Things We Wish We Knew Before Starting Lies Of P – TheGamer

Lies Of P is filled with treachery and danger, let this guide be your own personal Jiminy Cricket.
Lies Of P is unquestionably a tough game. However, while this game has a heavy focus on combat, it is also loaded with pretty opaque mechanics that will likely confuse players new to the Souls series and Souls veterans alike. This guide will specifically give you hints for everything that isn't directly related to the combat.
Related: Lies Of P: Combat Tips
Because even if this game is tough, there are most certainly ways to make it far easier on yourself. We'll take you through all the things you will want to know about Lies Of P. From how to best traverse the world to how to level up your P-Organs faster to how to manage your weight more efficiently, this guide will get you started on the right foot!
Like a true FromSoftware game, weight plays a pretty sizable role in how you, well, roll. The heavier you are, the slower you will move. You are given a handy-dandy weight tracker in your status menu that will tell you your current encumbrance level. However, we have also provided a chart for quick reference.
Under 30%
Light
Under 60%
Standard
Under 80%
Slightly Heavy
Over 80%
Heavy
And this can be a pretty substantial problem when you are facing off against certain enemies. Your dodge roll can become particularly unwieldy at certain weights. Worse yet, as you find better defensive equipment, it always weighs more. Without fail. Some of the most potent amulets can also be pretty hefty.
You can do the following things to keep your weight in check…
As for what the best weight to be at is, we think the "standard" weight is more than good enough for most situations. Being Light certainly has its benefits, and there are a few boss fights that are worth going down to Lightweight for, but for the most part, you don't get enough benefit to justify how hard it can be to juggle that weight. Normal weight is a good place to be and will give you plenty of room to tinker with different weapons and amulets. Slightly Heavy is manageable as well, though you will probably find that the faster enemies give you a harder time. Heavy is completely untenable.
So, if you are a Souls Veteran, you won't need to be told this, however, these games are built to unfold as you play them. You will unlock gates, lower ladders, and raise bridges all in the service of creating routes that help you travel swiftly from location to location.
If you encounter multiple paths, and the one you travel down ends up being the main path, you are going to want to double back and check out that alternate route you skipped by. It is either going to lead you to treasure or to a shortcut. You really don't want to miss these, as it could be the difference between having to fight your way through an army of puppets and taking ten steps through a gate in order to claim your lost Ergo.
Outside a select few items, you will eventually gain ready access to most consumables in Lies of P. You do want to be deliberate when it comes to Quartz, Cranks, and Full Moonstones (which are the final Moonstones). Everything else will be acquirable through the shops at the hotel eventually.
So, you don't need to "save" Ampoules. Don't agonize over Hidden Moonstones, or Half Moonstones, and don't hesitate to throw a Saw Blade at a Puppet's head. You won't win an award for hoarding these objects, so just use them if you think you need them.
Rare Ergo is a different matter! You can cash your Rare Ergo for a hefty amount of Ergo, or you can choose to exchange your Rare Ergo in for special weapons and items. Ergo isn't hard to come by in Lies of P, so we would recommend that you not use it for a quick boost of Ergo. You will know if it is Rare Ergo by where it sits in your Bag. It has its own section which is suitably titled "Rare Ergo" (what a shocker).
If you have played a FromSoftware title before, you know that they like to sprinkle in a few ambushes here and there. You know, to keep you guessing! Well, Lies Of P decided that instead of sprinkling them in, they would put down a two-inch thick layer. There are ambushes everywhere in Lies of P. If you see an enemy with their back turned to you, expect there to be a puppet wedged into the nook beside them. Every corner is another surprise attack waiting to happen.
But don't worry, just as you are getting used to the litany of sadistic ambushes, the game will start to get more creative with them. Crossing over a vat of acid by way of a narrow bridge? Watch out, someone is going to shoot you and cause you to fall in. Are there explosive barrels scattered around? Just wait for it, someone is going to run out and set it off as you are walking past it. There are two ways to deal with these frequent sneak attacks.
Keep your eyes peeled and stay on high alert, as Lies of P is trying to ambush you!
In Lies of P, you have an Upper Belt and a Lower Belt. You also have an Extra Bag. By pressing up on the D-Pad you can select an item from your Upper Belt, down on your D-Pad will let you use an item from your Lower Belt, and holding down the "interact button" will let you access your Extra Bag.
So, you should probably load those belts up with every item that may be useful in battle, right? Better safe than sorry, right? Well, maybe, but before you do, consider this: when you have a sliver of health, and a boss is sprinting toward you, is it a good time to sift through your pockets? We would argue that, in that instance, it would be better to reliably be able to pop a Pulse Cell.
So, instead of loading your belts, consider leaving only your Pulse Cells in one of them. That way, in a pinch, you can quickly heal without ever having to worry about getting the wrong item.
That being said, there is no reason to not load up your extra bag with Purification Ampoules, Resistance Ampoules, and throwable weapons.
If there is one thing Lies of P gets right it is the level design. There are typically multiple paths that will converge. But this isn't just to provide the player with a number of nooks and crannies to search for treasures (though, yeah, be on the lookout for those goodies), it is also a way to give you the opportunity to take out foes that would otherwise be a little tricky. There is often an optimal route that can give you a sizable advantage.
We already mentioned that this is a game filled with ambushes, but if you plan your route carefully, you will often have an opportunity to get a jump on your opponent. Here are some tips…
In Example…
After you beat the first boss of Lies Of P, you will encounter an area where there is an alleyway with a puppet standing smack dab in the middle of it. Beside this alleyway, there is a lower area with a puppet banging on a door, and another puppet slumped over in the corner (this one is easy to miss). You have two ways to approach these three. You can hop down to that lower area with the puppet banging on the door, or you can confront the puppet in the alleyway.
The correct order here is to approach by way of the lower area, take out the puppet slumped over in the corner first, ignoring the preoccupied puppet banging on the door, then, once the slumped-over puppet is dealt with, backstab the door-knocking puppet, and, finally, go up the stairs and sneak up on the puppet in the alleyway (who will be looking toward the entrance still) and backstab them. By taking this approach you will be able to eliminate every threat without
More than anything, just survey your environment and plan accordingly. Even the weakest puppets can be a problem when you are backed into a corner and surrounded. Work smarter, not harder.
Once you defeat the Donkey boss and rescue Geppetto, you will officially be able to spend the Quartz you have earned to upgrade abilities through the P-Organ system. These aren't tiny, modular improvements, they are huge boosts that can dramatically improve your ability to fight foes and survive in the world of Lies of P. Here is a quick breakdown of how the system works, after that, we'll tell you how to be more efficient with your upgrading…
When you enter into the P-Organ activation screen, you will see that there are five "phases" of activation. Though, you will only have access to the first phase. Each phase has four available P-Organs that correspond to an ability. If you select a P-Organ, you will see that there are two slots. You can fill a slot with a Quartz crystal. When you are filling a slot, you will see that there are a number of upgrades you can choose. There are five levels of abilities, but you will only be able to access the level of ability that corresponds to the highest P-Organ phase you have unlocked.
Once you have unlocked two P-Organs, you will be able to move on to the next phase. In the third phase, you will need three Quartz Crystals to unlock a third-phase P-Organ, by the fifth phase, you will need four Quartz crystals for a single P-Organ.
Here is the trick, you will unlock another phase every two P-Organs you gain irrespective of the phase they belong to. That means that you can get to Phase 5 much quicker if you stick to acquiring P-Organs that are in the first two phases. As good as the P-Organ abilities can be, the Quartz abilities you slot into them are often just as potent.
As much as we think getting that fifth phase unlocked quicker is the best strategy, you may want to still acquire the Enhance Pulse Cell Recovery 2 in Phase 3. Yes, it costs an extra Quartz Crystal and will slow your pursuit of Phase 5 a touch, but it will also give you another Pulse Cell, and you can never have too many of those.
You will want to get access to the level 5 abilities as quickly as possible. By upgrading the first two phases of P-Organs exclusively, you will have the fifth phase unlocked in 16 Quartz Crystals, if you were to unlock two P-Organs in each phase, it would take you 20 Quartz Crystals. That is multiple bosses worth of Quartz, people!
If you are getting battered and bruised, and you are running low on Pulse Cells, you can always just… run away. Enemies will only chase you so far. So, if you end up in a bad situation, and you are getting trounced, you can get some distance and run away. This, by the way, also applies to most mini-bosses. Though the game will lock you in certain areas with a few, for the most part, you can run away if things are going poorly.
Hell, even if things are going well, you can get distance, heal, repair your weapon, and face that tough baddie again in a better state. They don't recover their health if you get your distance. If a certain mid-boss is giving you a lot of trouble, you can also get really cheesy, and find the point where they will refuse to follow you. That way you can keep getting a few hits in, then run back to that point, wait for them to retreat, and then reengage them all over again when their back is turned. It may be dirty, but it is also effective.
Beyond that, if you know you are close to a Stargazer, and if you haven't seen one in quite some time, you most likely are, you can play a little risky, run past a group of enemies, and then activate that Stargazer. Basically, don't feel obligated to engage with every foe you encounter. There is a time to fight and a time to run.
While sometimes getting your distance is your best bet, you do want to eventually take care of those mini-bosses. For starters, once they are dead they won't revive again, making exploration easier, but also because they tend to reward you with some fantastic goodies! So, view running as one of many approaches, not your sole approach.
Next: Every FromSoftware Souls Game, Ranked
James is a writer for TheGamer. He typically spends his time playing games, thinking about games, overanalyzing games, and sleeping. While he has an appreciation for all genres, he is especially interested in fighting games and RPGs. He also enjoys reading books and watching movies and will happily overanalyze those as well.

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