Puppet Master's Theatre Guide

Puppet Master’s Theatre (Suggested Level: 20)

Puppet Master's TheatrePuppet Master's TheatrePuppet Master's TheatrePuppet Master's TheatrePuppet Master's Theatre

Contents


How

LeviathanLucky Leviathan
Portals to this dungeon are dropped from Leviathans which are found in the Mountains. They are also guaranteed drops from the Lucky Leviathan, a rarer and harder version of the normal Leviathan. The drop chance for this dungeon is assumed to drop at about the same rate as the Undead Lair.

The Puppet Master’s Theatre Key (The Crawling Depths Key) can also be purchased in the Nexus for 50 Realm Gold.

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Loot

Potion of Attack
The main reason to complete the Puppet Master’s Theatre is to farm Potions of Attack. This dungeon is one of the easiest and most consistent ways of farming this potion. Athough there are better sources, they are also more difficult.

Harlequin ArmorPrism of Dancing Swords
This dungeon can drop two different UT’s. The first is a leather armor, the Harlequin Armor, which focuses on sacrificing DEF and DEX for boosts to MP and WIS. This can be useful on classes such as Assassin and Huntress, which depend more on using their abilities repeatedly. The other UT is an ability, the Prism of Dancing Swords, a special prism for the Trickster. This prism provides some nice boosts to damage stats, but its primary use is that of decoys. Specifically, it will spawn two decoys that walk into the opposite direction instead of one, but it also sacrifices its ability to teleport entirely. This prism can be great for decoying multiple enemies if used right, although a different prism should be used for teleportation.

Magician's RobePerformer's Hat
The dungeon bosses also have a chance of dropping their respective ST piece from the Court Magician Sorcerer Set, specifically the Magician’s Robe from the main boss and the Performer’s Hat from the boss of the treasure room. The Magician’s Robe pales in comparison to the T13 Robe of the Grand Sorcerer as the latter has generally better stats, especially with the former’s loss in MP. However, the Magician’s Robe does shine when in use with the full set, as the lack of MP is balanced with the set’s extremely high WIS boost. Meanwhile, the Performer’s Hat has lackluster stats, but has a couple interesting procs. When taking damage with this accessory equipped, it has a chance of spawning a rabbit that can decoy enemies or a dove that can aid in combat, both of which may see some utility. Despite this, the RNG involved with the procs may not be good for instances where specifically decoys or damage is required.

Puppet Master SkinJester Skin
The bosses have a chance of dropping the Puppet Master skin and the Jester skin for both the Assassin and Trickster classes respectively.

The following is a table of notable drops from each enemy (if any):


Class Tips

Knight

Knight
The knight’s high defense and high damage can clear rooms and break walls. Be careful of the archer puppet’s paralyze and the knight’s armor break, as they take advantage of the Knight’s poor mobility and his high DEF respectively.

Warrior

Warrior
The Warrior’s speed and dexterity boosts are great for rushing past enemies and breaking walls. You may get caught around corners with the paralyze arrows, and similarly to the Knight, armor break can invalidate the Warrior’s defense, so be careful.

Rogue

Rogue
The Rogue’s cloak is amazing at passing through enemies without being seen, but be careful if caught breaking a wall when uncloaked. Also, be wary of Kensei and Wizard puppets, as they still attack despite them not detecting any players. The Rogue’s low defense can be very dangerous if you are not careful.

Trickster

Trickster
Trickster’s decoy is really helpful for distracting enemy puppets, and the teleport can help get you out of dangerous situations. However, Tricksters, like Rogues, have low defense, so you should be careful while rushing and/or clearing.

Archer

Archer
Archer is great at clearing the enemies because of piercing arrows. A Doom Bow is useful because of the high damage, while a Coral Bow is good due to its high rate of fire.

Wizard

Wizard
The Wizard’s high attack and rate of fire clear enemies fast. The spell bomb is great for singling out Archer and Knight Puppets to destroy them quickly.

Priest

Priest
It is pretty easy to rush this place as a Priest because the walls can be destroyed in one hit, but make sure you watch out for the Archer Puppets, as they can paralyze and kill you very fast. The Priest’s low DEF also doesn’t help, so bringing swapout tomes such as the Book of Geb or the Tome of Holy Protection for mobility and defense respectively are useful.

Sorcerer

Sorcerer
Sorcerers are very useful for clearing, as their scepters’ abilities to chain lightning can quickly destroy enemies in small rooms. Well-aimed shockblasts can also take out small clumps of enemies.

Mystic

Mystic
The Mystic has the ability to stasis the puppets and Curse Curse them as well, allowing allies to focus on the other enemies and potentially assist in completing the dungeon.


Layout and Navigation Throughout the Dungeon

Navigating through The Puppet Master’s Theatre is considerably similar to the Snake Pit. You start by spawning in a room that has one or more breakable walls. The rooms that spawn are completely random so you have to navigate through the dungeon sort of like a maze. Treasure Rooms may also be found in this dungeon, although they are not guaranteed.

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Enemies

Note: enemies will be split by their weapon type for organization.

Archer PuppetHuntress PuppetBard Puppet
These puppets all use bows to attack from a distance. The Archer Puppet is possibly the most dangerous enemy in the dungeon simply because it inflicts Paralyzed Icon Paralyzed with some of its shots. Be very careful around Archer Puppets. On the lower end of bow-themed enemies is the Huntress Puppet, who’s less dangerous due to only being able to inflict Red Down Arrow Slowed with its AEO grenade. Finally, the Bard Puppet is a more defensive enemy, buffing itself with Inspired Icon Inspired and Wooden Shield Armored, making it more tanky due to the latter.

Knight PuppetWarrior PuppetPaladin Puppet
These puppets all use swords to deal close-up damage. The Knight Puppet, instead of inflicting Gold Five Pointed Star Stunned, fires an orange projectile inflicting Gold Four Pointed Star Armor Broken instead, reminiscent of the Shield of Ogmur. This can easily make the Knight Puppet one of the most dangerous enemies in the dungeon due to its ability to make you incredibly vulnerable. The Warrior Puppet behaves similarly to a Warrior wielding a Helm of the Juggernaut, as during its “Berserk Phase” it will stand stiil, become Armored, and rapidly fire shots towards the nearest player. While not as crippling as Armor Broken or Paralyzed, the rapid damage dealt here shouldn’t be taken lightly. Finally, the Paladin Puppet is the most annoying enemy out of the group, as it will occasionally enter a “healing phase” in which it rapidly heals a whopping 170 HP every second. Do as much damage as possible before its healing phase, or bring someone to help clear it if you’re in a group.

Priest PuppetSorcerer PuppetSummoner Puppet
These enemies use wands to deal damage from a long distance. The Priest Puppet constantly attempts to stay 3 tiles away from the nearest player, while also periodically healing itself for 100 HP. It’s less annoying than the Paladin Puppet as it doesn’t heal as frequently nor as much, while also having less defensive stats. The Sorcerer Puppet throws yellow grenades which spawn Puppet Bombs that explode into circles of shots. A second pair of Puppet Bombs will spawn from the explosion of its previous Puppet Bomb, meaning if multiple Puppet Bombs are spawned, you’ll be walking in a literal minefield. However, the highest danger comes with getting Armor Broken and sitting on a Puppet Bomb, which will guarantee an instant death, so avoid sitting on Puppet Bombs at all costs. Finally, the Summoner Puppet is unique in that it can spawn other puppets to its aid. If you want to fully clear a room of enemies, it is recommended to nip it in the bud and destroy the Summoner Puppet first.

Mystic PuppetWizard PuppetNecromancer Puppet
These enemies use staves to attack from afar, albeit slightly less range than the previously mentioned wand-wielding puppets. The Mystic Puppet is the only enemy in the dungeon to fire Pet Stasis Pet Stasis inflicting shots. While having no effect on players without any pets equipped, it can be detrimental to new players who are very dependent on their pet’s abilities, such as healing. The Wizard Puppet fires an omnidirectional burst of shots on itself, which are very slow. The only real danger from this enemy is sitting on it, otherwise it is very easy to dodge its shots. The final staff puppet is the Necromancer Puppet, which fires Blood Drop Bleeding shots. The shots do a fair amount of damage combined with the damage/time debuff of Bleeding, so try to keep clear of this enemy.

Rogue PuppetAssassin PuppetTrickster Puppet
These puppets all wield daggers along with being quite fast. The Rogue Puppet is another annoying enemy that occasionally turns Invisible, making it harder to attack. Do remember that its red dot on the mini-map still appears, so you can try to attack there. You could also fire where the Rogue Puppet is firing from and hope you eventually destroy it. Next is the Assassin Puppet, which throws AEO grenades that deal a fair amount of damage. They can even be thrown if they enemy itself isn’t loaded in, resulting in grenades being thrown over walls. This lone enemy is the reason why AFKing in this dungeon can result in death. The Trickster Puppet will create a copy of itself upon detecing a player, and then attempt to circle the player along with a copy. The copy has identical stats, except its shot doesn’t deal any damage. You could use this to your advantage and attack the Trickster Puppet that does deal damage to you.

Ninja PuppetSamurai PuppetKensei Puppet
These enemies all wield katanas and attack from mid-range. The Ninja Puppet only fires a single shuriken shot, which, while dealing a high amount of damage, is also extremely easy to dodge, since it’s aimed solely at the nearest player. The Samurai Puppet attempts to mimic its class counterpart by spawning a wall of shots inflicting Grey Down Arrow Exposed near its target. Try not to move around too much near this enemy as to avoid accidentally walking into its walls of shots. The Kensei Puppet moves simlarly to the Priest Puppet, staying a few tiles away from the nearest player but still maintaining some distance. It wil fire a long-range brown sheath projectile along with a short-range purple slash, both of which can be easily sidestepped. It also constantly detonates a damaging AoE attack on itself.

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Boss

The Puppet Master

The Puppet Master
Here he is, the boss of the dungeon, The Puppet Master. He isn’t a very hard boss if done correctly, but can be the most tedious of them all, being extremely annoying in many phases. Speaking of phases, let’s see what his phases are.

In his first phase, he moves to the center and then fires a stream of armor-piercing bullets in a Djinn pattern. Do not sit on the boss, or you will get popped in almost immediately. Then, if enough damage is taken, he will stop shooting and begin to suddenly fire a shotgun of slowing bullets. Circle the boss to avoid the shots. His third phase can get a bit harder. He will become stationary and spawn Wizard, Knight, and Priest Puppets, while firing a spiral formation of armor-piercing bullets. Make sure to keep your hands on the boss at all times, because the priests heal him.
Now here comes the most annoying and tedious part of the entire dungeon- phase four. The boss will then spawn five clones of himself who will fire a shotgun of slowing bullets and as well a few blue bullets, just like the puppet master. Beware that if you kill a clone, he will explode in paralyzing bullets and spawn a wave of assassin and rogue puppets. Now there are two ways to do this phase-
The clean version, where you only concentrate on the true boss and deal as minimal damage to the clones as possible. The real boss should be either armored or invulnerable (he cycles through the effects). This is the most common and recommended way to do this phase, but sometimes, you’ll have to switch to dirty.

The dirty version is done when you cannot reach the real boss anytime and you need to clear some on the clones that block him. Kill each clone and their minions one by one, and then attack the boss safely. Make sure to always clear all the minions, or the next phase will get harder.
Once you put enough damage on the puppet master, then he will move himself to the “stage” of the room and begin firing the same djinn pattern in phase one, but he will also spam-spawn wizard, knight, and priest puppets. This phase may be considered the hardest part of the entire dungeon, because of the boss’s healing and the minions keeping your hands full. But there’s still a way to get around this easily. The puppet master has a maximum amount of minions that he can spawn (exact number unknown), so you can drag all the puppets to one corner of the boss room, and shoot the boss from the opposite corner. Ignore the priest puppets since they cannot be dragged (and will instantly respawn upon death) and you can easily outdamage their heal if you keep you shots at the boss (approximately 2500 dps). Once you drain his hp bar, he will then explode in paralyzing bullets, he will not spawn a test chest so make sure to pile damage throughout all his phases.

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Treasure Room

Oryx Puppet


While it is unconfirmed of how many treasure rooms can be found in the Puppet Master’s dungeon, it is clear that there is only one type of boss for the treasure rooms; the Oryx Puppet. In the room of the Oryx Puppet, he starts off by shooting 20-15 white bullets that move fast at you and do a decent amount of damage to your character (75 base). Afterwards, he summons Minion Puppets similar to the minions within the Abyss of Demons. When killed, they drop a limited amount of HP and MP potions. Some drop gear from T1-8, others can drop none.

After all imps are dead, he starts on his second phase. He starts running across the room in a zig-zag undefined and unpredictable pattern. He also throws AEO bombs everywhere that do at least 75 damage. When on low health, he will return to the top of the room, then slowly walking back to the center of the room, staying invulnerable for most of the phase. Once he reaches the middle, he will summon Guardian Elements, which fire shotguns of white bullets. Keep attacking or stay back; you cannot damage him for most of the phase as he will remain invulnerable until enough time has passed. Piercing weapons are recommended in order to deal damage through the Guardian Elements. Before death, he will do the 1st phase move of his original counterpart and shoot you with 14 white bullets spread in a 145° angle at you. The Oryx Puppet does not drop a chest, so make sure to deal enough soulbound damage throughout this fight, especially before his second phase.

Important Note
If the Guardian Elements remain after the Oryx Puppet’s death, this means there are multiple treasure rooms within the dungeon, and the artifacts will only despawn once all Oryx Puppets are defeated.

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Overview

The Puppet Master’s Theatre is an easy and consistent source of Potions of Attack, along with a couple useful UT’s, half of an ST set for the Sorcerer, and multiple chances for loot due to the treasure rooms.

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