Quick answer: Buy Healing Art for 5,000 Remnant Dust, Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 for 10,000, and Steady Composure for 5,000. Once you have those, add Flow Like Water for 12,500. Press P to recover every point and revise any early choice.
Phantom Blade Zero has 32 abilities. They are ranked here by what each node’s card says it does and what it costs in Remnant Dust. Early on, you want more healing, an extra accessory slot and safer combos. After that, you want more Power Surges and more Phantom Edge uses.
How Training Abilities Works
Remnant Dust pays for abilities, which you learn at bells. The tree is arranged in three rows of connected nodes. Training certain nodes also requires a specific item or another node as a prerequisite.
The same screen carries the prompt “[P] resets all abilities and refunds Remnant Dust.” That prompt is your safety net for every choice below.
Item requirements appear on each card. In our run, Blood Remedy’s node showed “Prerequisite skill required” and “Requires 1 Complete Memory Flower”. In our run, Flow Like Water called for 1 Banyan’s Heart as well as 12,500 Remnant Dust; Boundless Capacity Lv. 2 called for 2 Sha-Chi Amber.
The First 30,000 Remnant Dust
Spend your first Dust on these four, in this order.
| Rank | Ability | Remnant Dust | What it does | Also needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Healing Art | 5,000 | +1 Medicine use | – |
| 2 |  Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 | 10,000 | +1 accessory slot | – |
| 3 |  Steady Composure | 5,000 | Next Light Attack after a Dodge or Parry interrupts more | – |
| 4 |  Flow Like Water | 12,500 | Blocking and dodging keep the combo going | 1 Banyan’s Heart |
Healing Art (5,000) reads “Increases Medicine uses by 1.” It is the cheapest way to stay alive longer, so it goes first.
Boundless Capacity Lv. 1 (10,000) has the description “Adds 1 accessory slot.” Equipping a fourth accessory gives you an additional percentage bonus in every fight.
Steady Composure (5,000) reads “After Dodging or Parrying an enemy attack, your next [Light Attack] is more likely to interrupt the enemy’s move.” It turns a good dodge or parry into a better chance to stop the enemy’s attack.
Flow Like Water (12,500) reads “Blocking and dodging do not interrupt the current combo.” It also costs 1 Banyan’s Heart, so it lands fourth rather than earlier.
If you have Dust to spare, Thousand-mile Stride (10,000) is the movement pick. It reads “After sprinting for 2 seconds, enter a high-speed sprint.”
Next: Sha-Chi, Medicine and Power Surge
The next four focus on getting Medicine back, refilling Sha-Chi and doing more with Power Surge. Blood Remedy (20,000) reads “Defeating enemies has a chance to restore Medicines.”
| Rank | Ability | Remnant Dust | What it does | Also needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |  Blood Remedy | 20,000 | Defeated enemies can restore Medicines | Prerequisite node, 1 Complete Memory Flower |
| 6 |  Endless Renewal Lv. 1 | 20,000 | Assassinations and Executions restore HP and Sha-Chi | 1 Blackstone |
| 7 |  Still Mind | 25,000 | Brief invincibility during a Power Surge | – |
| 8 |  Ascendance Lv. 1 | 30,000 | +1 max Sha-Chi Essence | – |
Endless Renewal Lv. 1 (20,000 and 1 Blackstone) restores HP and Sha-Chi when you perform Assassinations or Executions.
Still Mind (25,000) grants the effect described as “Grants brief invincibility during a Power Surge.”
Ascendance Lv. 1 (30,000) reads “Increases maximum Sha-Chi Essence by 1.” Every Power Surge costs 1 Sha-Chi Essence, so this gives you one more Power Surge.
Mid Game: More Slots, Spark and Essence
| Rank | Ability | Remnant Dust | What it does | Also needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |  Still Depths Lv. 1 | 30,000 | +1 max Remnant Spark | – |
| 10 |  Boundless Capacity Lv. 2 | 40,000 | +1 accessory slot | 2 Sha-Chi Amber |
| 11 |  Redirect Force | 40,000 | Dodging or Parrying restores Sha-Chi | – |
| 12 |  Quick Remedy | 45,000 | Medicine cancels the stagger while you are hit | – |
Still Depths Lv. 1 (30,000) has this effect: “Increases maximum Remnant Spark by 1.” With that extra Remnant Spark, you can use Phantom Edge one more time.
Boundless Capacity Lv. 2 (40,000) adds another accessory slot.
Redirect Force (40,000) reads “Dodging or Parrying an enemy attack restores Sha-Chi.”
Quick Remedy (45,000) reads “Using Medicine while being attacked cancels the stagger.”
Late Game Picks
These cost the most Dust. Take them in this order once the earlier nodes are done.
| Rank | Ability | Remnant Dust | What it does | Also needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |  Against All Odds | 85,000 | Once per battle, stops one hit taking HP below 10% | – |
| 14 |  Shadowless Form | 80,000 | 15% chance a Phantom Edge costs no Remnant Spark | – |
| 15 |  Boundless Capacity Lv. 3 | 65,000 | +1 accessory slot | – |
| 15 |  Boundless Capacity Lv. 4 | 80,000 | +1 accessory slot | – |
| 16 |  Ascendance Lv. 2 | 60,000 | +1 max Sha-Chi Essence | – |
| 16 |  Still Depths Lv. 2 | 60,000 | +1 max Remnant Spark | – |
| 17 |  Cicada’s Escape | 65,000 | When Guard Broken, retreat and become immune to attacks | – |
Against All Odds (85,000) reads “Once per battle, prevents one attack that would reduce HP below 10%.”
Shadowless Form (80,000) reads “Using a Phantom Edge has a 15% chance to not consume Remnant Spark.”
Boundless Capacity Lv. 3 and Lv. 4 (65,000 and 80,000) each unlock additional accessory slots.
Ascendance Lv. 2 and Still Depths Lv. 2 (60,000 each) raise your capacity by one Sha-Chi Essence and one Remnant Spark, respectively.
Cicada’s Escape (65,000) reads “When Guard Broken, automatically retreat and become immune to attacks.”
Abilities You Can Leave for Later
None of these are bad. They are either narrow, expensive or built for one playstyle, so they can wait until the nodes above are done.
| Ability | Remnant Dust | What it does |
|---|---|---|
 Thousand-mile Stride | 10,000 | High-speed sprint after 2 s of sprinting |
 Flowing Chi | 10,000 | Some Phantom Edges counter or follow up for no Remnant Spark |
 Opening Strike | 35,000 | Weapon switch does a special move; needs a prerequisite node |
 Masterful Flow Lv. 1 | 30,000 | Weapon swap cooldown -2 s |
 Masterful Flow Lv. 2 | 60,000 | Weapon swap cooldown -2 s |
 Unyielding Will | 40,000 | Keep Sha-Chi Essence on death |
 Flash Step | 45,000 | Block + Dodge: special Dodge for a little Sha-Chi; needs a prerequisite node |
 All or Nothing | 80,000 | Low Sha-Chi Heavy Attack spends the rest on a stronger strike |
 Focused Mind | 45,000 | Goes up to Lv 30 |
 Fortified Body | 45,000 | Goes up to Lv 30 |
 Keen Edge | 45,000 | Goes up to Lv 30 |
Flowing Chi is cheap. It is a good fit if you are leaning into a Phantom Edge setup, and it can wait otherwise. For how it slots into specific setups, see the Phantom Blade Zero builds and their ability picks.
Respec Before a Hard Fight
You’ll find the Complete Memory Flower panel on this screen as well. Follow the full process in the training and respec walkthrough, or see the cost for each node in the list of all 32 abilities.
