Dusk, The Puppeteer, serves as an optional boss within the Village of Lu region of Phantom Blade Zero. To reach the secret chamber where he resides, you must complete the side quest titled Secrets at the Heart of the Lake. This involves collecting a specific set of Memory Flowers linked to a character named Firefly and delivering them to the Temple of Blue Fireflies. They will not be a challenge, if you have familiarized yourself with how to deal with them. Phase 2 of the battle will begin when you take out 50 percent of the HP of Dusk, The Puppeteer in Phantom Blade Zero.
Upon reaching the temple, interact with the fog to reveal a new path. Continue along this route until you encounter the Broken Puppet Pit Entrance Bell; interacting with this object will allow you to descend into the boss arena. This battle is also a critical component of the Illusory Pipa main quest, as victory grants you a necessary Pipa piece.
For optimal preparation, consider using the Outlaw Warblade, earned by defeating Jing Ye, as its life-draining capabilities provide significant survivability. If you have obtained the Counterstrike Bracers—which require defeating the Gold-Masked One in Weeping Creek Valley—these serve as an excellent accessory choice for this encounter. Looking for Crossword hints & solutions. Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and Atlantic Crossword Answers.
Phase 1 Attack Patterns
- Puppet summon and blue attack: The boss deploys puppets; once they strike, Dusk follows with a blue flash attack that must be parried.
- Ranged attack: Dusk teleports away and fires projectiles; parrying these deflects them directly back at him.
- Giant Hand: The boss summons a massive hand to throw or drop on your position; use dodge maneuvers to evade this.
- String combo and red attack: Dusk uses his puppet strings for a multi-hit sequence, finishing with a red flash attack that requires a timely dodge.
During the first phase, your primary strategy should be ignoring the secondary puppets and maintaining focus on the boss. By concentrating on parrying and dodging his primary moves, you can steadily deplete his health bar.
The second phase of the fight initiates once you reduce the boss to 50 percent of his total HP.
In this stage, Dusk creates a duplicate of himself.
Despite having two enemies on the field, their attack patterns remain identical to those seen in the first phase. Make sure to parry to counter this attack. But the best part is that the attack patterns stay the same.
You do not need to split your focus; simply target one of the two clones until it is defeated to end the encounter. Be particularly cautious of the ranged attack during this phase, as it carries a stun effect. Target only one enemy instead of focusing on both.
Successfully defeating Dusk, The Puppeteer rewards players with the Puppeteer’s Bell Phantom Edge and the Illusory Pipa Head, the latter of which is required to progress through the Illusory Pipa main quest line.
- Tips and tricks.
- Try to ignore the puppets and only focus on the boss. As long as you are parrying and dodging his attacks, you will be able to chip away at his HP, for phase 1 of the fight.
