10 Lies of P Tips & Tricks to Get You Through Krat!

Despite its humble origin story of a puppet who seeks to become a true boy,Lies Of P is anything but humble... or nice. Truthfully speaking, as a soulslike experience, it had me screeching and crying at various points where I wished Pinocchio would just turn into a wooden puppet and die... permanently. Though despite the flack I give the title for its oft-tedious boss design, I loved my time with it, and to help you feel less frustrated and irritated by it, here are 10 tips & tricks to get you started in your journey to save Krat from the Puppet Frenzy!

#1 — Try the beginning area several times

Starting off this article, the first thing I'd like to suggest is that — much like I did with the demo — you try the first area (before you reach your first Star Gazer) around three times, one for each of the starting builds. I know that this sounds tedious, but there is a very good reason for this.

When I first played through the demo, I found that I actually didn't like the classes I usually do, as while I regularly play heavy classes with the biggest weapons available that have me heavy-rolling through my entire first run of DARK SOULS 3 (totally not based on a real story), I didn't quite love it in Lies of P. Instead, the Path of the Bastard: Dexterity was my favourite, the fast-paced combatant with a rapier and a Technique-based build. This can affect your entire run because you can't respec until much, MUCH later on in the game, and some of the most arduous hurdles will be between you and respeccing, so you might as well be comfortable with what you're playing early.

#2 — Stick to one build

This might be obvious to the soulslike aficionados out there, but assuming you might not be, then let me give you a bit of an idea: you should stick to one damage type throughout your playthrough, or at most two for high-scaling weapons, and defensive stats there onward. Otherwise, you'll become a very squishy Pinocchio who will die at the glance of some of the late-game bosses.

While you're at it, it is imperative that you do not neglect Stamina. Every action in the game costs just a bit of Stamina, and though it might feel painful to choose it over other "important" build aspects, Stamina will ensure you can do as many actions as needed without running out, giving you a wider range of defensive and offensive choices in combat.

#3 — Learn to parry over roll

NEOWIZ took an interesting approach with Lies of P and its combat design, where much of the gameplay heavily rewards you for aggressively playing and pressing the attack. While titles like traditional DARK SOULS (one of the founding parents of the soulslike genre) would have you thinking that panic rolling might be the way to defeat some of these bosses, don't let this fool you.

Lies of P works a lot more like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, where you can use your parry with a favourable window to Perfect Guard attacks coming your way, which not only prevents any damage from being dealt to you but also reduces the enemy's weapon durability and gets them closer to getting Staggered. While the safety of rolling away from anything is a siren song, fighting head-first always gave me a favourable outcome, and it will make many future battles more bearable. On that note…

#4 — Play aggressive

Truth be told, parrying is only the first step in getting good at Lies of P, as ensuring that you are always on top of the enemy and dealing as much damage as possible is the best way to ensure that you get out of a fight as soon as feasible.

Parrying helps with the defensive side of things, but you always want to be using your extra Stamina to deal as much damage in between enemy attacks, as this can eventually lead to them getting staggered and a large chunk of their life being deleted. It sounds scary, but with Guard Regain, you are often more rewarded for trying to get some hits in rather than avoiding any hits at all and neglecting that part of the gameplay aspect.

#5 — Upgrade your weapons

As you progress through Krat, you will find a slew of items that you can use to enhance your weapons in a very typical soulslike fashion. With every upgrade, your armaments will increase in damage and give you more opportunities to defeat enemies, but it is almost imperative.

Now, this doesn't mean that you should upgrade every weapon that you come across — that's a recipe for disaster and running out of materials. But don't be as conservative as you might usually be, either, as Lies of P can be pretty generous, and by the end of my playthrough, I had four weapons at max level.

#6 — Change your weapons

But all good things must end, and I heavily encourage you to try out every weapon you encounter that scales well with your beginning stat of choice. Unlike in DARK SOULS, where you can take your weapon to the end game and finish it with an appropriate enough build, Lies of P will punish you for doing this.

Instead, it will come at a time when it feels like your weapon is not doing enough damage to burn through enemies, and by then, it might be a good idea to consider changing from your initial one into a different one. I was stuck fighting a boss for several hours — and died well over a few dozen times — only to realise that my weapon wasn't dishing enough damage, and after a quick change, I passed it on my very next try.

#7 — Use your tools at your disposal

Lies of P offers a vast slew of items that you can use to fight the dozens of bosses scattered throughout Krat, and adaptability will play a critical factor in your success. Whenever you are faced with a new tough opponent, step back and look at the choices and approaches you have in terms of gameplay and equipment.

Unlike usual, where your armour dictates your resistance, you'll find four different items that affect different types of damage taken and give you more tankiness, and adapting these to each boss can be the difference between victory and defeat. Likewise, use your blocks (rather than parries) and sneak in some Guard Regain to get your health back, use various consumables to pass through tricky fights, use Star Fragments, use your Fable attacks... there are a lot of things at your disposal that can ensure you win; all you have to do is remember to use them.

#8 — Explore

Lies of P puts a heavy emphasis on the items that you get and importance of various collectibles scattered around the world, not all of which are just for show. From encoded boxes with quests that you can do to even a group of particularly difficult enemies that drop pivotal items, there is no reason not to explore Krat in search of goodies.

Whilst exploring, you can find Quartz, weapons, consumables, even quests (as mentioned above), all of which can give rewards that are sure to help you out the other side from a challenging foe. Exploring will also familiarise you with the enemies, which sometimes use abilities that the upcoming boss does, too, as every good and self-respecting soulslike title does. Even if you die and lose your Ergo, you will eventually be able to gain it back again, or you might have earned more than you even need if you explored properly.

Bonus: Once you've defeated a boss, save your Ergo. Much like in other soulslikes, every enemy drops a strong currency that you can use to earn Ergo, which isn't too much in contrast to the strong weapons and amulets you can get from trading these with the right vendor. One of the boss weapons turned out to be my favourite throughout my entire run, so it's always worth a try!

#9 — Complete Quests

As mentioned above, you will find various quests, and you should most definitely be completing them. Whenever you find a crucial item to a quest, you will see a cryptic face (or object) in the relevant area, which helps keep track of what you need for where, and it makes these quests simple to do.

And, of course, every item you get from these quests will be essential in making it to the final boss. Every little bit of extra strength in the form of Quartz, items, weapons, and the like is something that you can use and experiment with, and you never know when you might find your new favourite weapon.

#10 — Have fun

Lies of P, above all else, is a game that is meant to be enjoyed. If you aren't having fun doing what you're doing, then it might be a good opportunity to sit back, relax, and reconsider your approach. Taking a break can do wonders for irritation and agitation, and if you aren't having fun, then there's no reason to play the game in the first place.

This goes for pretty much every area in the game — if you want to experiment, do it! If you want to try out a new weapon, then max it out! If you want to restart and try again, then there is no harm. And if you decide to pass every boss via summoning the Spectre, then more power to you — you should be able to enjoy the game with no judgment on your approach to doing it.

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That's it for my 10 tips & tricks! Now, not even the Grand Covenant, the Alchemists, or the Puppet Frenzy can stop you! Well, I guess they could, but you'll just come back stronger than before and try it all over again! Considering going through Krat, but not sure it'll be the game for you? Check out my review of the game! Already exploring the Puppet-infested city? Leave a comment below with more tips I might have missed! Best of luck, Puppet.