For the most part Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a straightforward metroidvania experience. There is the occasional hard platforming section, though the tricks are rarely more complicated than obtain a new power, or position yourself better. Kiana is an exception to this by being a rather complicated boss that is very punishing. While some of this will fall on your ability, we can help make this fight a lot easier.
How to Defeat Kiana in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Basic Information
While it’s more than possible to win with no upgrades, it helps to return to Lower City’s The Haven destination. Here you can speak to a couple different venders and upgrade your gear. The latter is especially helpful as the right build can be surprisingly broken.
Since this is a Metroidvania experience and what you have access to will vary based off how much you’ve explored, we simplified the process by listing what we think are the best amulets.
Best Amulets
- Blade Dancer
- Void Blade
- Verethragna’s Wrath
- Turning Wind
- Will of Rostam
- Wolf-Bride
- Dragon King
- Mount of Damavand
Now it is not possible to wear all these amulets at the same time. We suggest picking and choosing based off your individual skill. Those who can dodge/avoid damage will want to build towards power, whereas those who struggle should go the defense route.
It also helps to note several of these have little to no value depending on the fight. As much as I love Blade Dancer, several bosses won’t allow you to perform the full combo. Likewise, with Void Blade and other damage boosting amulets it’s possible to hit a point where normal enemies die long before the combo happens as well. Still, it’s better than nothing.
Athra Surges should be Verethragna’s Smite, and Arash’s Ray. These are two of the best you should have at this point, both of which work fairly well against this boss.
Finally, for this fight specifically, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is arrow capacity upgrades are invaluable. She does an explosive move that you’ll want to destroy with arrows. Obviously having more makes it a lot easier than less. In addition to that, Kiana has an informal three phases. This is a fancy way of saying at 100, 66, and 33 percent health she does different attacks. She is surprisingly easy if you know how to overcome this, which is what this guide will focus on.
Kiana – Phase One
Kiana’s first phase is straightforward. She will either pounce at you from the background, come from below ground and shoot explosives, or jump up and either shoot/rush, or spinning spear toss. The trick to each of these sections is just as simple.
- Pounce – Dodge to the side and punish
- Explosives – Move towards a wall, followed by going the other direction and shooting the remaining explosives with the bow
- Shoot/Rush – Jump so Kiana throws the spear above you, followed by jumping over her mount (you can hurt it by doing a downward strike if you’re confident)
- Spinning Spear – Wait for her to throw, dodge towards, punish, followed by dodging back, and punishing again
Of these four the most important tactic is moving to the wall for explosives. The reason for this is pretty simple. Anything that hits the purple thorns will automatically be destroyed. This reduces the number of items you need to shoot, along with decreases the chances of Kiana having one in a bad position. It will still sometimes happen, though that is more of the nature of the fight than anything.
Transition Phase
Both transition phases are exactly the same. Kiana will either attack from above, or from either side at a high or low point. The absolute best tactic is to avoid as many attacks as possible. You can also dodge her higher side attacks by simply crouching. Making a mistake here can result in massive health loss.
Kiana – Phase Two
While the fight is similar, each attack plays out a bit differently. In turn, the tactic to deal with them is slightly different as well. Below you can find a small overview of what changed.
- Pounce – This starts the same, but ends with three versions of Kiana striking the location where the mount pounced – To avoid simply dodge, punish with a strike or two, dodge to a side, followed by punishing one of the Kiana’s
- Explosives – There are more
- Shoot/Rush – The first part is exactly the same, though they will both head the other way spinning Kiana’s spear – Dodge normally, followed by rushing and dodging through
- Spinning Spear – The two will separate, followed by Kiana throwing the spinning spear high, and the mount low – Move to the right, duck to dodge the first spear, followed by jumping over the second
During this phase Kiana also gains two new attacks. One where a single version does a downward strike, followed by her mount sweeping that can be jumped over, along with a move where she lunges towards you. The last one is extremely important as that is a move that can be parried for a high amount of damage, plus a momentary stun.
I strongly suggest trying your best to successfully parry it, followed by doing a special attack. When done correctly it can deal a devastating amount of damage.
Kiana – Phase Three
Following another transition stage will be the final section. This is again filled with slightly altered moves.
- Pounce – Starts the same, but this time the mount shoots a laser – Just prepare to jump shortly after dodging and punish in the air
- Explosives – Rejoice, there are even more to avoid
- Spinning Spear – Both will be on the left now, Kiana will throw high and arc down, with the mount shooting a laser – Just jump over the beam, punish, and then dodge in the air before the spear returns to them
The remaining aspects are exactly the same. As long as you can play effectively, and remain defensive, the fight should end and you’ll get past this rather annoying boss.
