Hunter's Chain Sickle Guide - Grapple Edge & Gleaming Hook

Overview

The Hunter’s Chain Sickle is arguably the single most valuable item in Phantom Blade Zero’s opening act. Dropped by The Hunt at the end of Weeping Creek Valley, it is a Phantom Edge — an R2 tool — whose grapple ability permanently rewrites how you move through the eight regions.

What the Grapple Unlocks

Gaps that were dead ends become shortcuts. Routes marked by anchor points open across every region — some leading to hidden chests, some to Quick Hand Zhang treasure locations, and some feeding the true ending chain. The rule of thumb after earning the sickle: if a jump looks impossible, it probably is — come back with the grapple. For the boss itself, see The Hunt.

Traversal aside, the grapple is also a combat tool. It creates safe punish windows after dodged charges and closes distance against ranged enemies, spending Sha-Chi per use like other Phantom Edges.

How to Get It

Clear Weeping Creek Valley’s main route and defeat The Hunt at its end. The boss is a moderate spike — fast lunges with jerky wind-ups that punish parrying on animation instead of the color flash — but the Chain Sickle is a guaranteed drop.

Tempering: Gleaming Hook

The sickle’s temper turns a utility tool into a combat engine. Gleaming Hook adds Bleed build-up to the grapple attack, and the material — the Alloyed Scythe Blade — comes from the Puppet Scavenger boss at the bottom of the Crimson Manor. The chain to reach it is one of the game’s more involved detours:

1. Defeat Gu Wanyue in Pangzhen’s Backstreets.
2. Find the Mandate’s Encampment key beneath a well.
3. Clear the Encampment and its chapter boss.
4. Enter the opened portal and claim the puppet’s tongue.
5. Unlock the Crimson Manor beneath Weeping Creek Valley’s Sha-Chi tower (explosive-cracked wall, elevator, Puppet Tongue Key door).
6. Ring the bell at the bottom, defeat the Puppet Scavenger, and claim the Alloyed Scythe Blade.

Full walkthrough with every step: Puppet Tongue Key guide.

The Endgame Bleed Package

Gleaming Hook completes the launch community’s strongest confirmed build alongside the Jagged Steel (Open Wounds — bleeds through blocks) and the Livingwood Talisman (Bleed works on Puppets). All three pieces and their upgrade chains are documented across this wiki’s weapons, bosses, and quests sections.

Verdict

Prioritize The Hunt kill above almost everything else in the early game — the Chain Sickle’s traversal value compounds with every hour played, and its temper is a build-maker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Hunter’s Chain Sickle be upgraded? Yes — via Soul Tempering with the Alloyed Scythe Blade, granting Gleaming Hook and its Bleed build-up.

Is the Chain Sickle only for traversal? No. In combat it closes gaps and creates punish windows; tempered, it deals real damage through Bleed.

Source: community-verified launch day data (October 29, 2026).