Like game director Ji Won Choi promised in early November, duo-developers Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio have dropped a new update for their gothic, Belle Époque-era Soulslike RPG, Lies of P. And just as expected, this update makes some significant changes to the game so that you have an actual fighting chance at surviving this bloodied retelling of the Pinocchio story.

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The update was shared on the game’s official website, with the team thanking fans for their ongoing support. After a bit of a preamble, including an announcement that the game’s soundtrack is now available to buy, the developers went into what’s inside Lies of P’s version 1.3.0.0 update. There are some new features and content, including free cosmetics and a new costume category for further appearance customization, but the real meat-and-potatoes of the update is what it does to combat and the early game. Spoiler: Lots of good stuff for folks who are sick and tired of getting bodied by everything.

Lies of P’s early goings get a bit easier

Some enemies you encounter out in the field—that is, the trash mobs you battle leading up to a boss fight—have adjusted attack speed and spawn locations so that they’re more predictable and flow better with a stage’s layout. Additionally, their stance break window, the stagger animation that opens a foe up for a lethal blow called a Fatal Attack, lasts longer so you can get that crucial damage in.

The update has some other combat balance adjustments baked in, as well. This includes tweaks like making some weapons hit harder (though the devs haven’t specified which ones), decreasing the delay between a charged and normal attack so you can chain combos better, and increasing the attack speed of heavier weapons depending on how you customize them, among other things. All of these changes effectively make Lies of P much easier, which is a welcome adjustment considering how punishingly difficult this game already is.

One thing worth calling particular attention to is the Rising Dodge ability, a skill that lets you roll after getting knocked to the ground. Previously, you’d have to unlock this vital maneuver, which was buried deep within the game’s skill tree. Dodging in Lies of P is rather imprecise and sluggish without the move. Now, though, thanks to version 1.3.0.0, the Rising Dodge ability is yours off the rip, making the early game much less frustrating. This will absolutely come in handy when you come across the early shovel guard mini-boss, who will flatten you into a crispy wooden pancake if you don’t either dodge or parry its attacks.

Read More: Lies Of P: The Kotaku Review

Version 1.3.0.0 addresses some bugs, too, like fixing typos in some language translations and tweaking the camera rotation speed so that framerate is no longer affected. That should result in a much smoother, much easier experience as you either restart Lies of P from scratch or embark on a New Game Plus adventure and wait for the DLC and sequel that the two teams are currently working on.

Check out the full patch notes below:

Lies of P Version 1.3.0.0 Patch Notes

New Features and Content

• New costumes have been added to the game.
• After installing the latest update, the following items can be found in the ‘Equipment’ and ‘Bag’ menu.
• ‘Alchemist’s Hat’‘Treasure Hunter’s Mask’‘Treasure Hunter’s Hunting Apparel’‘Illusory Emerald Glasses’
• Added a new category to the Costume menu.
• Now players can equip the ‘Mask’ and ‘Accessory’ together in the Hair section in the costume menu.
• Short Grey Hair’ has been added to the game.
• Available after reaching any of the game’s ending for the first time.Available at ‘Geppetto’s Tools’.
• Add a new option to adjust the Subtitle’s size.
• Can be adjusted by [Settings -> Gameplay -> Subtitle size]

Balance and Content Improvements

• Decreased Field Difficulty
• Adjusted the attack speed of some monsters to make their attack more intuitive.
• Increased the duration of stance breaks for some monsters.
• Adjusted the spawn locations of some monsters and traps to fit better with the flow of the game.
• The P-Organ, ‘Rising Dodge’ has been changed to a default ability
• Retain Guard Regain upon Pulse Cell use’ has been added to the P-Organ system to replace ‘Rising Dodge’.
• Combat Balance Adjustments
• Increased the damage of some weapons.
• Increased some weapons to trigger stance breaks to monsters more frequently.
• Now relatively lighter Blades will gain more ‘Guard Regain’, while heavier Blades gain less ‘Guard Regain’.
• Decreased the delay after an attack and the time to charge a ‘Charge Attack’ for some heavy handles.
• Now some heavier handles will have a faster attack speed depending on the assembled blade.
• Adjusted the ‘Destruction Damage’ inflicted to monsets by a ‘Perfect Guard’.
• The weapon ‘Puppet’s Saber Blade’ will now have increased stats after enhancing.
• Increased the movement distance while using the ‘Proof of Humanity’ weapon’s attack skill.
• Increased the damage reduction rate while guarding the weapon ‘Etiquette’ but reduced the fable’s charge amount for a set period of time when attacking.
• Enhanced the attack tracking mechanism after successfully performing the Fable Arts, ‘Guard Parry’.
• Increased the damage buff of ‘Bell of Provocation’ to the player.
• “The Attribute Status Ailments will now stack faster for the following Fable Arts:
• ‘Thunderstrike’
• ‘Flamestrike’
• ‘Acid Slash’”
• Increased the damage of Fatal Attacks to better scale with the players stats.
• Increased the attack radius and tracking mechanism of the Legion Arm, ‘Aegis III – Counter Charge’.
• The pillars in the ‘Kill King’s Flame, Fuoco’s room will now only be destroyed by Fuoco’s Fury Attacks.
• Added new items to the NPC ‘Polendina’s Shop.
• 2 more Quartz can be purchased during the early stages of the game.
• After expanding the shop for the 1st time, 1 additional ‘Quartz’ can be purchased. (Yes, 1 more Quartz.)
• After expanding the shop for the 3rd time, 2 additional ‘Full Moonstone of the Covenant’ can be purchased.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the character to shoot into the sky while using the Legion Arm ‘Puppet String III – Attack Link’.
• Fixed a bug while continuously pressing the guard button during the Guard stance Legion Arm ‘Aegis’ would trigger Perfect Guards every time.
• Fixed a bug that allowed some weapons to perform Perfect Guards unintentionally.
• Fixed a bug that caused some Electric Blitz attacks to be unguardable even with Perfect Guards or Guard Parry.
• Fixed a bug in which the Guard Regain would not reset after performing a successful counter-attack with the weapon ‘Two Dragons Sword’s charge attack.
• Fixed a bug in which arrows fired from traps could not be guarded.
• Fixed a bug in which the ‘Monnphase Pocket Watch’ could be used during boss fights.
• Fixed a bug in which attacks from some monsters would not register correctly to the player character.
• Fixed a bug in which the P-Organ ability ‘Naturally recovers Durability of inactive weapons’ reduced the weapon’s durability while inactive during certain situations.
• Fixed a bug in which having the P-Organ ‘Lower Damage while Dodging’ activated and a specific Amulet equipped would trigger the player’s stamina regain earlier than intended.
• Fixed a bug in which the deceased NPC ‘Belle’ at the ‘Attacked Hotel Krat’.
• Fixed a bug in which players were able to abnormally approach certain areas of the map.
• Adjusted the Camera Rotation speed while using controllers to be not affected by the framerate.
• (Specific for Asian Regions) PS4 Controller Settings Resetting Issue has now been fixed and can be save regardless of the PS4’s system settings.
• Updated some translations and typos for the following languages:
• ‘English’
• ‘Chinese’
• ‘Japanese’
• Updated a typo in the in-game EULA.
• Improved game stability and bugs related to in-game UI.