You finally did it. You climbed the Abbey, took down Simon Manus, and stood before Geppetto, expecting some sort of warmth. Instead, you get a choice that feels like a trap. If you refuse to give up your heart, you meet the Nameless Puppet in Lies of P, a boss that doesn’t just test your stats—it tests whether you actually learned how to play the game over the last thirty hours. It is brutal. It’s fast. Honestly, it feels like the developers at Neowiz decided to take every "git gud" meme and manifest it into a mechanical nightmare that wields a transforming sword like a butcher on speed.
Most players hit a brick wall here. They’ve spent the whole game relying on specters to draw aggro, but the Nameless Puppet is a solo affair. No summons. No help. Just you, your P-Organ upgrades, and a growing sense of dread as you realize this thing is basically the "true" version of yourself, just without the soul.
The Secret History of the Nameless Puppet in Lies of P
Geppetto isn't exactly "Father of the Year" material. If you’ve been paying attention to the notes scattered around Hotel Krat and the Alchemist's isle, you know he was obsessed with reviving his dead son, Carlo. The protagonist we play as is the successful vessel, but the Nameless Puppet was the first attempt. It was discarded. Geppetto deemed it too volatile, too filled with destructive potential because it lacked the "Ergo" stabilization required to hold Carlo’s personality. It’s a literal corpse of a puppet, stuffed into a suitcase, waiting for the moment Geppetto decides to cut his losses and start over.
When you refuse to hand over your heart, Geppetto stops pretending. He opens that case, and the Nameless Puppet spills out like a pile of discarded anatomy before clicking into a combat stance that should look familiar. It uses the same workshop tech you do. It’s a dark mirror. While you’ve spent the game becoming more human, this thing represents the pure, mechanical violence of a puppet without a leash.
Phase One: The Dance of the Dual Blades
The first half of the fight is a rhythmic test. It moves with a strange, jerky grace. You’ll notice it uses a sword that can split into two or combine into a heavy Greatsword. This phase is all about the Perfect Guard. If you try to dodge everything, you’re going to run out of stamina before you even get it to half health.
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The Nameless Puppet’s attacks in this phase are telegraphed, but they have a "delay" that’s designed to catch panic-rollers. You’ve seen this before with bosses like the Laxasia or the King of Puppets, but here, the recovery windows are almost non-existent. You have to be aggressive. If you back off to heal, it’ll close the gap in a millisecond with a lunging stab. I’ve found that staying mid-range is actually more dangerous than sticking to its face. If you're close, you can see the shoulder shrug that precedes its triple-slash combo.
The Second Phase Shift: Why Everything Changes
Once you hit that mid-point cutscene, the Nameless Puppet in Lies of P stops playing fair. It starts using blood-red Ergo. It becomes a blur. This is where most players lose their minds because the boss gains a massive boost to mobility and starts performing aerial dives that can one-shot a build with low Vigor.
The weapon changes, too. It starts using a twin-blade setup that creates trails of red energy. These trails aren't just for show—they have a lingering hitbox. If you parry the physical blade but stand in the energy trail, you’re still taking chip damage. This is the moment where your build truly matters. If you didn’t invest in the "Retain Guard Regain" nodes in your P-Organ, you’re going to struggle to keep your health up.
Dealing with the "Eye Flash" Fury Attack
In the second phase, the Nameless Puppet has a signature dash. It’ll retreat to the far end of the arena, its eye will flash red, and then it will travel across the floor faster than the game’s camera can usually track. This is a Fury Attack. You cannot dodge it. You cannot block it normally. You have to Perfect Guard it or use the Ghost Walk Amulet.
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I’ve talked to people who spent three days on this boss just because of that one move. The trick is the sound cue. There's a high-pitched "shing" right before it moves. If you time your block to the sound rather than the visual, you’ll catch the blade every time. It’s a heavy stagger builder, too. Catching that dash is often the only way to get enough posture damage to trigger a Fatal Attack in phase two.
Strategic Gear Choices That Actually Work
You can’t just brute force this. Well, you can, but it’s miserable. The Nameless Puppet is a "Puppet" type enemy (shocker, I know), which means it is incredibly weak to Electric Blitz. If you aren’t using the Electric Coil Stick head or a weapon buffed with Electric Blitz Abrasives, you’re leaving damage on the table.
- The Aegis Legion Arm: This is almost a cheat code. If you hold the shield up and tap the guard button, you can "flicker" the guard to get easy Perfect Parries while staying protected. It’s a bit cheese-adjacent, but against a boss this fast, it’s a valid survival strategy.
- The Perfect Guard Grindstone: This is mandatory. You get two uses if you’ve upgraded your P-Organ. Save them for the second phase. When the Puppet goes into its red-energy frenzy, pop this stone, and you can just hold the block button to automatically Perfect Guard every hit. It turns its most dangerous combo into a massive stagger opportunity for you.
- Amulets: Use the Puppet Destroyer’s Amulet for the flat damage boost. The Blue Guardianship Amulet is also a life-saver for the extra health and stamina. You need every pixel of that green bar to keep up with the Puppet's relentless pressure.
Why This Fight Matters for the "True" Ending
Getting to the Nameless Puppet is the only way to see the "Rise of P" ending. If you just give your heart to Geppetto, the game ends on a sour, hollow note. You don’t get to see the culmination of P’s journey toward humanity. By fighting the Nameless Puppet, you are literally fighting for your right to exist as a person rather than a tool.
It’s a narrative masterpiece. The music shifts from a tragic, operatic score to something much more frantic and desperate. You can feel Geppetto’s frustration in the way the Puppet fights. It’s not a duel of honor; it’s a father trying to break a toy that won't behave.
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The difficulty spike is real. Some claim it’s harder than Malenia from Elden Ring because the parry window in Lies of P is significantly tighter—roughly 8 frames compared to the more generous windows in other soulslikes. You have to be precise. You have to be calm.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't panic heal. The Nameless Puppet is designed to punish "estus chugging" behavior. If you need to use a Pulse Cell, wait for the end of its big jump attack or after you’ve successfully staggered it.
Don't ignore your throwables. Shot Put is your best friend here. If the boss's health bar has a white outline (meaning it's ready to be staggered), but it won't stop attacking long enough for you to land a charged heavy, just chuck a Shot Put at its face. It counts as a heavy attack and will instantly trigger the stagger state.
Actionable Steps for Success
- Re-spec if necessary: Go to the Saintess of Mercy Statue. Dump points into Capacity so you can wear the heaviest defensive frame and union parts without being "Slightly Heavy." Heavy armor makes the Puppet's quick slashes much more manageable.
- Max out the Aegis Arm: The explosion counter on the fully upgraded Aegis can interrupt the Puppet's shorter combos, giving you a second to breathe.
- Learn the "Step-Dodge": In phase one, dodging into the attacks (to the right side) often puts you behind the Puppet, allowing for two quick hits. In phase two, this is much riskier, so stick to parrying.
- Manage your P-Organ: Ensure you have "Increase Staggerable Window" and "Retain Guard Regain" equipped. These are the two most important nodes for this specific encounter.
The Nameless Puppet in Lies of P isn't a boss you beat by being lucky. You beat it by being better than the machine Geppetto tried to replace you with. Once you see that "You Died" screen for the fiftieth time, take a breath, look at the patterns, and remember that every move it has is a move you can counter. It’s the ultimate test of the game’s mechanics, and finally landing that finishing blow is one of the most satisfying moments in modern action RPGs.
Go back in there. Watch the eyes, listen for the "shing," and take your heart back.
Next Steps for Players:
Check your inventory for Shot Puts and Electric Blitz Abrasives before entering the arena. If you are struggling with parry timing, spend ten minutes in the training area at Hotel Krat practicing against the dummy to internalize the 8-frame window. Ensure your P-Organ is optimized for "Guard Regain" to survive the chip damage in phase two.