How to Charge and use Phials

Aside from offering two weapon modes, the Charge Blade’s defining trait is its Phial mechanic. Underneath the Melee Weapon Sharpness gauge will be four icons to keep an eye on: a Sword, a Shield, an Axe, and a set of five phials. Landing hits in Sword Mode will gradually accumulate energy. The outline of the phials will turn yellow and then red to convey how much energy you’ve built up. Keep attacking and the icons will start flashing bright red to signal that you have too much, with your sword attacks bouncing off enemies until you’ve discharged the energy.

You have a few options for how to charge the phials:

Basic Charge – This forms the basis of your gameplay loop. Activate the Charge command by pressing R2 + Circle or RT + B to store the energy in your phials. Do this when the Phials are yellow or red to fill up three of them, or all of them, respectively. The energy will then be consumed through the various Axe: Element Discharge moves, including the important Amped Element Discharge (AED) and Super Amped Element Discharge (SAED). You can enhance these even further by charging the phials twice in a row before going into Axe Mode

Element Boost – Hold down Circle or B during the Charge animation to receive Elemental Boost. This is indicated by the Shield icon lighting up, although it’s not purely a defensive buff. Having this active will enhance your guard and make it possible to follow up an AED with an SAED in Axe Mode

Condensed Elemental Slash – If you have Element Boost active, you can hold Triangle or Y during the Charge animation to activate Sword Boost Mode. Your sword attacks will deal more damage and will no longer deflect

The basic gameplay loop is to charge your phials, consume them in Axe Mode, and then return to Sword Mode to charge again. I highly recommend activating the buffs for your shield and sword if you want to make the most out of this weapon. A lot of extra damage will be left on the table by not making use of them.