Lies of P: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

This Game is a Beautiful, Brutal Bastard

Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. Lies of P is not your friendly neighborhood Soulslike. It's the guy who shows up to the fight, spits on the floor, and then kicks you in the shins while you're still bowing. I've got about 400 hours in this thing across five playthroughs, and I still get humbled by random mobs in the collapsed street. That's not a bug—that's the point.

What makes it special? The atmosphere is unmatched. Krat is this gorgeous, rotting Belle Epoque city that feels alive even as everything is falling apart. The puppet designs are creepy in a way that sticks with you—those doll faces with the jerky, unnatural movements? Still gives me the creeps. And the soundtrack? I caught myself humming the St. Frangelico Cathedral Chapel theme at work. My boss asked if I was okay. I was not.

What's annoying? Oh boy. The Perfect Guard window is tighter than my broke college student budget. You'll miss it. A lot. And the game loves to throw ganks at you—two puppets with giant sledgehammers around a blind corner is a recurring "fuck you" from the devs. The early game resource scarcity is also brutal. You will feel like you're running on fumes for the first five hours, and that's by design. It's meant to make you desperate. It works.

But here's the thing: once it clicks, it really clicks. The parry system feels incredible when you land it. The weapon assembly is the most creative system in any Soulslike I've played—you can make a glaive with a giant sawblade on top and a fire axe handle? Yes, you can. And the boss fights are genuinely some of the best designed in the genre. King of Puppets made me yell at my monitor. In a good way.

So if you're here because you're stuck, frustrated, or wondering if you're just "bad at video games"—you're not. The game is just mean. But I'm here to help you be meaner.

Why You're Probably Getting Your Ass Kicked

Let's call a spade a spade. You probably died to the Parade Master twenty times, threw your controller, and then spent ten minutes staring at the wall wondering why you bought this game. I did too. We all did. Here's what's actually going wrong:

1. You're Playing It Like Dark Souls. This is the biggest trap. Lies of P is closer to Sekiro than it is to Dark Souls 3. If you're dodging backward and waiting for openings like you're fighting the Dancer, you're gonna get flattened. This game punishes passive play. The enemies have long combos with weird delays, and if you're not aggressive enough to interrupt them, they'll just keep swinging. You need to be up in their face, trading blows and deflecting.

2. You're Not Using Your Legion Arm. I see so many new players treat the Legion Arm like a special attack they save for emergencies. Bad idea. The Flamberge (your starting arm if you pick the right one) does 45 base DPS but ramps to 120 DPS after 3 seconds of continuous fire. That's not a gimmick—that's a primary weapon against anything with a health bar. I killed the Mad Donkey on my second try just by holding down the flamethrower trigger while he was stuck in his charge animation. The Legion Arm is not your "oh shit" button. It's your "I'm going to make this fight end now" button.

3. You're Hoarding Ergo and Upgrade Materials. I get it. You want to save that +2 Crescent Moonstone for something "better." Stop. Upgrade RIGHT NOW. The game has a soft economy where later areas drop better materials anyway, so sitting on your early upgrades is just making your life harder. I spent my entire first playthrough complaining that the game was too hard, and then I realized I had a full inventory of upgrade stones I could have used three bosses ago. Don't be me.

4. You're Not Using Items. You have Throwing Cells. You have Shot Puts. You have Thermite. These items exist for a reason. The game literally throws them at you. If you're not using them to stagger a boss from a distance or to apply status effects, you're fighting with one hand tied behind your back. Shot Puts specifically are insane—they deal 40 stagger damage and cost basically nothing to buy. I've staggered the final boss multiple times just by spamming Shot Puts during its recovery frames.

First Things First: Stuff I Wish I Knew Before The Parade Master

Alright, fresh puppet. You just woke up in the train, you've got a vague sense of existential dread, and you're about to walk into a city that hates you. Here's what you need to do immediately:

Pick the Right Starting Class. Yeah, yeah, "play what you want." But if you're struggling, go Path of the Bastard (the dex/technique build). The starting weapon—the saber—has a great moveset and a charged heavy that lunges forward for massive reach. The Path of the Cricket (strength/motivity) is viable but slower, and speed matters more when you're learning parry timings. Avoid the Path of the Sweeper unless you want an extra challenge on your first run—the balanced stats make you okay at everything but great at nothing.

Rush the Titan Sword Handle. You can get this in the Krat Central Station Plaza area, right before the Parade Master. It's on a corpse near the burning train. This handle has a B scaling in Technique and a moveset that includes a running heavy that covers half the arena. I used this handle with the Bone-Cutting Sawblade (found in the Workshop Union entrance) for my entire first playthrough. The reach is disgusting. The damage is disgusting. Get it.

Learn the Perfect Guard Timing Against the Parade Master. I'm not saying you need to beat him—I'm saying spend your first 2-3 lives just practicing the parry. The Parade Master is the game's skill check masquerading as a tutorial boss. His first phase is slow and telegraphed—he has a 3-hit combo that starts with a wind-up. Parry the first hit, and the rest of the combo is free. His second phase (when he rips his arm off) has a flurry attack where you need to parry 4-5 times in a row. If you can learn that timing here, the rest of the game opens up.

Upgrade Your Pulse Cell First. When you get your first Ergo currency (not the regular stuff, the gold ones you find in the open world), spend it on the Pulse Cell upgrade at the Holybelle Table. This gives you an extra heal. Then upgrade your P-Organ for the auto-refill of Pulse Cells at stargazers. Trust me, running out of heals in the middle of a zone is the worst feeling, and this completely solves that problem.

Don't Fight the First Carcass Enemy Head-On. You know the big, bloated guys that explode into a pile of angry maggots? They're not meant to be fought in a straight fight. Use the environment. Lure them near explosive barrels, or use Throwing Cells to pop them from a distance. Their grab attack does 80% of your health at base level. Just don't.

Expert Tips from Someone Who Died 200 Times

Here's the stuff I only figured out after sinking serious hours into this game. These are not "git gud" platitudes—these are specific, actionable things that will save your ass.

Weapon Assembly: The Golden Rule

Stop trying to make "cool" weapons. Make effective weapons. The system is deep, but here's the cheat code: put a heavy blade on a fast handle. The Bramble Curved Sword handle (found in the Moonlight Town area) has SS Technique scaling and a moveset that's all horizontal swings. Put the Police Baton head on it. The baton head has a crit rate of 25% and excellent stagger. Now you have a fast, high-crit, high-scaling weapon that staggers enemies in 2-3 hits. That's the kind of synergy you want.

Status Effects Are Your Friend

Everyone sleeps on Electric Blitz. But it's the best status in the game for 90% of enemies. Why? Because most puppets are weak to electricity, and even the humanoid enemies get stunlocked by the shock animation. The Fulminis Legion Arm (the electric one) charges up fast and does 80 damage per hit plus shock buildup. I used it to stunlock the King of Puppets during his second phase for a full 15 seconds—long enough to heal, buff, and land a fatal attack. The Conductor's Ergo weapon (created from the King's Ergo) has innate electric damage and is the best weapon in the game for a shock build.

The "Fable Art Economy"

Your Fable Arts (the special moves) regenerate charge when you land hits. This is not optional—this is your primary damage loop. Find a weapon with a Fable Art that has hyper armor (poise that can't be interrupted). The Greatsword of Fate's "Link Chop" has hyper armor and does 250 damage at base level. Land one normal hit, then immediately use the Fable Art. The normal hit generates the Fable charge, and the Art trades through enemy attacks. It's a self-sustaining cycle that wins fights.

At the Stargazer, Always Buy:

• Throwing Cells (you need at least 20 at all times for stagger setups)
• Shot Puts (the best stagger tool in the game—I buy 30 every restock)
• Resistance Ampoules (cure status effects—crucial for the Carcass areas)
• X-Mask (available from the merchant after the first boss—the description says it's a joke item, but it reduces puppet damage by 15%. It's not a joke.)

Mistakes That Got Me Killed (Don't Be Me)

I am an idiot. I've made every mistake in this game, and I'm documenting them so you don't have to. Here are the big ones:

1. I Ignored the "Rising Dodge" P-Organ Upgrade. There's a P-Organ upgrade called Rising Dodge that lets you dodge while on the ground after being knocked down. I skipped it for like 15 hours because I thought it was useless. Then I got stunlocked by the Green Monster of the Swamp—it has a 4-hit combo that starts with a ground slam, and without Rising Dodge, you just lie there and eat the entire thing. Get this upgrade as soon as you unlock the second tier of P-Organ slots. It's not optional.

2. I Tried to "Souls-Skip" Areas. Look, I'm a veteran. I run past enemies in every Souls game. That does not work here. The enemies in Lies of P have complete tracking on their attacks. If you sprint past a group of puppets, they will chase you across the entire zone, and the next group of enemies will also aggro. You'll end up with 12 angry puppets behind you and a boss fog ahead. I did this in Krat Central Station and got mobbed by a parade of puppets that killed me in three seconds. Clear the areas, or at least learn the patrol routes. The game is designed to punish rushers.

3. I Over-Relied on the Perfect Guard Stance. The Guard Stance (holding block) is not your friend. If you hold block, you take chip damage (about 30% of the incoming damage goes through). And your guard regain (the white health bar you can recover by attacking) is pitiful if you're just standing there. The game wants you to tap block at the right moment—not hold it. Learn the difference. I spent my first two bosses holding block like I was playing Dark Souls 1 and wondering why I was taking damage through my shield. This is not that game.

4. I Never Used the "Legion Arm Cancel." Here's a secret: when you're using a Legion Arm (like the flamethrower), you can tap the dodge button to cancel the animation halfway through. This is huge. The flamethrower leaves you locked in place for a long time, and bosses love to punish that. But if you hold the trigger for 2 seconds, let go, then dodge immediately, you can get the stagger damage without eating a hit. I learned this from a random YouTube comment and it changed my entire playstyle.

5. I Rushed Bosses Without Scouting. This is the dumbest one. Before every major boss, there's usually a stargazer nearby and a corpse with a note or an item. That note often tells you the boss's weakness or a mechanic. I walked into the Door Guardian fight without reading the note that said "shock resistance helps." I got electrocuted on the first hit and died in two. It's a small thing, but the game does give you hints. Use them.

Quick Answers to the Questions You're Googling at 2 AM

Q: "Is it worth upgrading the starting weapon?"
A: Yes, but only the Saber (Bastard start). The Greatsword and Balanced weapons fall off hard after Chapter 4. The Saber's moveset stays viable until the credits.

Q: "What's the best Fable Art?"
A: "Link Chop" from the Greatsword of Fate (with hyper armor), or "Stabbing Stance" from the Acidic Crystal Spear (does 300 damage and applies Acid). Both can carry you through multiple bosses.

Q: "How do I beat the Black Rabbit Brotherhood?"
A: Kill the little siblings first. The big one will stand in the back and do nothing if you ignore him. The little ones are fragile—Stagger the first one with a Shot Put, then critical attack. Once they're dead, the big one is a 1v1 with telegraphed combos. I used the Flamberge to keep burning him while he was mid-combo.

Q: "The handle/head system is confusing. Any simple builds?"
A: Get the Bone-Cutting Sawblade (head) and the Bramble Curved Sword handle (from Moonlight Town). Combine them. That's a B in Technique, 25% crit, fast swings, massive reach. It's my go-to for new players.

Q: "I can't find the Trinity Key in Chapter 3."
A: It's in the Estate basement, in a locked room behind a breakable wall. But honestly, the Trinity doors give you mostly cosmetic stuff. Don't stress about it on your first run. Focus on the linear path.

Q: "Is the game actually beatable with a strength build?"
A: Yes, but it's harder. The Holy Sword of the Ark (from the King's Ergo) has a charged heavy that turns into a 6-hit combo and is the best strength weapon. But you need to be comfortable with trading hits. If you're struggling, respec at the Holybelle Table (costs a Coin of Wishes—you find them in the open world) to a Technique build.