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Everything you’ve been working for so far inPersona 5 Tacticahas led you to this – the final battle with Salmael, the God of Control who’s been behind this entire nightmare metaverse he created to test Toshiro. He offers you an out before the final battle, but as if the Phantom Thieves would back down now!
Fight your way through Salmael’s Kingdom, re-challenge familiar faces from earlier in the game, plan your Skill Trees carefully, make any last-minute adjustments in the Velvet Room, and help Toshiro stand his own in the final boss fight of Persona 5 Tactica against Salmael.
This guide contains major end-game spoilers for Persona 5 Tactica.
Battle Your Way To The Final Boss
Salmael introduces himself to the Phantom Thievesafter you beat Shadow Toshiroin the Third Kingdom. Immediately after taking down the memory of Eri, Salmael appears to lay everything on the line.
He says that he’s theGod that’s been organizing this alternate reality for Toshiroin an effort to squash the rebellious nature he has in his heart, in an effort to prepare him for his race for Prime Minister of Japan. Toshiro, though, denounces this, and says he’s ready to fight.
Salmael offers everyone the option tostop fighting and be returned to realitywithout any questions asked. Unfortunately for him, he’s asking the Phantom Thieves, so the answer is, of course, no thank you.
Following the conversation with Salmael, you’ll find the teamboardingthe Velvet Roomtrain and speaking with Lavenzaabout what’s going on. She volunteers to take you all to where Salmael is hiding out.
Aboard, you’ll have one of your final chances tovisit the Velvet Roomto make anypowerful new Sub-Personasfor your team, take onoptional queststhat unlock the final skill in each Thieve’s individual Skill Tree, andtalk to the groupfor extra background information.
Once you’re ready, you’re brought toSalmael’s Kingdom, which is sterile, gray, and offers fewer opportunities for Cover, and you’ll need tofight your way through several Mission stagesto advance.
You’re able toswitch out your party membersbetween individual Missions, sotake advantage of Peak Conditionby changing your team structure after battles.
Now, though, you’ve finally gotten a fourth party member -Toshiro joins your partyfor the final stretch to Salmael. Hewon’t be replaced by Baton Passshould he faint, so be sure to keep Toshiro in good health, but he and Ernesto make for excellent additional firepower.
Re-Fight Major Boss Battles
After every few Mission stages you complete in Salmael’s Kingdom, you’ll be made to facesecond versions of several major boss fightsfrom throughout the game so far. These includeLady Marie,Lord Yoshiki, and the memory of Eri Natsuhara.
When you get to them, these fightsfunction the same as the original fightsdid, with the same victor parameters as before. Marie will still use her tank, you still have to get up to Lord Yoshiki, and the memory of Erina knows the same attacks as before.
If anything, though, thefights are more difficultthan before, now that you and your Thieves have a drastically higher party level and you’ve beenfilling out your Skill Treesto make the Thieves more powerful.
As long as you remember the keys to victory in these fights, they should be no problem to handle a second time.
You’ll finish up with Mission 51 before being givenone more chance to regroup on the trainto fill out Skill Trees, create new Personas, and anything else you need to do before proceeding into the game’s final battle.
Salmael Battle Guide
Phase One
The battle against Salmael at the end of Persona 5 Tactica requirescareful use of all battle tactics you’ve learnedto date. All your other fights have been practice, leading up to this enormous, end-game blowout. Like before,Toshiro joins you in the fight, but he cannot be replaced by Baton Pass, just like before.
Salmael’s battle takes place onfive platforms in a semicircle in front of Salmael, and you find soon enough that he’s able torotate the platforms forward or in reverseas he sees fit between turns.
This attack is calledCogs of Fate, and you’ll be shown the direction the platforms will bemoving on Salmael’s next turn, and how many spots they’ll move when the time comes.
Forwardmoves the semicircle in aclockwisemanner, whilereversemoves it in acounter-clockwisepattern instead.
However,the platforms that cycle out one end reappear on the other end, meaning any Phantom Thief standing on a platform all the way to the right will be cycled back toward the left side of the screen once Salmael moves the platforms.
This can be ahelp or a hindrance- you canuse this to get closer to Salmael, or you can tactfully use the opportunity tomove the Thieves around the boardto set up for later attacks.
Anyone who’s brought to the other side of the board through the green mist willtake heavy damage when they reappearon the other side of the board, so be mindful of everyone’s HP before they’re moved too far!
The most widely damaging attack isFinal Judgment, which sends two circular saw blades at your Thieves.
This attackwill hit the entire party if they’re close together, so allowing for some space between them when you’re able is usually the best bet. When the party isn’t clustered together, the attack only chooses one Thief.
Individually, you’ll also seeMercy from Heaven, which targets andhits one Thiefonly.
What’s worth noting is that there will beseveral Legionnaires around the boardwho are also trying to take you out, but keep in mind thatinflicting damage on Salmael is your ultimate goal. When his HP is gone, the battle is over regardless of how many Legionnaires remain.
The best way to handle these Legionnaires, provided they’re not hurting your party too much with their attacks, is touse them to string together One More attacks that let the Thieves move a second time. This is a great way tocover more groundon the battlefield.
Yourguns have better range than skillsfor this, so be sure your Thieves have strong firearms going into the fight.
And when dealing with Salmael,skills are most effective fromthe platform directly in front of Salmael, and while they do tend to inflict more damage than your guns, they require proximity to Salmael to execute.
Overall, your main goal is todeplete Salmael’s HPand survive everything he throws at you. He’s imposing and his attacks are varied, but there aren’t many tricks to fighting him in this stage.
Phase Two
When Phase Two begins, Salmael’s health refills, his mask comes apart, and you’re tasked withdepleting Salmael’s HP one more time.
Except now, he’s bringing out bigger guns for his attacks. New to this phase isHoly Numbers of Salvation, which can cause devastating harm if you don’t plan accordingly.
Salmael lines up an attack on one platform specifically, which will hit anyone on that platform and inflict damage unless youmove the requisite number of party members to the platformon your turn tocancel out the attack.
Any fewer than that, though, and everyone who did make it to the platform is struck. This attack dealsshock damage, rendering any party members struck by the attackunable to move on their next turn.
If you’renot able to cancel outHoly Numbers of Salvation. simplynot letting the Thieves end their turn on the platformSalmael is targeting is an easy way to avoid taking damage.
However, another perk of Salmael having Legionnaires in the fight is thatevery Legionnaire on the board gets a turnwhen Salmael moves as well. They go after him, but they’re still dangerous if your party is low on HP or you’ve allowed too many of them to accumulate on the board.
While not directly one of Salmael’s attacks, the Legionnaires deal damage to your party all the same, acting as Salmael’s army in a way.
Spire Of Judgment Requires An All-Out Attack
Potentially the most demanding of all Salmael’s varied attacks, though, isSpire of Judgment, which sees Salmael erect an enormousgolden antenna tower in the center of the battlefield.
Futaba warns you the first time Salmael uses this attack that you’ll need toperform an All-Out Attack to cancel the Spire of Judgment’s attack, which has homing properties thatwillhit any Phantom Thief on the board to dealmassive damage, potentially KOing anyone it hits, depending on your game difficulty.
The challenge, though, isusing One More attacks to move your Thieves around the board and into position for the All-Out Attack.
While the Legionnaires have been a thorn in your side, they’re excellent for stringing together chains of One More attacks to allow your Thieves more movement on the board.
Performing this attack requires your Thieves to all be separated, which may be tough given the rotating nature of the platform. However, if Salmael is rotating the platforms between attacks, you canuse the rotation to your advantageto get one of your Phantom Thieves to the other side of the board.
Once you’ve executed the All-Out Attack, the Spire falls and frees you up to refocus on Salmael once again. Futaba is able touse the Spire’s defeat to deal massive damageto Salmael instead.
Salmael is your primary objective and it’s easy enough to ignore the Legionnaires, butdo not ignore the Spire of Judgement- the attack may prove lethal, while Salmael’s other attacks are only dangerous if your teammates are at low health.
Repeat this process until he goes down, and you’ll have defeated Samael in Persona 5 Tactica! Enjoy some wrap-up cutscenes before the credits roll and you begin a NG+ run or head into the DLC.
