This is a tool/guide to help with negotiations in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.
The Royal section takes the negotiation information from Persona 5, so there can be discrepancies between the versions. If you want to help, contribute, or report mistakes, please use the open issue on Github for P5 Royal, the open issue for P5, or the Google Form. Submitted questions are up-to-date as of May 26th.
Thank you to GooberSD/Chompobar for giving me permission to use their guide to update this guide.
4/26: Here is a link to the form with "Persona 5 Royal" pre-selected. Google Forms doesn't allow default answers. Other edits were incorportated. The selection for the different wording and reaction is generalized; the reactions can either be a correction or addition.
5/3: The Shadows between the two versions have enough difference that the tables were getting crowded. As per your suggestion, I've split the data over two pages.
The Shadows will initially have a title or description, but once you've captured it, its Persona name will be revealed. A list of the Shadows you'll encounter by area can be viewed on the P5 SHADOWS page. The Royal version can be viewed on the ROYAL SHADOWS page.
If all enemies in the battle are knocked down, by being hit with attacks they are weak to, a "Hold Up" is triggered. If you choose to "Talk" and say "Lend me your power", you can start negotiating with a Shadow. (If the Shadow is a higher level than Joker, you'll get an item instead.)
Negotiations are dependent on the Shadow's personality. There are four types of personality: Gloomy, Irritable, Timid, and Upbeat. Most other guides feature the following table to help with negotiations, but sometimes it's difficult to distinquish which answers are "vague", "serious", "kind", or "funny".
| Type | Likes | Dislikes |
|---|---|---|
| Gloomy | Vague | Serious, Funny |
| Irritable | Serious | Vague, Kind |
| Timid | Kind | Vague, Funny |
| Upbeat | Funny | Serious, Vague |
During negotiations, a Shadow will ask you two questions. For each, you're given three responses to chopse from. Depending on which answer you choose, the Shadow will react in the following ways:
-
Good: Marked by golden musical notes 🎶. This is always the best answer. If you get this for the second question, you will obtain the Shadow as a new Persona.
-
OK: Marked by light blue sweat marks 💦. When you answer the second question with the OK option, you will most likely end the negotiation with an item as a reward. The Persona will then flee after giving the item. However, there is a very small chance, that the Shadow will join you with an OK answer.
-
Bad: Marked by red angry vein marks 💢. It is okay to get a bad answer for the first question. However, if you get a bad answer for the second question you will fail the negotiation and the monster will either run away or you’ll have to fight it again. Once you have a party member hit around level 3 - 4 as a confidant, your characters will be able to potentially step in and save a negotiation should things go south. This ability will usually give you a second chance at negotiating with the Shadow.
For more information, check out the official Persona 5 web manual on Atlas' website.