You’re standing there. Your pulse is thumping in your thumbs. You’ve got a sliver of health left, and that puppet—that absolute nightmare of a Lies of P boss—just started its second phase. We’ve all been there. It’s that specific brand of frustration Neowiz Games mastered, where you’re not just fighting a bunch of pixels, you’re fighting your own muscle memory.
Honestly? Most people complain about the parry window. They say it’s too tight compared to Sekiro or too stiff compared to Bloodborne. But after sinking hundreds of hours into Krat, I’ve realized the problem isn't the window. It's the rhythm. Every Lies of P boss is essentially a metronome designed to trick you. They hold their swings. They delay. They punish you for panic-rolling. If you want to actually beat this game without breaking a controller, you have to stop playing it like a Soulslike and start playing it like a rhythm game.
The Laxasia Problem: Why She’s the Hardest Boss for Most Players
Laxasia the Complete is basically the Malenia of this game. It's not just the lightning; it's the sheer relentless speed of her second phase. When she takes off into the air and starts hurlng bolts at you, most players just hold block and pray. Big mistake.
You should be parrying those bolts back at her. It deals massive posture damage and chips away at her health while she’s literally untouchable in the air. If you aren't doing this, you're making the fight twice as long as it needs to be. I’ve seen people try to dodge-roll through the lightning spam, and it almost never works because the tracking in this game is predatory. It’s designed to catch you at the end of your frames.
The first phase is a test of patience. She moves like a heavy tank, swinging that massive blade with a delay that feels like an eternity. If you parry too early, you're dead. You have to wait until the very last microsecond. Most players get frustrated here because they try to "read" the animation, but Laxasia is designed to subvert that reading. You have to learn the sound of her swing.
The Puppet King and the Trap of Phase One
Everyone loves Romeo. Well, everyone hates fighting him, but his design is top-tier. The King of Puppets is a classic "spectacle" Lies of P boss. Phase one is this giant, lumbering hunk of metal that hits like a freight train but moves predictably. It's easy. It's too easy. It lulls you into a sense of false security before Romeo jumps out of the shell and starts playing a completely different game.
Romeo is fast. He’s too fast if you’re using a heavy build like the Holy Sword of the Ark. If you’re struggling with him, stop trying to parry every single hit in his fire-dance combo. Just dodge to the left. Seriously. Most of his tracking fails if you just circle-strafe to his right (your left).
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A lot of the "expert" advice tells you to Perfect Guard everything. Look, if you’re a god-tier gamer, go for it. But for the rest of us? Mixing dodges and guards is the actual secret sauce. The game tells you that guarding is the primary mechanic, but the dodge has some decent invincibility frames that people ignore because they’re trying to be "optimal."
Breaking the Guard Regain Loop
One thing people get wrong is the Guard Regain system. When you block a hit from a Lies of P boss, you lose a bit of health but gain the ability to hit it back to heal.
- Don't get greedy.
- One hit is enough.
- Back off.
If you try to get all your health back in one go, Romeo or the Nameless Puppet will just stun-lock you into a combo, and then you’ve lost the regained health plus another 40% of your bar. It’s a bait. The devs put that mechanic there to make you play aggressive, which is exactly when they catch you with a red "fury" attack.
The Nameless Puppet: A Lesson in Pure Skill
The Nameless Puppet is arguably the best-designed encounter in the game, mostly because it feels "fair" in a way the Green Monster of the Swamp never does. It doesn't use status effects. It doesn't have minions. It's just you, a sword, and a puppet that wants to rip your heart out.
In the second phase, he starts using those twin blades that have incredible reach. If you haven't mastered the "Perfect Guard" by this point, this Lies of P boss will be your brick wall. Use the Aegis Legion Arm. It’s kinda the "easy mode" button if you're struggling. By holding the shield and tapping the guard button, you can trigger Perfect Guards much more reliably than with just the sword alone. It feels a bit like cheesing, but hey, a win is a win in Krat.
Why Your Build is Probably Killing You
I see so many players sticking to one weapon for the entire game. That’s a mistake. The weapon assembly system is the coolest part of the game, and yet people ignore it. If you’re fighting a boss with high strike resistance, stop using a giant hammer.
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The Tyrant Killer's Dagger blade on the Longcity Spear handle is a monster of a combo. It’s fast, it has incredible reach, and the critical hit rate is disgusting. When you're up against a Lies of P boss like Simon Manus, you need that speed. Manus has such high health that a slow weapon usually leads to you making more mistakes over a longer period of time. Shortening the fight is a defensive strategy.
Elemental Weaknesses Matter (A Lot)
You can't just ignore the grinders.
- Carcasses (the fleshy monsters) hate Fire.
- Puppets (anything mechanical) hate Electric Blitz.
- Humans (the stalkers) hate Acid.
If you go into the Corrupted Parade Master fight without some fire abrasives or a fire-cranked weapon, you’re just making your life miserable for no reason. It’s not just a small damage boost; it’s a massive stagger bonus.
The Most Underrated Tool: The Wishstone
Cube usage is weirdly polarizing. Some players think it’s a gimmick. But if you’re using a Specter to help with a particularly nasty Lies of P boss, the Wishstones that heal your summon are literal lifesavers.
The Specter isn't there to do damage. It's a distraction. If you can keep that distraction alive into the second phase of a fight like the Eldest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood, your chances of winning go up by like 70%. The Brotherhood fight is a chaotic mess, and having someone else to draw the aggro of the smaller siblings while you focus on the big guy is the only way to keep your sanity.
Dealing With the "Fury" Attacks
We need to talk about the red attacks. You can't dodge them. You can't regular-block them. You have to either be completely out of range or hit a Perfect Guard.
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This is where the Ghost Walk Amulet comes in. It lets you dodge Fury attacks. It’s a boss soul trade (from the Puppet Eater), and honestly, it’s the most valuable item in the game for anyone who finds the parry timing too punishing. It fundamentally changes how you approach a Lies of P boss. Instead of sweating over a frame-perfect block, you just dash through it.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Run
Stop banging your head against the wall using the same strategy. If you're stuck on a boss, try these specific adjustments before you give up:
- Respec at the Gold Coin Fruit Tree. If you’ve put everything into Motivity but you’re finding the slow swing speed is getting you killed, try a Technique build with the Two-Dragon Sword. Its heavy attack has a built-in parry that is incredibly satisfying once you get the timing down.
- Upgrade your P-Organ for Pulse Cells first. You need more heals. Period. The "Increase Pulse Cells" and "Enhance Guard Regain" nodes are mandatory for survival.
- Use your throwables. This isn't Dark Souls where throwing knives do 10 damage. In this game, Shot Puts can actually stagger a boss when their health bar is glowing white. If you're too far away to land a heavy hit, just chuck a Shot Put. It works every time.
- Change your Legion Arm. Don't just stick with the Left Arm of Steel. The Falcon Eyes is great for chipping damage from a distance, and the Pandemonium (acid) can melt certain bosses if you bait them into standing in the puddle.
The beauty of the Lies of P boss design is that they are puzzles. They aren't just tests of reflex; they are tests of preparation. If you're failing, it's usually because you're trying to force a playstyle that the boss was specifically designed to counter. Change your handle, swap your amulet, and pay attention to the elemental weaknesses. You'll find that what felt like an impossible wall is actually just a door that requires the right key.
Go back to the Malum District, stock up on some thermite, and give it another shot. You’ve got this. Luck doesn't exist in Krat—only timing and the right blade.
Check your P-Organ upgrades and make sure you have the "Retain Guard Regain" node active before your next attempt at the Nameless Puppet. It makes the trade-offs in Phase 2 much more forgiving.