If you want to conquer Persona 5‘s dungeons, you’ll need to fuse powerful new Persona. If you want to do that, you’re going to have to convince the Shadows you meet to lend you their power. You can’t just beat up enemies if you want them on your team; you’re going to have to negotiate with them.
Persona negotiation can feel overwhelming. The questions the Shadows ask you are often strange, and the answers that they like seem arbitrary. However, there is a method to their madness. Different types of Persona have different personalities. If you’re able to identify their personality type correctly, you’ll be able to select the answers that will win them over.
Persona have four different personality types: gloomy, irritable, upbeat, and timid. Gloomy Persona like vague answers best, while irritable Shadows prefer serious answers. Upbeat Persona prefer funny responses, and timid Shadows like responses that are kind. To check a Persona’s personality type, hit L1. Their personality will appear in the upper left corner of your screen. You can also check their personality after initiating a Hold Up.
A Persona will ask you two questions before it agrees to join you. You should use the first question as a test run. Pick the answer you think is right, and see if it get a positive response. Once you’ve done that, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to pick the right response to the second question.
There’s still an element of guesswork involved; you’ll have to figure out whether a response is vague, serious, funny, or kind. That said, you should be able to master negotiation with a little bit of practice.
To help, here is a list of example questions and the responses that different Persona prefer. If you read over these questions and answers, you’ll be able to build up your Compendium in no time at all.
If you corner a gloomy Persona, they might say something like “Y’know, before I die, I wanted ta take a trip somewhere. How ’bout you, sonny? What kinda trip do you wanna take?”
Your options are:
- A luxury cruise
- A hitchhiking adventure
- A trip to hell
Since gloomy Persona prefer vague answers, the correct response “A trip to hell,” the only answer that doesn’t mention a real trip.
A gloomy Shadow might also ask you something along the lines of “…Um, why’re you goin’ for me? Ain’t there worse people out there? What kinda guys piss you off?”
The answers you’ll have to choose from are:
- Slow walkers
- Loud talkers
- Nobody.
The vaguest answer to this question is the last option “Nobody.” After all, if you pick that option, you’re not really giving the Persona an answer at all.
If you ask an irritable Persona to lend you their power, they could ask a question like “Ah, I suppose you commit such extreme acts because you know you won’t be punished harshly?”
You’ll have to choose from the following options:
- That’s not true.
- Age doesn’t matter.
- This isn’t extreme.
Irritable Shadows like serious answers, so your best option will be the first choice, “That’s not true.” You should never blow off an irritable Persona; you should always answer their questions honestly.
In some cases, there will be questions with more than one “serious” answer. For example, an irritable Shadow may ask you something like “Hey listen, I got a girl waitin’ to be my bride when I get back home from this. How ’bout you? You wanna get married someday?””
The options available to you are:
- I do.
- I don’t.
- That’s impossible.
In a situation like this, you’ll want to show them that you’re taking their question seriously. The correct answer is “I do.” Show the Persona that you have plans for your future, and they’ll gladly support you.
If you’re trying to win over an upbeat Persona, they could ask something like “So… is this it for me? But, I’m still so young. Hey mister, if I grew up, what do you think the future me would’ve been like?”
- A fashionable older woman.
- A wealthy housewife.
- Living in darkness.
As mentioned above, upbeat Persona like funny answers the best. However, humor is definitely subjective. The right answer to this question is “A wealthy housewife.” As a rule of thumb, it’s best to avoid the nicest and the meanest answers. The answer that’s leftover is probably going to be the “funny” response.
Sometimes, the right answer to the question isn’t funny in the slightest. If an upbeat Shadow asks “Hey. Aren’t you hungry? Can we take a break and go eat somewhere?” you’ll be presented with the following options:
- What do you want to eat?
- If we split the cost.
- I’m on a diet.
While not of these answers are funny, the right answer in this case is “What do you want to eat?” It’s possible that the humorous element of the responses was lost in translation. If none of the answers you see feel funny, you’ll have to make a guess. Just try to avoid mean responses; they’re almost never right.
Timid Persona often ask questions about your motives. For example, you might be confronted with a question like “I’ve heard that human men have a proclivity to tease the women that interest them. Is it not possible for this series of events involving you and me to be attributed to that?”
- Fair enough.
- That is incorrect.
- What are you talking about?
This is a tricky question to crack, but the correct answer is “Fair enough.” Telling the Persona that you’re only beating them up because you like them is the nicest thing that you can say in this scenario.
If the timid Shadow you encounter is female, they make comments that reflect that. It’s common for timid Shadows to interject with comments like “Excuse me, I believe this can be considered sexual harassment. I insist you surrender yourself to the authorities.”
The options you’re given in this case are:
- This is a misunderstanding.
- I don’t have the time.
- You’ve got the wrong idea.
Both the first and third responses seem like they could be right; you want to show the Shadow that your motives are pure. However, the right answer to this question is “This is a misunderstanding.” When in doubt, you should always respond to timid Persona with the option that is most polite.
Even if when you know what you’re doing, you’re going to make some mistakes. The right answer isn’t always clear. Thankfully, there are plenty of things you can do to increase your chances of success.
Work to improve your relationships with your party members. At Rank 4, most party members will gain the ability to smooth things over if a negotiation goes poorly. If you screw up the answer to the second question, a party member will intervene, and you’ll get a second chance.
You should also seek out a politician named Toranosuke Yoshida. Befriending him will give you access to new negotiation tactics. If the two of you become close, you may even be able to skip the negotiation process entirely.
Negotiation isn’t easy, but you should be able to get the hang of it. Use this Persona 5 negotiation guide the next time you corner a Shadow. These tips should help you to pick the perfect response.
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