Do you need some help dealing with The King of Puppets Boss in Lies of P? If so you’re in the right place, The King of Puppets is the fourth major boss Geppeto sends you to deal with and is supposedly pulling the strings (pun intended) behind the bloody puppet frenzy that has ravaged Krat. It’s also a two stage fight like The Fallen Archbishop Andreus though each stage is quite different from the other. His introduction starts off with a rudimentary play that seems to depict your character’s creation, who is The King of Puppets truly? You’ll need to defeat him to get those answers, so here’s how to do so.
How to Prepare for The King of Puppets Boss in Lies of P
The King of Puppets is a large four armed mech adorned with gaudy gold pauldrons, jewelry and a crown. The name alone should very clearly clue you in that he is a puppet and that means electricity is especially effective against him. He should be an easy target for any electricity-based throwable items, like pulse cells, thanks to his large size. His movements can also be a bit erratic across both stages so you can equip the Aegis Legion Arm for added defense.
This fight is fairly flexible in terms of weapon options. Something heavy with high damage mitigation, like the Exploding Pickaxe, can be a great option if you want to turtle up and maximize your stagger and fatal attack chances. However, a much lighter weapon, like the Electric Coil Stick, can be very effective if you are good with parrying and movement. When in doubt, go with whatever you are most comfortable with and upgrade it as much as possible.
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How to Get Past Phase 1 of The King of Puppets
The first phase of the King of Puppets in Lies of P doesn’t have a huge set of moves to worry about, as his speed is relatively manageable, and you can move out of range of his worst attacks easily. Still, there are a few you should keep an eye out for:
- A spin followed by a ground punch (often done twice). This attack seems to be the King of Puppet’s favorite, as he’ll use if quite often. Luckily, its extravagant start-up is easy to see coming and dodge with a side step. You should take the opportunity to learn the timing of this attack and parry every chance you get in order build up posture damage towards a stagger.
- A spinning tornado area of effect attack. The King of Puppets will slowly start to rotate the top half of his body, allowing his larger arms to flail out. He’ll shortly increase speed and engulf a large area surrounding him in an Ergo explosion. Try to create as much distance as possible while this move starts up and dodge/ roll to avoid it or risk getting launched off the ground.
- A flurry of spinning claw attacks. The King of Puppet’s claw machine-like hands will begin to rotate like drills and he’ll walk forward with a series of lunging arm attacks. This can be followed by a red unblockable sweep attack with both arms. You should be able to create distance if you see his hands spinning up and keep away from his chasing attacks. The final unblockable attack has a lot of additional range, so stay far away until he’s completely finished.
- A red unblockable belly flop. This attack has a slow startup that appears to be a foot stomp, but the King of Puppets will immediately fall forward with his arms outstretched, covering a good distance in front of his position. If you’re in range, dodging is unlikely. You’ll need to parry once it looks like the foot is coming down, but be wary, as he will sweep the area in front of him with both arms after, so don’t let your guard down if you’re still standing.
After bringing his health down by about 40 percent, the King of Puppets in Lies of P will begin to move more erratically and add a couple new attacks, none of which is especially dangerous. Your best openings are the windows following his favorite spin attack, and if you are managing to parry regularly, you will weaken the enemy’s stance, which you’ll know by the flashing white border around the health bar.
Landing a fully charged heavy attack will stun the boss. Don’t be afraid to sneak in one more charged heavy attack before getting in place for the fatal attack (normal attack in the red circle.) You may even be able to let loose a fable attack immediately after for a ton of burst damage all together.
Related: Is Lies of P Based on Pinocchio?
How to Get Past Phase 2 of The King of Puppets/Romeo in Lies of P
Once defeated, the chest plate of The King of Puppets will dislodge, revealing Romeo, the human-sized, white-haired puppet that was controlling the hulking mech. You may recognize this figure, despite his half-burned face, as the spitting image of the AI Specter whom you can summon to aid you in boss battles. But with a scythe in hand, Romeo means to kill you.
Romeo is an entirely different fight; he’s much faster and more agile than the hulking mech he was piloting, but he tends to maintain a very even rhythm, which makes avoiding his swings quite manageable and parrying him not too difficult. Since he’s about your size, blocking with a strong enough weapon won’t hurt you too much, so you can turtle up and catch his rhythm in order to parry his final few hits and regain your health.
You should be able to see many of his attacks coming, but blocking is a great way to stay safe in this fight. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for a few particular attacks.
- Romeo will scrape the ground with his scythe circling your position. He’ll either close the gap quickly with a swift attack or jump into the air for a big overhead strike. Don’t be panicked by his speed; the faster strike can be easily blocked, so hold a blocking position. This attack leaves you with plenty of time to move or parry, as its timing is very straightforward.
- Romeo’s red unblockable is a pole vault on his scythe that drops a heel kick down towards you. It has surprising range and is best sidestepped vs. trying to back away.
At 50 percent health, Romeo may ignite his scythe with fire and gains a slightly faster series of continuous attacks. You can either block or sidestep these assaults or back off to wait out the fire buff.
Punish Romeo’s attacks where he commits more heavily, like the aforementioned jumping overhead, and sneak in one or two hits when he finishes. If you’re finding he’s wearing down your stamina, this is a great time to make use of your Aegis Legion Arm. The initial block will cause damage, and the following blocked attacks will drain your legion bar instead of your health. Despite Romeo’s resemblance to your AI Specter, you can still summon the Specter for help in this fight, and he makes both phases a lot easier to handle by drawing attention away from you.
What Drops Do You Get for Beating The King of Puppets in Lies of P
When you’ve defeated Romeo you’ll get the following items:
- Burnt-White King’s Ergo
- Puppet Prince’s Formal Dress
- Someone’s Necklace
You’ll also learn that the situation may not have been exactly as you’ve been told. A massive threat still remains and you’re starting down the path of a deep rabbit hole. If you want answers you’ll be heading towards Lorenzini Arcade next.
If you’re looking for more on the game after defeating the King of Puppets and Romeo, check out where to get all the weapons in Lies of P.
