Persona 5 Strikers Tips - 13 Things You Need To Know Before Starting

Persona 5 Strikers isn't your typical musou action game. There are familiar elements like tearing down mobs of enemies in wild "one-versus-100" style combat. But this game takes many of the gameplay mechanics from the Atlus RPG and fuses them with Omega Force's high-octane action template. Strikers also sticks to its Persona roots by bringing some light life-sim mechanics, but with some tweaks that might take some getting used to. For various reasons, it can be a lot to take in whether this is your first musou game or first Persona experience.

Here, I've compiled a list of tips to help guide you through Persona 5 Strikers. While there are plenty of tutorials that establish the basics of the game, figuring out how to best approach the game's many facets is another challenge. Much of this guide involves the intricacies of being effective in combat, but there are other features you'll want to use properly like the Bond system and persona fusion.

For more on this action-based adaptation of the iconic RPG, be sure to read my Persona 5 Strikers review, and read about how you can approach the game if you haven't played Persona 5 before.

Save SP For Breaking Down Tough Enemies

As with any Persona game, success in combat depends on identifying your enemy's elemental affinities. Hitting their weakness lays on extra damage and creates opportunities for the seminal all-out attack that does even more damage. However, spells consume SP, and SP recovery items are hard to come by (especially early in the game). With that in mind, it's wise to be mindful of how you're spending party members' SP.

Minibosses and enemies with dedicated health bars on the UI have a shield meter you need to deplete to execute all-out attacks. And in order to break that meter, you need to hit them with attacks that correspond to their weakness. These are the fights you want SP reserved for since this will give you opportunities to inflict more damage. Bigger enemies tend to be damage sponges, and exploiting weaknesses is a much more efficient way to take them down.

Hitting a weakness may also give you what's called a "1-More." This comes up as a button prompt where you automatically do some melee damage and staggers an enemy for a moment. Now you can lay down a combo or two without worrying about getting hit.

Use Elemental Combos To Conserve SP

SP can run out fast as you make it through dungeons or even in the middle of a challenging fight, so spamming spells isn't going to get you out of trouble. Thankfully, spellcasting isn't the only way you can exploit an enemy's weakness. Each persona Joker can wield, and each party member, represents a specific element, and they each have a combo sequence that hits with that element, free of SP charge.

So if you want to conserve SP or are depleted, you'll want to know how to pull off these combos. It's as simple as a few light attacks followed by the special attack button, although the number of light attacks necessary differs between characters. Some characters can also temporarily add their elemental affinity to normal attacks. This will be your bread and butter against stronger enemies.

Form Your Party So You Can Hammer At A Bosses Weakness

In Persona 5 Strikers, every boss has an elemental weakness, no matter how powerful they are. The action combat system definitely benefits from giving you something to exploiting these weaknesses, so you're not just wailing on damage sponges. However, you won't be able to tell exactly what their weaknesses are if it's your first and only encounter with a boss.

Make sure you save right before a big boss fight and give it a try--if you're having trouble because they have a weakness you can't hit with your chosen party members, go back and switch for those who can hit the right elements.

Don't Forget To Use Environmental Weapons

Some of the bigger fights take place in combat arenas with specific objects in the environment you can interact with. Sometimes it's decor hanging from the ceiling you can drop onto enemies or a pile of elemental-infused weapons on the ground. You'll see a button prompt to dart toward these points of interest in order to use them.

Keep an eye out for these and pay attention to the elemental icon next to their prompt--it'll often be the same as a specific enemy's weakness. Depending on their function, these objects can create openings for you in the same way elemental spells can and make a tough fight a bit easier.

Use Guns To Create Openings

Each character is equipped with a specific type of gun they can use. Unlike the original RPG, you don't need to upgrade guns, and like in Royal, ammo replenishes after each fight. Some enemies are weak against gunfire, but for all others with a lot of HP, unloading on them can make a dent in their health or prompt a 1-More opportunity.

Mix Your Party Composition To Your Advantage

Characters outside of the party will gain considerably less experience, and if you stick to a certain few for a long period of time, the level gap between characters starts to grow. Find ways to naturally incorporate or swap them in the rotation, especially when their specific element is an advantage in a tougher stretch of a dungeon. It'll help keep your party's levels even and battles smooth. And if they stay ready, they don't need to get ready--you'll thank me later when you make it to the late-game!

Dash, Dash, Dash!

With Strikers being an ultra-fast action game, you might feel a tendency to constantly be on the offensive with relentless attacks. But self-preservation is important. Combat can get a bit messy, making it hard to get a read on enemies. In my experience, it's always smart to dash your way out of the chaos when you sense danger. If you see a stronger enemy casting a spell (indicated by the text and icon over their head), you'd best create some space to avoid getting hit.

These spells can do a lot of damage, especially if you're facing a boss. And sometimes, the enemies will just pile on damage even when you're still trying to get back up.

How To Best Use The Bond System

At story-critical moments and in some side quests (more on that in a moment), you'll gain Bond EXP, which then turns into Bond points. You'll spend those points on things like stat boosts, perks in combat, or improving rewards and items, but Bond points are a premium.

There are many f options for upgrading the Phantom Thieves through the Bond system, and some are more useful than others. You won't unlock everything in a playthrough, so I suggest focusing on boosting max SP, increasing physical and magic damage, and upgrading the harisen recovery.

Do Requests That Boost Bond EXP And Unlock Shop Gear

Throughout the story, you'll get Requests, which are side quests that usually take you back to a previous dungeon to eliminate a specific enemy or have you exploring the normal world for certain items. Requests have special rewards, some more useful than others.

Requests tend to pile up, but if you're not a completionist, you don't necessarily need to do all of them. Luckily, you can see what you'll get from completing a Request--don't skip the ones that reward you with Bond EXP or unlock new gear in the shop. Like I said earlier, Bond points are a premium. You'll also want to keep the party equipped with the latest weapons and armor, so be sure to unlock new tiers of gear by doing the corresponding Requests.

Spend Money Wisely Early On

For the first few dungeons, you'll be short on cash. This means you can't always buy the best weapons and armor for the whole cast. You have to be a bit selective with purchasing decisions unless you want to grind for money. There is a Bond perk that increases your monetary reward from combat, and the earlier you take that perk, the more your earnings can pile up. Eventually, you'll have enough money to keep everyone in fighting condition.

Stock Up On Items As Soon As They're Available

You can buy items from Sophia back in the RV hideout or at different shops in whatever city you're in. However, you can only buy a certain item in limited quantities at a time. Stock will replenish after making some progress in the Metaverse, although it's a bit unclear exactly when--be sure to check with Sophia or shops whenever you come back from the Metaverse to see if there's a restock. This is most important for potent health items or cooking ingredients, so it's smart to hop on them once they're available and before a future restock anyway.

Always Cook Up SP Recovery Items

Joker's Kitchen is a neat little crafting system where you can cook up some food for the squad, which are healing items you take into combat. As mentioned previously, ingredients are sold at vendors as well as new recipes. Stay on top of keeping the menu fresh and focus on cooking up items that restore SP since they're harder to come by at stores and come in clutch for combat.

Be sure to stock up on ingredients for whichever is the strongest recipe you have available. You can unlock new ingredients at Sophia's shop by finishing the corresponding requests, which will make the hunt for specific ingredients easier.

Always Keep Joker Strong By Fusing Personas

Joker is the one character who can wield multiple personas, giving him the ability to adapt to whatever the party needs at a given moment. As is persona tradition, you need to use persona fusions to create more powerful ones. Make sure you pop into the Velvet Room to create new personas that are closer to Joker's character level.

Be mindful of their stats, elemental affinities, and roster of spells, too--sometimes a higher level doesn't make them more useful. Strikers also make use of weaker personas. Be sure to sacrifice ones you don't use anymore to get extra PP (persona points) and don't forget to use that sweet PP to boost a useful persona's level.