Chang Hong

Chang Hong is Phantom Blade Zero's required Chapter 7 boss in Pangzhen, fought past the Ancestral Shrine Square bell, on foot as the Thunder Spear and then on horseback as the Thunder Lancer. Parry his blue flashes, dodge the red ones, and never stand behind the horse. He drops the Thunder Spear Phantom Edge.

"Blue flash means parry, red flash means dodge" is AllThings.how's whole rule for Chang Hong, and the second phase adds one more: never stand behind his horse. He is the required boss of Chapter 7, The Heart's Trail, fought in a backstreet square of Pangzhen a short walk past the Ancestral Shrine Square bell, first on foot as the Thunder Spear, then mounted as the Thunder Lancer. His drop, the Thunder Spear Phantom Edge, is catching on: Steam's count of players who had paralyzed an enemy with it (the achievement Lightning Fast) rose from 11.2% on Nov 4 to 18.7% on Nov 9, 2026.

PowerPyx's Oct 29, 2026 recording shows the first phase from 0:19: a caped spearman on foot in a gray, bloodstained yard between stacked-stone walls, with "Chang Hong, the Thunder Spear" on the boss bar.

Quick facts

Where	A backstreet square past the Ancestral Shrine Square bell, Pangzhen, on the way to Yu'er's home
Chapter	7: The Heart's Trail
Required	Yes, main story
Phases	Two: the Thunder Spear on foot, the Thunder Lancer on horseback
Health	78,750 HP, then 87,500 HP; difficulty changes his damage, not his health
Rewards	Thunder Spear, a Phantom Edge that inflicts Paralysis and releases lightning
Prepare	Upgrade the Thunderward

The square past the Ancestral Shrine bell

From the Green Serpent House, Game8 sends you north "through houses with firecrackers" to the Ancestral Shrine Square bell; the square beyond it is the arena. Rest at that bell first: entering the square plays a cutscene, and a death costs only the short walk back. Maxroll's route takes the optional You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew, down a left fork after the Green Serpent House before this fight.

After the win you go on to Yu'er's house. Maxroll warns that if you did not kill Hua, Deadly Betrothed in Weeping Creek Valley, "the outcome of this quest changes" and you miss the Blessed Jade Pendant, one of the items Missables tracks.

Thunderward, parries and the horse

Upgrade the Thunderward first. Maxroll calls it "HIGHLY recommended", "as his combinations are extremely deadly."
Parry what flashes blue, dodge what flashes red. Some heavy strikes ignore guards, and power attacks break a held guard, so blocking alone will not carry the fight.
Heal once he backs off or finishes a string, never right after a red flash.
In the second phase, never stand directly behind the horse, and use his circling time to heal.
Watch for doubles: Game8 warns that he can chain two of his powerful attacks in a row.
If it is too much, AllThings.how found that Wayfarer's attacks deal about half the damage of Pathbreaker's, with his health unchanged (Difficulty Modes).

His moves on foot and on horseback

Phase 1: the Thunder Spear

Game8 calls the first phase fairly straightforward: standard spear combos, with more lightning as his health falls.

Spear dash and blue-flash thrust: parry. Game8 says a perfect parry of the dash triggers a Ghoststep counter; AllThings.how says to parry the close thrust on the hit.
Counter stance: pressed, he takes a defensive stance and counterattacks. Parry the counter.
Red-flash charge, or spin to spear thrust: unblockable. AllThings.how says dodge to the side; PCGamesN says to perfect dodge his red attacks when he spins and jumps.
Seven-hit string: a red flash, then seven rapid strikes, the last the hardest. Dodge and keep your distance.
Spear rush: unblockable; it ends with a wide sweep.
Wide crescent sweep: a huge golden swing with long reach. Back out of range or dodge through it.
Ground lightning: dodge the electricity he sends along the ground after a swipe.
Lightning call and lightning slam: sparks gather at your feet before a bolt drops, so move sideways out of the lit circle and never heal inside it; in the slam he charges lightning, leaps and lands on your position.
Lightning burst: the spear points skyward and lightning explodes around him. Back away.
Grab: a red flash at close range. Dodge away.

Phase 2: the Thunder Lancer

A cutscene ends the first phase, and the fight goes on in heavy rain with Chang Hong on an armored horse, with a completely different moveset. Blue flashes can still be parried.

Mule kick: Game8's most dangerous move. It comes only when you stand directly behind the horse, hits hard, blinds you for a moment and is too fast to block on reaction; sometimes the horse turns first, which gives you a moment to move.
Circling charge: wide loops around the square, then a lowered lance. Dodge sideways, not backwards.
Rearing horse: when it lifts its front hooves, perfect dodge. The horse may call down a lightning strike or leap and crash down beside you; move away from the landing spot.
Thrust-slam combo and leap slash: parryable. In the combo he thrusts while leaping, then vaults up; parry the slam.
Spin to slash and lance sweep: a twirl and a sweep to the horse's right, or a golden arc as it passes. Stay off the flank and dodge through.
Mounted grab: a red flash at close range. Dodge on the flash.

How hard he hits

AllThings.how measured him against Soul at 1,402 HP with three gourds. On Pathbreaker an ordinary spear hit costs about 150 HP, the seven-hit string's last blow about 350 and his biggest single hit about 530, and chained strings can empty a full health bar in under 20 seconds. On Wayfarer his heaviest first-phase hit was about 280 HP.

A death in the second phase sends Soul back to the Ancestral Shrine Square bell with full health and gourds, and the fight resumes with the Thunder Lancer without the first cutscene.

The Thunder Spear he drops

The Thunder Spear is a Martial Phantom Edge with 450 Damage and 360 Status Effects on its card. Pressing the Phantom Edge button repeatedly strikes up to three times with Thunderclap Spear Art, and a full combo uses one Sha-Chi charge. AllThings.how names the Thunder Core as its Soul Tempering material, and Phantom Edges sets it beside the other boss weapons.