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Phantom Blade Zero Fan guide
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Soul answering a heavy enemy strike under hanging lanterns

Modes

Phantom Blade Zero difficulty

Will Phantom Blade Zero have difficulty settings? Yes. Four named settings. Damage tables and enemy HP are not public. The names and the permadeath rule are.

Last checked September 17, 2026

  1. 01

    Wayfarer

    The lower-pressure option for players who want the story and world first.

    Named in the August 17, 2026 State of Play recap as the mode for enjoying the story.

  2. 02

    Pathbreaker

    The middle setting. Public recaps name it; they do not publish a full modifier list yet.

    Named alongside the other three options in official State of Play coverage.

  3. 03

    Hellwalker

    Higher challenge with more advanced, adaptive enemy intelligence.

    State of Play recap: Hellwalker uses more advanced and adaptive enemy AI.

  4. 04

    Sixty-Six Days

    Hellwalker rules plus a 66-death permadeath counter. The name matches Soul’s in-fiction remaining days.

    State of Play recap and later coverage: equivalent to Hellwalker, with permadeath once the death counter reaches 0 from 66.

Difficulty settings

Wayfarer is the story-first option. Pathbreaker is the middle name without a published modifier list. Hellwalker uses more advanced, adaptive enemy AI. Sixty-Six Days is Hellwalker plus a 66-death permadeath counter.

New Game Plus

Coverage of developer interviews says a New Game Plus mode unlocks after a playthrough. That is a post-credits structure, not a fifth difficulty row.

Recap: Gematsu State of Play recap .

FAQ

Will Phantom Blade Zero have difficulty settings? Yes. Four named modes.

Is Sixty-Six Days souls-like permadeath? It is a death counter on Hellwalker, not a published soul-runback. See souls-like.