Dusk the Puppeteer boss guide: clear the puppets, split the doubles

Dusk the Puppeteer waits in the ravine by the angler in Village of Lu. Clear his puppet waves, bait them into him, and kill the red-eyed fake when he splits.

10/30/2026 Last updated: 10/30/2026 6 min read

FAQ

Where is Dusk the Puppeteer in Phantom Blade Zero?

Village of Lu, in the ravine by the angler. The fight is optional: it happens at the bottom of the Broken Puppet Pit, which you reach by jumping off the ledge next to the bell. Collecting the six Firefly Memory Flowers first is what opens the path.

Which double is the real Dusk?

After the split, the copy with the obvious red eyes is the fake. Leave it alone and put everything into the black-faced one — each double has the full ranged and melee kit, so dragging the fight out only gives the fake more time to shoot you.

Do you need the Memory Flowers for this fight?

Yes. The six Firefly Memory Flowers gate the route that leads into the Broken Puppet Pit, so without them the ravine entrance does not open and the fight cannot be reached.

What does Dusk the Puppeteer drop?

Puppeteer's Bell and Illusory Pipa Head. The bell can temporarily summon puppets to fight on your side, which is the same trick Dusk uses on you all fight.

At a glance


Region	Village of Lu — the ravine by the angler
Chapter	Heartless Remnants — Village of Lu
Type	Maskwalkers
Gimmick	Puppet waves in stage one; splits into doubles below half health
Drop	Puppeteer’s Bell, Illusory Pipa Head
Last checked	2026-10-30

Getting there

This is the fight most people walk past. It sits at the bottom of the Broken Puppet Pit, in the ravine by the angler — and the route down only opens after a collectible errand:

Collect all six Firefly Memory Flowers in Village of Lu.
At the Blue Firefly Temple, enter the main house beside it and interact with the fog at the far end.
When the fog clears, walk the path to the end and activate the bell at the mouth of the Broken Puppet Pit.
Jump off the ledge next to the bell, beside the angler. The fight triggers at the bottom.

Stage one: the puppets are the fight

Dusk is a Maskwalker who does very little of the fighting himself. He stands back, fires ranged attacks, and keeps summoning puppet constructs and massive severed limbs to do the work. The game does not mark phases here, but the fight has two obvious stages, and stage one is pure add management.

Three habits carry it:

Keep Dusk in sight. Always. He summons puppets while firing ranged attacks, and the puppets love to blindside you while you are locked onto something else.
Kill the puppets first. They are melee-only, die in a few hits, and will overwhelm you fast if left alone. Every puppet you destroy also chips Dusk — clearing the wave is damaging the boss.
Bait the puppets into Dusk. Because the puppets only attack in melee, you can drag them into his space and damage both sides of the trade at once. Long-reach weapons like the Outlaw Warblade and Sanguine Reach make this trivially easy.

Unlike Master Bi Hai, whose monk adds cannot be touched while alive, Dusk’s puppets can be attacked the moment they appear. If you simply hate fighting adds, the Kuye Temple Prayer Beads summon minions of your own and turn the encounter into a puppet-on-puppet brawl.

While you work through the waves, watch the big stuff he throws in:

Move	Read
Rapid Fire	A quick burst of projectiles that slowly tracks you. Keep strafing in one direction. At range you can deflect the shots straight back into him and interrupt the attack.
Flying Swipes	He hovers forward swiping. Block until the final swipe — the red-flash ending is a dodge, not a block.
Swiping Flips	Hover, then spinning swipes with hands and feet. Block all of it; the blue glint ender is your parry and your opening.
Arm Crash	A giant puppet arm slams the ground. When red threads appear above Dusk, leave that spot.
Flying Palm	A large puppet arm drifts forward and damages on contact. Step out of its line.
Field of Puppets	Puppet hands erupt from marked ground. The red circles show exactly where — just not stand in them.
Puppet Swipes	A stationary puppet does one quick combo and vanishes. Step backwards and it whiffs.

One more melee-range trap: when you pressure Dusk up close, he sometimes answers with a forward rush — a claw rush whose final hit is a Killer Move. It most often triggers when you attack him at melee range, so commit a string, then dodge after the rush rather than through it.

Stage two: below half health, the split

At roughly half health Dusk splits into two doubles. The game never announces this; you will notice when you are suddenly fighting two of him. Each copy carries his full kit — ranged and melee both — and the puppet waves stop.

Two rules decide this stage:

The red eyes are the tell. The double with the obvious red eyes is the fake. Put everything into the black-faced real one.
Do not run from the clones. Distance is their advantage. If you back off, they kite you with ranged attacks and blink to your position, and you get almost no melee openings. Stay close, hunt one clone at a time, and keep the second one in your sight while you do it — it will still fire ranged shots mid-chase.

Kill one and the fight collapses back into a manageable one-on-one, with most of his old moves intact. What the surviving clone adds is Bloody Strings: puppet strings that spin around him while diving puppets come in. It has little to no wind-up, so block it or stay preemptively out of range — there is no reacting to it late.

Gear

Slot	Pick	Why
Main weapon	Outlaw Warblade or Sanguine Reach	Reach baits puppets into Dusk; healing sustains a long two-stage fight
Phantom Edge	Kuye Temple Prayer Beads	Spawns your own adds — the add pressure becomes symmetric
Defence	Parry the glint enders, dodge the red flashes	Swiping Flips ends blue, Flying Swipes ends red — two different answers
Habit	Kill puppets before touching Dusk	Every clear is chip damage on the boss

Rewards

Puppeteer’s Bell and Illusory Pipa Head. The bell is the interesting one: it temporarily summons puppets to fight on your side — the exact trick Dusk spent the whole fight using on you. A defector from the High Elder, ending the fight as a puppeteer yourself, is a tidy loop to close.

Notes

The fight is gated. Six Firefly Memory Flowers open the path into the Broken Puppet Pit — no flowers, no boss.
Clearing puppets damages Dusk. Add control is not a chore here; it is the damage plan.
Red eyes mean fake. After the split, attack the black-faced double.
Never kite the clones. They win at range; you win in melee.
The forward rush ends in a Killer Move. Attack at melee range, then dodge the rush’s finisher.

Heartless Remnants bosses — the Village of Lu chapter this fight sits in
Acolyte Yanru — the other optional Maskwalker of the chapter
Master Bi Hai — the chapter’s other add-management fight
Yuzan — the puppet musician waiting after this ravine
Mu Xiaokui — the chapter boss at the top of the elevator
All bosses