Key Takeaways
- Increase Pulse Cell upgrades are essential for any build due to increased healing chances.
- Staggerable Window upgrades are crucial for all builds to capitalize on attack windows.
- Link Dodge upgrade recommended for Dexterity builds to enhance dodging abilities.
There are quite a few variables that Lies of P lets its players mess around with to create these diverse and unique builds. Between the Costumes, the Stat Allocation, the Weapon Assembly, the Legion Arms, the usable Items, and the P-Organ Upgrades, it’s very difficult for two players to unintentionally create the exact same build.
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However, with P-Organ Upgrades in particular, there are certain Upgrades that are obviously better for Motivity (Strength) builds and there are others that are more suited for Technique (Dexterity) builds. Let’s focus on dexterity and break down the best upgrades for Pinocchio to aim for over the course of one or two Lies of P playthroughs.
Updated October 22nd, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: Lies of P is a fantastic soulslike and is by far one of the most polished ones available. A lot of the variety of Lies of P comes from whatever weapon you choose to use as Pinocchio. However, one of the other aspects that make up a lot of Pinocchio’s build is the upgrades you choose to invest in with Quartz and more. Quartz is a pretty rare resource, and you’ll want to spend it wisely on the right upgrades and ability unlocks. So with that in mind, let’s take an in-depth look at what exactly are the best options are your disposal in both New Game and New Game+.
11 Increase Pulse Cells 1 & 2
Upgrades In Phase 1 & Phase 2
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Increase Pulse Cells 1 |
2 |
None |
Increase the maximum number of Pulse Cell uses. |
Increase Pulse Cells 2 |
2 |
None |
Increase the maximum number of Pulse Cell uses. |
Regardless of the build a player is going for, there’s almost zero reason to ever ignore the ‘Increase Pulse Cell’s upgrades. More Estus means more chances to overcome a difficult encounter, and Pulse Cells are Lies of P’s version of Estus Flasks. Unless players are absolutely confident they won’t get hit, more healing items are always a worthwhile investment.
And, for Technique builds, Pinocchio tends to use weapons with less damage deflection on Guard. So, Technique players who don’t rely on their dodge will be losing a lot of health unnecessarily when they attempt (and sometimes fail) to Perfect Guard anyway, making this upgrade even more vital.
10 Increase Staggerable Window 1 & 2
Upgrades In Phase 1 & Phase 5
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Increase Staggerable Window 1 |
2 |
None |
Increase the time of the enemy’s Staggerable status. |
Increase Staggerable Window 2 |
4 |
None |
Increase the time of the enemy’s Staggerable status. |
Again, it may seem like anything having to do with Stagger is more tailored towards Strength/Motivity builds. However, that’s not really how things work in Lies of P. Technique Builds, Advance Builds, and even the rare builds based around Legion Arms entirely still all depend on Staggering enemies and making use of Fatal Attack opportunities.
The damage from these opportunities is just too worthwhile to even think about ignoring. So, giving Pinocchio a bit more room to find that perfect window for a Charge Attack has a much larger impact than players might originally expect, which is why these upgrades are a must-have on just about any build.
9 Link Dodge
An Upgrade In Phase 1
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Link Dodge |
2 |
None |
Enables another dodge in the middle of a dodge motion. |
While Link Dodge is an upgrade that’s pretty unnecessary for any Motivity build thats built around Perfect Guards and/or regular Guards, since players will be relying on their reaction time more than their dodging skills, it goes a long way in a Dexterity (AKA Technique) build.
Just because Lies of P has a Perfect Guard mechanic doesn’t mean players need to force themselves to use it all the time. In fact, with lighter (but faster) weapons, it’s actually more worthwhile to dodge and poke than it is to block and swing the majority of the time.
8 Add Fable Slots 1 & 2
Upgrades In Phase 1 & Phase 4
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Add Fable Slots 1 |
2 |
None |
Increases the maximum number of charged Fable slots. |
Add Fable Slots 2 |
3 |
None |
Increases the maximum number of charged Fable slots. |
As one would probably expect, Technique builds usually involve using more technical weapons than ridiculously simple ones and it involves a proper utilization of the controls of Pinocchio. And, there are a lot of Fable Arts, in particular, that go a long way for players who know how to use them. Fable Arts like Payback Stab, Absolute Defense, Absolute Counterattack, and Guard Parry can shred a boss’s health if executed with the proper timing and spacing.
But, to do this, players are going to keep their Fable Meter constantly filled. So, it only makes sense that increasing the total amount of Fable that Pinocchio has access to would go a long way toward letting Technique players utilize their Fable Arts more often.
7 Add Amulet Slots 1, 2, & 3
Upgrades In Phase 2, Phase 4, & Phase 7 (NG++)
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Add Amulet Slots 1 |
2 |
None |
Increases the number of equippable Amulet slots. |
Add Amulet Slots 2 |
3 |
None |
Increases the number of equippable Amulet slots. |
Add Amulet Slots 3 |
4 |
NG++ |
Increases the number of equippable Amulet slots. |
Sadly, while there is a lot of versatility and potential between builds when it comes to the abilities players will slot into their P-Organ upgrades, the actual upgrades themselves seem to have a lot of overlap in regard to recommendations for builds. In particular, upgrades like ‘Increase Pulse Cells’, ‘Increase Pulse Cell Recovery’, and ‘Add Amulet Slots’ are usually grabbed by just about everyone playing this game as soon as possible.
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Amulets are the only real ‘equipment’ players have control over in Lies of P that can heavily impact their stats such as overall Stamina, max Health, or even more unique things such as giving players the ability to dodge Fury Attacks. Because of this, players are going to want as many Amulet Slots as possible as soon as possible.
6 Perfect Guard Cause Stiffness
An Upgrade in Phase 4
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Perfect Guard Cause Stiffness |
3 |
None |
Breaks the enemy’s Stance when a Perfect Guard is successful. |
Here’s the thing, this upgrade is actually pretty deceptive. When an enemy flinches, it’s typically when Pinocchio hits them with an attack in the middle of their animation and they ‘flinch’ out of finishing the rest of the attack. When they stagger, that’s when they’re open to the complete animation attack that does a ton of damage. Typically, only attacks can flinch enemies, and Perfect Guards will rarely, if ever, cause an enemy to flinch out of finishing their attack.
But with this Upgrade, they will. Of course, it’ll take a good amount of Perfect Guards to cause bosses to do this, and it’ll even take a few Perfect Guards on regular enemies to cause this a lot of the time. And, even if it does cause them to flinch, stopping a boss’s attack is actually worse than just letting them complete it, as the boss recovers from a flinch faster than they do from finishing their attack. Thankfully, on a Dexterity build, most Dex weapons can take advantage of this small window, leading to more attack widows overall, but on a Strength build or any build with a larger weapon that swings slower, this Upgrade is actually more of a detriment than a bonus.
5 Enhance Pulse Cell Recovery 2 & 3
Upgrades In Phase 3 & Phase 6
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Enhance Pulse Cell Recovery 2 |
3 |
None |
Enhances the recovery effect of Pulse Cells. |
Enhance Pulse Cell Recovery 3 |
4 |
NG+ |
Enhances the recovery effect of Pulse Cells. |
While this next upgrade might not seem necessary to anyone playing who is still in the first 4 or so chapters of Lies of P, it’ll become more and more clear to them how useful this upgrade is as said player puts more points into their Vitality stat. After all, by the time players reach the end of the game, bosses can easily one-shot them in a single attack if their Vitality isn’t high enough.
And, on top of this, when players use their Pulse Cells to heal after a lethal attack (if they manage to survive it), that healing only fills up half the bar. So, grabbing this upgrade means they’ll be burning through their precious Pulse Cells at a much slower rate.
4 Increase Special Grindstone Uses
An Upgrade In Phase 4
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Increase Special Grindstone Uses |
3 |
None |
Increases the maximum number of Special Grindstone uses (from 1 to 2). |
There are many different builds in Lies of P that utilize the Grindstones that Venigni makes available to Pinocchio after he’s been rescued. However, outside of maybe the Stagger Damage Grindstone for Motivity Builds, the Critical Chance Grindstone for Technique builds seems to make the biggest impact.
Crit Chance is a stat usually reserved for Daggers, and even if players aren’t using a Dagger, this Grindstone makes it temporarily possible for their high-damage Technique weapons to critically hit for astronomical amounts of damage.
3 Perfect Guard Weapon Durability Recovery
An Upgrade In Phase 6
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Perfect Guard Weapon Durability Recovery |
4 |
NG+ |
Some of Weapon Durability is restored when a Perfect Guard is successful. |
For the last three upgrades, let’s start talking about the ones in Phase 6 and Phase 7 of the P-Organ Tree. These last two Phases, those being 6 and 7, might sound odd for anyone who beat Lies of P, as they wouldn’t have seen Phase 6 or Phase 7 in their P-Organ menu. This is because these Phases only become available in NG+ and NG++ respectively. The Perfect Guard Weapon Durability Recovery upgrade is one that’s only available in NG+ onward in Phase 6, for example. As players progress further and further into Krat for the second time to re-discover the horrifying mysteries that lie within, they’ll find that each returning boss seems to drain their weapon’s durability faster and faster than before.
However, as these players are aware, late-game bosses will barely give Pinocchio a second to collect his thoughts, let alone 5+ seconds to repair his weapon. So, even though Technique (Dexterity) builds don’t typically over-rely on Perfect Guards, this upgrade is still worthwhile as it allows Technique players to switch to Perfect Guarding to both Stagger the boss and regain Durability without having to leave themselves vulnerable while using their Grinder to repair their weapon.
2 Light Weight
A NG++ Upgrade In Phase 7
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Light Weight |
4 |
NG++ |
Major weight reduction, you feel lighter. |
Anyone who has played Lies of Por really any soulslike for at least a couple of hours is likely painfully aware of how vital the Capacity (AKA Weight Capacity) stat is. Even if players aren’t going for a ‘tanky’ build, they’re going to have to put at least 20 points into Capacity by the end of the game to keep themselves out of the ‘Slightly Heavy’ category.
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So, getting an upgrade that pushes the minimum percentages for the Light, Regular, Slightly Heavy, and Heavy categories is probably about the best Upgrade in the whole P-Organ tree.
1 Fury Attack Guard
A NG++ Upgrade In Phase 7
Upgrade Name |
Quartz Cost |
Requirements |
Description |
---|---|---|---|
Fury Attack Guard |
4 |
NG++ |
Pinocchio can now block Fury Attacks with standard Guard. |
Lastly, not even the Souls games do something as adventurous as giving players the ability to ignore a mechanic that they’ve had to interact with throughout their entire time with the game. However, Lies of P does this multiple times, first with the Ghost Walk Amulet that allows players to dodge Fury Attacks, then with the Fury Attack Guard P-Organ Upgrade.
While the Ghost Walk Amulet is the better option, since dodging a Fury Attack means zero damage as opposed to all the Guard Retain damage players take from guarding a Fury Attack, the P-Organ Upgrade is just a bit more practical.
- Released
- September 19, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Round8 Studio , Neowiz
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours