Dusk, the Puppeteer

Who he is

Dusk, the Puppeteer, is an optional boss of the Village of Lu. Game8's description calls him a puppeteer who defected from the High Elder, in yellow ritual robes and an ancient bronze mask with scarlet eyes, who uses the Puppeteer's Bell to command puppet constructs and severed limbs and can summon doubles. KeenGamer lists him under the Maskwalkers and notes he stays hidden until six Memory Flowers have been collected. There is no trophy for him; his two drops are the Puppeteer's Bell, a Phantom Edge that summons automatons, and the Illusory Pipa Head, the first of the three pipa pieces for the Illusory Pipa quest.

How to reach him

Game8's route: collect all the Firefly Memory Flowers in the Village of Lu, interact with the fog barrier behind the Temple of Blue Fireflies, follow the path to the Broken Puppet Pit bell and jump off the ledge. PowerPyx's capture (Oct 29, 2026) shows the quest prompt "Explore the canyon to find Dusk" under the quest Secrets at the Heart of the Lake at 0:20, the Broken Puppet Pit Entrance bell at 1:00, and a cutscene at 0:35 to 0:50 in which he recites, "Heaven's Gate stands open, realms unfold as they must, Lóng's breath runs dry, the Blight floods fast, Lóng and Blight collide, a new doom cast." At 1:25 he shouts, "Kill me! Now!!!"

What the footage shows

The name bar "Dusk, the Puppeteer" is on screen from 1:30. The arena is a grey rock ravine strewn with boulders; at 1:40 a pale, half-naked puppet lurches at Soul while Dusk watches from the back, and red lights hang in the air at 2:20. From about 3:00 the HUD shows two name bars side by side, each reading "Dusk, the Puppeteer": at 3:20 one copy in yellow robes swings a web of red threads across the ravine while the other stands behind Soul, and the ground around the second is ringed by small red candle flames. The fight ends around 4:05.

Attacks and how Game8 handles them

Summoned puppets are the key: destroying them damages Dusk and drains his Sha-Chi, so the guide says to kill them first, ranged ones before the rest. Block the stone barrage; dodge the slams of the giant hand puppets, which hit very hard; Perfect Dodge the end of the claw rush, which finishes with a Killer Move at close range. When two small puppets come in from both sides and Dusk blinks in with a Brutal Move, a Perfect Parry after the puppets' strikes triggers Ghoststep. The spinning thread attack followed by two side summons can be dodged or parried; the guide prefers the dodge.

At low health he splits into two bodies, both able to use every melee and ranged attack. Game8 says to focus the weaker clone, which takes much more damage, and to switch targets if the health bar changes, because he can swap bodies at any time. The guide's preparation is skill-based: Blood Remedy and both levels of Endless Renewal, which restore health and can refund Medicine and Remnant Sparks when a summoned puppet is executed; the Scarlet Wraithblade and the Hunter's Chain Sickle are named for clearing puppets in a wide arc.

Drops

The Puppeteer's Bell (Phantom Edge) and the Illusory Pipa Head (KeenGamer, Game8). The Bell's item card is on screen at 4:11 in PowerPyx's capture; Soul Tempering it gives the Abyssal Bell. The Illusory Pipa Strings come from Yan Qiansui, the Zither Maiden, on Meigu Lake.