Quick answer: Iron Butcher fights in his camp yard on the Mountain of Imprisonment, a short walk from The Lady’s Path bell. He swings a double-bladed axe, leaps at Soul and throws pots that leave purple flames on the ground.
Iron Butcher at a glance
The health bar reads “Iron Butcher, the Frenzied Brute”. He is a huge, bare-chested brute in a cracked gold mask with wild green hair, carrying a long-handled, double-bladed axe.
The arena is the camp yard on the Mountain of Imprisonment. It sits below a wooden scaffold and holds crates, sandbags, a red shrine and a cooking fire on a wooden rack.
Nearest bell: The Lady’s Path (Phantom Blade Zero bells).
His attacks are wide axe sweeps, overhead chops, leaping strikes, thrown pots of purple fire and fiery blasts at close range.
In our run, the fight began right after the last fighter in the camp, a Fire Archer on top of the scaffold, went down.
Where to find Iron Butcher
In our run, a Fire Archer stood on top of the scaffold about 10 m from the ladder, and he was the last fighter left in the camp.
In our run, after a death Soul came back at The Lady’s Path bell, and Iron Butcher was already waiting in the camp yard, so the scene did not play again.
Iron Butcher’s attacks
Axe sweep
He swings the axe sideways in a wide arc at close range.
Overhead chop
He lifts the axe high above his head and brings it straight down.
Leaping strike
He jumps through the air at Soul from several steps away.
Purple fire pot
He pulls out a glowing purple pot and throws it, and it bursts into purple flames that spread across the ground. In our run, he threw these pots from across the yard as well as up close.
Fiery blast
A fiery explosion goes off right next to Soul at close range and throws up smoke. In our run, two went off within the first twenty seconds of the Wayfarer attempt.
How the fight went in our run
In our run on Wayfarer, the attempt lasted about a minute and a half and barely marked his bar.
In our run on Pathbreaker, the attempt lasted under half a minute and barely marked his bar.
In our run, purple flames covered large parts of the yard in both attempts.
Tips for the Iron Butcher fight
Rest at The Lady’s Path bell before going to the camp. In our run, a death returned Soul there.
Deal with the Fire Archer on the scaffold first, because the Iron Butcher fight starts once the camp is clear.
Step out of the purple flames as soon as a pot lands. In our run, Soul kept burning while standing in them.
Even when he is on the far side of the yard, watch for him to reach for a pot. Keep moving to prevent the flames from appearing beneath Soul.
For timing against his axe swings, see the parry and dodge guide.
If the fight is too hard, you can change the difficulty from the System menu and apply it with the “Apply changes to settings?” Confirm prompt. The difficulty modes are explained separately.
Iron Butcher rewards
In our run, the Iron Butcher Mask card appeared right after the fight, listed as a Weapon Soul Tempering Material.
Its card says it is “Used to Soul Temper the Jagged Steel.” You can read more about the Jagged Steel, and Myst handles Soul Tempering, covered in how Soul Tempering works.
In our run, Soul rang the Iron Butcher’s Camp bell in the yard after the fight.
Browse all Phantom Blade Zero bosses for other encounters and their rewards. Wan Jun, the Coppermaul, is another brute; see his Wan Jun boss fight.
