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Bloodborne fans rejoice, withLies Of Pwe have the closest thing to a new Bloodborne title that you are likely to get any time soon. And with a new Bloodborne-esque title comes a series of grueling encounters against tough enemies. However, while Lies Of P wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it does throw in a little of its own secret sauce here and there.
Related:Lies Of P: Beginner Tips
This guide will give you everything you need to start off strong when engaging in some puppet-on-puppet violence. We’ll tell you how to master the perfect guard system, how to beat those pesky rival Stalkers, and even reveal some mechanics that the game doesn’t really bother to teach you—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?
Backstabbing Isn’t Just For Stealth
If you take one thing away from this guide it is how important the backstab is in typical combat encounters.If an enemy is human-sized chances are you can backstab them.However, just like in the Souls games,this isn’t limited to stealth combat situations.
The best way to utilize this attack is tostrafe around your opponent, then, once they commit themselves to an attack, line yourself up with their back and stab away.And if you are wondering, yes, thiswillwork on every Stalker you encounter!
There are even certain bosses that are susceptible to this attack. Learning how to implement this during combat will save you a lot of heartache!
Run Like Your Life Depends On It… Because It Does
Wait, why are you telling us to run in a combat guide? Well, we aren’t saying you should runaway, just that you need to sprint. When you are fighting bosses your first instinct may be to depend on your dodge roll and your perfect guards to see you through, but often the much better play is to simply run away from your opponent as they are flailing wildly, then, when they are recovering from their lengthy animations, go back in and give ‘em a stab or two.
By utilizing the dash effectively you will be able to keep yourself at a safe distance while also being able to quickly return to striking distance.Of course, if a boss is using slow, telegraphed attacks, then Perfect Guarding them is the solution, but other times you are going to want to be mobile.This is a lesson you will want to learn before you get to the King of the Puppets boss!
The Hop Ability
The game doesn’t tell you about this, but you have the ability to perform a little jump while sprinting.Depending on the platform you are playing it on, you will need to check your controller settings, buton the consoles, you perform this by pressing in the left stick as you run.
This jump will give you a little extra distance when trying to flee certain attacks.It is surprisingly useful.
Understanding The Guard System
For starters, the normal guard mechanics clearly take a lot of inspiration from Lies Of P’s favorite game: Bloodborne. Just like in Bloodborne, you may reclaim lost health by quickly striking your enemy. However,unlike Bloodborne, your recoverable health is the health you lose while blocking.Moreover, if you get hit while you have recoverable health, you will lose it all.
The more points you invest in Vitality, the more health you will regain. Pair that with a weapon that has a high “Damage Reduction Rate While Guarding” so that you lose less health while blocking to become a real threat to those puppets.
A perfect block works a little like the Sekiro parry in that you need to block the instantbeforean attack lands and doing so will eventually lead to your opponent being staggered.However, there are some notable differences, primarily in how the “Furious Attacks” work. These attacks will see your opponent glow red, at which point their attack will no longer be blockable or dodgeable. You will need to be out of range of the attack, or you will need to successfully use a perfect guard.
The best way to master this system is to try to time the enemy’s attacks but err on the side of being a little early.You aren’t going to tap the guard button when you do this either, you are going to hold. That way if you miss the Perfect Guard you will still get a regular guard.
Dodging Is Still Important
While utilizing the Perfect Guard alongside thoughtful stamina maintenance is crucial for success in Lies of P, your dodge also plays an important role.Some attacks, even when fully blocked, will still push you far away from your opponent.This makes it extremely difficult to follow up and can lead to you constantly being put at arms reach—and given the size of some of the enemies you will fight, those arms can be pretty damn long.
So, if you notice that an attack has a large amount of pushback, you will want to start rolling through it instead of Perfect Guarding it.That way you can dish out your own damage. This is especially true if you have a decent amount of recoverable health.
If you want to fight effectively in Lies Of P, you will want to incorporate both of these defensive abilities.As a rule of thumb, attacks that push you away, or that involve tricky timing to Perfect Guard, are attacks you should dash through.
Some Status Effects Provide Benefits
This is an odd one, but there are three side effects that affect you negatively, but also provide a small benefit to you at the same time.
On top of all of that, as you are inflicted by the status effects you will take damage, but you will also deal damage back to your opponents when you come in contact with them. Corruption, Disruption, Shock, and Break, however, do not provide any benefit to the player.
Don’t Bother With The Cube Until You Upgrade It
Fairly early in the game, you will be provided with the magical Cube. It holds wishes. Which are one-time-use items. At first, you will only have access to the “Recover Wishstone”. Every time you use it, you will need to go back to Giangio in the Cathedral to have it replenished.And for all that work you get a very mediocre recovery item that takes way too long to use.
If you have not upgraded your Cube, you should absolutelyNOTuse it during a boss fight. That is an easy way to get yourself killed.
That being said,once you unlock the third phase in your P-Organ activation you will be able to unlock the “Quick Wishstone Use” skill.This will make the Cube actually usable mid-battle. You will also unlock a number of different Wishstones, though most of them are only useful for people who are looking to summon spirits to help them in boss fights. Still, this skill will make the Cube a much more viable option. You will also be able to increase the amount of Wishstones you can use.So, don’t worry about the cube until you get those skills.
Let Them Fight!
So, this may come as a shock to you, but Puppets are not the only types of enemies you will encounter in Lies Of P. In fact, you will encounter quite a few people infected by the Petrification Disease which is, for all intents and purposes, a disease that turns people into zombies. That being said, people turning into the walking dead doesn’t mean they are buddies with the Puppets now. In fact, if they come in contact with each other, theywillfight.
This is perfect for you, as it means you’re able to run one group into the other. Just sit back and let them fight it out, then, when one of them destroys the other, polish the survivor off.This is particularly useful for the juggling clown Puppets. They are a pretty tough foe, but they are always conveniently located near infected.
