The Parade Master is the first boss you’ll face in Lies of P, and for newcomers he can present a real challenge. This oversized circus attraction might look imposing, but he’s actually a very straightforward enemy once you conquer your fears and know how to face him. In this guide, we’ll cover his basic moveset and the key tips to help you learn how to beat the Parade Master in Lies of P.
Lies of P Parade Master boss fight key tips
The Parade Master is a two-stage boss fight against a large mustachioed machine which likes to punch the ground and belly flop you to death. It’s easy to be overwhelmed, but here are some key tips to help you comfortably tackle the game’s first boss:
Block and parry, don’t dodge
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Blocking and parrying are far more powerful tools than dodging in Lies of P. The Parade Master’s attacks look scary, but you can comfortably stand in place and block all of his attacks except for Fury Attacks (indicated by a red glow).
Most of the Parade Master’s attacks are slow, single strikes. Stay in place, block his attacks, then hit back with two to three swings of your own. Thanks to Guard Regain, you’ll recover most of your lost health.
If you’re comfortable with your parry timing, it’s always a good idea to attempt parries instead of regular guarding. Manage it and you won’t take any damage and you'll increases the stagger opportunity on your opponent. The Parade Master is a great boss against which you can practice parries.
For Fury Attacks, you need to either attempt to parry them or spam dodge backwards as much as possible. All of the Parade Master’s Fury Attacks can be avoided by dodging backwards repeatedly, but it will serve you better in the long run to practice parrying them instead.
Use your Legion Arm
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At this point in the game, you won’t have unlocked any new Legion Arm moves, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the starting one. The basic Legion Arm attack (Left Trigger/L2 on console) is a meaty punch that’ll deal high damage to the Parade Master, especially if you've boosted your Motivity or Technique at all. Use this in openings for hefty damage bursts.
Stay close
Stay as close as you can to Parade Master. When you're nearby, his moveset is slower and more repetitive, and you won’t need to deal with his rapid shoulder charge. If you need some room to recover, just walk and dodge backwards as he attacks, then heal.
The Parade Master will heal a small amount of damage (shown by the faded part of his health bar) if you stop attacking him. This is another clue that the game wants you to get in there and be aggressive.
Especially in the first stage, keep up the aggression and you’ll have the chance to stagger him. If you see his health bar glow white, use a charged heavy attack in your next opening. This will knock him down so that you can follow up with a high damage counter.
Attack him as he transforms
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The Parade Master’s Stage 2 transformation happens at around 60% health. He’ll pull the cylinder off his back and slam it down in front of him before pulling off his head on a pole to use as a club. Block or dodge sideways past this initial slam, then wail on him. He takes a while to fix his new weapon. The more damage you can deal to him in this moment, the better.
Lies of P Parade Master boss fight key moves
Below, we've detailed the key moves of the Parade Master boss (and how to counter them) based on the two phases of the fight.
Phase 1
In Phase 1, Parade Master largely performs single-hit attacks, making him very straightforward to block and counter. Just watch out for his multi-hit slam and Fury Attack.
Basic attacks: Parade Master’s Basic attacks see him perform a slow punch with his left arm or a slow overhead sweep/slam with both arms. In both cases, just block (or parry) and then land a couple of hits afterwards.
One attack to watch out for is when he wails and pummels his left hand into the ground. This is a two-hit attack where he slams with his left then his right. He’ll often follow it with another attack right after. Just block these.
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Shoulder charge: If you’re at a distance, Parade Master will lower his shoulder and charge at you. This is almost always followed immediately by another attack. Block the charge, then block or parry the second hit before attacking back.
Fury slam: Parade Master wails, lifts both arms overhead and glows red before slamming down in front of him. If you’re comfortable parrying, wait for his fists to lower before doing so. Otherwise, just dodge backwards repeatedly as he raises up. You can get in around three hits afterwards.
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Phase 2
In Phase 2, most of Parade Master’s basic attacks become multi-hit moves. Again, stay close and block/parry. You'll need to block two or three hits before you attack him.
Basic attacks: His first basic attack is a hop forward before swinging twice from side to side. His second is a spin around quickly on the spot with one hit before following up with a two-hit swing. In each case, block until he finishes both his side to side swings before you hit him back. Sometimes, one of his grounded swings will be a Fury Attack. Dodge backwards or parry in this case.
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Belly flop: Occasionally, Parade Master will run forward before leaping into the air and belly flopping down. This looks scary but, as with most other attacks, you can just stand and block it if you’re worried about parrying in time. He’s extremely vulnerable afterwards, so you have plenty of time to attack back and regain the health you lost.
Overhead slam: Parade Master performs a damaging overhead slam which can be a Fury Attack. There’s a lot of windup to this attack, giving you time to get out of the way. You can avoid this attack by dodging to the side once you see his arms start to come down or by rapidly dodging backwards as he raises up. Otherwise, just block the normal or attempt a parry if confident on the downward swing. If you block or dodge sideways, follow up with a Legion Arm punch to the face.
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Follow the tips above and if won’t be long before you beat the Lies of P Parade Master first boss! As a reward you’ll claim the Parade Leader’s Ergo and some Quartz, as well as a tidy sum of Ergo to spend. If you’re new to the game, we recommend reading our breakdown of the game’s stats so you know what to spend those rewards on.