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New game+ and Merciless Mode
Persona 5 Strikers

New game+ and Merciless Mode

Persona 5 Strikers New Game+ carries over almost everything. Merciless Mode makes enemies much stronger and unlocks new challenges.

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Persona 5 Strikers New Game+ carries over almost everything. Merciless Mode makes enemies much stronger and unlocks new challenges.

Walkthrough
  1. 1
    Load a Mastered File to begin New Game+ (NG+). Choosing otherwise will load the game normally into the post-game.
  2. 2
    During NG+ setup, you can choose whether to enable Merciless Mode.
  3. 3
    If you choose Merciless Mode, you cannot change the difficulty later.

New Game+ Carryovers:

  • Items
  • Personas
  • Party member stats
  • Shop unlocks
  • Sophia can use her Persona from the start.
  • Wolf is available from the start.
  • Lucifer can be fused.
  • Incense can be bought at Sophia's store.

What does NOT carry over:

  • Requests completion progress.

Merciless Mode Changes and Additions:

  • Enemies are significantly stronger.
  • Enemies give better rewards.
  • More gameplay content is available (no new story content).
  • If you lose a battle, you cannot retry and must return to the start of the infiltration (save often).
  • Chest contents in dungeons remain the same and can only be opened once.
  • Respawning chests drop the same pool of skill cards.
  • Enemies drop different skill cards (previously dropped by Treasure Demons).
  • Treasure Demons drop different and very valuable skill cards.
  • Treasure Demons will not spawn until the Sendai Jail story event.
  • Treasure Demons are much harder to kill, often Nullifying everything except their weakness.
  • Treasure Demons now drop 2 sets of skill cards instead of 1.
  • Enemies notice you much easier and are harder to ambush.
  • Enemies raise the security level (the percentage shown on the HUD (heads-up display — the on-screen icons showing health, ammo and the minimap) indicating how close enemies are to detecting you) even if you are just seen for a second.
  • Security level increases faster in general.
  • Stealth requests become more difficult.
  • Dire Shadows return in their previous locations.
  • On the first win, Dire Shadows drop an ultimate weapon for party members.
  • On subsequent defeats, Dire Shadows drop a lot of Incense and SP items.
  • Dire Shadows in Merciless Mode can be refought endlessly and give a lot of Experience (Exp), Money, and Bond Experience (Bond Exp).
  • Enemies have different affinities from other difficulties (e.g., Slime may Null Phys and Gun instead of just being Strong against them).
  • Enemies may have new weaknesses.
  • Futaba Hacking missions take longer and more enemies spawn.
Tips for Merciless Mode
  • Bring multiple Personas with 99 in all stats.
  • Be aware of your surroundings; one wrong step can lead to a quick KO.
  • If hit by an attack your current Persona is weak to, it will likely be the end of you.
  • Do not be reckless; defeat normal mobs with physical attacks while avoiding magic, or prepare Personas that null or drain those types of attacks.
  • Watch out for enemy physical hits, as they can be deadly.
  • Use Show Time attacks to end encounters.
  • Abuse Incense on party members other than Joker to raise their stats closer to 99.
  • Do not buy Incense from Sophia unless it is on discount, as they are too expensive for a small amount; get them from defeating enemies instead.
  • Challenge Dire Shadows for a large amount of Bond Exp, Incense drops, and Ultimate Weapons. They can be fought multiple times.
  • Dire Shadows have a chance to drop a Null accessory on the second encounter onwards.
  • Battles during story scenes (e.g., Castle raids, Shibuya distraction fights) may have an even greater number of enemies.
  • Bosses take longer to defeat due to more health but can be beaten with careful play.
  • Use SP items or SP incense on Joker or spellcasters to manage SP.
  • Treasure Demons can only be killed by their weaknesses and drop very rare skill cards unobtainable in other difficulties.
  • For bosses, abuse Technicals when fighting them.
  • Use Heat Riser on Joker and Debilitate on the boss.
  • Painful Past bosses have a chance of dropping Null skill cards and a lot of Incense.
  • Painful Past+ bosses have a chance to drop Ultimate armor (different types from different bosses), Drain skill cards, and a lot of Incense.
  • The final boss's Painful Past+ drops both Null and Drain skill cards of a random kind.
  • The Reaper drops 75 Incense and healing items including Soma.
  • The request to defeat the Reaper rewards the Omnipotent Orb the first time and a Null accessory (for Gun) the second time.

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