Persona 3 Reload - Battle System Guide

Battle System Guide for Persona 3 Reload (P3RE)

Turn-based Command Battle

Combat in Persona 3 Reload (P3RE) is turn-based where each person takes action one at a time using different commands.

The Protagonist is controlled by the player. Allies, meanwhile, can be directly ordered to take action or have them fight automatically (AI control). As a general rule, enemies and allies will act in descending order of speed, so keep this in mind.

Attack order changes with pre-emptive attacks.

If the conditions are met, a “pre-emptive attack” will occur and the battle will start in a different order from the normal order of action. During an encounter with a shadow, if you hit them with your weapon from behind, your ally will attack first, but if you are unable to hit the shadow with a weapon and come into contact with the shadow, the enemy will attack first.

Attack enemy weak points to act twice.

In Persona 3 Reload, a mechanic called “One More” lets you to take one more action if you attack the enemy’s weak point. In addition to exploiting enemy weaknesses, you also gain extra turns by landing critical hits using physical attacks.

Enemy’s can also exploit your weaknesses to act again.

Shadow enemies can also gain extra turn if they also manage to hit your allies with attacks they are weak against. In particular, if the enemy takes action again in a boss battle, you will receive significant damage, so it is a good idea to change the formation of your allies according to the enemy’s attack.

Damage is determined by status

The amount of damage inflicted on the opponent is determined by the attacker’s status. For weapon attacks, it is determined by the character’s attack power including equipment. When using skills, the damage is determined not by the character status but by the persona’s “strength” and “magic” status.

Knock down all enemies to perform an all out attack.

Once all enemies are down, you can perform an all-out attack. If you can launch an all-out attack, you can deal great damage to all enemies, so make sure to actively use it.

Battle Tips

Always aim for pre-emptive attacks.

When fighting regular enemies, try to aim for pre-emptive attacks. Pre-emptive attacks allow you to move first before the enemies, allowing you to fight more efficiently. You can get a pre-emptive attack by hitting the shadow with your weapon from behind.

Always attack the enemy’s weaknesses.

Attacking using your opponent’s weak attributes is really important in order to gain an advantage in battle. If you hit enemy’s weak point, the number of actions you take will increase by one, so you can use that extra action to deal more damage to the enemy or use recovery or support magic.

Aim for a critical hit when there is no weak point.

If the enemy does not have a weak attribute, try to bring the enemy down with a “critical hit”. Physical attack in Persona 3 is divided into three attributes: “Slash”, “Strike”, and “Pierce”. As long as the enemy don’t have resistance to all 3 types of physical attack, you can aim for a critical hit.

Create an advantage with buffs and debuffs.

In all battles, it is effective to create advantageous situations with buff and debuff skills. By raising the stats of your allies and lowering the stats of your enemies, you can improve your damage efficiency. In particular, the “hit/evasion rate” status that determines the probability of hitting or dodging an attack is a strong buff and debuff, so prioritize learning “Sukukaja” and “Sukunda”.

Use guard when fighting enemies that use abilities that your allies are weak against.

Use guard as appropriate against enemies that often use allies weak attribute attacks. If you’re defending, you won’t be knocked down even if you’re attacked with your weak attribute, so the enemy won’t get more actions.

Persona 3 Reload Recommended Article List

Other Persona 3 Reload (P3R) Guides

Beginner Guides

Basic Information

Strategy Guides

Useful Information

Tier List Guides

Social Stats Guides

Romance Guides

Facility Guides

Game Database

Character Weapons

Character Armor and Equipment