Where to Find Darkfire Charcoal in Phantom Blade Zero (Destruction Phantom Edge Upgrade Material)

Quick answer: Darkfire Charcoal is in a chest on a wooden scaffold on the cliff near the Red Serpent House bell in Crimson Forest. You reach it from above by the plank road and a ladder. Quick Hand Zhang also sells it for 1,040 Remnant Dust.

If you want to upgrade a Destruction-type Phantom Edge in Phantom Blade Zero, you need Darkfire Charcoal. One piece sits in Chapter 1’s Crimson Forest, and the chest is easy to see from the road but not reachable from it.

What Darkfire Charcoal does

Darkfire Charcoal belongs to the “Phantom Edge Upgrade Materials” category. Its item card reads:

“These remains may have come from a pavilion. It collapsed in a roaring blaze, the flames biting deep into the heart of the timber and leaving it seared red-hot.”

The key detail is its stated use: “Required to upgrade Destruction-type Phantom Edges to Lv. 10.”

Darkfire Charcoal item card, required to upgrade Destruction-type Phantom Edges to Lv. 10 in Phantom Blade Zero

At a bell, open Upgrade Equipment and use the material there. To raise the Dread Axe from Lv. 1 to Lv. 2, you need 1 Darkfire Charcoal and 640 Remnant Dust. Its Damage increases from 309 to 340, while Guard Break goes from 208 to 229.

Each Phantom Edge category requires a different material for upgrades through Lv. 10:

Martial: Exotic Copper Ingot
Destruction: Darkfire Charcoal
Artifice: Mechanical Gear
Ranged: Ancient Timber

Where to find the Darkfire Charcoal chest in Crimson Forest

The chest sits on a scaffold platform partway up the cliff. Pressing Space at the vine-covered wall underneath does nothing. You come down to it from the plateau above, and a Butcher and three dogs stand in the way.

Go to the Red Serpent House bell, the red-lit wooden cross on the road just past the low-road double gate. That gate opens with the Forest Outpost Courtyard Key. The bell is listed in the bells guide.

Face the cliff from the road by the bell: roughly 5 metres overhead, a wooden scaffold is attached to the pale rock. A ladder climbs the cliff from the scaffold, and the chest is on that platform.

Follow the dirt road away from the bell. You pass the roadside heap that holds Ancient Timber and reach a small wooden cart bridge.

Small wooden cart bridge on the road past the Red Serpent House bell in Phantom Blade Zero

Take the uphill stone path off the bridge to reach a long plank ramp lined with wooden fences and clay jars, then climb it. A Butcher and three dogs guard this section and the plateau above. The dogs can rush down the planks, so lure them away and kill them before the Butcher enters the fight.

Fenced plank road with clay jars climbing to the plateau above Red Serpent House in Phantom Blade Zero

At the summit, a plateau holds stone stairs, a lantern and a cluster of clay jars. Beside the jars, a small plank ledge hangs over the drop, directly above the ladder’s top. Wait on the ledge for the “Space” prompt, then press Space. Soul descends the ladder in less than a second and reaches the scaffold platform.

Clay jars on the plateau near the ladder ledge above the Red Serpent House road in Phantom Blade Zero

Space prompt on the plank ledge at the top of the ladder down to the Darkfire Charcoal chest in Phantom Blade Zero

At the ladder’s foot, release the backward input. Stepping backward off the platform drops you onto the road without causing damage, but getting back means looping around and climbing again. Instead, turn left and follow the plank walkway for about 6 metres.

Soul at the ladder foot on the cliff scaffold with the plank walkway to the chest in Phantom Blade Zero

On the walkway, use E to open the wooden chest beside a pair of stone bowls. Inside are three Phantom Edge upgrade materials: Incense Ash, Mechanical Gear and Darkfire Charcoal.

Darkfire Charcoal chest beside two stone bowls with the E prompt in Phantom Blade Zero

Each item card appears one after another. Press Space to confirm each one. When the DARKFIRE CHARCOAL card shows up, the material is yours.

Buying Darkfire Charcoal from Quick Hand Zhang

Quick Hand Zhang stocks Darkfire Charcoal at his Crimson Forest hideout. Open the Buy tab, select DARKFIRE CHARCOAL, and hold Space to buy it. Each one costs 1,040 Remnant Dust, and he has 6 in stock.

Quick Hand Zhang Buy tab with Darkfire Charcoal for 1040 Remnant Dust in Phantom Blade Zero

His hideouts at the Village of Lu, Pangzhen and Meigu Village also stock it. Earn the Remnant Dust for it from enemies and pickups.

Blazing and Searing Darkfire Charcoal for higher levels

Darkfire Charcoal only takes a Destruction-type Phantom Edge to Lv. 10. Past that point, two stronger materials take over.

Material	Destruction-type levels	Zhang’s price
Darkfire Charcoal	Up to Lv. 10	1,040
Blazing Darkfire Charcoal	Lv. 10-20	1,240 (Pangzhen, Meigu Village)
Searing Darkfire Charcoal	Lv. 20 to max	Not in his stock

Blazing Darkfire Charcoal’s card reads: “A cinder that burns fiercely and never goes out. Legend has it that it was born on the night an ancient and mysterious clan fell, all that remains of the fury and defiance left behind by that devastating blaze.” Its effect line is “Required to upgrade Destruction-type Phantom Edges from Lv. 10-20.”

Searing Darkfire Charcoal’s card reads: “Charcoal steeped in potent Sha-Chi. Its fierce flames are like wounds that never heal, ceaselessly spilling a stream of scalding blood.” Its effect line is “Required to upgrade Destruction-type Phantom Edges from Lv. 20 to max level.”