Persona 5 Tactica transports the infamous Phantom Thieves to a pocket universe where tactical combat is king. Despite its differences, the series’ staple Persona system still finds its way over to the spinoff – albeit with a strategic twist. To help you understand how the system works, we’ve put together an article explaining how to get new Personas in Persona 5 Tactica, along with pointers on how (and where) to fuse them.
Unlike in Persona 5, where you battle the mythic creatures and capture them for yourself, Tactica’s Personas are earned as you beat stages and serve as support buffs called Sub-Personas that give you specialised offensive and defensive moves to complement each character’s personal Persona.
Sub-Personas don’t appear on the game board, but you still want to grow your collection, fusing and upgrading them so that they can assist you in battle with specialised abilities. In our guide, we’ll run through everything you need to know about finding, fusing and making the most of your Personas in Persona 5 Tactica.
How to earn Personas in Persona 5 Tactica
You earn Personas by completing missions in Persona 5 Tactica. Tactica’s Personas appear as mysterious cogs at first, and once taken to Lavenza in the V. Room (accessed in the hub between levels) they will be revealed as this realm’s version of Personas. Once this has been established, you can see earned Personas in the items list at the end of a level.
As you progress through the story, you’ll be able to hold more and more, but you will always have a limit on the number of Personas you can hold at any one time. If you earn too many, you’ll be forced to drop them, so make sure you fuse your Personas as you go. Additionally, you can’t hold multiples of the same Persona.
Where to fuse Personas in Persona 5 Tactica
To fuse your Personas you’ll need to make your way to the V. Room, found in the hub menu in the hideout or by selecting Velvet Room before starting a battle. This will open up a menu full of Persona-specific mechanics you can play with to build up your strength. The fusion system selects two personas in your inventory and fuses them together to create a new Persona. The new Persona will also inherit the skills of previous Personas, so you can nurture one to fit your playstyle. Before jumping in headfirst, there are some important caveats to the process.
Firstly, Personas in Tactica are resources, so when you fuse one, it’s gone. However, you can buy Personas you’ve registered in the compendium, paying for them with your in-game money. You should register Personas as you push through the game, as leveraging the compendium is an easy way to build new combinations and can make fusing your ideal Persona easy when you’re flush with cash.
The second and most important caveat is that you cannot use Personas that are above your Phantom Thieves Level. However, you can still fuse Personas that are above your level, so be careful, or you may end up with a load of unusable Personas.
How to Fuse Personas in Persona 5 Tactica
There are a few options available for fusing Personas in Persona 5 Tactica. The first and easiest is to “Fuse by Result”. This will show you all the possible fusion results available with the Personas in your inventory. It’s a straightforward system that allows you to make some quick choices and build Personas of your liking at a glance.
The second option is “Fuse Two Personas”, which allows you to select what you fuse manually. You will see your available Personas on the left side of the screen, and on the right side of the screen, you will see the optional results. You won’t always be able to fuse everything. If you’ve assigned the Sub-Persona to a character, you will also have a friendly reminder to let you know – so you don’t accidentally fuse away one of your favourites.
When fusing Personas, keep in mind that they can inherit certain skills from their ‘parents’, allowing different varieties of Personas to access skills they may not have if they are simply found or bought. If you have a particular skill you are fond of, you can ensure its survival into stronger hosts through consistent fusion.
Finally, if you are fusing a persona, it won’t always go to plan. Every so often, malfunctions can occur, and you’ll find yourself in possession of a random Persona, one you may not even be able to use. There isn’t anything you can do to prevent this – so try not to get too worried if things take a turn for the worse while fusing.