[Updated 04/08/2025]
This guide acts as a comprehensive walkthrough of LISA the Painful. The majority of it was written back when the original version of the game was all that we had and as such, it doesn't include any references to scenes added in the Definitive Edition of LISA. That being said, since my guide is comprehensive, if you follow it you will naturally find many of the new additions to the game with D.E.

I decided to make this guide to make sure a friend of mine playing for the first time could get the most out of the game easily. This guide will detail how to do every sidequest and get every character in the game, and its formatted in such a way that a very specific path is layed out. All screenshots and sprites used are either mine or sourced from the LISA Fandom Wiki. This guide is primarily meant for first time players and people who get lost easily, but be warned that there are minor gameplay spoilers, however the guide is written assuming you understand the basic mechanics and statuses of the game. This guide isn't necessarily meant to be a wealth of knowledge on the game, its primarily meant as a means for making the game as enjoyable as possible for new players. If you want further information on the game please check out the LISA Wiki[lisa-rpg.fandom.com] or other guides here on Steam. Without further ado, let's begin.

Joy
Joy is an in universe drug that "makes you feel nothing". It is also a consumable item. When you use Joy for a small amount of time, the character who you used it on will get an attack boost, guaranteed critical hits AND heal said character to full health. Some characters in the story are Joy addicts (including the protagonist Brad) and while Joy is blatantly overpowered, using Joy both negatively affects the ending, locks you out of certain party members and makes withdrawal more frequent (where your character's attack is reduced to nothing / almost nothing, their Max HP is lowered and they're functionally a sitting duck) You're free to use Joy on character other than Brad if you only care about the ending downside.

Statuses
This game has a lot of statuses. While this guide won't cover most Definitive Edition content, I will acknowledge here that that version of LISA adds a Status display which directly tells you what statuses do in combat. Some to keep in mind are Crying which lowers accuracy, Pissed which forces the afflicted into attacking, and Bleed which does flat max HP% damage to the afflicted.

Meaningful Choices
A few choices in LISA the Painful have lasting consequences. Some choices (such as how much Joy you consume) directly affects the ending. There are several clearly defined moments in the game where you're led into an ultimatum and have to choose between losing one thing or another and each of these moments have severe consequences. Furthermore early into the game you're prompted to play on Pain Mode or not. This choice also affects the ending.

What is Pain Mode?
Pain Mode makes a few significant changes to the game. Save points become one time use per save point, there are a few unique Pain Mode bosses that are intended to be harder than normal mode, several locations are only accessible in Pain Mode and all these areas have huge lore implications and once again Pain Mode directly affects your ending.

Definitive Edition isn't covered in this guide, is there anything I should know?
Just before the "Finale" part of this guide, return to Brad's house. They added something substantial for returning there at the end of the game.

The game opens with a young Brad taking the blame for his friends and getting beat up by some bullies because of it.
If you go to the left you'll see a mysterious man just chilling out next to a shopping cart, and if you go to the far right past your house you'll find a scene with a man in a suit talking about how Olathe, the location of this game, is perfect.























Once you get home and go upstairs you'll notice 3 doors. The clean one progresses the story so save that for last. The other rooms belong to Brad's Baby Sister; Lisa and his Father; Marty, the latter of which is locked off. (which is a subtle nod to the first LISA game, as well as the "music" in this area (the TV noise) being the same as in Marty's House in that game.)

TIMESKIP!
Now Brad is all grown up, and finds a baby girl who he names Buddy. Cheeks suggests giving the baby away to the Rando Army but Brad decides against that, instead wanting to raise her on his own, and his friends comply. A timelapse happens, showing Buddy growing up and then we're given control of Brad again. Now we have to fight the first enemy in the entire game.

BOSS 1: CHEESE LEGS




Gives +53 EXP and 0 Mags

Theres not much strategy to this fight, its simply an introduction to the fighting mechanics of the game. Brad doesnt even have any skills yet! Just spam attack.

After you get Terry he asks if you want to play in Pain Mode or not. Pain Mode has some simple yet key changes, the only main differences being you can only use Save Points once and a few bosses get notably harder. This guide will cover said bosses when you get to them.

On your way to Area 1 you'll see a bunch of bottles and items scattered around the ground. You might want to ignore your impulse to pick them up as soon after you have to choose between giving away all your items or Terry. After said choice you can come back and pick up everything you missed if you don't mind backtracking a bit.
This corpse gives you a knife that inflicts poison. Brad can't use it but maybe someone else can!













BOSS 2: SUGAR MOUNTAIN





Gives +100 EXP and 8 Mags

Use Verbal Bash until he's Crying and PO'd and spam Buster Punches. Simple.

Originally posted by Minerva:

The game opens with a young Brad taking the blame for his friends and getting beat up by some bullies because of it.

The same bullies from Brad's Childhood survived, and have started their own sort of faction. They're annoying, but I'm digging this guys style. I wish I could ride a deer everywhere. If you took my advice and left all the items behind, you can go back and get them now. (or wait until you get the bike)

This guy will heal you without you having to worry about your party members getting kidnapped/you getting status ailments, BUT theres a 33% chance that a guy will ambush you and PERMINANTLY lower your SP and Luck. The good news is this only happens once and afterwards this rest spot becomes 100% safe, but the game is perminantly harder. Thankfully, if you wanna be a coward you can save-scum and rest here safely.





Heres a quick overview of what we'll be doing in all of these areas.
1: General Progression.
2: Getting Firebombs to kill a Joy Mutant in 3.
3: Getting the Bike for more mobility.
4: Getting the Truck Keys to fix the bridge at 5
5: To Area 2
!1: A little, misable scene. You can come here at any point.
!2: Roosters House. To get him to join us we need to get his Golden Chicken from Location 4.


Once you enter imidiately go to the Left to get a free 3rd Party Member.He'll talk your ear off, but once you mash through his useless dialogue he'll join you! (see Characters section for more details)






















Now go back to the right to progress. Ignore the item blocked by the corpse as we'll be coming back for it. Now head into the bar. Theres two new characters you can recruit: Olan the Archer and Rage the Luchador. Both have their ups and downs that I'll explain in the Characters Section, but chances are you can only afford Olan right now, so come back later to get Rage. In the town next to the bar you'll find a bunch of items and people to talk with, theres also a house which triggers the first of many flashbacks.

Bring some Booze to the Hulk Hogan look-alike and score yourself 50 free mags.























Don't invest in this guy, he's just a sham.























Once you're ready to proceed head right of the town.
Keep right and some guy will talk about how him and his friends are playing cards in an abandoned building just down the way. Enter said building and this guy with facepaint will sing about how happy he is and tells you to take care of yourself, giving you some Joy for free.























To pass Bill Mohammad's trial just jump off of the pillar next to the bloodstain 15 times. He gives you an item that perminantly increases your defense. Use it on whoever you think needs it the most. (Brad is never a bad choice.)

Now headback to the Crossroads.
On your way back if you didn't before buy anything you need from Chester (the blue chest guy) assuming you don't want to save your mags for Rage or Olan if you didn't pick them up earlier. Proceed, and you'll notice the guy from earlier has a Joy Mask on now.

Going back even further, that guy from before has turned into a mutant, and you want to fight him.

Optional Boss 1: Punkert







Drops 1,000XP and 2 Joy
Guarding: Trash Bag Shawl

The first optional boss of the game, but a pretty important one at that. He drops 1,000 EXP which is very important if you want to survive the run up to the bike. He's pretty easy to take out with only 700 HP, If you have Olan and Nern you can basically just spam Big Shot forever and eventually kill him while Brad and your other party member provide support (either offensively if you have Rage, or by spamming Verbal Bash if you have Terry)
On your way back to the Crossroads you'll get a forced ambush against an enemy, so don't forget to heal/save after this encounter.

When you enter you'll be stopped by some members of Rando's Gang. No matter what you say you can't avoid fighting them, however if you say "♥♥♥♥ You" to them you only have to fight 4 of them at once, then Oak Tree Steve on his own. Before you can get any Gas to make Firebombs here you need to take out all of the Rando Troops, even the harmless ones. Once you do proceed to the bottom right and go in the cave, then talk to the guy at the very top of the cave. Good to note is that this area has an Inn. Inns are 100% safe, but cost some mags. While you're exploring this area be sure to pick up all the Empty Bottles you can for Firebombs. Once you're done here proceed to Location 3.

Its basically a straight shot with annoying enemies and a boss at the end. The snakes you fight here can take out a majority of your health in single attacks, and have a second phase where they can poison you, not to mention at this point in the game they outspeed your whole party. Theres also a Tree Man and a Man lying on the ground for you to fight, aswell as some items to pick up.

Boss 3: Charmy










Drops +2000XP and 2 Joy
Guarding: Children's Bicycle

Now that we have the Bike theres a few more areas that we can explore.






















This area in the cave going towards Aurora Town. It leads to a boss fight that gets you a new party member

Optional Boss 2: Beastborn








You can also kill his squirrel friend to get some Jerky.

Once you have the bike, jumping from the right here at the Rando Camp nets you 3 Diesel Firebombs.























And this area to the left of the Crossroads that leads to something more.... interesting.
























If you haven't yet take the chance to go to Location !1: Orphanage to see the scene there now.

Location 4: Joy Factory

From the very start head left to find a rusty tap and get dirty water which restores your SP, but only if you have bottles to spare.
You need to be on the bike to properly explore this area. Make sure to get all the items and mags in this starting area.

Remember this guy for later. He's a character from a sidequest that happens in Area 2.






















Jump off this cliff to not only take massive damage but to get some hidden items.






















Continue onward to get kicked in the groin so hard you fall off your bike, and dodge the bush running at you with a Spiked Bat. Make sure to remember the house with the W2D Fanboy inside (you guessed it, once we beat the area boss he'll be gone and we can get his items) If you go down the rope you can take a race challange for 5 mags and get some healing items. (or just jump down onto the goal like a smartass and get nothing. Keep going forward, get revenge on the Groin Kicker, and fight a guy with bad friends. Once you get to the Men's Hair Club if you proceed to the right you get yet another Flashback (this time with Sticky) about Brad trying to get some Joy from him. If you keep going right after that, you'll see a mountain and at the top is Rooster's Chicken so make sure to get that. Once you come back go on top of the building to actually get inside.

Boss 5: Men's Hair Club Presidents














Drops 600XP and 4 Mags on kill.

The Hair does the brunt of the damage in this fight, and is weak to Fire. If you have any Firebombs left, use them here otherwise just spam Fireball and Bomb Arrow.
With that out of the way, go to the room they were guarding and find out that the girl is actually a middle aged trucker named Fardy Hernandez. However not all hope is lost. His truck is the one back at the Crossroads, and with his tools you can repair the bridge and continue to search for Buddy.

Spend all your mags before doing this sidequest. On the way to the Hair Club theres a village. Said village doesn't offer much, aside from a new Party Member named Mad Dog (who you can only get if you got his club from hopping off that cliff I mentioned above) and a bunch of bottles. Once you leave the village a gang will steal all your mags, or you can fight them off, but if you lose then they steal all your mags and blow up the village.
























Back at the Crossroads head straight up to visit Rooster. You can either get 100 Mags from him or have him as a Party Member. Up to you.
























If you haven't done Beastborn's Sidequest, gotten the Disel Firebombs or seen the Trumpet Man yet now is the time.
For Beastborn go to Location 1, and use your bike to jump over the gap in the cave.
For the Trumpet Man go to the left of the Crossroads and head up instead of left.
For the Firebombs, head back to the Rando Camp, and jump off to the left of the Save Point on the Bike.










Then simply go to the Abandoned Building in Location 1 Aurora Town with 100 Mags. If you choose to fight the gang they'll perminantly kill your Party Member before fighting you.

Terry Hintz
Obtained from: Story, can't miss him

Nern Guan
Obtained from: Aurora Town Cliffsides (towards the left)

Nern is a solid early game support character with the ability to heal both SP and TP, and has enough powerful attacks to hold his own, and can easily be used as a permanent member of the team.

Olan Hoyt
Obtained from: Aurora Town Bar (20 Mags)

Olan is an early game DPS character with high luck meaning he'll get lots of crits. He's a solid damage dealer if you don't like any of the other options the early game throws at you.

El Rage
Obtained from: Aurora Town Bar (70 mags)

A Pure Powerhouse. His abilities alone don't deal too much damage, however his comboability is the real reason to keep Rage around.

Fardy Hernandez
Obtained from: Story, can't miss him

Very high DPS skills, but suffers from being pigeon holed into only doing DPS. Has depression which can be very inconvenient to work around.

Beastborn
Obtained from: Aurora Town Cave (with bicycle) then beat him in a fight

A TP based Tank, and one of the only Whip users in the game. Exclusively does Animal based damage.

Rooster Coleman
Obtained from: Bring Golide back to him from the Joy Factory

A Tank with really costly skills later on but still valuable for his high HP

Mad Dog
Obtained from: Get his club from Factory Road, drop off to the left of the screen with the unreachable cave.

Mad Dog starts really strong and sort of falls off later in the game, especially with his small skillset.

Percy
Obtained from: Area 1/2 Transition, not missable.

Percy is very, very average. He does damage and heals teh party and that's about it.

Once you head back from the Hair Club, make your way to the right of the Area 1 Crossroads. There you will find Fardy's Truck and inside his tools. With his help the gang rebuilds the bridge and is able to cross on to Area 2.






















Dodge the car by going down and avoid taking damage, then dodge the other guy by climbing up the rope and fight a weaker version of them for the EXP. After that go inside the cave above them to get another hallucination scene involving Lisa.






















Afterwards, proceeding right, the guy you'll encounter on the next screen will fight you no matter what you do with him so answer him accordingly. Also the camp on this screen is 100% safe so use it all you want. Now the boss coming up is actually the first of a few bosses that have changes in Pain Mode.

SWEET TEA RAKEEM









Drops 1000XP and 5 Mags on kill, 1/3 chance to drop Mystery Jerky or an Empty Bottle. 1/9 for Perfume.

This guy's main deal is that he's going to outspeed you, and deals good damage against you, not to mention a higher healthpool than the Men's Hairclub Presidents. He can also afflict Wierd on your party. In Pain Mode he's joined by...

VIC CHERRY









Drops 1000XP and 5 Mags on kill, 1/3 chance to drop Mystery Jerky or an Empty Bottle. 1/9 for Perfume.

who has an identical moveset and stats to Rakeem. In this version of the fight I suggest spamming attacks that can hit both of them at once, like using Firebombs/the Disel Firebombs you can get from the Rando Camp with the Bike. Spam multihitting moves, and focus your single hitting guys on taking out one guy specifically, the fight gets much easier after one of them is dead.

After defeating those asshats, rest up and push forward, I also recommend saving.

You'll encounter your newest party member in the second screen after you beat the boss, and then deal with an emotional scene with your friend Rick. Fight the guy wearing two eyepatches for extra XP if you want it, then proceed inside the cave.
























This is the first REAL descision of the game. First and foremost if you say "Neither, I'll kill you." he'll just wipe out your entire party (its technically possible to beat him in a later encounter using status effects and the right party, but its time consuming and ends with a game over.) If you choose to cut off your own arm, you perminantly lower your attack and defense stats, Brad will go into widthdrawl more often, and lose use of your arm forever (meaning the combo system will change), and if you choose the other option, the person next to Brad in your party will perma-die.























After the bike ride you'll crash into Rando, and he'll give you all of his rations (full heal items), which his troops disagree with and decide to attack you (good thing your entire party isn't knocked out because you fruitlessly attacked Buzzo, right?) take them out quickly with firebombs if you have any left and move on. Continue through the cave and make your way to Area 2.

Choose your least desired party member to play Russian Roulette for you. This game is ENTIRELY RNG based with no way I know of to put the odds in your favor, and the penalty for losing is permadeath. You have to win 3 games to escape, but there is a sidequest you can do that will unlock one of my favorite characters which I will get into later on. Feel free to save-scum if your party member dies, since this is 100% RNG based.























Go Down to get a Hat, and Up for Progression (Fight Mike the Pun Master for extra XP) After you go up, keep Right to continue progressing, and by going right you start the Salvation Rangers sidequest. If you want to continue their sidequest fight and defeat Blake the Snake, and they'll move on to their next destination.






















(this drops you right by the hat guy harmlessly, and is supposed to introduce you to the mechanic of survivable falls.)





Heres a quick overview of what we'll be doing in all of these areas.
1. Getting TNT to get rid of all these rocks.
2. Visiting the Bees
3. Chasing after Buddy's Trail.
4. Some Sidequesting.
5. Visiting a Dojo
!1. Discovering the Meaning of Life
!2. Getting Swole
!3. Sidequesting
!4. Visiting a Lab.

























Jump across this gap on the way to Construction to get a little optional scene.
























At the Inn, if you rest 3 times and speak to the guy upstairs each time he will join your party.
























To the left here is a Dojo. The challange this time is just to stand still on some oil drums for 3 minutes, then you get a scroll that increases SP and S. Attack. Once you're done there continue onward, and just dodge the football players like you dodged the barrels in Area 1.
























Go down at this part for a little optional scene, some mags, and an achievement.
























Jump down here and keep going down the ropes to continue the Salvation Rangers quest, and the Pink Ranger will join your team.
Once you go back up, and head right you'll find a bar. Remember this place, because you'll be coming back here. Feel free to buy Weapon Upgrades from Chester as you see fit.

Horrace










Drops 1500XP and 5 Mags on kill

After beating Horrace, make your way right, fill up on Diesel Firebombs and grab the TNT.






















Whatever you do, DON'T give the TNT to these two once you return to the Crossroads, at least until you finish doing Bob's Dojo. They say they won't do anything bad but they're huge baby liars and are probably friends with a dirty pie theif, don't trust them!
Now, continue to Area 2.


Once at Muddy Waters, go right and talk to all the people at the Swamp Bar. You'll notice a wierd looking guy wishing his brother was still there and how they used to always listen to music together there. (See "Sidequesting" to learn more.) Theres also a guy fishing for human fishes. Now keep right and go see the "Bees." The path is really straight forward, you'll encounter some Snakes and Wierdos, but nothing you can't handle at your current level.
























Go inside, and once there enter the Blue Door on the main floor, let the bee "show you what a real man feels like" and your defense will fully increase. Go downstairs by entering the green door and jumping down on the barrel. You can get a tissue by having the guy in the blue room dance for you and saying you love him. Go upstairs and talk to Queen Roger and ask to do some work for him. Once in your room examine the door and select "wait", Once you're done you'll get a notification the next time you check the door so just keep doing "battles" over and over until then. Your reward is getting Queen Roger to join your crew.
























Jump down this hole directly to the left of the Bees.
Once in the land of the fish people make sure to pick up everything you can see, and also make sure to buy some Green Paste from the vendor at the bottom of the area. Once put to trial answer however you like because it really makes no difference, then after talking to Harvey and getting him to join your side use the truck keys to end up back at Area 2's Crossroads.


Keep heading right, theres nothing to miss in the areas leading up to where you're going.
























After watching that amazing cutscene, battle the two Employees standing out front of the place and proceed onward fighting everything in your way.















The main gimmick to this boss is his high attack, but he also has decent defense and will always go first. He's also resistant to fire, so you should primarily be using strong physical attacks and status effecting moves on him.
























Past Wally, go down the cave and see (the hallucination of?) that man with the shopping cart you saw in the intro. You can talk to him now and find out he's Sticky's (Tony's) dad. Once you get Buddy's Poncho at the bottom of the cave, head back up. Heal Brad up if you have to, because you're about to start a fight only he can fight.















Spam your best combo (probably Fire Ball 2) and he'll go down soon enough

Right away you can recruit a new companion in the cave leading up to Skull Town if you have 150 Mags to spare.
























Keep left to enter the town proper, and continue the Salvation Rangers quest. Demon X is meant to be unbeatable, but once again like with Buzzo its possible with the right status effects. If you manage to beat him, just like with Buzzo, Austin will personally call you an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and then a game over will happen.
























Go below first to get a Cigarette and more importantly...
























(See "Sidequesting")
Once in the town, theres a few things to do. Firstly, theres a potential Party Member in the Bar, but you can only get him if you have 500 mags. Theres another guy at the top of the village who will join you if you have used Joy on Brad as little as possible up to this point. Aside from that theres a ton of people to fight. If you need any good items for really cheap, fall off the left side of the save point, you'll take 500 damage, but its worth it.


On the way there, theres a Bar and a new Party Member. Recruit him by giving him some form of Whiskey. Once you're at the Dojo Proper theres a few more companions to get. To get Yazan, head far left and just listen to his story. For Jack, go far right and buy the playing cards from the merchant, while you're here you might as well buy the Dismal Map (we'll need it later) and the doll to give to the Chuck Norris Look-a-Like (he just gives you some whiskey for it, so its only nessisary if you didn't have any to give Birdie) and the last companion is in Bob's actual Dojo, just defeat him and he'll join you. Tiger Man has 27,000 HP and a 200x damage multiplier against Animal damage. Once you beat him, go to the right to the next screen then up to get Master Friday back to his office. You can buy the Student Creed from him, but it does aboslutely nothing for you. (however it gives you an achievement.)

First thing's first
All the Characters in this area so far:
>Geese, in Construction by Sleeping at the Inn 3 times and talking to him each time.
>Pink Ranger, in Construction by continuing the Salvation Rangers quest.
>Queen Roger, in Muddy Waters by doing their Sidequest
>Harvey, in a sub area in Muddy Waters
>Garth, in the cave before Skull Town by paying him 150 Mags
>Clint, in Skull Town Proper by paying him 500 Mags
>Adjeet, in Skull Town Proper by not using Joy
>Birdie, before Bob's Dojo, give him Wiskey.
>Yazan, Jack and Tiger Man in Bob's Dojo by doing everything there

Now we'll backtrack a bit to get characters we couldn't before.























Back at the Bar in the Construction to get Carp.






















Back at the Bees Area in Muddy Waters to get RJ.
Now, head to Location !2: Muscle Cave. Explore the cave as you want to. If you enter the muscle cave proper then you can do a lifting mini game and gain EXP based on how well you do.


But what we're here for it another character sidequest. At the very enterance of the cave head straight into the wall to your right and keep heading down. You'll find a record, take it. There will be a joy mutant fight as soon as you leave the room you're in, HOWEVER you can use the Truck Keys to go back to the Crossroads and skip the fight entirely.

Henry Wyatt















Drops +2,000XP on death.

Once you grab the record from Henry, go back to Muddy Waters, and take a left to the Bar area, pop the record in and Bo Wyatt will join your team.
























If you haven't already, feel free to visit the "Meaning of Life" anytime.

Along the way you picked up a few maps (Dismal Map and Garbage Map) and they'll allow you to take trips over to their respective Island. Be warned, At this point of the game these islands can be a bit challanging, but if you know how to abuse status conditions properly you should be fine. First, head to !3, and use your Garbage Map next to Shardy.























To actually enter Garbage Island you need to smell like garbage. Along the way you probably picked up some Old Socks, just put one in Brad's Accessory Slot and that'll do the job. If you don't have one, just take the Stench off of Beastborn and give it to Brad.























This is your next Party Member, Fly. To get him, simply beat him in a Cart Race, and to do that you have to beat everyone before him. So just win 4 Cart Races. Its pretty easy considering he's absolutely the best partner in the game. After you finish Cart Racing, keep right. Theres some hidden items in all this trash so keep an eye out. Once you get to the end theres a wandering Joy Mutant you can fight, and a party member inside the bar. Just pay his debt and let him join you.


Georgy







Drops +3,000XP and 3 Joy on death.


Dismal Island

Originally posted by Minerva:

Remember this guy for later. He's a character from a sidequest that happens in Area 2.

Remember how he said his pal Jim told him to go stare at the sun for a while? Well we're about to meet Jim. The idea is that these characters are based off of the members of the former Dismal Jesters Podcast, featuring James "Stephanie" Sterling, Jonathan Holmes, and Conrad Zimmerman, the first of which helped to kickstart this game. All podcast members have vocal roles in the game, voicing the SFX for their characters. Jonathan "going missing" is in reference to him leaving the Podcast.

Slave Lord Jim







Drops +6,000XP and the Martlo Bow on death.

Jonathan







Drops +6,666XP and the Crimson Tide on death.

Watch out for Jonathan doing Feral Chop, which is a OHKO move.

Get back to the Russian Roulette building by falling off the side to the left of the Area 2 Crossroads (where it says "Jump.") To enter Russian Roulette again you have to pay up 50 Mags, however you get paied out 100 Mags +50 for each consecutive win you get. This is a great way to make money if you need it for whatever reason, assuming you don't care about your party members or don't mind save-scumming. After 10 Wins, once you leave the party member Buckets will join your team.

Head to Area !4, and explore the houses normally. You can only access the actual laboratory in Pain Mode, so if you're not playing in Pain Mode you're gonna miss out. All thats in the lab are a bunch of Creeps like in the village, some other expirements, and a letter next to a dead body at the very end.

Queen Roger
Obtained from: Work at the Beehive

High Single Target DPS character, is a Joy Addict so good to give them plenty to increase their DPS even more.

RT
Obtained from: Get Duffie back to him (from the Sands area) and bring it to him (in the Beehive)

Full Status DPS character. Good to have around if you want to have a wide variety of status effects (including Burning, Weirdness, Blindness, Sleep, and Poison)

Birdie Hall
Obtained from: Bob's Dojo, Buy Weird Doll and give it to the guy above the shop, then give Whiskey to Birdie

Supportive Healer. Joy Addict, however since he doesn't care about DPS feeding him Joy isn't important.

Jack
Obtained from: Bob's Dojo, give him Playing Cards

Full Fire based Special Attacker.

Tiger Man
Obtained from: Bob's Dojo (beat him)

Single Target DPS God, one of the best party members for single target fights. Furthermore he's a Joy Addict so giving him Joy to fuel his DPS goes hard.

Yazan Barghouti
Obtained from: Bob's Dojo

Fast Supportive DPS counterpart to Tiger Man. Worth noting that Bad Mews is programmed wrong and will never work.

Bo Wyatt
Obtained from: Find Bo's brother's record, then return to him to the left of the Beehive.

Full Supportive Character with no default attack, plays different songs to create beneficial effects.

Buckets
Obtained from: Win at Russian Roulette 10 times.

Another Single Target god alongside Tiger Man. He uses guns so he covers a different niche than Tiger Man.

Carp
Obtained from: Get the Green Paste in Fishman Town, then bring it to Carp in the Construction Site Bar

Very fast multi hitting DPS character with a Joy dependency.

Harvey Alibastor
Obtained from: Fishman Town, pick up the map

A very strong supportive DPS that inflicts Statuses on enemies and cures them on allies

Ajeet Mandeep
Obtained from: Skull Town, only obtainable if Brad hasn't ever taken Joy

Status based (Blind, Weird, Burning, Wariness) DPS character. Later skills have VERY high SP cost.

Clint Olympic
Obtained from: Skull Town Bar (500 Mags)

A Combo-based DPS character with a Joy dependency.

♥♥♥♥ Dickson
Obtained from: Meet the Salvation Rangers

Very fast high DPS character that uses TP with a Joy dependency meaning you can spend your Joy on him.

Fly Minetti
Obtained from: Trash Island Cart Race

One of the best AOE characters in the entire game as both his basic attack and all his damaging specials hit everyone on the field. His Puke ability is also good to just throw out when you need to focus on one enemy.

Ollie Nickels
Obtained from: Trash Island (2 Mags)

A very unique party member with guns and status inflicting moves that unfortunately suffers from depression making him useless very often.

Garth
Obtained from: Cave before Sands Area (150 Mags)

An all around supportive party member like Bo Wyatt. All of his skills either buff the party or enfeeble the person you're fighting.

Geese Thompson
Obtained from: Construction Inn Room. Rest there 4 times then talk to him

Pretty useful midgame supportive DPS.

Heading to the right of Area 2 after you're finished with everything you have to do there, you're accosted by Chris Columbo.

He taunts you saying they've kidnapped Buddy and if you gave them Terry when they let you choose between him and all of your items, he shows back up here as a boss fight followed by a fight against Columbo's crew.

Shortly after this encounter, you'll find the Eternal Wrestling Championship.

You can spend some time here before moving on, and Brad will get a lot of EXP and potentially two new party members. Be sure to beat the Tag Team Championship first to unlock Shocklord, as finishing the Eternal Championship will close down the EWC (meaning you can permanently lose Shocklord here if you do that before getting him.) After you win the championship, head east in the EWC to find Sonny Backluwitz to get as a party member.

Past the EWC you'll find Sticky bleeding to death. Brad then proceeds to attempt to kill him before Rick gets in his way, giving Brad the choice to kill both of them or let them go.

After that, you meet Buzzo holding Buddy hostage. He gives Brad an ultimatum like before, either Buddy's nipple gets cut off or your current party loses their life.

As much as you might think otherwise, cutting off Buddy's nipple doesn't have any long term consequences or effect the ending in any way so it ends up being the obvious choice here. Being let go by Buzzo, Brad continue forward only to catch up with him and learn Buddy escaped him. He offers Brad yet another ultimatum, he loses his other arm or all of your items. After this choice, we're finally in Area 3.

1. Rest Area
2. Bathhouse
3. Holly Wood
4. Snow Mountain
5. Bloodmoon Mountain
!1. Stone Village
!2. Fancy Cave
!3. Gary's Cave Secret Entrance

If you explore the crossroards you'll go to the right to find... the unfortunately named *sigh* "Tardy Hernandez" [sic]. He'll mention that he had a boat but Buddy stole it and to catch up with her we'll need materials from a few different areas to make a new one.

You're greeted immediately by a bodyguard who tells you to get lost. Refusing starts a fight, which is your only real option.

Once you get past the bodyguard, dodge the Marty Spider and head to the left to be met with...

Beady



Drops 7000XP, 0 Mags and 2 Joy on kill

Behind Beady is a set of Keys which leads to a sidequest to unlock the best accessory in the game "Mike's Belt Buckle". Like most Joy Mutants, Beady can and will instantly eradicate any of your party members. Go back and save your game if you need to before fighting him. If you have any party members that can inflict him with statuses like making him cry or pissed you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.

After you're finished with Beady, head out the way you came and go to the right. Proceed to the next split in the road in the room with waves in the background. Head left to save Toby, who gets you access to a pretty good DPS party member a bit later. (see AREA 3 Sidequests for more info) Return to the split and head right, til you reach the next split (the room with the birds on the wall) where right gives you the Devil's Pads armor and left is progression. After you head left (eventually leading to the room with bamboo on the walls), heading left again will lead you straight into the area boss where as heading right is a dead end.

Han Tsunami and his Entourage



Drops 5000XP, 3 Mags and a Ninja Scarf on kill

Not too much to note about this guy. Like most fights with a bunch of guys, you'll want multi target damage to take out the guys before they become a problem (stuff like Brad's Homerun Head Slide or Fly just in general) then focus down Tsunami. After the fight is over, proceed forward to get the Fan for your Boat. After you've picked it up, feel free to use the Truck Keys to return to Area 3.

This area has a lot of fun little environmental set pieces. Immediately you'll head to the right and find a man you have to ride on top of with your bike like a platform. After the platform man BE CAREFUL NOT TO INTERACT WITH THE MAN FACING AWAY FROM YOU ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES. If you interact with him, he'll explode and reduce your entire party to 1HP. Just past that mess, get off your bike and fall onto the seesaw with the man sitting on it contemplatively to get him to move out of your way. Enter the building then do the same with the next seesaw man to create your way forward, however be ready for him to fight back against you once you meet him in the building.

After your little encounter, you'll find a save point followed by a wrecking ball next to a seesaw. Use the wrecking ball to launch yourself to various heights to proceed. Level 3 is progression, Level 2 leads to some Jerky and both Levels 2 and 1 lead you to a weapons shop. Moving forwards launch yourself to Level 3 and you'll find a pot of soup after what feels like forever. Stock up, then dismount and proceed right to trigger a 5X Fling Combo to progress. Proceeding upwards and to the left, you'll find a... very tragic optional mini boss.

Salvation Blue



Drops 5000XP, 0 Mags and 2 Joy on kill

Blue is one of the easier mutants in the game, having less HP than others. That being said, he still hurts and like usual has the ability to perma-kill any of your party members so approach with caution and make good use of the nearby save point. After you beat him, you'll get access to Salvation Black's Helmet, one of the best head armor in the game and the Achievement "Salvation Ends".


To the right of the nearby save point is the boss of the area, Hawk Hollywood. If you're playing in Pain Mode, this encounter is very different.

Hawk Hollywood




Drops 4000XP, 8 Mags and USA Flag on kill

Not much to note. His high Special Defense means using moves like Fireballs will be a huge damage loss, make sure to use strictly physical moves instead. He can cast a strong regen on himself so make sure to either out-DPS it or make use of status effects like Poison or Bleed.

On Pain Mode:
Hawk




Drops 7000XP, 21 Mags and 2 Joy on kill

Can kill you forever yada yada, you know the deal at this point. Use status effects like cry or pissed or have good luck. He has less Special Defense than normal Hawk Hollywood so go wild. Notably has some moves from his normal non-Joy Mutant self like his smile which blinds.

After you're done with Hollywood, continue past him to get the Cloth for your boat. Use the Truck Keys to return to Area 3.

On the 5th level down there's an invisible path in a wall to the left that gives you Glasses.

On Pain Mode, right before the exit of the cave there is a Joy Mutant for you to fight.

Herb



Drops 7000XP, 0 Mags and 2 Joy on kill

Same deal as usual with these guys, be mindful of their perma-death move.
As you leave the cave you'll find hills piled up with snow. Be careful as you proceed, there'll be football players trying to explode into you which'll do 500HP damage to your entire party for every one you get hit by. Avoiding them causes them to blow up momentarily, but running into them makes them detonate right in your face. If you leave and come back, the football players won't return. After you make it past all the football players, there'll be a lone snowman but be careful! He's armed and dangerous. To avoid getting shot, get into a battle with him before he has the chance. There are a few more dangerous snowmen up ahead.

After you make your way up the mountain, you'll eventually find a save point telling you it's almost time for the boss. Make your preparations and head up to fight Buffalo Van ♥♥♥♥.


Buffalo Van ♥♥♥♥



Drops 5000XP, 0 Mags and may drop Mystery Jerky, Empty Bottle or Fancy Perfume on kill

Buffalo starts surrounded by lackies. Abuse Homerun Head Slide to make short work of them before focusing down the man himself. His fight is fairly unremarkable. He has a move where he can knock you down, making your party member miss their next turn and he's got slightly above average HP for a boss around this point in the game, but that just makes him a striking dummy more than anything. Bring his health down and he'll end the fight prematurely, joining your party and giving you the tools you need for your boat.

You're free to return to Area 3 (especially if you need to heal) however continuing right past Buffalo and further up the mountain leads to an ABSOLUTE jumpscare by the strongest Joy Mutant in the game. Seriously, be careful, if you're not prepared and just holding right on the bike you will absolutely run into him.

Peter



Drops 6000XP, 0 Mags and 3 Joy on kill

This guy doesn't mess around. While on paper he looks similar to other Joy Mutants, there are a few notable things that make him scarier. His attack is nearly double that of comparable bosses meaning each hit you take will chunk your life and he has both Neck Break and Fatal Chomp, both of the perma-death moves meaning he is twice as likely to just instantly kill a party member. This is counteracted by him having less HP than Beady but still be very careful when fighting this beast.

If you manage to beat Peter, you'll have another small fight on top of the mountain before getting the Homer, the best bat in the game. With that, you can now use the Truck Keys to return to Area 3 confidently.

As you enter the area you'll find a dark room with ropes, go down four of them and head right into the wall revealing a secret path.
You'll find the last dojo in the game. The dojo's master claims it'll be the most difficult one yet, but there's nothing that'll hurt you. Just head to the right and get the last Karate Scroll.

Returning to the cave with ropes, continue to near the bottom of the cave (before the 2nd to last rope to be specific) and proceed right. You'll find Grandma's Shawl and Grandpa's Shirt.

Once you get out of the cave, prepare for an unrelenting gauntlet. You'll be ambushed by at least two tribesmen of Bloodmoon Mountain as you ascend, ending with a fight against their leader Bloodiest Wolf. There is a save point just before you fight with him so be sure to use it.

Bloodiest Wolf



Drops 6000XP, 0 Mags and may drop Mystery Jerky, Empty Bottle or Perfume on kill

Wolf is weak to Fire. Even when exploiting his weakness, be very cautious when fighting him. He likes to abuse his Howling Geyser move, which has high damage and targets the whole party. In addition, he can paralyze party members and he's able to permanently kill a party member like a Joy Mutant would. If needed, abuse the save point right next to him until you get a good run.

With Wolf out of the way, you're free to take his beloved tree for your own. This is the last of the parts for your boat, but before you conclude things you're free to do the last of the sidequests in the game. Regardless, use the truck keys to travel back to Area 3 to continue.

Inside the doorway that leads to the Stone Village, there's a fork in the road. To the right is the gang hideout of this area if any of your party members get kidnapped.

Originally posted by Minerva:

After you're finished with Beady, head out the way you came and go to the right. Proceed to the next split in the road in the room with waves in the background. Head left to save Toby, who gets you access to a pretty good DPS party member a bit later. (see AREA 3 Sidequests for more info)

Head to the left from the fork, you can meet Crisp here and recruit him as a party member or alternatively get 900 Mags from him. Really the choice is yours, as it's too late for Crisp to really be useful to you.

Proceed further left into the village and you'll find a motorcycle and a save point (be sure to save here). You'll meet Chris Columbo one last time and sort things out with him in a race. Just like the previous motorcycle section, be sure to time A presses with ramps to jump (though you can hardly see the ramps, so just look out for the one rock on this course). Winning the race gets you Hair-Gro, the best helmet in the game for Brad which gives him permanent "Cool" status. I'd definitely recommend having this for the finale, so make sure you get it.
(I can't believe this is optional)

Something you can do right away is head to the Fancy Cave. You'll be brought to a sort of art gallery with Joy Mutants on display. Getting to the back you'll find a lab with a final Joy Mutant and the Resort Map. You can take this back to Shardy in Area 2 to get to the Resort Lookout.
Entering the resort, you'll find your progress blocked by a friendly mutant. Enter Room 202 and hop on the dresser to get above it. Room 301 has a hole in the wall guarded by a mutant (to get him to move you simply have to interact with the other mutants in the area then come back to him) which leads you to a sort of... trumpet shrine? Nothing important aside from that.

Going up the stairs again leads to a single room on the 4th Floor that doesn't have much to it for the time being. But there's a secret, one that isn't clearly telegraphed. There are secret invisible switches in four different resort rooms, you may have even hit one on accident. In Room 104 to the right of the painting, Room 201 on the dresser, Room 204 on the left side of the dresser and Room 301 to the left of the painting. Return to the room on the 4th Floor to find a new path way leading to some items: Some Joy, The Dandy Boy (Strongest SMG in the game), Snubby (Strong Handgun), and the white Silk Poncho... huh.

That's about it for this area. You can get out of here by exiting and talking to Shardy again.

Falling off the side of the cliff in a specific spot in the Area 3 Crossroads (to the left of Stone Village's door) leads you to Gary's Cave. You'll see a mysterious individual who is certainly of no import once you fall down, the same man you could've seen all the way back in Area 1 whose playing the Crossroad's music.

Anyway, inside the cave you'll find a man who tells you not to touch his cat. Do so anyway then when you go back and talk to him he'll talk about admiring your defiance and give you the Cat Paw, an accessory that boosts agility.

Originally posted by Minerva:

Behind Beady is a set of Keys which leads to a sidequest to unlock the best accessory in the game "Mike's Belt Buckle".

You're able to backtrack back to the EWC between Areas 2 and 3. You'll find a truck and the keys open the back of that truck. Inside is Satan himself, and you're able to fight him.

Satan



Drops 10000 EXP, 0 Mags and Mike's Belt Buckle on defeat.

This is LISA the Painful's Superboss. He has 80,000 HP, comparable attack to the Joy Mutant Peter and similarly (everyone's favorite) the ability to permanently kill party members. Like most hard bosses in this game, status effects like cry and rage are your best friend. If you manage to beat Satan you get Mike's Belt Buckle, the best accessory in the game.

Shocklord
Obtained from: The Tag Team Championship between Areas 2 and 3

Consumes SP to do basic attacks. Basically only functions as an attacker and back up item user.

Sonny Backluwitz
Obtained from: The Eternal Championship between Areas 2 and 3

High Health TP based fighter with strong attacks.

Crisp Ladaddy
Obtained from: Get Toby from the Bathhouse then go to Stone Village

Suffers greatly from being obtained so late into the game, that his otherwise great DPS is wasted on how few fights there are left to use him on.

Buffalo Van ♥♥♥♥
Obtained from: Snow Mountain after boss, required party member.

Exact same situation as Crisp, except Buffalo is just kind of average. Easily outclassed by many, many other party members.

Once you get all of the boat materials and have your party in order, return to Hernandez to the right of the Area 3 Crossroads. You'll build a new boat and... well, the next sequence really speaks for itself. The Finale from this point continues in a linear manner so I won't have to hold you hand much, just going over the important notes but I'd suggest just letting the finale speak for itself and only check the guide if you really feel like you have to.

Be sure to equip the Hair-Gro if you chose to get it earlier, it will make your life a lot simpler.

Immediately after the boat ride is a minor boss fight with the man who brought you here after he lays his intention bare.





Drops 4 EXP, 0 Mags on kill.

For a lot of these fights going forwards, alternating Homerun Head Slide and Fireball 4 will be your best bet. Finish him off quickly then make absolutely sure to pick up all of the bottles around both this area and the next, it will be VERY VERY important. Enter the room to find Marty Armstrong, somehow still alive after all this time and he's with Buddy. No matter what choice you make here, Brad snaps and finds himself attacking the one man who would end up treating Buddy right in this whole journey. In his rage, Brad kicks Buddy out of the way when she tries to protect him and... another boss fight. A cinematic one. Just keep attacking him until it's done.

The game prompts you to make a backup save, and Brad awakes. Going back to Marty's cave, you'll find the fine paste that Brad turned him into as well as three extra bottles to add to your inventory. Leave the cave and use the corpse of an innocent man as your vessel forwards.

As you wash ashore you find familiar red skulls. Buddy has made it to the Rando Army, but Brad isn't going to let that stop him from getting her back. Continue on your death march, you'll find some Rando Rations and eventually you'll find Tony's Dad carving Buddy's face. Brad immediately forces him to stop.

Mr. Angoneli


Drops 6999 EXP, 0 Mags on kill.

Brad gives Buddy his poncho, and Buddy then lets everything out. She calls him a monster for what he did to Marty, saying he was a better father to her and Brad ever was before running off. His reason to live shook, he marches forward ever determined to get Buddy back, somehow still believing he can still save her. You'll immediately notice that Brad doesn't take fall damage anymore after this moment, as the game makes you take a fall. Just afterwards is a gas canister. Fill up as many empty bottles as you can, and continue to do so throughout this area. You will need all the diesel firebombs you can get. On the lower path is a few more Rando Rations for you, as well as on the upper left. You'll find a save point, but before proceeding past it double back to make sure you get the two additional firebomb spots. Once you're ready for the last gauntlet go to the next screen.

The next fight is against the friends you left behind.

You'll notice immediately with Brad's new class of Failure, he has a new moveset. This is more or less his fully realized moveset based on his moveset he's had the whole game. Headslide + Diesel Firebomb your friends until it is over, and turn your attention towards the Rando Army.


Same deal, Headslide + Diesel Firebomb until there isn't anyone left. During the third wave of guys, Brad will get the skill "Cry" which makes him cry but also restores his SP to full. Really just a backup skill if you run out of Rando Rations but just a really nifty flavor skill on it's own. During the fourth wave, you'll get Scream which just makes the enemies scared. After you beat the last set of guys, you'll see Brad, covered in arrows and knives, in a sea of human flesh continuing to walk towards Buddy. There's only one person standing in his way now.

Rando



Drops Karate Belt on defeat.

He resists fire which you'll find out very quickly. The best options is Charging Headbutt since it can stun him and healing when necessary. Notably he attacks you with Buster Punches, the same move Brad was able to use. About half way through the fight his mask will crack and 3/4ths through the fight it will break open. When this happens, he'll lose his fire resistance so start hitting him with all things fire based (especially leftover Firebombs if you have any).

After the fight is done, continue forwards and enjoy the finale. You'll get one final dialogue choice, but it has no effect on the ending. Just choose what you feel is right.

LISA the Painful is ultimately a game about self reflection. Brad does a lot of very bad things and convinces himself it's all for Buddy's sake and yet he doesn't even realize that the person Buddy is the most afraid of is him. It's that lack of self reflection until the very last minutes of the game that make Brad such a flawed yet interesting character, and it's one of LISA's greatest strengths.

That said I find the game itself could use some of the reflection Brad eventually gets. While this game means a lot to me and it's emotional moments definitely resonate, there is a lot of needlessly cruel writing and portrayals that I feel don't add anything to the game (the lack of tact queer characters are handled with most of all the Honeybees, tons of Black, Hispanic and Native American stereotyping and characters who are just named after slurs for no reason). There is A LOT of this throughout the game and I'd be lying if I didn't say it brought my experience down. You could argue that is just part of how unfriendly LISA's world is, but I think it just makes the characters unrealistic and mean spirited more than anything. It doesn't say anything about the world as much as it does the person who created the world.

This game came out in 2014 and I imagine Dingaling has grown a lot since releasing it but this stuff wasn't acceptable then and furthermore to my knowledge he hasn't talked about having regrets over the bad content in his game since and he really should if he's grown. I think LISA's merits stand on their own and it's still an amazing story and really fun game but a lot of this stuff really sours my overall enjoyment. Still a great game, though.

Anyway, thanks for enjoying my guide enough to read this far. I started this all the way back in 2015 and left it unlisted with no plans to ever finish it but thanks to it getting attention I decided what the heck, and it was a fun time.

You can find me here on Steam or on my bsky[bsky.app] or Backlogged[backloggd.com] accounts

Minerva out