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WhileShido’s defeat seems to be the end of everyone’s troublesinPersona 5 Royal, the politician’s cronies manipulate the mass media to ensure that everyone continues to love Shido and forget about the Phantom Thieves. Their ability to pull this off seems almost supernatural, and so on 12/24 the Thieves decide to enter Mementos one last time and steal the Treasure of the collective unconscious.
However, things don’t go so smoothly. In thePersonaseries, gods are born from the collective thoughts of humanity, andPersona 5 Royalis no exception. There is indeed a Treasure at the heart of the Mementos Depths, but to steal it the Thieves must face the greatest threat they’ve yet encountered.
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Preparations
Before entering the Depths, players will have todescend through every layer of Mementosif they haven’t already. Any outstanding requests can’t be completed on 12/24, but every door will open for the Thieves even if they haven’t fought the gatekeepers. In addition, players are allowed to leave Mementos, but only to get gear from Untouchable or items from Takemi’s clinic. Be sure to visit Untouchable at least once, because Iwai will have new weapons and protectors for sale.
Something else to note is that players can speak to Caroline at any time to restore the party’s HP and SP, plus Jose is still roaming the regular floors of Mementos and has a fresh selection of items. So while players are cut off from Tokyoand all the activities it has to offer, this gauntlet run of Mementos is much easier than it might first appear.
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Upper Passageway
When the Phantom Thieves reach the bottom layer of Mementos, they’ll see where all the subway trains lead and a massive door will open for them. Beyond this door is another spot where players can speak to Caroline, enter the Velvet Room, and save. There’s a smaller door with a crowd of people in front of it to the right, but the door won’t open. Instead,Joker must jump across several platformsand climb in through a window.
Straight ahead is a round prison room where the Thieves will speak to some of the prisoners and learn more about the Depths. This discussion ends when two Guard Shadows appear and attack. This leads to a miniboss fight against twoMelchizedekShadows who are weak to Wind. Melchizedek also appears as part of regular Shadow fights in the Upper Passageway, along withMolochandLilith. Players may also encounter theHope Diamond(which is weak to Ice) and theCrystal Skull(weak to Wind) as Treasure Demons.
Something else worth mentioning is the Security Level. The Mementos Depths has a Security Level, unlike the Mementos Paths above it, and while this can make Shadows more alert and Treasure Demons more common, hitting 100 percent won’t force the Phantom Thieves to retreat the way it would in a normal Palace.
Soon after leaving the round prison area, players will run into an Activation Panel that blocks the path forward. Turning it on will cause some of the floor tiles to glow yellow, and the goal of this puzzle is to turn them all blue by stepping on them and to then use the Activation Panel again.
Note that turning all the tiles blue doesn’t lock them as blue, and so Joker must be standing on a blue tile next to the Activation Panel to solve these puzzles. Something else to note is that the starting tile won’t change color until players move to it from another tile. Most of these puzzles have multiple solutions, but here’s one that definitely works:
Immediately after solving this puzzle, two Guard Shadows will appear and threaten the Thieves. However, this isn’t a miniboss encounter, and so Joker can run away from the guards and ambush them later. There’s also an isolated cell to the right of the Panel, and Joker can speak to the person locked inside. These cells are a common sight in the Depths, and players can locate them by listening for a heartbeat. They also drive home the fact that while Futaba’s Palace sort of combines the sins of Wrath and Sloth, Sloth is definitelythe deadly sin of the Mementos Depths Palace.
The door forward is on the north row of platforms, but continue past it to find a grapple point. Use it to reach a chest with aDark Cutlassfor Morgana. After that, take the door to a new area with a new puzzle.
This is another easy one, and it shows players both that tiles can sometimes start blue and that players will need to step on a tile several times to complete some puzzles. The first safe room is along the next section, and at the far end of the path is the third puzzle.
Head through the door behind the puzzle to reach a Cavernous Void. Morgana will turn into a van to descend the long road, but thankfully players get to skip the journey and skip straight to the next layer.
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Middle Passageway
The Middle Passageway starts with a round prison room again, but this time there are some familiar faces in the crowd. The Thieves will learn even more about Depths from this discussion, like how another name for it is the Prison of Regression. Guard Shadows will interrupt again, but this time players can run away and avoid them.
Several new Shadows have joined the ranks on this floor. They includeChernobogandAbbadon, who is the Savage Shadow of this Palace. Abbadon is level 75, which meansit also has the highest level in the Palace.
To leave this area, head to the staircase and go through the door on the north wall. There are two ways to go from here, and if players take the east path they can reach a grapple point that leads to a Savage Shadow and a chest with aHoly Shroudinside. Either way, the exit for this area is to the northwest.
Jump down the platforms to find a new safe room, then go south from the safe room to find a special Warden Shadow standing guard over something. Moving forward leads to a miniboss fight against twoThroneangels who are weak to Nuke. Defeating them lets Joker grab theVermilion Diskbehind them, which will be essential for the puzzle north of the safe room. Using the Disk will open up the center platform in the 3x3 grid, and the puzzle is unsolvable without it. Here’s how to put it to use:
The door past the Panel leads to a second Cavernous Void, and that leads down to the third and final layer.
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Lower Passageway
Like before, there’s a circular room straight ahead, but this time it’s Mona who has some exposition to deliver. The massive door to the Quarantine Cell is here, but there’s no way of opening it. More guards will appear to end the conversation early, and this time it’s a set of threeDominionangels. The battle starts off with the Thieves being surrounded, but Dominion angelsare weak to both Electricity and Curse.
The next safe room is on the west side of the 3x3 grid just to the north. New Shadows for this floor includeThorandYamata-no-Orochi. After going past the safe room, head to the end of the southwest path to find a grapple point that leads up to aBlack Rock.
Just north of the chest is the next puzzle, and there are a couple new wrinkles to the formula. First, the glowing white dots indicate that players can only step on 10 tiles, and stepping on an 11th tile will turn them red and shut down the puzzle. Second, the red veins surround an invisible platform that players can walk across. With the second wrinkle in mind, the solution to this puzzle is simple:
Head through the door past the puzzle to reach a new area with two puzzles (players can see where they are because they appear as filled-in tiles on the map). The south puzzle is impossible to solve right away, so go up to the north puzzle and use the invisible tiles to solve it.
Doing this will provide access to anotherVermilion Disk, and like before this will open an essential platform for solving the next puzzle. Here’s how to use it:
Once the path opens, jump down the platforms and head for the door. This leads to a new area with three overlapping puzzles, and players have to solve them in the right order. Before trying any of them, though, head to the northwest cornerand use a grapple pointto reach a chest and getSleep Vial L x3. Players can get back by jumping to the south platform and using another grapple point.
The correct order to solve the puzzles in is East, Southwest, and North. Here are their solutions:
Once every puzzle is complete, the way to the Holy Grail (and one last safe room) will open. The Holy Grail fight is surprisingly easy, but only because it’s the first part of a much longer sequence. This guide will avoid spoiling too much about what happens next, but when players get the option, they should say “I refuse.” Saying anything elsecould result in a bad end.
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Qliphoth World
The action resumes in the Qliphoth Worldas Mementos and reality start to merge. Joker and the Phantom Thieves once again have someone to replenish their HP and SP and access to the Velvet Room, but for obvious reasons they can no longer visit the airsoft shop or the clinic.
Head up the ramp to start on the Path to the Holy Grail. There are two chests in the first area: the one on the right holds aVest of Lifewhile the one on the lefthas aDeath Axefor Haru. Beyond them is the first guardian angel,Uriel. Uriel has no weaknesses and nulls Bless damage (as do the other guardian angels who come up later). Uriel will summon two regularAngelsfor support, and while they have more HP than usual they still have a weakness to Curse damage.
As for the regular shadows, players will encounterDominion,Mot,Throne, andMara. There are also several Savage Shadows, but they’re stillAbbadonlike in the Depths.
In the second area, players should bear right around the oval path and drop onto the platform in the middle. A grapple point here will lead to a chest with aBead Chain.The second guardian isRaphael, and he likes to open with a Heat Riser/Charge combo.
In the third area, climb up the left path to find a grapple point that leads to a platform on the right. Up here is a chest withSoul Foodinside. The third guardian isGabriel, andher favorite skill is Divine Judgment, a Bless-element attack that cuts a target’s HP in half.
The fourth area has a couple Savage Shadows patrolling and one chest on either side of the central path. The chest on the left has aSomawhile the one on the right holds aScarf of Mercyfor Morgana. The final guardian isMichael, who will also summon in someAngelsfor backup.
Just past Michael is a small area where the game will warn Joker that this is his last chance to turn back. Players can fast-travel from here back to the entrance, which means they can also save, create a few last Personas, and restore the party’s HP and SP. Only the Holy Grail fight remains,so get ready for a serious challenge.
Persona 5 Royalis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
