How to beat the King of Puppets in Lies of P

From the get-go, the King of Puppets means business in Lies of P, and you’re in for a long and punishing boss fight—unless you embrace our best tips to beat him.

I can think of countless fights in Lies of P that gave me hell. However, none gave me as much trouble as the King of Puppets encounter. Even if you’re prepared, leveled up, and feel your setup is perfect, the King will have you bowing down to him across numerous attempts.

It’s a substantial difficulty spike unlike any other I’ve come across in recent Souls games, and no doubt if you’re reading this, you’re in the same boat. But take solace in this, he can be beaten, so let me show you how.

King of Puppets boss strategy in Lies of P

Phase One

My primary strategy for this whole fight is a Dexterity build focusing on building up acid damage. While you can be punished for being too aggressive, letting this fight go on too long will not help you.

During phase one, the first third of the King of Puppets is easy enough. He has two attacks: a 360-degree spin before punching the ground, and side-swiping attacks. Even if you’re not the best at parrying, you should be able to nail this down and build up plenty of stagger to deliver a Fatal Attack.

Once you’ve knocked off a third of his health, it’s time to back away. The King of Puppets will become angry, roar, and deliver aggressive, wide-ranging attacks with a significant area of effect.

Once he’s finished, get straight back into his big, ugly face. The boss will show off a vastly improved arsenal featuring many new offensive moves. His high-launching jump and homing attack make retreating pointless, so be ready to time your parry right or roll out of the way.

The King has another spinning attack you need to run away from, or if you pick up on his telltale sign, you can actually stand right next to him and get off a few easy hits.

He has lots of parryable strikes in this phase if your timing is on point, but the biggest danger-ridden maneuvers to watch out for are his gun projectiles, which will hurt and stun you, leaving you open for a brutal counterattack. Furthermore, his Fury Attack hits very hard. Dodging it is very difficult, so I’d recommend you nail down the parry window.

The King of Puppets doesn’t like Acid, which was perfect for my build. So an upgraded Acidic Crystal Spear with a quicker/harder-hitting handle should do the trick. If you stay on him, you’ll build up Acid damage quickly and it will make the fight easier.

Phase Two

As with many of Lies of P‘s bosses, the King of Puppets has a second phase. In all honesty, it’s not as difficult or taxing as the first phase, but may end up killing you more.

With the theater engulfed in flames, out of the King of Puppets steps Romeo.

He will start the fight by lunging at you, and you have enough time to dodge, guard, or parry, and chip away at his health. Romeo’s attacks are very deliberate and actually some of the easiest attacks to parry in Lies of P, but they come in large quantities, meaning if your timing is off, your stamina and health will drain quickly.

Romeo has not one, not two, but four Fury attacks to be wary of and they can come out of nowhere, very fast.

In one instance, he will perch himself on top of his weapon and plunge down, but you can just dodge backward to get out of trouble. In another attack, he will attempt to grab you and hook you with the blade before pummeling you. Funnily enough, you can dodge backward again, but your senses need to be sharp as it happens in a flash.

For the third one, he will mimic the King of Puppets’ first phase leaping attack covering a lot of the arena, so bear this in mind when he does as you’ve already had practice. The final one is a simple overhead attack you can sidestep.

Give careful consideration to the attacks you feel you can parry and dodge and a bit more patience with this phase should see you eliminate half of his health bar. Now, around the halfway mark, Romeo will gain an itchy trigger finger.

DO NOT let Romeo ignite his sword. If he does, he will unleash a near-endless combo that will sap your stamina, guard, and health, and more than likely bring an untimely end to your attempt. Save your most devastating Fable Arts for this very moment. If you’re successful, it should prevent Romeo from imbuing his sword with fire.

Or, if you’re even braver, try and find space and land a charged attack to interrupt his fiery combo. If you can perfect the art of the parry in this second phase, you can actually cause Romeo’s weapon to snap in half, greatly decreasing his damage output.

It took me several hours to beat this fight, without a Specter, so make no mistake: The King of Puppets fight is no walk in the park. The same can be said for Laxasia the Complete, the Parade Master, and various other bosses too.