Phantom Blade Zero Incense Ash Locations Before Your First Summon

Map Master’s PS5 run picked up that chest and beat both of the Village of Lu’s summon bosses, and the Phantom Blade Zero maps and collectible guides cover the other edge materials. Regular Incense Ash is reported to cover levels 1 to 10, with Illusory Incense Ash taking over from there.

Incense Ash and the Summoning Phantom Edges in Phantom Blade Zero

Incense Ash is the only material that raises a Summon edge to level 10, and four such edges are reported. The Kuye Temple Prayer Beads and the Puppeteer’s Bell come first, from Village of Lu bosses, while the Swordsman’s Summon and Inanis’ Radiant Fan are reported in the Mandate Encampment and the Mountain of Imprisonment.

Each edge type is reported to have its own pair of materials, a regular one and a refined one, and edge upgrades are reported to skip Solvent. The Illusory Incense Ash for Summon levels past 10 is the refined half, and the Puppeteer’s Bell and the other Phantom Edges compare what each summon does.

Phantom Blade Zero Incense Ash Before Your First Summon: The Cliff of Longing Chest

Crimson Forest’s Incense Ash comes as a stack of 12 in that drop-down chest. The same chest gives 11 Darkfire Charcoal, so one detour stocks both your Summon and Destructive upgrades, and the Darkfire Charcoal for the Dread Axe covers the other half of the haul.

Don’t sell or skip the ash because you can’t use it yet. It waits in your bag until a Summon edge drops, and arriving in the Village of Lu with a stack in hand means your first summon gains levels the moment you own it, instead of after another round of exploring.

Incense Ash From the Village of Lu to Pangzhen in Phantom Blade Zero

The Village of Lu gives Incense Ash in steady stacks of nine, right where both early summons drop. The Prayer Beads are reported to come from Master Bi Hai, a mandatory boss, and the Bell from Dusk, the Puppeteer, an optional one, and the Village of Lu area map for Phantom Blade Zero places each stack.

Pangzhen adds smaller stacks of three, four, and six. The Pangzhen & Mirage Estate area map in Phantom Blade Zero shows all of them, and they’re the top-up for a second summon or the last few regular levels on your first. The Master Bi Hai and Dusk boss guides cover both village fights.

Spending Incense Ash Freely in Phantom Blade Zero Below Level 10

Edge levels under 10 are reported to refund for free, so regular Incense Ash is never a locked-in choice. Put it into the Prayer Beads as soon as Master Bi Hai falls, since they’re guaranteed on every run, and move it to the Bell or a later summon if one of them suits you better.

The cost appears only past level 10, where moving upgrades is reported to need a Phantom Reforge Talisman for summon respecs. Experiment while your summons are still on regular ash, and settle on one before the Illusory tier goes in.