Best beginner guide for Persona 5: The Phantom X

Persona 5: The Phantom X is out globally for players to enjoy. The JRPG puts you in a world parallel to P5. This turn-based game series is already filled with numerous elements, and P5X adds gacha mechanics into the mix. Thus, newcomers to the franchise might face a hard time trying to grasp all of them together.

This article aims to explain the basic elements of Persona 5: The Phantom X.

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A beginner's guide to Persona 5: The Phantom X

What is P5X?

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a gacha spin-off game of the Persona series. It is playable on both mobile and PC, and includes elements from the iconic JRPG franchise, such as turn-based combat, dungeon crawling, and social simulation mechanics. P5X's story is free-to-play. You can pull many characters to build up your team with Wonder. However, this is where the game's gacha system comes in. You must spend money to get the opportunity to pull high-star characters.

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Tutorial

Persona 5: The Phantom X will immediately put beginners into a tutorial at the start. It can be a massive help in learning the various mechanics of the title. However, after completing the section, ensure to read all the menu tutorials to get a detailed explanation.

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Main and Side Missions + Events

Navigating the Metaverse (Image via SEGA)

After completing the tutorial, beginners will gain access to the Metaverse and other realms. Complete the various main and side missions to increase the protagonist Wonder's EXP. Focus on increasing his experience as it unlocks more content.

After progressing to a certain point, beginners can participate in time-bound special events. They can provide unique rewards ranging from Meta Jewels to Weapons. Make sure to engage with them to unlock unique resources, which can be especially useful to beginners.

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Affinities and Down Gauge

Beginners should learn how to weaknesses (Image via SEGA)

Every ally and enemy in the game has a particular relation with elements. It adds depth to the combat system, as players need to keep them in mind while building their team. Targets in Persona 5: The Phantom X can react in a total of five ways to a particular attribute:

• Weak: The target is weak and will take higher damage from the element. It will also reduce the Down Gauge/Knockdown gauge.
• Resist: The target will take lower damage from that element.
• Null: The target will take no damage from that element.
• Repel: The target will reflect the attack, which will deal damage to the person who initiated the move.
• Absorb: The target will heal HP instead of taking damage.

Some allies and enemies in the game will use a down gauge system to counter knockdowns. The Shield symbol found next to the target's HP signals the number of times they should be hit before they are open to a knockdown. Hitting the enemy with an attribute they're weak to or a Critical Sword/Gun move to lower the number. Click the enemy icons to see their affinities. Beginners should learn how to play around enemy weaknesses to develop an advantage.

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1 More, All-out, Highlight, and Guard

Highlight attacks (Image via SEGA)

1 More

Whenever you knock down an enemy, it will trigger a 1 More. The player will get the opportunity to use a bonus attack. Each character can only use one 1 More per round.

All-Out-Attack

When you knock down all enemies, you can initiate an All-Out-Attack. Its damage is correspondent to the number of agents involved in it. You can initiate it even if the Protagonist is unavailable.

Highlight Attack

As you keep fighting, your "Highlight" gauge will be filled. Once it reaches 100%, an agent/unit can spend it to unleash a powerful skill. Beginners should learn how to utilize this powerful attack properly.

Guards

Guarding reduces the damage you take by a substantial amount. It also regenerates Down Points and SP.

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Character type and stats

There are seven character types in the game. Beginners need to learn their playstyle to create a strong team. Here are all of them:

• Assassin: Single-target damage dealer
• Sweeper: Area of Effect/multiple targets damage dealer
• Medic: Healers
• Guardian: Tanks
• Strategist: Buff support
• Saboteur: Debuff support
• Elucidator: Off-field support

Character stats are important elements that beginners need to understand. Knowing an agent's strengths and weaknesses will help you utilize them better. Here are all the stats and what they mean:

• Attack: Governs the damage and effectiveness of skills and attacks. Most characters scale with this stat. Hence, beginners can start by focusing on this element.
• Critical Damage: Controls how much damage a Critical hit does.
• Critical Rate: Controls the frequency of delivering Critical hits
• Damage Bonus: Increases the damage dealt to enemies.
• Defense: Controls how much damage the user takes.
• Effect Hit Rate: Increases the probability of activating a debuff.
• HP: Governs how many hit points an individual has.
• Penetration%: Governs how much % of defense is ignored when an attack connects. It is applied before Defense Down debuffs.
• SP Regen%: Controls how much SP is recovered from items and particular skills.
• Speed: Controls an individual position in the match order. It is subject to buffs and debuffs: The former can cause the target to rise on the turn order, while the latter can cause them to go down instead. It also controls how frequently the user dodges enemy attacks.

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Arcana Cards

Arcana Cards are a type of item that provides various stat increases upon equipping. There are two types of Arcana Cards in Persona 5: The Phantom X:

Revelation Cards are accessible once you reach level 35. These are acquired via Special Domains and in-game or event shops. The cards are further bifurcated into four types:

• Sun
• Moon
• Star
• Planet

Universe Cards are obtained from:

• Battle Pass
• Guild Raids
• Event shops

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Game Modes

There are currently a total of seven game modes in Persona 5: The Phantom X. Some of them are only limited to the Chinese version of the game as of this writing; hence, we'll avoid them for now.

Casual Game Modes

• Velvet Trials: A Series of stages with ramping difficulty. Your goal is to get the highest score to unlock stars, which can reward you with Meta Shards, Fated Echoes, Major Inspiration Points, Janosik duplicates, etc.
• Heart Rail: A roguelite mode. Choose from the agents you own and pass through a series of encounters with randomized elements. Progression will reward you with party buffs and enemy debuffs. Completing each run will give you Tickets, which you can spend on a skill tree.

Endgame Modes

• Sea of Souls Trials: You'll fight against two bosses in each patch. This is an online event. You'll compete against other players in a global leaderboard. Each boss will be concentrated around a Rate-Up agent. The match will also have seasonal modifiers. You must prepare two separate teams for this mode. It is the best way to farm Rainbow Persona Coins.
• Door of Nightmares: This is a guild-focused mode in Persona 5: The Phantom X. You'll face three bosses per patch. You'll manage three teams in this mode. You can also borrow an agent from another guild member. At the end of the matches, your score is added to the guild's total. All teams are ranked on a global leaderboard.

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Guild System

The guild system in Persona 5: The Phantom X is called Paradise, and teams are also known by the same term. It is unlocked after beginners progress the story to a certain point and once Wonder reaches level 40. The game will eventually introduce you to Paradises. You can join a Paradise or create your own for a price of 200 premium currency.

Each guild will have its own name, description, icon, tags, and minimum level at which players can apply, all controlled by the leader. They can also promote or remove members.

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Gacha System

Unlocking characters (Image via SEGA)

Persona 5: The Phantom X's gacha system involves four unique banner types and a pity system similar to any other game. Here are all the banners:

• Beginner Banner
• Limited Banner
• Weapon Banner
• Standard Banner

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Social Stats and Synergies

Social Stats

The protagonist has five social stats in Persona 5: The Phantom X:

• Knowledge
• Guts
• Proficiency
• Kindness
• Charm

Beginners should engage in various social activities to develop these stats, as doing so will also help them in combat.

Synergy

Spending time with other characters and selecting the right dialogues will increase your synergy with them. Doing so will unlock certain actions in the game. You can also build romances with certain characters.

That concludes the beginner's guide on Persona 5: The Phantom X.

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