Persona 5 Strikers has been a long time coming for fans outside of Japan. This stylish, zany adventure is a crossover between Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors and the sequel to 2016’s critically acclaimed Persona 5.
If players have managed to get their hands on a copy of Persona 5 Strikers, there’ll be no doubt they’re itching to start the game. But, before players jump back into stealing hearts with the Phantom Thieves, there are some crucial things they’ll need to know to make sure they get the most out of this latest adventure.
Warning – this article will contain spoilers for the end of Persona 5 Strikers. Read on at your own risk.
10 Combo-Enders Are Free SP
Fans of Persona will be more than aware that SP is hard to come by at times. Restorative items, such as Soul Drops and Soma, can be even rarer. Persona 5 Strikers is no different. Especially with such chaotic and fast-paced combat, it can be hard to keep track of how much SP the player is burning through.
However, a good tip to know is that SP is only used if players summon their Persona to use a skill directly. Combo-enders don’t lower your SP; however, it is important to be aware that if players hit a weakness, they won’t receive the same bonuses as usual.
9 Use Items To Max Team Bond Level
Fans of Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal might be disappointed to hear that the range of romances and confidants they could seek out isn’t in Persona 5 Strikers. That’s right – the social links have been replaced with the team’s overall Bond level.
This is a meter that builds up as you spend time with the Phantom Thieves. It allows players to pick up perks to help them in battles. However, it can be incredibly slow. To speed the process up, players should buy rate ups. This will let players pick up useful items such as post-combat HP/SP heals much earlier.
8 Run Away From Jails
In Persona 5, players could leave Palaces at will, but it would still use up a time slot. Fortunately, this mechanic has been overhauled in the new Omega Force game, Persona 5 Strikers. Joker and the Phantom Thieves are free to leave a Jail without repercussions.
Some players have been using this to their advantage. People are able to leave and re-enter a Jail from a Checkpoint to refill their HP and SP. They can even go and manage their Personas and do a bit of shopping to stock back up on helpful goodies.
7 Buy Recipes And Ingredients
The fact that players can purchase recipes and ingredients from newcomer AI Sophia might not be surprising. She offers the player a variety of ingredients to allow the player to cook delicious healing items.
However, players might not know that they can use a Bond Skill to get a cheeky discount from "Humanity’s Companion." This will help them to cook up some delicious meals for everyone on a budget. The redesigned "Joker’s Kitchen" menu is home to all the recipes the player has collected on their adventure. In a nice throwback to Persona 5, rustling up some grub can be great for healing and SP restoration.
6 Change Difficulty At Any Time
There’s certainly no shame in playing on easy mode, especially with a game as tricky to get to grips with as Persona 5 Strikers. Some games might mock, shame, or penalize players for choosing to turn the difficulty down. However, nobody has to worry about that with this Musou game. Players can change the difficulty at any time and won’t miss out on any content in the process.
This can be especially useful when it comes to defeating tough bosses like the Mad Rabbit Alice. If players find regular combat easy, but bosses tough, the difficulty can be changed at any time.
5 Damage Type Really Matters
Like in many Persona games, every shadow and persona has different strengths and weaknesses against different types. In Persona 5 Strikers, players can play as different members of the Phantom Thieves, all of whom have their own damage types.
Playing as the right Phantom Thief and swapping out your Persona’s on Joker can be the difference between winning and losing any fights players might get into.
4 You Can Buff Your Teammates And Debuff Bosses
There are skills that let you reduce an enemy's defense, attack, and evasion. Rarely, players can reduce all three. There are also skills that increase the same stats for your allies. It is easy to overlook these skills as they do not do direct damage to the enemy. However, the difference between fighting an enemy with and without these buffs can be huge.
This is especially important to note when playing on higher difficulty levels where bosses will often use these abilities against the player. Some Personas can use Concentrate and Focus. These skills will allow the player to do 2.5x the normal damage of a move on their next attack.
3 Enemy Casts
In most Musuo games, the fast-paced and frenetic combat is part of the appeal. As long as the player can mash buttons, it’s fair to assume that they are deal mass amounts of damage. However, Persona 5 Strikers is a little different from this hack-and-slash style that many players might know and love.
All of the enemies' spells tend to have different consequences and physical properties to Joker and the Phantom Thieves, depending on the damage. It’s important to learn the tells of each enemy so that players can effectively react. For example, Bufu casts an AoE indicator on the ground. This means that players will have time to move out of the way.
2 Use Guns To Create Openings
Joker’s faithful weapon (and neutral special in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is a gun. This can be used when players are running low on SP. It makes a return in the sequel. Persona 5 Strikers has given each member of the Phantom Thieves a specific type of gun that fits their character.
Unlike other games, there is no need to upgrade this weapon either. Don’t be shy to use a gun – ammo replenishes automatically after each fight. This can be used to create an opening in a horde of enemies and prompt a 1-More opportunity.
1 Use Environmental Weapons
Some fights, such as Mad Rabbit Alice, take place in a "combat arena." This is a battleground where the environment can be used to take the enemy down. In the Alice fight, Joker can use a pole to gain an advantage. Hanging decor can also be used throughout the game to drop down onto enemies.
There are even some instances where elemental-infused weapons can be found. These are typically the same as an enemy's weakness, so they're definitely worth keeping an eye out for. They could be the key to winning a tough fight.