A major focus of Persona 5 Royal is negotiating with Shadows. While players can get better Personas by combining them together, the only one that Joker starts with is Arsene. For players to build up their registry, they have to negotiate with Shadows and convince them to become Joker's masks.
As a centerpiece of Persona 5 Royal, negotiating with Shadows isn't as easy as asking them politely. There are several factors to keep in mind whether players want money, items, or new Personas, and there are a lot of confidant abilities that add even more features and options to negotiations. This guide will explain how the basic negotiation works, what abilities change this system, and how players can get them.
The Basics of Shadow Negotiation
Once players knock down every Shadow in a battle, the fight becomes a Hold Up. Players can either initiate an All-Out Attack that deals immense amounts of Almighty damage, or they can choose one of the knocked-down Shadows to negotiate with. However, players can't negotiate with a Savage Shadow with too much health left, a miniboss, or a Shadow suffering from one of several status ailments. Negotiation also isn't an option if Joker is knocked down or suffering from an ailment.
When negotiating, players can ask a Shadow for money, an item, or "power." This last option will turn the Shadow into a Persona for Joker, but is more difficult than the other two. Regardless of the choice, any surviving Shadows will escape, giving the party none of their EXP, yen, or items. The Shadow players choose will always provide its EXP reward, but it'll only give the party yen or items through negotiation.
Choosing An Option
The money that a Shadow offers up is usually a little more than what they would give up from a normal defeat. The item can be a common consumable, a rare consumable, or a skill card. If Joker has the Shadow's Persona version in his stock, the Shadow will give up more money or a rarer item. The Luck stat of the currently equipped Persona can also influence this reward.
If Joker asks for power, what happens next depends on whether players have the Shadow in their compendium. If they do, players can skip the next phase of negotiation and gain a new mask immediately. A Shadow that isn't in stock will join up, and a Shadow that is in Joker's stock will give its Persona version some free EXP. However, if a player hasn't collected or fused the Shadow yet, they'll have to convince the Shadow to join them with a conversation.
Shadow Conversations
Every Shadow belongs to a demographic that determines how it behaves and what questions it asks. They can act like young kids, teenage girls, male gangsters, old women, and more. More importantly, though, every Shadow has a personality, and players must appeal to that personality to convince it to join them. Morgana or Futaba will suggest an approach at the start of each conversation, and players can always see the Shadow's personality type in the upper-left corner.
Personality Type | Likes (Music Notes) | Neutral (Sweat Drops) | Hates (Bulging Veins) |
|---|---|---|---|
Gloomy | Ambiguous | Kind | Serious, Playful |
Irritable | Serious | Playful | Kind, Ambiguous |
Timid | Kind | Serious | Ambiguous, Playful |
Upbeat | Playful | Kind | Serious, Ambiguous |
It's not always clear which responses are in which category, and since players only get three choices one option is always left out. Fortunately, the ones left in always include the "likes" and "neutral" options.
Each conversation consists of two choices, but only the second choice matters. If the Shadow likes Joker's answer, it'll join him as a new mask. If it's neutral, it'll give Joker an item and then leave. If it hates the answer, the combat will resume and the Shadow will attack immediately.
There are two exceptions to this formula. First, Treasure Demons always joins Joker with no chance to even ask for items or money. Treasure Demons also don't give extra EXP to Treasure Demon Personas. Second, if a Shadow has a higher level than Joker, it'll give up an item and leave if players ask for power.
Negotiation Abilities
Many confidants have abilities that can influence how a negotiation goes.
Talk
Each party member has a Talk skill that can give players a second chance at a conversation if they fail to choose the best option. These Talk skills trigger based on conditions unique to each character:
Party Member | Ability Name | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
Morgana | Kitty Talk | The Shadow is animalistic in design |
Ryuji | Punk Talk | The Shadow's personality is Upbeat |
Ann | Girl Talk | The Shadow is female |
Yusuke | Art Talk | The Shadow is alone |
Makoto | Black Belt Talk | The Shadow has a Physical skill |
Haru | Celeb Talk | The Shadow is currently part of a group |
Akechi | Smooth Talk | The Shadow represents a god |
Fitness Talk | Any Shadow |
Insta-kill
Joker gets this ability from Chariot 7. By dashing into a Shadow 10 levels lower than Joker, he can win the fight instantly and get all the EXP, yen, and items the battle would have provided. Joker also gets one of the Shadows as a Persona mask, and this can include new Personas. If Joker already has the Persona in stock, he'll get EXP for the Persona instead.
Treasure Skimmer
Futaba gets this skill when players max out the Hermit confidant. When a battle starts, Futaba will sometimes point out a Shadow that's holding a rare item. Joker can get this item with Pickpocket, but he can also get it by negotiating with the Shadow and demanding an item.
Warning Shot
This ability unlocks at Tower 3. During negotiations, players can fire a Warning Shot at the Shadow. This has a good chance of convincing a Shadow to join Joker immediately, but sometimes the Shadow will run off or attack instead.
Diplomacy
This comes from Sun 2. After asking for money or an item, Joker can ask for more money or more items. This has a chance of angering the Shadow and causing it to attack immediately, but if the demand succeeds, players can keep asking for even more money or items. However, if players ask for an item from a Shadow identified with Treasure Skimmer, they won't get a chance to ask for more.
Fundraising, Manipulation, and Mind Control
These abilities are unlocked at Sun 3, Sun 5, and Sun 8. Each of them will sometimes turn a negotiation option red, with Fundraising for money, Manipulation for items, and Mind Control for power. When the money demand is red, the Shadow will give a lot more yen than usual. When the item demand is red, players are guaranteed to get the Shadow's rare item or skill card. When the power demand is red, the Shadow will join Joker immediately with no conversation.
Charismatic Speech
When Joker reaches Sun 10, he can ask any Shadow of any level to join him, even if its level is higher than his.
Persona 5 Royal is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.