LIKE all Shin Megami Tensei games, Soul Hackers 2 can get especially tricky in parts, especially when it comes to bosses.
While it comes from the same series as Persona, you will have to get a firm handle on the mechanics if you’re going to make it through alive.
Take on demons in Soul Hackers 2.
There is an Easy mode which lets you revive your party an unlimited number of times, but this can take a long time to get through a single fight.
It’s better if you are able to power up your party – without grinding for level ups – so that you can get through these fights with ease.
Players of Soul Hackers 2, never fear, we’re here to help you get the most out of the game.
Really learn your type match-ups
There are your usual seven basic elemental types in Soul Hackers 2: Fire, Ice, Electric, Force (Wind), Ruin (Status), Sword, and Gun.
Okay so they aren’t what you would call normal for a JRPG but those are what we’re working with here.
Every single enemy in the game is weak to at least one of these, if not two, and they are key to your success.
Even if you have stronger attacks, hitting just one enemy’s weak spot will add a demon to your ‘stack’.
At the end of your turn, all demons in the stack will attack all enemies in the fight, which can rack up large amounts of damage.
Make sure you have at least one move of each elemental type on your team so you can suss out the enemy’s weakness and build your stack.
Bond with your teammates
In the Axis area on the map, you can access Arrow, Milady, and Saito’s Soul Matrices and learn more about them.
While these are introduced as a kind of side mission, they are actually crucial to doing well in Soul Hackers 2.
Each floor of the Soul Matrix you complete will add a new skill to your teammate.
Every time your teammates learn a skill, you will be able to learn one too by talking to Ringo in the lobby of the Soul Matrix.
Aside from the usual items, demons, experience, side missions, and skills here, you will also learn a lot more about the story.
The skills that will give you the most bang for your buck are those that add extra demons to the stack when you hit a weakness.
This can let you add up to eight demons to your stack, rather than the usual four, for double damage.
Dialogue options tell you which person’s bond will increase in the top right, and hangouts will also help you increase bond fast.
Don’t neglect the COMP Smith
Levelling up doesn’t really get you the best buffs available in the game, that’s the job for the COMP Smith.
Make sure you return here often to get buffs on your weapons, as well as major perks like additional slots for Mystiques.
The COMP Smith can also upgrade your affinities, allowing you to use more powerful Mystiques.
Talk to the girl outside of the circus where you fuse your demons and she’ll ask you to feed her Mystiques.
Do this and she’ll reward you with more powerful ones, adding up to 40% power to your elemental output.
Fuse to your heart’s content
The circus is really the place to go, as fusing your demon’s is the key to success.
While you may not want to use a demon you’ve been with for a while, they offer diminishing returns, levelling up slowly and not learning new moves.
If you fuse an equipped demon, the new stronger teammate can inherit that demon’s skills, so you can hang on to anything too good to give up.
It will also give you more power, better resistances, and better moves it can learn.
This is the only way many of the demons can learn multiple elemental types of attacks, which is necessary when you have four party members and seven elemental types.
You should visit here every time you clear a dungeon and see what new demons you can unlock.
It’s the little things in life
Small things you do in Soul Hackers 2 add up for big bonuses.
While it’s a little out of the way, talking to every demon you meet in a dungeon will help build materials and recruit extra demons.
Running around the dungeon, your sword can actually swing farther than it looks, so make sure you are proactive in attacking enemies to conserve HP.
Once you’ve finished Milady’s second floor, you can use Assassin’s Steps to double your speed around dungeons.
Ringo’s Traesto is also very helpful when trying to get out afterwards.
Always make sure you hang out with your pals at the bar. It’s good to let loose.
Saving your game manually will also be a huge time save. There is Auto-Save but it might take you back further than expected.
Saving right outside a major boss fight is sure to save you time.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
