New Game Plus and Carryover

Phantom Blade Zero has New Game Plus: after the credits, the collected Game8 guide directs you to Inanis at the Puppet Cell in the Mountain of Imprisonment to begin a new cycle. Equipment, skills and archive progress carry over, while story and map progression and key items reset. Hellwalker is an initial difficulty choice, not an alternative name for NG+.

Start from the post-credits interaction

The documented route is to use a Bell to reach the Puppet Cell and speak to Inanis after completing the game. Read the actual new-cycle prompt before confirming because starting another run is different from continuing exploration in the current one. Finish the preparation you want to make with your existing equipment before crossing that transition.

An older collected wiki page incorrectly treats Hellwalker as an unlockable form of NG+. The official platform FAQ lists Hellwalker among the initial settings, and the newer carryover guide describes a separate post-credits interaction. This page follows that distinction instead of repeating the older page's unsupported mode name.

Know what you keep and what you repeat

The collected guide lists equipment, skills and archives as carryover categories. That lets you bring a developed combat setup into earlier encounters rather than rebuilding every weapon from its original pickup. It does not mean that the story route begins with every door already open.

Key items, quests and map progression reset according to the same guidance. Expect to repeat the relevant access and quest steps, including decisions that affected rewards on the previous run. A weapon carried into the cycle is not a substitute for a story item used by a specific gate or conversation.

Use the replay for a clear purpose

A new cycle can give late weapons a chance to shape encounters you originally fought with an early loadout. It can also let you approach quests or reward choices differently. Decide whether you are pursuing a build experiment, a missed item or a different ending route so that the reset becomes a planned change rather than an accidental loss of your current objective.

For a missing choice-dependent accessory, note the exact decision that matters. For an ending goal, follow the relevant story dependencies again instead of assuming the new-cycle label grants the outcome. The collected material does not establish that merely starting NG+ bypasses the optional mystery requirements.

66 Days adds a different constraint

Completion also unlocks the special 66 Days challenge. It uses the high difficulty with a finite-life rule rather than simply describing any second playthrough. Check the mode selected at the transition, because a relaxed equipment experiment and a run with a limited death budget ask for different preparation.

Check the mode before beginning again

New Game Plus and 66 Days answer different requests: one concerns another journey with specified carried equipment and progress, while the other introduces the special limited-death challenge. Do not assume selecting either one automatically means selecting the other. Read the option at the relevant post-credits interaction and decide which kind of replay you want.

The reset of quest and map-related progress also means that carried equipment does not complete old NPC errands for you. Revisit the important choices and collect the appropriate rewards as their sequences become available. Use your knowledge of early and late deadlines to plan the replay instead of relying on possession of strong gear to preserve every quest outcome.

Upgrade the move set you actually use

Forge introduces equipment upgrades at the Outpost in Weeping Creek Valley. After that introduction, the upgrade function is available from Bells, so you do not need to travel back to her whenever you obtain another material. Main weapons and Phantom Edges use their own material categories; possession of a large pile of one material does not mean it can upgrade every item.

An upgrade can unlock an action or a passive effect, not just increase a displayed attack value. Check the equipment's advanced information and the next upgrade preview before deciding whether another level will change the way you fight. A recommendation that relies on an unlocked ability can perform very differently when you try it with the base weapon.

Weapons can be reverted to recover their investment, but later upgrade thresholds introduce reforge-talisman requirements. Read the refund screen before confirming, particularly when comparing a main weapon with a Phantom Edge, because they do not use the same reforge item. Do not extend this refund rule to accessory polishing: that is a separate system with different costs.

Use weapon switching to protect your Sha-Chi

Weapon switching has a defensive purpose as well as an offensive one: it restores Soul's Sha-Chi. Blocking and heavy attacks spend that resource, so an otherwise comfortable fight can turn dangerous when you keep using the same weapon with an almost empty meter. Switch before the enemy breaks your guard, then decide whether the next opening is safe enough to attack.

The switch has a cooldown, which prevents it from being an unlimited answer to every incoming hit. Watch the enemy's guard meter alongside your own instead of emptying your resources whenever a combo becomes available. When the enemy is about to recover from a break, ending your attack early can leave you better prepared for the next exchange.

A practical pairing gives each weapon a recognizable job. One can build damage or a status effect while the other helps you recover, control a crowd or create a break. That division is more useful than choosing two names from a ranking and treating their individual damage ratings as proof that they work well together.

Keep the later story checkpoint separate

The Mirage Estate warning concerns the larger mystery and ending route, not the earlier settlement change after Bai Chilian. Published ending guides recommend completing the available purple story quests before entering the estate. If the game warns about unfinished business, review the journal before continuing rather than assuming that the ability to fast travel makes the warning harmless.

The important connected threads include the Illusory Pipa, the Herald's Illusion and Secrets at the Heart of the Lake. These lead through optional regions, the Acolyte Masks and the Crystal Puppet Eyes, so progress can be blocked by a missing prerequisite somewhere else. A quest being marked optional means the main story can continue without it; it does not mean the quest is irrelevant to the ending you want.

Some objectives continue inside the estate, including later steps involving Long Pillars and Quick Hand Zhang. The practical rule is to finish every currently available prerequisite, then continue those ongoing objectives when the next area makes them accessible. Avoid turning a guide's shorthand about finishing everything first into an impossible demand to collect an item located beyond the checkpoint itself.