Quick answer: Recover the Illusory Pipa Head, Backplate, and Strings. Then press E at Myst’s table in Myst’s Tavern in Pangzhen, and she restores the pipa in a cutscene.
How to restore the Illusory Pipa
The objective is “Recover the head, strings, and backplate”. The three components are scattered across separate locations, and Myst needs the complete set before she can work on them.
| Piece | Where you get it |
|---|---|
| Illusory Pipa Head | Dusk, the Puppeteer |
| Illusory Pipa Backplate | Table at the Training Grounds, Mandate Encampment |
| Illusory Pipa Strings | Yan Qiansui, the Zither Maiden |
When the cutscene ends, Myst says: “This pipa can dispel Phantom Barriers. It may open paths that were once hidden from you!” The game then shows the Illusory Pipa card and asks “Equip the new Phantom Edge now?”. You can press Esc to decline and keep your current edge.
What the Illusory Pipa does
The Illusory Pipa is an Artifice Phantom Edge with Damage 276 and Guard Break 234. Its card describes it as “The Chord’s Illusory Pipa, painstakingly restored after countless hardships. It unleashes powerful [Sonic Blades] and can even control weak-willed enemies.”
The input is a single key. The card reads: “Press [Ctrl] repeatedly to unleash 2 Blue Sonic Blades and 1 Red Sonic Blades. A full combo consumes 1 [Sha-Chi pip]”. The card lists what each part of that combo does.
- Blue blades: “Blue Sonic Blades deal damage and inflict Sha-Chi Depletion. Unblockable.”
- For the red blade, the card says: “Red Sonic Blades deal increased damage. Unblockable and ignore all Damage Reduction.”
- Sonic Mindseal: “If a Red Sonic Blade hits a Guard-Broken enemy, it takes control of that enemy, causing it to attack other enemies. Has no effect on powerful enemies.”
The Heartrend Pipa from Yuzan has matching listed stats: Damage 276 and Guard Break 234, and it uses the same Sonic Blades. What the Illusory Pipa adds is Sonic Mindseal.
Illusion Barriers and what comes next
Restoring the pipa also unlocks a separate card titled “Illusory Pipa Exploration Ability”. It reads: “Play the Illusory Pipa to dispel Illusion Barriers, even when not equipped.” So you do not have to swap out another Phantom Edge to clear these barriers.
You can confirm the restoration worked in your quest log. The objective changes to “Play the pipa at the Spectral Gate north of Meigu Lake”, which is covered in the Spectral Gate guide.
