The Hardest Boss In Persona 5 Royal And How To Beat It
While delving into the palaces of "Persona 5 Royal," Joker and the Phantom Thieves have to face several greedy adults with distorted cognitions. Fighting through the palaces and solving the challenges within can already be risky, but boss battles can be significantly more complex than typical fights with shadows. Few of them have damage-type weaknesses, and there are often complex rules that players must learn on the fly to beat them. Some of these fights are more difficult than others, however.
Okumura and Shido's shadows are undoubtedly powerful, and Yaldabaoth can present some challenges, but the most difficult fight in "Persona 5 Royal" is actually against a hidden boss. Players can only access this enemy if they unlocked the third semester, which wasn't available in the base version of the game, and managed to get the true ending. The original version of "Persona 5" contained a secret boss fight against Justine and Caroline, the twin wardens responsible for orchestrating the execution and fusion of personas throughout the game. "Royal" includes a new palace with a new ruler and two new secret boss fights: Jose and Lavenza. The third and final of these secret bosses – Lavenza – is easily the most challenging boss fight in the game. Here's where to find her and how to emerge from this brutal battle victorious.
How to unlock the secret boss
Lavenza will likely be the last secret boss most players will encounter, partially because she cannot be fought during the first playthrough. Instead, gamers must beat the entire game and then play through it again on New Game + before the fight unlocks. Players do not need to battle the twins to unlock this fight, although it is recommended as it serves as good practice for the battle against Lavenza. However, there are still several steps to complete to reach this final bonus challenge.
Once players have completed the original "Persona 5" storyline for the second time, they will have to work their way through the entire third semester, making sure not to take any of the deals offered by the primary antagonist of this section. Lavenza will only become available to fight once the player has made their way through the newly opened section of Mementos, the entire final palace, and charted their course to the last treasure. At this point, they can approach Lavenza at the Mementos Velvet Room entrance and challenge her to a fight.
Planning for the battle
Given that Lavenza is the most challenging boss in the game, it wouldn't be wise for players to jump in without a strategy. The right team and the appropriate squad of personas can make all the difference. Of course, there's more than one way to tackle this fight, and players who are more comfortable with a particular lineup of characters may do better than others.
That said, players will likely want either Makoto or Morgana for their healing abilities and Haru for her ability to protect against physical and magical attacks. Yoshizawa is a highly recommended addition to the team as her critical hit rate buff, Apt Pupil, and the skill Brave Step will be essential for the third phase of the fight. If one of the characters listed above doesn't work out for some reason, the final spot should probably just go to another heavy hitter like either Aketchi or Ann.
Lavenza switches up the element of her attacks regularly and is excellent at targeting weaknesses, so protecting characters with equipment that ensures they don't get knocked down is paramount. The St. Hermelin Badge, for instance, will be invaluable if the player chooses to use either Akechi or Yoshizawa, as it will nullify their weakness to Bless/Curse damage. Players should also prepare a diverse selection of powerful support items.
Phases 1 and 2
There are four phases to the fight against Lavenza. Like many of the challenge battles offered by the twins (and Lavenza), it isn't a simple matter of beating the opponent; players must also meet specific objectives. The objective of Phases 1-3 is to deal 5,000 points of damage before she completes two full rotations of the four personas in her arsenal. The four used during Phase 1 are Kelpie, Berith, Inugami, and Nue. This takes approximately nine turns, and failing this task results in an automatic loss.
At the beginning of the battle and throughout the encounter, Lavenza will cast Dekaja to remove any buffs from the player's party and Heat Riser to raise her Attack, Defense, Accuracy, and Evasion. Players need to target the weaknesses of Lavenza's active persona during this portion of the fight to deal sufficient damage, as she'll be resistant to all other types of attack. Kelpie is weak to Electricity, Berith is susceptible to Ice, Inugami is vulnerable to Wind, and Nue doesn't like Fire.
Phase 2 is similar to Phase 1 in that players must once again deal 5,000 damage before she completes two rotations, but players are now also required to deal technical damage every turn. This is made more accessible because Lavenza will be temporarily susceptible to status ailments. So, using a move like Brain Jack or Marin Karin and then attacking her with Psychic damage will make getting a technical much easier.
Phases 3 and 4
During phase 3, Lavenza stops being weak to status ailments but becomes susceptible to physical attacks and gun damage. This is important since players will need to land a critical hit every single turn if they don't want the battle to fail. This will likely be the most challenging phase for many players, as critical hits are generally not that common. This is why players should include Yoshizawa in their party to make use of the Apt Pupil skill, which doubles crit rates. She can also learn the exclusive support ability Brave Step, which raises the critical hit rate of the entire party. Adding to this, Joker has other skills, such as Revolution and Trigger Happy, that also increase critical hit rates.
Phase 4 is more straightforward. It's just really difficult. Lavenza has a bigger health pool, starts hitting with much more powerful attacks, and on harder difficulties, she will cast Concentrate and Megidolaon every few turns. This deals a tremendous amount of damage, so defense buffs and guarding during the turn of the attack are essential. Players will then need to heal quickly and deal as much damage as possible before the next attack.
It's a lot to take in, but with the proper setup and execution, it is possible to beat the hardest boss in "Persona 5 Royal."