Persona 5 Strikers might be the sequel to the original Persona 5 game but, the gameplay for Persona 5 Strikers went for a different direction that your typical turn-based JRPG. This hack and slash version of Persona 5 is still fun while narrating the story of what happened 6 months after.
To everyone that is new to this game genre, this Persona 5 Strikers beginner guide will be handy before playing the game. This guide will contain no spoilers and will offer general tips on combat, exploration, and characters tips to improve your playthrough.
Persona 5 – Best Tips and Tricks
Simple Exploring Tips
Most of the items you see in vending machines and stores are limited and will only replenish after a specific time period has passed. You should always buy these to prolong your jail infiltration and to help you with boss fights. The most important ones are the SP items and the vending machine near LeBlanc will be the nearest one. It is near the laundry area in the Persona 5 game.
Always talk to all your fellow thieves when going in and out of a jail. They will offer some advice, share what is on their mind, and give you useful items that are normally more powerful than what you get from stores.
While infiltrating jails, cubes will consistently respawn every time you enter the jail. These cubes are random items you can acquire which are not that strong but they add up for utility in quantity. They are also a great source for farming money in the game and certain bond upgrades will help as well.
When you get lost, you rarely have to circle back to where you came from unless there is an objective marker that tells you to go back. If there is nothing you can see with your third eye ability, the correct path is most likely to be ahead of you and it would probably be somewhere you can just double jump to.
Always buy the current set of weapons for the characters that you will be using. For example, Shibuya Jail will be Ann and Morgana since they are strong against Alice Hiiragi. However, Sendai Jaill will need characters like Yusuke and Sophia since they are strong against Ango Natsume.
When you finish Shibuya Jail, Yusuke and Sophia might be underleveled for the Sendai Jail and you need to level them up. To save money, just buy the current weapons for the characters you plan to use for the current jail in progress.
Armors can be worn by most characters depending on gender (plus a cat and an AI) so they are interchangeable. However, weapons are individually unique for each character and it can be expensive to buy each character their current weapon tier for each jail you progress through.
Keep doing requests and explore other jails to keep up with the level. Since you will be alternating characters that are stronger choices for every jail, some of their levels might be too low for the next jail.
Best Combat Tips – Bosses and Normal Enemies
The best tip you should know is to always use ALL your characters when infiltrating. While it spreads the experience points to all your used characters, you will end up with equal levels among all your characters instead of just having 4-5 characters at a high level.
When the time comes, you cannot always rely on Joker’s other Personas to capitalize on the weaknesses of the enemies. In fact, it is best to use Joker as a last resort in every scenario since you will change Joker’s Persona a lot during a battle and his SP throughout the infiltration will suffer greatly.
This also unlocks different Master Arts abilities from all of your characters quickly which is one of the most important combat strategies you should always use.
Always try to perform Master Arts or any combos that end with a spell. For example, Makoto can use the combo square-square-square-triangle and cast Frei at the end without any SP costs. This the best way to determine the weaknesses of unanalyzed enemies. Once you know their weaknesses, you can start using Persona skills ONLY if you are having a hard time since saving SP is key for the longevity of jail infiltrations.
Utilize your ammo as much as possible especially with Joker. Once you unlock Joker’s 3rd Master Art, he can freely shoot with his weapons without consuming ammo. If there are enemies that are weak to firearms, it will be a piece of cake every time and you can save a lot of SP.
Always look for ambush spots for an all-out attack opener. Not only does it save SP but also, it destroys enemies quickly without taking any damage.
Switch characters as often as possible for Baton Passes and it will increase your Showtime gauge extremely fast. Showtime is a special ultimate move that is separate from each character. It is usually used on hard enemies with a health bar or bosses.
Keep an eye on your surroundings when fighting. If you are fighting in a large open area, there is most likely going to be an interactable object that can wipe these mobs out. Some might even trigger all-out attacks and make things easier.
If you see an enemy with a bubble on top, it is probably using a skill on you. It is better to stop your combo and dodge this attack instead since this is probably 90% of the damage you will be taking all throughout the game. These also inflict debuffs and will cripple you badly unless dispelled. Mini-bosses will be easier to anticipate since they are usually alone unless they are low and call reinforcements.
When you need to dodge and you have incredible reflexes, it is better to look for interactable objects to dash to instead of dodging. There are no immune windows for split-second dodging. Personally, I dislike not having this feature for combat especially in a heavily fast-paced hack and slash game.
Target lock is only good on mini-bosses since they are usually the only ones that survive long enough to need focus targeting. All the other enemies will just get cleaved down anyway so it is better to focus on the hard-hitting target.
Before the enemies start spawning during encounters, you can already start doing your combos and have the strong special attack hit them instantly when they spawn.
Don’t forget to reset your camera angles when fighting so you can find “1 more” attacks easier. All-out attacks automatically swap to the target available but “1 more” attacks do not lock to them.
Don’t forget to equip Futaba with her Hacker Gear or any armor you have. There are some enemies that can 2-shot her if her armor is like 2-3 tiers below the current tier.
Conclusion
While these tips are only here to help you out through your progress regardless of difficulty, it is still better to have your own experience with the game. If you have character preferences, it is alright to choose them if you can still cope with the difficulty.
