Lies of P's combat system is a pretty deep one. At any moment, Pinocchio can block, dodge, attack, charge attack, use Fable Arts, throw an item, use their Legion Arm abilities, and of course Perfect Guard.
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Perfect Guard in Lies of P is basically this game's version of the Parry or Deflect system from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. There are obviously other games that have perfect guards like this, but Sekiro's is by far the one it feels the closest to. All that said, the two systems aren't exactly the same and there are a few details that might trip up Soulslike players unless they're aware of them. So, let's go over exactly how Perfect Guards work in Lies of P.
Updated November 1st, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: There are new soulslike games coming out every week (or at least it feels that way) but not all of them are made equal. While most of them are very good and have their own unique systems, there are a rare few that actually rival the From Software games, and Lies of P is one of those rare few. There are a multitude of reasons for this, but a huge one is the mechanical complexity of the game and the amount of polish that all of the in-game systems have. Perfect Guards, for example, feel so incredibly good to use properly, but they're not exactly easy to get consistently. Here's everything you'll need to know about Perfect Guards in Lies of P
Perfect Guard Overview
How to Execute It Properly
To start, a Perfect Guard in Lies of P is what it's called when you press the 'Block' input right at the very moment the enemy's attack is about to connect. You'll know you've executed a Perfect Guard correctly as the bright red effect and sparks that come from the two weapons clashing will look very different from the standard Block reaction.
There are a lot of added benefits to a Perfect Guard (as can be seen in the video above against King's Flame Fuoco) that incentivize players to aim for Perfect Guards rather than a standard block or dodge. However, the window for a Perfect Guard isn't very generous, and most enemies like to deceptively wind up their attacks, so it will take some getting used to compared to other Soulslikes.
Fury Attacks
The Only Direct 'Counter' To Them is a Perfect Guard
Perfect Guards are the only option for handling Fury Attacks, at least outside of running away from them altogether. You're not going to be able to block a Fury Attack nor can you dodge through it, so a Perfect Guard or a hasty escape are your only options.
Thankfully, enemies usually only have one to two Fury Attacks at most, and the timing for Perfect Guarding them is always the same (from enemy to enemy). However, this is by far the highest risk-reward choice for you to make, as mistiming this Perfect Guard will lead to most, if not all, of your HP suddenly disappearing.
Chip Damage & Guard Regain
Not Affected By Perfect Guards
When an attack is Perfectly Guarded, you'll notice that you don't end up taking any chip damage from the attack you perfectly blocked, as opposed to the chip damage, stamina loss, and Guard Regain of a normal block.
You'll still lose some Stamina of course, Perfect Guards can't be 'that' useful, but the total nullification of any incoming damage allows you to tank hits from robots 10x your size such as the Puppets of the Future.
Breaking Enemy Weapons
Defense So Good The Enemy's Weapon Breaks
As you progress through the game and continue to Perfect Guard attacks, you'll notice that the enemy's weapon actually breaks after some Perfect Guards. This varies from enemy to enemy as their stature and weapons are all different, but Perfect Guards also have the ability to severely inhibit an enemy's weapon. Essentially, look at the enemy's weapon after a Perfect Guard, if it glows a bit as if the metal was 'heating up' it's very likely that weapon is breakable.
Staggered Enemies & Fatal Attacks
Essentially Stance Breaking & Riposting
Lastly, Perfect Guarding is one of two primary ways that you can put enemies into the 'Staggered' state. By continuously Perfect Guarding, you'll be filling an invisible bar the enemy has that, when full, will cause their health bar to get this white glow around it. Hitting the enemy with a Charged Heavy Attack after this will make them open to taking a Fatal Attack.
The in-game Guide also states that Fable Arts can open them up to a Fatal Attack as well, but the results seem to vary depending on the Fable Art in question.
How To Reliably Perfect Guard
There Actually is a 'Trick' to it
Now you may be wondering how exactly other people are Perfect Guarding so often compared to you only getting a Perfect Guard every now and then. To be honest, the window for a Perfect Guard is pretty tight in Lies of P, it feels like an even smaller window than Deflecting in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
So, as a general rule of thumb, you'll want to press the 'Block' input right as the enemy is about to swing, not as the attack is about to connect. The reasoning for this is that most enemy attacks in Lies of P have big windups, but the actual attack animations themselves are incredibly quick. Because of this, if you try and react to the attacks mid-animation you'll find yourself missing the Perfect Guard window quite often. Obviously, this rule of thumb doesn't apply to every single attack in the game, but in general, it applies to a large portion of them.
Lies of P
- Released
- September 19, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Publisher(s)
- Neowiz
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Soulslike
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours
