu’er bell |
 Sanguine Reach | Two-Handed | 200 | Guard Break 100 | 4 | Rack beside the Outpost Forge |
 Sanguine | One-Handed | 200 | Guard Break 100 | 5 | Soul’s starting weapon |
Scarlet Wraithblade tops both columns among the main Weapons. It comes from beating Hua, Deadly Betrothed at Flesh Lily Fields, and its card spells out why it suits shielded enemies: “A grotesque face grins from the hilt. This weapon has high Shield-Breaking power and can spread Red Spider Lilies across the ground, draining enemies’ Sha-Chi and HP.” Full details are on the Scarlet Wraithblade page.
Jagged Steel ties the Wraithblade on Damage but swaps Guard Break for a Status Effects value. Its card reads: “A battered, rust-scarred blade with a jagged edge. Its slashes inflict Bleeding and can trigger Blood Loss.” The Bleed text explains the catch: “Landing an attack inflicts Bleeding and builds the enemy’s Bleed Gauge. When the gauge is full, it triggers Blood Loss. Has no effect on Puppets, Golden Bodies, or Phantom Bodies.” Hua, Deadly Betrothed is a Puppet, so Bleed does nothing in that fight. You earn Jagged Steel by defeating the Jagged Steel boss in Weeping Creek Valley.
The three Sanguine-family blades share identical Damage and Guard Break, so the choice comes down to type, combo length and the Q art.
- Sanguine Twin has the longest Standard Combo here and the Dual-Blade Flurry art: “Consumes [Sha-Chi Essence] to unleash a dazzling dance of twin blades. This attack is unblockable.” It sits free on a wooden weapon rack at the foot of the ladder cliff below the First Meeting with Yu’er bell. More on the Sanguine Twin.
- Sanguine Reach is the crowd weapon, built for “wide, sweeping strikes,” with the Longblade Chain Slash art (Q, consumes Sha-Chi Essence). It is a free pickup on the rack beside the Forge at the Outpost. More on the Sanguine Reach.
- Sanguine is what Soul starts with. Its Sweeping Blade art reads: “Consumes [Sha-Chi Essence] to perform Sweeping Blade, rapidly slashes the enemy. This attack is unblockable.”
Phantom Edges: Dread Axe vs Hunter’s Chain Sickle
Phantom Edges are separate secondary weapons, not main Weapons, and they post bigger numbers. Swapping between them is covered under switch weapons.
| Weapon | Type | Damage | Guard Break | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dread Axe | Destructive | 309 | 208 | Defeat Axemaster Peng Meng |
 Hunter’s Chain Sickle | Martial | 247 | 213 | Defeat The Hunt (second fight, Great Waterfall) |
Dread Axe has the highest Damage of all seven weapons. Hold the Phantom Edge key to charge up to 2 stages, then release for a cleave that consumes 1 Remnant Spark. Its card notes: “Higher charge stages deal more damage.” Like the Wraithblade, it “has high Shield-Breaking power.” It also carries Iron Chain Breaker: “Once obtained, Dread Axe can break iron chains blocking the path, even when not equipped.” See the Dread Axe page.
Hunter’s Chain Sickle deals slightly less damage, but its Guard Break is the highest among the seven. Repeatedly press the Phantom Edge key to perform up to 3 slashes at mid-to-long range; completing the combo spends 1 Remnant Spark. The point of impact affects damage: “The sickle blade deals the most damage, while the chain deals only 30% of the blade’s damage.” Its Grappling Traverse remains usable when the weapon is unequipped: “Once obtained, the Hunter’s Chain Sickle can grapple onto distant anchor points for traversal, even when not equipped.” Learn more about the Hunter’s Chain Sickle and grapple.
What a Phantom Blade Zero weapon card shows
Open a weapon’s pickup or reward card, or go to Character > Equip, to check any of these numbers yourself.
- Type label: Main Weapons use One-Handed, Dual-Wield, or Two-Handed; Phantom Edges use Destructive or Martial.
- Damage, plus Guard Break on most weapons or Status Effects on Jagged Steel.
- Standard Combo, shown as one mouse icon per LMB hit.
- Sha-Chi Combo, shown as F inputs.
- Main Weapons go in two slots; Phantom Edges are equipped separately.
The Sha-Chi Combo text is the same on every main Weapon: “Can be unleashed after any swing during a Standard Combo. With enough Sha-Chi, it becomes an enhanced attack with increased damage and Guard Break.”
Upgrades change the comparison
| Weapon | Lv. 1 → Lv. 2 | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Jagged Steel | Damage 240 → 264, Status Effects 124 → 136 | 2 Forged Metal, 1 Solvent, 1,080 Remnant Dust |
| Sanguine Twin | Damage 200 → 220, Guard Break 100 → 110 | 2 Twinned Metal, 1 Solvent, 990 Remnant Dust |
| Dread Axe | Damage 309 → 340, Guard Break 208 → 229 | 1 Darkfire Charcoal, 640 Remnant Dust |
That means an upgraded 200-Damage blade can overtake an un-upgraded one, so compare weapons at the same level. Jagged Steel needs Forged Metal, and Sanguine Twin needs Twinned Metal. Separately, Blackstone permanently adds 10% Attack and Guard Break, one more way to increase damage.
