If you thought the Archbishop boss fight was a wake-up call, get ready for the King of Puppets. He’s the final boss in Chapter VI in Lies of P, located behind tons of other hazards and difficult mini-bosses in Krat. This can be one of the most challenging encounters in your playthrough, but you can certainly overcome it after coming so far. Let’s break down this conflict.
Lies of P King of Puppets Boss Preparations
The king’s fight is divided into two phases. The first one is a more traditional, easier battle, while the second phase can be your nightmare for a few hours. Your favorite weapons are always the best choice, but I personally went with the Trident of the Covenant you get from Alidoro by exchanging your Rare Ergo from the Archbishop. It has a 30% base chance of landing Critical Hits, a rare trait for weapons that can get you surprising results.
I opted to use a single weapon as I wanted to be as light as I could to easily dodge/parry the King’s attacks. If you want to do the same, try to find some balance between having weaker equipment parts (which means taking more damage) and having enough defense to survive more than three hits.
The Flamberge Legion Arm is a nice choice here, but Falcon Eyes can also be just as good for the first phase. You probably won’t have much time for using that second one in the second part, though. Bring some throwables too just in case.
King of Puppets First Phase Guide
The King’s attacks are slow but heavy in the first phase. You can keep some distance and try to learn them first since he usually goes for the same moves before you start depleting his health. His biggest smash hits are unblockable but can be easily parried with correct timing.
During this phase, most of his hits are sweep attacks with his tentacle-like arms, so get ready to block them or dodge forward. He leaves little room to react, so you want to be near him almost all the time to quickly punish him. If you bring the Specter to the fight, try to be around the King’s side when he focuses your ally NPC to avoid his attacks. Be careful with the event sweeps.
After reaching around half HP, he starts crying and using the vacuum attacks. There are two variations: one where he spins his arms on the sky (get close and punish him) or another where he focuses the ground (go as far as you can from him). He also starts jumping around much more, but you can sneak dodge past him to get some free hits.
His Fury Attack (red glowing move), where he slams himself into the ground, is always followed up by a sweeping on both sides. Regardless of choosing to dodge or parry this, don’t forget its follow-up, which also hits hard.
Parrying is hard here, but it can lead to a quicker staggering opportunity, which you can’t allow yourself to lose. Aside from the vacuum attacks, the King is quite easy to read, and you can probably take him down without much work. The real fight begins after finishing the first phase.
King of Puppets Second Phase Guide
Now facing Romeo head-to-head, the fight takes a whole different turn. He’s fast and relentless compared to the previous form and will aggressively jump at you if you’re too far. He usually starts the fight jumping at you and readying his Fury Attack, so you can try learning the Perfect Guard timing for at least the first hit. Dodging the second one is not that hard if you’re at a reasonable distance.
Romeo has a lot of range with his scythe and can bring your health to zero in a single combo. You definitely want to guard or parry his attacks as he unleashes a lot of these in sequence. Parrying his final hit usually leaves him open, and that’s where you must counter. Use your Fable Arts here, and if you’ve been parrying him enough, he might get staggered from it.
He might get slightly stunned after receiving a couple of normal hits. Use these opportunities to give him another round of charged attacks as fast as you can. Respect his attacks and try learning which one of these is easier to parry.
When he holds his scythe, just like in the screenshot above, he usually does a simple slash around him and becomes vulnerable for a few seconds. Be patient and dash forward at the right time to deal him some free damage.
At half health, he starts randomly lunging at you and sometimes flaming his scythe for a few consecutive attacks. These can be dodged backward, but you should attempt to parry at least one of them to make him vulnerable. If he’s charging at you, he usually does it two times. He might attempt a third if you try to counter him too early, so respect him.
This fight requires a lot of patience, but you can eventually overcome him after seeing his moves enough times. If your Specter survives the first phase, letting him bait Romeo’s first assaults is the perfect strategy to land some big damage early, especially with Fable Arts.
After finally managing to overcome the King, you’re rewarded with the Burnt White King’s Ergo, the Puppet Prince’s Formal Dress and Someone’s Necklace. This ergo can be exchanged with Alidoro for one of the best Special Weapons in the game. You haven’t been consuming these, right?
