You Loong, Blackwater Crew Leader Boss Guide

Who Is You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew?

You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew is an optional Perfect Transcensions boss in Pangzhen — entry 27 in Rock Paper Shotgun’s numbered list of all 61 bosses. In-game dossier text describes a Maskwalker hunting the living along Pangzhen’s waterways: a towering, shirtless fighter in an Ironclad Loong Helm, as comfortable in the water as on land, churning ponds into towering waves with a single fishing spear. He fights you twice; this first meeting is the Pangzhen pond fight, and it is skippable — but the reward gates half the town’s fire-blocked shortcuts.

Not the Meigu Lake fight. This page covers the Pangzhen pond encounter during Town of Death. You Loong returns later at Meigu Lake as You Loong, the Frenzied Blackwater Crew Leader — a separate, harder boss that drops the Loong Trident and the High-power Pump. Beating both versions earns the Turning the Tide achievement.

Where to Find the Fight

The arena is a low, waterlogged cove ringed by ruined huts and lily pads, reached two ways:

• Sportskeeda’s route: rest at the Green Serpent House bell, face away from the house, climb the ladder on the left into a building, cut through, and exit into a barrel-strewn courtyard. Clear it, open the gate at the end, and follow the lantern-decorated path until a small pond appears.
• AllThingsHow’s measurement: the pond sits roughly 138 m from the Lion Dance Hall bell and 11 m below it, past a lakeside boat yard.

Wade into the knee-deep water and he crashes out of it to open the fight. For regional pacing, see the Pangzhen bosses hub and the all bosses list.

Moveset: Every Attack and Its Counter

Strategy: The Amphibious Rhythm

The fight’s spine is his hit-and-run rhythm. Attack him and he scurries underwater, denying your punish window — Sportskeeda’s core advice is to stay aggressive, because a passive player chases bubbles all day. The loop: pressure in melee, read the blue glint, survive the flurry from range, and re-enter exactly as it ends.

Two mechanics decide the fight. First, bubble tracking — the bubbles are your only window into his dive. Second, flurry spacing: Game8 calls the rapid-slash combo his deadliest string; its strategy table prescribes retreat — manage the shockwaves from a distance, then step in for a perfect dodge into a Ghoststep counter on the closing spear thrust. PCGamesN adds that a red attack follows his spinning trident strings, so expect the unblockable right after the spin.

His other unblockable, the sweeping water jet, is a gift: dodge through the beam at any point to interrupt the attack and refund a Ghoststep counter.

The Loong Trident Counter

Game8’s tip table opens with one line: use the Loong Trident Phantom Edge to pull him out of the water when he dives, preventing the devastating surfacing attack. One caveat — the Trident is the reward from his own Meigu Lake rematch later in the campaign, so on a first playthrough this counter belongs to New Game+. In NG+, it turns his strongest phase into free damage.

Rewards: You Loong’s Deluge

Victory pays 30,000 Remnant Dust and the You Loong’s Deluge — an Artifice Phantom Edge (Damage 201, Guard Break 180) whose held water jet applies Wet, amplifying Lightning and Ice damage, and whose Extinguish field ability clears burning brambles and flame barriers even while unequipped. The confirmed payoff: the Marketplace fire barrier and the burning block sealing the Goldblaze pavilion. Knock this fight out before Flame, the Mask-Bound Lion Dance Grandmaster — the Deluge’s Wet also suppresses the lion’s fire kit.

Common Mistakes

• Chasing the bubbles. Track them, but hold near center pond and let him come to you; overextending into his surfacing attack is the fight’s biggest damage source.
• Trading inside the flurry. The wave strings punish greed. Back off early, return late.
• Blocking the water jet. It is unblockable. Dodge through it and collect the counter.

FAQ

Where is You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew? In a flooded pond on the west side of Pangzhen. Rest at the Green Serpent House bell, take the ladder left through the courtyard, open the far gate, and follow the lantern path to the water. AllThingsHow measures the arena at roughly 138 m from the Lion Dance Hall bell, 11 m below it.

How do you track You Loong when he dives underwater? Watch the water bubbles — they mark his position while submerged. When the bubbles stream toward you, ready your block: he is about to leap out. Evade as soon as turbulence forms around Soul’s feet.

What is the deadliest You Loong attack and how do you counter it? His rapid-slash flurry, where each swing sends a damaging wave across the water. Game8’s strategy table says to back off out of melee and manage only the shockwaves, then step in for a perfect dodge and Ghoststep counter on his final spear thrust.

What does You Loong drop? You Loong’s Deluge, an Artifice Phantom Edge with Damage 201 and Guard Break 180 whose water jet applies Wet and extinguishes fire barriers — including the one sealing the Goldblaze pavilion. The fight also pays 30,000 Remnant Dust.

Sources

• Rock Paper Shotgun — All 61 Phantom Blade Zero bosses in order
• Game8 — You Loong, Leader of the Blackwater Crew Location and How to Beat
• Sportskeeda — How to defeat You Loong (Leader of the Blackwater Crew)
• AllThingsHow — You Loong Boss Fight: Moveset, Attacks and Tips
• PCGamesN — All Phantom Blade Zero bosses in order