Persona 5 Strikers - Sapporo Jail Monarch Boss Guide

Guide on How to Defeat Snow Empress Mariko in Persona 5 Strikers

Shadow Mariko Hyodo or Snow Empress Mariko is the third boss enemy the Phantom Thieves must defeat in Persona 5 Strikers (or Persona 5 Scramble). Shadow Mariko’s monarch form appears as a snow queen. Then, she eventually transforms into a giant blob during the boss fight. The boss is encountered at Sapporo’s Jail, a Metaverse version of Sapporo. Sapporo is the capital city of Hokkaido Prefecture in Japan and is famous for its food, its beer, and its spectacular winter festival.

Defeat the Lock Keeper First

In order to face the Sapporo Jail King or Monarch, you need to defeat the Sapporo Jail Lock Keeper first.

Sapporo Jail Lock Keeper Boss Guide

Trophies

Trophy	How to Unlock
Cage of Gluttony Torched	Clear Sapporo Jail.

Trophies List

Snow Empress Mariko Information

Here is a breakdown of the boss’ stats, strengths and weaknesses, and skills:

Snow Empress Mariko Stats

Snow Empress Mariko Strength and Weaknesses

–	–	–	Block	Strong	–
					Technical
Weak	Strong	–	Weak	–	Weak

Snow Empress Mariko Skills

Source(s): Megami Tensei Wiki

Snow Empress Mariko Party Builds

Here is our recommended party member setup against the boss. You can choose other party members except for Skull, Fox, and Queen.

For Main Story

Member	Persona	Essential Skills	Notes
Joker	Arsene	Damage: Eiga or Maeiga (Curse), Psio or Mapsio (Psy), Agilao or Maragion (Fire), Garula or Magarula (Wind)	Has Curse (from Arsene), Psychokinesis, Fire, and Wind skills from other Personas obtained or fused. Can also play the role of healer, buff caster, and debuff caster.
		Recovery: Diarama or Mediarama, Recarm, Amrita Drop
		Buff: Matarukaja, Marakukaja, Masukukaja, Dekaja
		Debuff: Tarunda, Rakunda, Sukunda
Mona	Zorro	Damage: Dormin Rush (Phys), Garula or Magaru (Wind)	Has access to Physical and Wind skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Also, Wind attacks from Mona can deal Technical damage to Mariko when afflicted with Burn status ailment. Can also use healing skills.
		Recovery: Diarama or Mediarama
Panther	Carmen	Damage: Agilao or Maragi (Fire)	Has access to Fire skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Inflicts Burn status ailment on Mariko that causes her to take increased damage from Wind attacks. Can use a debuff skill like Tarunda to reduce the enemy attack power. Can also use healing skills.
		Recovery: Diarama
		Debuff: Tarunda
Noir	Milady	Damage: Hysterical Slap (Phys), Snap or Triple Down (Gun), Psio or Mapsi (Psy)	Has access to Psychokinesis skills that Mariko is weak against. Has access to Physical and Gun skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Can use Amrita Drop to cure allies when inflicted with status or mental ailments.
		Recovery: Amrita Drop

For Painful Past Requests

Member	Persona	Essential Skills	Notes
Joker	Arsene	Damage: Eigaon or Maeigaon (Curse), Psiodyne or Mapsiodyne (Psy), Garudyne or Magarudyne (Wind)	Has Curse (from Arsene), Psychokinesis, and Wind skills from other Personas obtained or fused. Can also play the role of healer, buff caster, and debuff caster.
		Recovery: Diarama/Diarahan or Mediarama/Mediarahan, Recarm or Samarecarm, Amrita Drop or Amrita Shower
		Buff: Matarukaja, Marakukaja, Masukukaja, Dekaja, Heat Riser, Charge, Concentrate
		Debuff: Tarunda, Rakunda, Sukunda, Debilitate
Mona	Zorro	Damage: Dormin Rush (Phys), Garudyne or Magarudyne (Wind)	Has access to Physical and Wind skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Also, Wind attacks from Mona can deal Technical damage to Mariko when afflicted with Burn status ailment. Can use a debuff skill like Masukunda to reduce the enemy evasion/critical evasion. Can also use healing skills.
		Recovery: Diarahan, Mediarahan, or Salvation, Samercarm
		Debuff: Masukunda
Panther	Carmen	Damage: Agidyne or Maragidyne (Fire)	Has access to Fire skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Inflicts Burn status ailment on Mariko that causes her to take increased damage from Wind attacks. Can use a debuff skill like Tarunda to reduce the enemy attack power. Can also use healing skills.
		Recovery: Diarama or Diarahan
		Buff: Concentrate
		Debuff: Tarunda or Matarunda, Dekaja
Noir	Milady	Damage: Hysterical Slap (Phys), Triple Down or One-shot Kill (Gun), Psiodyne or Mapsiodyne (Psy)	Has access to Psychokinesis skills that Mariko is weak against. Has access to Physical and Gun skills that Mariko does not have resistances against. Can use Amrita Drop to cure allies when inflicted with status or mental ailments. Can use an all-in-one buff skill like Heat Riser to boost an ally in battle.
		Recovery: Amrita Drop or Amrita Shower
		Buff: Heat Riser

Snow Empress Mariko Strategies

Here is a breakdown of the battle strategies against the boss:

Carry SP Recovery Items

Before engaging the boss, bring a stock of HP and SP recovery items. These items can be bought from accessible vending machines, food stands, stores, and restaurants. You can also buy ingredients from Sophia’s Shop and other real-world stores. Then, cook these ingredients for additional HP and SP items through Joker’s Kitchen.

Joker’s Kitchen Guide

Land Debuffs

Start the battle by landing multiple debuffs on Snow Empress Mariko. Debuffs can be in the form of attack power decrease (Tarunda), defense power decrease (Rakunda), and evasion/critical evasion power decrease (Sukunda). These debuffs can be accessed by Joker (from Arsene and other Personas), Mona, and Panther. Another option is by using Debilitate for an all-in-one debuff. This special debuff can be accessed by Joker (from other Personas).

When you face the boss again through Painful Past requests, it will immediately use its Rage special move at 90% HP. It can be nullified by Dekaja in order to reduce its attack power.

Cast Buffs

Follow-up the debuffs with party members buffs. Buffs can be in the form of attack power increase (Tarukaja or Matarukaja), defense power increase (Rakukaja or Marakukaja), and evasion/critical evasion increase (Sukukaja or Masukukaja). These buffs can be accessed by Joker (from other Personas). Another option is by using Heat Riser for an all-in-one buff. This special buff can be accessed by Joker (from other Personas) and Noir. You may also use Charge and Concentrate buffs to boost your damage even further if available. These buffs can be accessed by Joker (from other Personas) and Panther.

Use Psy and Curse Attacks

Snow Empress Mariko is weak against Psychokinesis and Curse attacks which makes Joker’s Arsene and Noir’s Milady effective against her. Continue on using elemental attacks in order to break the shields and stagger the boss. Make use of narrow range elemental skills if you’re close and wide range elemental skills if you’re far from the boss.

Capitalize on Terrain Gimmicks

There are two terrain gimmicks accessible on the battlefield. Quickly transfer on them and use Phantom Dash to hurt the boss.

Terrain Gimmick	Strategy
Chandelier	You can lure Mariko in position to drop the giant chandelier above. Use Phantom Dash to get up on the chandelier and drop it on her to deal enough damage. While stunned, unleash elemental attacks before she is able to retaliate.
Heater	The heater is only accessible when Mariko uses her special move, Freeze and Shiver. Identify the location of the heater and examine it to remove the terrain effect.

Dodge Ice Attacks

Snow Empress Mariko can use Ice attacks such as Mabufula. It can also inflict Freeze status ailments as mentioned earlier. Joker can equip Jack Frost to nullify Ice attacks while other party members can wear armor or accessory that nullifies or reduces Ice elemental damage. Since you’re using Panther in this boss fight, be very careful when using her against the boss to avoid getting downed and inflicted with status ailments such Freeze and Dizzy.

Cure Inflicted Ailments

If a party member got inflicted with a status or mental ailments such as Freeze, Dizzy, or Sleep, make sure that you have access to a Status Recovery skill called Amrita Drop or Amrita Shower to cure it. You can also use status recovery items to remove the status or mental ailment if available. Status Recovery skills can be accessed by Joker (from other Personas) and Noir.

Deal Technical Damage with Wind and Psy Attacks

When the boss is inflicted with a status ailment such as Burn, deal technical damage by using Wind attacks. You can also inflict technical damage when the boss is on Rage mode using Psychokinesis attacks. Switch between Joker, Mona, and Noir to avoid running out of SP.

Avoid Special Moves like Dinner Time

While damaging the boss, it will unleash its unique attacks on your party. For the second phase of the fight, Mariko starts to attack faster and throw out more moves.

Special Move	Strategy
Rage	Avoid staying in front of Mariko. Cast Dekaja first to remove the attack power buff of the boss. Then, follow-up with Tarunda or Debilitate to lower its attack power. Finally, hit her with Psychokinesis attacks.
Dinner Time	This is a random special move. You can utilize the chandeliers to remove the captured party member from Mariko’s mouth. Using Showtime attacks are also helpful in saving a captured party member. Mariko also eats the tables in the banquet room to power herself so position your party away from it.
Freeze and Shiver	Locate the heater within the hall. Get away from Mariko’s sight while attempting to reach the heater and activating it. Take note that your character’s movement is slow. Also affected is your dash and jump moves.

Unleash Showtime Attacks

While engaging Mariko, you may build up your showtime gauge. When it’s available, unleash the showtime attack against the boss. If Joker’s showtime attack is available, make sure he has the right persona that can capitalize on the weakness of the boss. Also, there is a consumable item that will quickly boost your Showtime gauge build up so feel free to use it against the boss.

Snow Empress Mariko Boss Video

Here is a boss fight video against Snow Empress Mariko. The battle is already timestamped so you no longer need to browse through the whole video:

Snow Empress Mariko Main Story

Snow Empress Mariko Post-Game

Other Bosses

All Jail Monarchs

Lock Keepers

Powerful Shadows

Dire Shadows