Persona 5 Royal: Ranking of the Best Status Ailments

The combat system of Persona 5 Royal improves many aspects compared to Persona 5 and introduces deeper Baton Pass mechanics and accessories that grant new abilities to party members. However, new mechanics also bring about stronger Shadows that one must confront. Wild enemies, Disaster Shadows, and the Shadows encountered in the completely new palace are definitely formidable.

Fortunately, status changes are a great help against enemies that have no weaknesses. In Persona, it is highly likely that an enemy who is immune to elemental or physical attacks is susceptible to status changes, making mastery of some of these abilities a trump card. Some changes are more valuable to use than others, especially with the changes made in Royal.

8 Rage

Inducing Rage in a target significantly increases its attack power but reduces its defense, evasion rate, and accuracy. Additionally, the target can only use melee attacks. This change can be useful but is limited to enemies that do not pose a physical threat.

Unless you are certain that you can defeat the enemy before its turn, you risk it hitting a party member twice as hard as usual. Even if its accuracy is reduced, a successful hit could potentially kill someone. Using a Persona that reflects physical attacks is a good way to ensure that Joker doesn't die and the enemy receives its attack back.

7 Sleep

Sleep is a good way to ensure that a Shadow occasionally misses its turn, but there is the small limitation that their HP and SP slightly recover with each turn. This may be negligible if they are already near death, but keep it in mind if you're having trouble defeating them.

They also wake up from sleep once they are attacked, so you need to make sure the hit really counts. Additionally, you cannot negotiate with sleeping Shadows, so it's best not to use this change against enemies you want to recruit or obtain items from.

6 Fear

Shadows afflicted with Fear will be too scared to act. However, there is also a chance that they will escape, and you won't receive any EXP from them. They will also escape if you attempt to negotiate with them while they are affected by Fear. Therefore, it is not recommended to use this change if your goal is to obtain as much EXP as possible.

However, fear can be an immensely useful tactic if you possess the ability "Ghastly Wail," which instantly kills all enemies afflicted by fear. Use it wisely!

5 Confuse

Enemies affected by confusion waste their turn by throwing away money, discarding an item, or not taking any action at all. Aside from being amusing to watch, this ailment is particularly useful for earning some extra money. Some Mementos bosses are not immune to this ailment, so they repeatedly throw money at you when you infect them with confusion. Literally.

Unfortunately, in Royal, confusion wears off one turn faster than other ailments, so be careful with it. Also, note that you cannot negotiate with confused shadows.

4 Dizzy

Dizzy shadows have significantly reduced accuracy, making it difficult for them to land a hit. Additionally, every attack against confused enemies is considered a technical attack, giving the group the opportunity to knock down foes. This can be crucial against enemies that don't have any other elemental or physical weaknesses.

Unlike in the original version, shadows in Royal recover from dizziness after being hit by any attack. They also recover if you attempt to negotiate with them while they are suffering from dizziness. Timing is the key to success with this ailment.

3 Forget

An enemy that is afflicted with forgetfulness is unable to use any of its abilities. They also do not perform melee attacks, rendering their turn essentially wasted. This ailment is extremely useful against shadows that have instant-kill attacks and do not have any elemental or physical weaknesses, such as Anubis in Futaba's Palace. It also provides you with the opportunity to knock them down.

Forgetfulness is good to use against strong enemies, but be careful: in Royal, the enemy is healed from it by any attack or negotiation attempt. It's best to finish them off with an All-Out Attack after using a Psychokinesis skill against them. Alternatively, make sure you know what their personality type wants to hear in order to have a successful negotiation.

2 Brainwash

If you infect an enemy with mind control, they will either attack an ally or use a healing or supportive ability on your team. However, note that enemies under mind control only use melee attacks against their allies. Therefore, it is more effective to use it against an enemy that delivers strong physical blows.

Mind control also does not disappear when the enemy is hit, which makes it particularly valuable. And as a humorous bonus, it gives Joker unique dialogue options when he attempts to negotiate with a shadow under mind control.

1 Despair

Enemies affected by despair cannot take any action for three rounds. They lose some SP on each round until the third round, where they die instantly. This ailment is essentially an instant death that takes three rounds to take effect. If you don't want to fight certain enemies or want to see the cool end cards of an All-Out Attack, using despair is a way to get rid of them.

Despair disappears when you negotiate with the shadow affected by it. Although the Reaper in the original Persona 5 was also susceptible to this ailment, Royal made him immune to it, so you have to defeat him in the conventional way.