The Hidden Strategy: Ingenious Tactics of Late-Game Bosses in P’s Unmasked
Lies of P's Late-Game Bosses: Unveiling Clever Tactics to Keep Players on Their Toes, the game masterfully subverts expectations in combat, enthralling players with cunning tricks and cautioning against falling for enticing baits Prepare for a thrilling challenge till the very end
Highlights
The beta version of Lies of P allowed fans to practice combat mechanics and provided a strong foundation, but the game still introduces unexpected twists in boss fights.
During combat, players must familiarize themselves with the attack patterns of enemies and capitalize on every chance to inflict damage. However, enemies possess remarkable agility, making it difficult to land multiple hits.
It is vital to stagger enemies, particularly during boss fights which comprise several stages and demand careful management of resources. Nevertheless, players should remain cautious as some late-game bosses deliberately tempt them with stagger animations that are intentionally delayed.
Lies of P takes players on a challenging journey through Krat under the guidance of Geppetto and Sophia. While some obstacles are optional, they can significantly increase the difficulty of the adventure if players are not aware of necessary items or dialogue choices. Despite this, the game clearly portrays who the villains are from the player's perspective. Additionally, previous encounters do not always provide useful knowledge for scripted battles in Lies of P.
Fans who participated in the game's beta will have benefited from the opportunity to practice combat against regular enemies and early bosses like the Parade Master and the Scrapped Watchman. This allowed them to familiarize themselves with combat mechanics such as dodging, guarding, perfect guarding, and utilizing items like Pulse Cells or throwables. Although this knowledge proves helpful for a majority of the game, Lies of P still manages to introduce unexpected twists in boss fights that challenge players' strategies, especially during their initial playthrough.
Lies of P is Great at Subverting Expectations in Combat
In Lies of P, players will need to invest considerable time into understanding enemy attack patterns in order to identify strategic opportunities for counterattacks. The game emphasizes the importance of capitalizing on these limited vulnerable moments for maximum damage.
Despite the advantage of quick-paced combat, where speed is favored for technique-oriented builds, players will find it challenging to land more than a couple of hits before enemies initiate their own swift counterattacks, even with fast piercing weapons. Therefore, it becomes crucial for players to prioritize staggering enemies, as this grants them a rare opportunity for unhindered strikes amid the chaos of battle. Even when players notice the enemy's health bar displaying a white border, caution should prevail, and the temptation to unleash a flurry of attacks must be resisted unless there is a guaranteed opportunity to safely execute a charged strike capable of staggering the enemy.
If successful, the enemy will enter a stun state for a set duration, giving players the opportunity to deliver a fatal attack known as a riposte or visceral attack, which FromSoftware fans will recognize. When the enemy's health bar is depleted and they stagger, players will learn that they can quickly move in to land a free hit, indicated by an icon displaying three red slashes. This tactic remains effective until the third act of Lies of P, where bosses like Champion Victor or Laxasia the Complete will deceive players by feigning a stagger and then launching sudden attacks before truly staggering and leaving themselves vulnerable.
This adjustment can prove challenging for players who have spent around 20 hours rushing in for the fatal attack, as they now need to remain vigilant in case the enemy's stagger is a deliberate ploy to punish overeager or greedy players. Additionally, another aspect of boss fights in Lies of P that players must grasp is that nearly all bosses will have a completely fresh health bar and an enhanced form during their second phase.
Fans quickly learn to anticipate this repetitive pattern after it repeats multiple times. It is wise for players to predict that a boss will have multiple health bars or phases, both to test their mental agility and to carefully manage their inventory. This ensures that valuable resources are not carelessly wasted before encountering a more challenging second phase of the battle.
Lies of P is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
