Lies of P finally gets Elden-style co‑op — and it changes the run

Why this matters: Lies of P just learned how to let friends carry you (kind of)

This caught my attention because Lies of P was the first soulslike that actually stuck with me – moody, precise combat and a steampunk-tinged nightmare that felt smaller and tighter than Elden Ring’s endless fields. The trade-off was that its bosses hit like train wrecks. Now, mod team EmberWave has shipped an alpha co-op mod that brings Elden Ring-style seamless multiplayer to Lies of P so you can finally tackle those gauntlets with a pal. That changes the way the game can be played: it’s not nerfing difficulty, it’s sharing the workload.

• Alpha co-op lets two players team up for almost every boss in the base game and most Overture DLC encounters.
• Key systems: spectator mode, shared Stargazer revives (auto-teleport), adjustable boss balance, health tracking.
• It’s early – expect crashes, hub issues (Hotel Krat is unstable), and a handful of unsupported fights.
• EmberWave aims for full seamless playthrough support, following a trend set by modders like Yui on Elden Ring.

What EmberWave’s alpha actually does (and how it feels)

The mod is focused where most players need it: boss encounters. EmberWave says almost every boss – mini-bosses included — can be fought in co-op. If you want to break up a brutal one-on-one duel, you can. Functional features in this alpha include a spectator system so downed players can watch the action and follow an ally’s health bar, and a shared revive mechanic using Stargazers: use one and your co-op partner is pulled to it, and dead players will revive there. There’s also an adjustable boss-balance slider, which is important because two players changes the math dramatically.

• Supported: most base-game bosses, many Overture DLC bosses (you must own the DLC to access those fights).
• Currently missing: Romeo and the Puppet-Devouring Green Monster from the base game.
• Overture exceptions: Two-Faced Overseer and Premetamorphic Green Hunter aren’t included yet.

Why now: the modding trend and developer context

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Modder Yui made waves by adding seamless co-op to Elden Ring and Dark Souls Remastered, and EmberWave is clearly following that playbook — which is part technical hack, part community demand. Lies of P’s focused design actually makes it a natural candidate: levels are denser, boss arenas are specific, and the game’s popularity surged after the Overture DLC, giving mod teams a clearer map of what needs syncing. The “why now” is simple: community appetite + feasible technical surface area.

The rough edges — where the alpha will bite you

Don’t expect a polished, always-stable co-op campaign yet. EmberWave warns of significant caveats: post-boss roaming often crashes the game, and returning to Hotel Krat can produce game-breaking errors. Those are exactly the sorts of state-sync problems that make full playthrough co-op tricky — cutscenes, hub flags, NPC states, item drops and save sync all complicate the job. The team has a FAQ up on NexusMods and a way to support development, but there’s no ETA for the seamless full-run they promise.

What this means for players

If you’re the kind of player who sees “soulslike” as a badge of suffering, this might feel like sacrilege. I get that reaction. But there are two ways to look at it: as diluting the intended single-player challenge, or as adding an optional layer that makes the game social and accessible without changing core combat. For me, beating a modular design like Lies of P with friends is a different kind of thrill — tactical cooperation, baiting attacks, and shared victory dances. It doesn’t erase the game’s tension; it redistributes it.

Practically, expect this to reshape how communities run boss races, co-op speedruns, and challenge runs. Modders will likely iterate on balance presets and QoL fixes, and if this proves popular, we could see official features inspired by the work. There are also risks: griefing, item-sync exploits, and save corruption are real threats, so back up saves and treat the alpha as a social experiment rather than a replacement for solo runs.

TL;DR

EmberWave’s alpha co-op gives Lies of P an Elden Ring-style multiplayer option that actually matters: boss co-op, shared revives, spectator mode, and balance toggles. It’s exciting and useful, but still early — expect crashes, missing fights, and hub problems. If you loved the game but hated the lonely beatdowns, this is worth trying; just don’t treat it like finished software yet.