You’ve seen that blue glow on the ground. You pick it up, and it’s another one. A Star Fragment. If you’re playing Lies of P, your inventory is probably either bursting at the seams with these things or you’re desperately scraping the bottom of the barrel because a certain boss—looking at you, Laxasia—is ruining your week.
Honestly, the Lies of P Star Fragment is one of those items that defines your playstyle without you even realizing it. It’s the gateway to the Specter system. Some players treat them like literal trash, while others see them as a vital lifeline in a game that doesn’t exactly play fair.
What a Star Fragment Actually Does
Basically, it's a summon token. That’s it.
When you stand outside a boss arena, you’ll see a birdbath-looking thing called a Crack’s Calling. If you have at least one Star Fragment, you can interact with it to summon a Specter. This AI companion jumps into the fight to take aggro, deal a bit of chip damage, and generally give you a second to breathe.
It’s worth noting that the Specter isn't just a generic NPC. Depending on the boss, they often show up with specific gear. For example, if the boss drops a soul (Ergo) that can be traded for a special weapon, the Specter might actually be wielding that exact weapon. It’s a cool bit of lore flavor that suggests these "wishes" are calling in versions of heroes who have already faced these monsters.
But here is the kicker: the Specter is not invincible. Far from it. Especially in the early days of the game, they were notoriously squishy. Later patches buffed their health significantly, but they can still get shredded if you just stand back and watch. You have to work with them.
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The Best Way to Use Star Fragments Without Wasting Them
Don't just burn them on your first attempt. That’s the rookie mistake.
When you hit a new boss, go in solo first. Seriously. You need to see the move set. You need to understand the rhythm of the attacks. If you summon a Specter immediately, the boss’s aggro will bounce back and forth unpredictably, which actually makes it harder to learn the parry timings.
Once you’ve got the first phase down but find yourself getting overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of the second phase, that is when you crack open the Star Fragments.
A Few "Pro" Tips for Summoning:
- Wishstones are your best friend: Once you meet Giangio and get the Cube, you can use Wishstones to buff your Specter. The "Friendship Wishstone" heals them, which can literally double their lifespan in a fight.
- Aggro Management: If the boss is beating on the Specter, get behind them and unload. If the boss turns to you, play defensively so the Specter can recover its stamina and jump back in.
- Don't rely on them for Nameless Puppet: Just a heads up—the game takes your toys away at the very end. The final (optional) boss does not allow summons. If you’ve used a Star Fragment for every fight until then, you’re going to have a very bad time.
Where to Find and Farm Star Fragments
If you’re struggling, you might run out. It happens. While the game throws a lot of these at you early on, the drop rates were actually tweaked in Patch 1.2.0.0 to be slightly lower.
You can't just buy an infinite amount from a shop right away. You can eventually trade Gold Coin Fruit to Giangio for them, but that fruit takes real-time to grow. It’s a slow process.
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The "Workshop Union" Farm
If you’re truly desperate, there is a legendary farming spot. Head to the Workshop Union Entrance Stargazer.
Turn around and run toward the large puppet enemy (the big guy with the shovel/club). He has a remarkably high drop rate for Star Fragments—some players report it being as high as 70-80%. You can kill him, run back to the Stargazer, and reset. It’s boring, yeah, but you can get 20 fragments in about 15 minutes if your damage is high enough to melt him quickly.
Other Reliable Drops
- Dimensional Butterflies: Those glowing beetles that run away from you? They often drop upgrade materials, but they occasionally cough up fragments too.
- Elite Enemies: Basically any "large" enemy that doesn't respawn is guaranteed to give you something good, often a fragment or a Quartz.
- General Exploration: They are tucked into corners everywhere. If you see a ladder leading to a rooftop in Elysion Boulevard, there’s probably a fragment up there.
The "Elite" Debate: To Summon or Not?
There is a weird segment of the Soulslike community that thinks using a Lies of P Star Fragment is "cheating."
Ignore them.
The developers put the mechanic in the game for a reason. Lies of P has some of the most aggressive boss tracking and delayed attacks in the entire genre. Sometimes, the frustration outweighs the fun. If summoning a Specter helps you clear a boss that’s been blocking your progress for three days, do it.
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That said, there is a genuine mechanical downside. Some players feel that the Specter makes the boss too chaotic. Because the boss is constantly turning to face different targets, it can be harder to land those crucial Perfect Guards. If you're a parry god, the Star Fragment might actually be a hindrance.
Selling Them for Ergo
What if you’re a "solo-only" purist? Well, then you’re sitting on a gold mine.
You can actually sell Star Fragments to merchants for Ergo. They don’t sell for a massive amount, but when you have a stack of 99 sitting in your inventory because you refuse to use them, that’s a free couple of level-ups or a whole lot of Throwing Cells.
Honestly, I usually keep about 10 just in case I hit a wall, and sell the rest. Throwables in this game (like Shot Puts) are incredibly broken, so trading your "summon tokens" for "explosive jars" is a very valid strategy.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're currently stuck, don't just keep throwing yourself at the wall.
- Check your inventory: If you have more than 20 fragments, start using them with the Cube's "Indomitable" or "Friendship" Wishstones.
- Go to the Workshop Union: Spend 10 minutes farming the big puppet to build a safety net.
- Upgrade your P-Organ: Look for nodes that increase the number of times you can use the Cube; this indirectly makes every Star Fragment you spend much more effective.
The game is meant to be conquered, however you choose to do it. Whether you're selling them for extra strength or summoning a phantom buddy to take a hit for you, those blue shards are your most flexible tool in Krat.