Shadow Miyazawa is the final boss of Miyazawa’s Palace in Persona 5: The Phantom X.
The fight against the dishonest food critic is full of tricks and gimmicks, so you’ll need to pay close attention to defeat him. Pick up on the little details to call out Miyazawa’s bluffs because if you attack the wrong person or object, the battle will become a lot more difficult.
Here’s how to beat the Shadow Miyazawa boss in Persona 5: The Phantom X.
How to beat the Shadow Miyazawa boss in Persona 5: The Phantom X
Before starting the Shadow Miyazawa boss fight, there are a few things you should know about the boss and the fight in general. We strongly recommend bringing an Ice and Physical damage dealer, either as Wonder’s Personas or as another party member, and a Medic as Miyazawa can deal a lot of damage in one turn if you make a mistake. For your last slot, feel free to bring your strongest damage dealer. However, make sure to avoid Psychic damage dealers as their damage is nullified.
Additionally, you’ll need a way to remove debuffs from your characters. Bring along a Medic that can remove debuffs like Minami Miyashita or Morgana or grab a Persona with the Patra ability such as Silky. You can also use items like Relax Gels and Alert Capsules if you don’t have any of the other methods.
During the first phase, you’ll face off against Miyazawa himself. There are no gimmicks or tricks here, so feel free to damage him as you please. Once Miyazawa drops to 50% HP or below, the fight will move on to phase two.
In phase two, Miyazawa will summon two clones of himself, and if you hit a fake Miyazawa, he’ll immediately deal damage to the whichever character hit him. From here on out, don’t use AOE attacks because the clones will immediately counter.
GIF: Black Wings Game Studio/Sega via Polygon
To find the real Miyazawa, watch each Miyazawa’s idle animation very closely. One of the Miyazawas starts to doze off and you can see his head nod up and down. He’ll then try to wake himself up by shaking his head.
Image: Black Wings Game Studio/Sega via Polygon
Alternatively, you can either hit each one or wait until the real Miyazawa goes in for an attack. Just after the real Miyzawa attacks, he’ll drop his sword onto the ground and retreat to his position. Now you’re free to attack the real Miyazawa for a turn before the three swap places. However, if you successfully damaged the real Miyazawa, you can look for whichever one has a lower health pool and focus on that one.
After the lengthy cut scene, you’ll end up in phase three, which doesn’t have any tricks that you need to look out for. However, Miyazawa will be a lot stronger than the previous phases. He’ll attack a single target and then deal AOE damage to everyone else in the party, so make sure to heal before he gets a turn.
Image: Black Wings Game Studio/Sega via Polygon
In phase four, Miyazawa will apply the Nuisance debuff to one of your characters and retreat into the wall behind him. With your healthiest or curse-resistant character, remove the Nuisance debuff through a Persona skill or either the Relax Gel or Alert Capsule items, or else the character afflicted with Nuisance will start to attack the other party members. With your other party members, use guard to lower the damage of the upcoming attack.
After he shows himself, deal as much damage to him as you can and repeat the process until you move onto phase five.
Image: Black Wings Game Studio/Sega via Polygon
For the fifth phase, Miyazawa will spawn two cameras that are weak to Physical damage. The cameras themselves don’t really do anything, but, if you destroy the two cameras, Miyazawa will stop what he’s doing and enter a vulnerable state where he’s free to attack. Make sure to destroy the cameras as fast as possible because Miyazawa will target one of your party members and deal a lot of damage.
After the cameras have been destroyed, the fight will return to normal with no gimmicks or tricks. Deplete Miyazawa’s health pool to move onto phase six.
The sixth phase is the final phase and one of the most dangerous if you don’t know what to look out for. Miyazawa will summon four swords that are weak to Ice and only one of the swords is real, like the clones in phase two.
Images: Black Wings Game Studio/Sega via Polygon
The real sword has a magenta colored tassel attached to the hilt, so make sure to look for the tassel before attacking any of the swords. If you attack a fake sword, Miyazawa will receive an attack buff, and, if you happen to destroy a fake sword, he’ll unleash a powerful AOE attack. Avoid using any AOE attacks when the swords come out or else Miyazawa will become a very difficult fight.
Additionally, when performing a “One More” attack, avoid using an Ice attack because the attack will go to one of the fake swords — giving Miyazawa a buff. Instead, use one of your other party members because they’ll attack the sword with the lowest HP.
After you destroy the real sword, Miyazawa will attack your whole party and you’re free to attack him until he repeats the whole sword process again. Continue through the fight by destroying the sword with the tassel until you successfully defeat Shadow Miyazawa.
