Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute is a Chapter 1 boss in Phantom Blade Zero, fought in Weeping Creek Valley during “AGAINST THE FLOW”. He is a masked brute who swings a long jagged blade. On PATHBREAKER, the default difficulty, he has 8,280 HP.
Quick answer: He charges you, brings his blade down from above, turns through a broad arc, leaps on you from the air and slams the riverbed hard enough to throw up water. His attacks inflict bleed, and a red flash warns you before some of them.
Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute attacks
Every move below is described by how it looks on screen. He uses them close together, so expect one to roll into the next.
Sprint with the blade raised
When you put distance between you, he runs straight at you with the blade already lifted. The swing comes the moment he reaches you.
Straight-down overhead chop
He hoists the jagged blade high above his head, then drops it in a straight line in front of him.
Full-circle spinning sweep
He turns all the way around with a flat, wide swing at waist height. The blade leaves a red trail that traces a full circle around him.
High leap that lands on you
He jumps well above Soul’s head and drops onto your position from the air. He is visibly airborne before he comes down, which makes this one of his easier moves to read.
Downward slam that throws up water
He drives the blade down into the riverbed hard enough that a tall column of water and spray bursts up where it hits.
Back-to-back slash chains
He strings several slashes together with very little pause between them. When a chain ends, he often goes straight into the sprint or the spinning sweep instead of resetting.
Red flash tell before his attacks
His blade and the screen streak red before certain attacks. Phantom Blade Zero’s combat tutorial explains how to respond to each color: for red, use a Perfect Dodge by dodging just before impact; for blue, parry by blocking just before impact.
Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute damage and bleed
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Boss health (PATHBREAKER) | 8,280 HP |
| Heaviest single hits | About 240 of Soul’s 850 HP |
| Bleed after combo hits | About 3 seconds of ticks |
When his combo connects, Soul’s HP drains in brief increments, and pools of blood form on the ground around Soul. The weapon he uses is Jagged Steel, the bleed weapon you get from this fight. During the battle, the game also displays the prompt “Press [1] to switch weapons and fully restore Sha-Chi!”
Where Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute fights you
His location is the broad rocky riverbed beneath Rustblade Pavilion, a pagoda with two tiers perched on the cliff. Reach it by crossing the Red Thread Barrier, following the gorge, and passing the mist from the waterfall at its far end. Beside the corpse under the suspended fire basket, you’ll find the book “Captain Chen Zhu’s Secret Letter”, which points the way to him. At a distance of about 17 m, his name bar, “JAGGED STEEL, THE FRENZIED BRUTE”, appears at the top of the screen.
- On your initial visit, a Gold Mask and an Iron Mask fight him in the riverbed, and he kills them both.
- When they die, your Remnant Dust increases by 1,114 at that moment, despite you not landing the blows.
- After he kills them, the two masks are gone on later visits.
- On the first visit he walks over and attacks while Soul is still at the edge of the riverbed. On return trips he stands idle until you approach.
If he kills you, you return to the last Bell you touched; if you came straight from there, that is the Red Thread Barrier Bell. His health is fully restored when you come back.
