Phantom Blade Zero's first big patch nerfs Hua, Deadly Betrothed's grabs

Phantom Blade Zero's first major update is out on PS5 and PC, and if Hua, Deadly Betrothed has been tossing you around, help has arrived. Version 1.0302256 reduces how often she uses her grab attacks.

There's a catch. The change only applies on Wayfarer and Pathbreaker difficulties, and S-GAME says other difficulty settings are unaffected. Push Square describes Hua as an optional boss in Weeping Creek Valley, the first main region.

Beyond Hua, the patch adjusts the combat behavior of certain bosses and enemies, along with how some environmental mechanisms work. S-GAME hasn't said which ones.

On the audio side, there are two new sliders: "Hit Sound Intensity" and "Hit Impact Sound Intensity". Weapon hit feedback has been improved too, and the volume of some sound effects and dialogue has been tweaked.

PC players can now remap "Interact / Talk" on both keyboard and controller. Weapon descriptions, some skill descriptions and controller button icons have also been updated, and performance should be better in certain areas.

The biggest PC change is to shader compilation, which S-GAME says should significantly cut startup times. Ray tracing shaders are no longer compiled by default at launch.

That means a one-time step for some of you. If you had Ray Tracing off before, you'll need to recompile shaders on your first launch after patching, which should only take a short time. If you had it on, you can jump straight in. Turn Ray Tracing on later and the game will compile those shaders the next time you restart.