The staple of a good soul-like is the right mix of bosses that are not only challenging but their combat style blends seamlessly into the game’s mechanics. Studio8 has expertly put together a roster of bosses that range from downright dumb to outstanding fights that will be etched in the history of soul-like. We will go over all the bosses in Lies of P and rank them according to their difficulty.
There are a total of 27 boss fights in Lies of P. Eight of them can be clumped together as their fighting styles are similar with minor variations. The rest are unique bosses who bring new challenges to the table and are the ones to look out for.
18. Puppet of the Future
Difficulty: 1 out of 5
This giant automaton is the quintessential oversized souls-like boss where you must scurry around its feet like a mouse. The way you fight this boss isn’t the most exhilarating like its other counterparts, but it has a clean design that is less frustrating.
However, the size of the boss does make it harder to read its attacks though the attacks themselves aren’t that challenging and signal P to react accordingly.
The poison-filled arena poses a bigger threat in this fight although with a bit of exploration, you can drain the poison making this fight almost trivial. Later on in the game, you will have to face a duo of these bosses and the changes in their fighting style keep things fresh.
Nevertheless, this boss is stupidly easy to dispatch so you needn’t worry.
17. Corrupted Parade Master
Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5
The second coming of the Parade Master, this time corrupted by acidic flesh, is easier than its first appearance. The difficulty of the first time lies in your unawareness of its moves, but this time you are more educated, able to see its attacks coming from a mile away.
The boss’s moveset is very similar to the original with a few new tricks courtesy of his corrupted arm such as a ranged Fury Attack. He’ll also periodically barf up an acid monster to help him, but 2-3 light attacks are enough to kill them.
The changes to the boss do put a spin on the original and are a good measure of appreciation for your progress. Yet, the sameyness to the original keeps it under the “comfortably familiar” category.
16. Walker of Illusions
Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5
The Walker relies on hesitating between regular rapid moves with deceptive closing distance. Dual wielding a Cleaver and Dagger you have to keep a keen watch over both her weapons as she spins, slashes, stabs, and strikes. She has an erratic creepy moveset making a unique testing ground for your weapons.
The only ace up her sleeve is the ability to summon a clone of her midbattle. With a well-timed Fable Art, you are able to make quick work of the clone. With the clone gone, this boss is just another slashing enemy in the game making her insanely easy to defeat.
15. Stalkers or NPC Bosses
Difficulty: 2-3 out of 5
I’ll be placing all the NPC Stalker bosses in this single heading as they are somewhat similar to each other. Of course, some of them are harder like the White Lady, but they generally function the same.
If you’ve played any of Fromsoft’s catalog, these are the definitive NPC fights. With the absence of any PVP, Lies of P use Stalkers as the de facto human battles.
Whether fighting the Mad Donkey on a bridge, The Survivor buried beneath the Puppet Factory, White Lady taking center stage, Owl Doctor raving in his swamp shack, or The Weasel shaking you down at World’s End, these animal-themed weirdos share the same design, basic combos with wide gaps at the end, and sometimes a ranged attack.
These NPC bosses take a backseat to the unique monstrosities of Krat. Also, keep in mind that many of these NPC bosses are optional so you might not face them depending on the choices you make in the game.
14. Parade Master
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
The Parade Master is the tutorial boss of Lies of P. He is designed to show you the ropes of the game and familiarize the game’s aggressive dance. The difficulty in this boss fight lies in comprehending the nuances of the combat as you start your perilous journey through Krat.
The Puppet Master leaves generous openings for you to recover or attack between his blows but puts persistent pressure on you to learn how to react.
A variety of slaps, hooks, overhead slams, diving bashes, and gap closers give you a lot to watch out for. The second phase ups the ante as he pulls out a mace giving him increased range and deceptive tells as he spins wildly. This is the testing ground for P, and you should make the most of it by practicing perfect parries and everything else at your disposal.
13. Door Guardian
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
The Door Guardian has the ankle-biting trope of other big boys in other souls-like. Whack the exposed weak foot to bring the big man to his knees, keep it up and soon the dude falls down and you can go to town on his head.
Standard stuff if you are a fan of From’s library. The fight fully utilizes the Dizzy system in a way to create a puzzle of sorts.
The boss has slow powerful strikes and more metered combo strings that are moderately paced as opposed to other bonker bosses in the game. One tricky element was the Shock status applied with every attack.
This status effect slows down stamina regen to a snail’s crawl putting a damper on your punishment forcing you to be more defensive. You can always bring recovery potions and up your resistance to lower the negative effects.
12. King’s Flame, Fuoco
Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5
King’s Flame, Fuoco is set to be a big thing in the game but beating him isn’t too tall of an ask. It has some kooky backhanded spins while looping around slamming overhead and charging at you.
Its fire attacks are easier than they look and are generally limited but the mid-battle fire shock attack might catch you off guard so be on the lookout for that.
From the build-up to the reveal and then actually facing it, my sentiments after the fight are quite lukewarm. The boss is no pushover by any means but nothing to write home about.
11. Mad Clown Puppet
Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5
Even though the Mad Clown seems easy, especially since he is reused as a regular mini-boss enemy later on, this jokester will make you second-guess your reactions with its loopy attacks.
He does nothing out of the ordinary, punches, slams, charges, all the typical stuff but his movement and animations are so wacky that you couldn’t read any of it to save your life.
This fight initially takes place mid-level out in the open so if you want to avoid the regular mobs you have to operate in a limited space.
This issue is made more troublesome against the boss’s bouncy mobility. It is quite a chaotic fight. Fortunately, it will get more comfortable with repeated encounters with the boss throughout the game.
10. Champion Victor
Difficulty: 3 out of 5
Champion Victor is a boss straight out of WWE. This simpleton Bane knockoff just wants to battle it out. However, the battle against this boss is incredible. Get ready for a world of hurt as this boss hits hard!
His combo strings are demanding yet manageable. The way his tells are communicated felt more intuitive and the ways to counter felt far more open if you defended correctly. Even when you fall victim to attacks like his grab, he taunts the player after to give you a moment to recover.
The pace of this fight is more like jousting, to see who comes out on top in each clash and have a brief moment for both of you to recover.
This is a challenging yet well-communicated fight with nicely paced moments of aggression and moments of respite.
9. Scrapped Watchman
Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5
The Scrapped Watchman is the first true test of your mettle. This boss will make you cry for help and is a test of patience, stamina management, and, reflexive memory. Every single attack has a severe delay with fast delivery. Instead of reacting to the animation, you have to memorize how long his limbs will float in the air before the blow finally lands.
The whole fight is essentially a guessing game of when the strike will land and that is frustrating as all hell. You need to have blistering reaction speeds to stand toe to toe with this boss. With enough death and practice, you will someday memorize his patterns but it is a tall order.
Perfect blocking his attacks is a trial in frustration. The problem is he regularly uses Fury Attacks that are impossible to react to in the window they provide. Halfway through the fight, he enters an electrified state adding a Shock status effect build-up to each of his attacks.
I would rather go to jail than face this Watchmen.
8. Simon Manus, Awakened God
Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5
This boss is more like a bowling ball with a giant hammer flailing about. He rolls around the arena mindlessly playing a game of whack-a-mole giving you ample time to move in in between his recovery windows. His health is relatively low however, that is just his first phase.
The second phase is where he touches the hand of god to transcend into a divine abomination. This phase is brutal, to say the least.
The second phase is far more potent with a variety of magic attacks layering pressure amidst more aggressive hammer combos. The blue magic he casts has explosive effects and the yellow magic will throw a bunch of projectiles that build up Disruption, an instant kill status effect.
During these suppression tactics, the boss goes wild with combo extensions from the previous phase, greater gap-closing potential, and leaping Fury Attacks that force the camera to go haywire.
On top of that, his health in this phase is drastically augmented.
7. Black Rabbit Brotherhood – Second Appearance
Difficulty: 4 out of 5
The second appearance of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood is lower on this list as you are more aware of their tactics. The Brotherhood returns to take revenge for their fallen eldest brother. This time around you will face the other three siblings. We will cover this boss in more detail when we go over their first appearance.
Their attack goes like this, one attacks while the others sit back harassing you every so often, enough that you need to keep an eye on them but not so much that it feels like a full-fledged gank. It still diverts attention inflating difficulty in the process. The only difference for each is they coat their weapons with elemental affinities when it’s their turn adding status danger to the mix.
Once you kill all but one, surprise, the Elder is resurrected with all of his previous advantages on top of on-demand magic shock waves to hinder your hit-and-run tactics. He also has an enraged attack when you successfully stagger him, a new combat mechanic that most players will lose their heads to.
6. Puppet-Devouring Green Monster
Difficulty: 4 out of 5
This boss has the most distinct and deadly phase shift. If you get the rhythm down then you’ll best him with ease but if you falter then get ready to be smacked around.
In the first phase, the burrowing charge is tricky to dodge but leaves a huge opening. He has poison spray that can hit you like a truck, or if you dodge at the right time you can lay down some punishment of your own.
The Fury charge is very easy to deflect offering a meaty counter. On the other hand, the tentacle attacks come out quickly and stack Decay. He has a couple of other doozies to push you over the edge.
You are far better off dodging in and going full aggro instead of backing off if you need a moment to reprieve.
The second half will see him merge with the Watchmen’s body so the knowledge of that fight will come in handy here. Other than the Watchmen moveset, the boss leaps around often which can be a boon if well positioned.
The barrel roll into a poisonous flurry is so sudden it’s hard to recognize and if you don’t pick up on it and bolt immediately you’ll be shredded for loads of damage.
This time around, you should try to stay away from him as opposed to the previous phase.
5. Fallen Archbishop Andreus
Difficulty: 4 out of 5
The Fallen Archbishop is part nightmare fuel and an equally intimidating fight. For something so large, his overall speed is extremely deceptive. As it strikes it bobbles from side to side obscuring the timing delay of subsequent attacks. Dodging and deflecting is a struggle as a result but his moveset is shallow enough to allow quick learning.
Phase two on the other hand is a doozy, especially as an early boss with a second full HP bar. In the first half of phase two, you face off against the bishop waggling around himself and his staff wildly. After you deal enough damage you enter the second half where you face off against the first phase again with a few small nuances.
The battle demands you strategize your resources and amplify attention well. The pacing is strong and though I wish the tells were a little more clear, the exhilaration offered far exceeds the gripes.
4. Nameless Puppet
Difficulty: 4 out of 5
The Nameless Puppet is the culmination of many of From’s favorite end bosses.
The fight has a blistering pace during defensive moments with fair reprieve in between. The first phase has more of those signature delays but with more natural animations to indicate when the attack will land.
It is more consistent to deflect these blows which was quite satisfying. The subtle addition of the puppet malfunctioning with enough aggression from your end will lead to a generous window to go bonkers is a nice little touch. All of this is to push you quickly into the breakneck second phase.
The boss splits its blade in two and infuses it with blood attacks.
He can now leap around, fire off ranged secondary effects, do significantly longer combos with tight strings, and has a brutal delayed charge. In spite of the high intensity, it still feels like the animations are quite clear which makes deflections feel more intuitive.
The fight is worthy of its secret ending position thus making it memorable for all the right reasons.
3. Eldest of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood
Difficulty: 4.5 out of 5
This boss fight tries to replicate the group fights of other From’s games but fails to capture the essence. In this fight, instead of each boss having a mastery of sorts, it trades it for one full-fledged boss that receives support from its weaker brethren. These siblings will step in from time to time to aid their burly brother to throw you off kilter. To dispatch them you need to deplete their HP to near zero.
The first one dashes in and out of range with dual-wielding daggers and throwing knives. This one has annoying gap closers and ranged attacks. The second sibling is similar to the first one with his rapier flurries that catch you slipping. The hardest is the lancer whose length and range of combos with the spear are daunting.
In a vacuum, none of them pose much of a challenge on their own but that difficulty skyrockets when you have the brutish Elder breathing down your neck. When his support is present he plays more passively only attacking when you get close or doing regular dash attacks from range.
Usually in fights like these, the environment comes into play. As in the Shadow of Yharnam fight from Bloodborne, there are pillars in the arena that help separate the bosses to tackle them tactfully. However, no such thing exists in this fight, ramping up the challenge to an unfair level.
To top it off, the Eldest’s speed goes through the roof once his siblings bail. He is like if Thor got the powers of the Flash. For his and his weapon’s size, you’d expect him to be slow and hard-hitting but he is hard-hitting on top of being a fast disgustingly tracking boss. His combo length can extend upward of seven hits with no reasonable windows in between.
Overcoming this battle felt more like a trial in frustration against oppressive design rather than a triumph over rewarding difficulty.
2. Laxasia the Complete
Difficulty: 5 out of 5
Laxasia shares similarities to the Elder Rabbit, with a massive weapon with uncharacteristic agility, long delays, a handful of absurdly long combos, ridiculous gap-closing ability, and beefy HP to draw things out. Her well-paced attacks and generally shorter combos do provide valuable windows of counter-attacks, severely lacking in the Black Rabbit fight.
There is this downright broken combo where she slashes her weapon over and over without an end in sight. The gap closing on this attack is just goofy. However, if you move out in time then there is little to be fear. If you have honed your deflecting skills then this combo will turn the tide of the battle in your favor.
The second phase is where sh#$ hits the fan. With a combination of lightning bolts and aggressive dash attacks, this fight becomes a series of memorization tests that you have to learn with each death. Some of her attacks feel un-reactable and she has many animation tricks that will leave you dumbfounded.
She can fly upwards at a moment’s notice and rain down hell on you while you stand in place holding your nose for a moment of relief. Additionally, the pool of moves in her repertoire can sometimes bug out and the RNG will constantly bombard you with the most annoying of attacks over and over again.
She also has the nasty counter like the Rabbit Elder after you stagger her so be very careful of that. This one goes on for longer so stay back.
There’s too much in this fight that feels designed to make it hard for the sake of difficulty rather than feeling fully balanced and an engaging challenge.
1. King of Puppets
Difficulty: 5 out of 5
The King of Puppets is a brilliant battle that gets further elevated for his lore. You finally meet the leader of the frenzied subjects you have met up to this point, and he lives up to the position he holds.
His first phase predominantly asks you to deal with swipes and slams with subtle variations. The fight asks for you to stay close for greater offense and strafe, dodge, and deflect at all the right moments at a pace that feels natural. In between his simpler strikes, he’ll charge up windy flurries or explosive blue magic to pressure you out of offensive range.
What really elevated him to top honors is the second phase. He shreds his hulking outer shell for a sleek design in this phase. He looks like the Nameless Puppet and could have potentially played like him with insane pressure tactics. Instead, he functions like Victor, only going for 2-3 hits per combo but varying them in clever ways that demand vigilance and adept reaction.
He moves quickly in and out of range between offenses forcing you to make the most of your movement tools and spacing to keep pressure on.
Not only is this fight difficult to be placed on the top but he is so well-designed that you feel the victory is earned rather than a battle of attrition like the rest of the bosses on the podium.
Lies of P has cemented itself as one of the best souls-like to come out of a studio other than FromSoftware. This is partially due to the excellent bosses curated by the developers. These bosses stay true to From’s philosophy and that is a high praise in itself.