This article is part of a directory: Persona 5 Royal: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
Table of contents

Quick Links

At long last, after dozens and dozens of hours in Persona 5 Royal, you’re ready to take on the final boss (well, of the basic story, that is – there’s a bit more content in Royal if you played it carefully). The God of Control, Yaldabaoth, has been behind the cognition switches happening in Tokyo, and it’s up to Joker and the team to put a stop to him once and for all.

Related
Persona 5 Royal: The Best Accessories, Ranked
Why settle for less power in your punches when these P5R accessories will help boost your stats?

This epic battle against a towering god is intimidating and long, but with enough careful planning, strategic moves, and ample healing, we'll help you take down Yaldabaoth for good.

Updated on October 1. 2023: Approaching the one-year anniversary of Persona 5 Royal's massive port to other current-gen consoles, new players worldwide are still falling in love with the Phantom Thieves every day! As such, we wanted to come back and update our guide on defeating Yaldabaoth in Persona 5 Royal to bring it in line with our current standards.

The Fight With Yaldabaoth Starts Right After The Holy Grail

persona 5 royal p5r the phantom thieves staring up at yaldabaoth

Unfortunately, there are no more party suggestions for us to make – the fight against Yaldabaoth begins immediately after you beat Holy Grail. This means there’s no chance to swap out party members without having some of Hifumi's Confidant abilities unlocked.

After you defeat Holy Grail, it emerges from the ground - Holy Grail was simply the head of Yaldabaoth. Now, he’s emerged and is ready to take you on in his massively imposing, towering robo-angel form.

He’s got four arms, each holding a different item: a book, a sword, a gun, and a bell. You’ll be up against each one and their unique twists to the fight, so stay on your toes.

All Of Yaldabaoth's Attacks In Persona 5 Royal

Attack

Effect

Yaldabaoth

Dekaja

Negate all -kaja buffs to all foes.

Dekunda

Negate all -nda debuffs to all party members.

Arrow of Light

Heavy almighty damage to one foe.

Divine Apex

Two-turn charge move for Rays of Control.

Rays of Control

Extreme almighty damage to all foes.

Manifest Gun

Summon the Gun of Execution (which appears with only half its HP after its first summoning).

Manifest Bell

Summon the Bell of Declaration (which appears with only half its HP after its first summoning).

Manifest Sword

Summon the Sword of Conviction (which appears with only half its HP after its first summoning).

Manifest Book

Summon the Book of Commandments (which appears with only half its HP after its first summoning).

The Gun of Execution

Capital Punishment

Damage to one foe.

Shoot Up

Damage to three foes.

Distorted Lust

Inflicts lust to one foe for one turn.

Distorted Avarice

Damages and inflicts hunger to one foe for one turn.

The Bell of Declaration

Frail Law

Lowers defense for the entire party of foes.

Tough Law

Increases defense for Yaldabaoth and all current weapons.

Distorted Envy

Inflicts jealousy to one foe for one turn.

Gospel

Damage to one foe.

Distorted Vanity

Makes one foe weak to all affinities for one turn.

The Sword of Conviction

Wind Cutter

Damage to one foe.

Sword of Judgement

Damage to all foes.

Distorted Gluttony

Makes skills cost twice as much SP to use for one turn.

The Book of Commandments

Wrath of God

Damage to one foe.

Agidyne

Heavy fire damage with low odds to inflict burn to one foe.

Bufudyne

Heavy ice damage with low odds to inflict freeze to one foe.

Garudyne

Heavy wind damage to one foe.

Ziodyne

Heavy electric damage with low odds to inflict shock to one foe.

Psiodyne

Heavy psio damage to one foe.

Freidyne

Heavy nuclear damage to one foe.

Kougaon

Heavy bless damage to one foe.

Eigaon

Heavy curse damage to one foe.

Distorted Wrath

Inflicts wrath to one foe for one turn, boosting attack while lowering defense.

Distorted Pride

Enter counter mode for one turn.

Divine Punishment

Counterattack that reduces SP if The Book of Commandments or Yaldabaoth's main body is attacked or debuffed during the turn after using Distorted Pride

Any status ailments inflicted by the arms cannot be healed like normal. The recipient must simply ride out the effect duration until it passes.

Related
Persona 5 Royal: Best Party Setup For Each Palace
If you're wondering which companions to take into each palace in Persona 5 Royal, this guide tells you the recommended setup you should be using.

Yaldabaoth's Arms Each Have Different Affinities

yaldabaoth with its bell arm in battle persona 5 royal yaldabaoth p5r

Once you’ve taken out enough of his HP, Yaldabaoth begins using its arms to attack your party.

When planning your counter-offensive, keep in mind that the arms have different affinities, and will each repel at least two types of attacks. This requires targeted attacks, lest you damage your own party trying to knock them out.

Yaldabaoth's Arms And Their Affinities

Arm Name

Damage Repelled

The Gun of Execution

Gun and Wind

The Bell of Declaration

Fire and Psio

The Sword of Conviction

Physical, Gun, and Electric

The Book of Commandments

Ice and Nuclear

The arms having different affinity charts means that multi-target attacks can damage your team too if you're not careful.

To counteract the repelled attacks, it's wise to use party members whose Confidant rankings are maxed and they therefore have their evolved Persona.

As part of the evolution, these party members become immune to the damage they inflict, meaning they can safely withstand any repelled attacks of these types from Yaldabaoth's arms.

Neither Yaldabaoth nor the arms resist Bless or Curse damage.

Any multi-target attacks of these affinities can safely be used against all targets, keeping in mind that insta-kills cannot occur against Yaldabaoth in Persona 5 Royal.

Related
Persona 5 Royal: Best Weapons For Each Phantom Thief
Whether you're looking to hit harder or boost your stats a bit in Persona 5 Royal, our weapons guide will help you select the best gear for the team.

How To Defeat Yaldabaoth In Persona 5 Royal

persona 5 royal yaldabaoth talking about controlling the world

Yaldabaoth's Arms Require Individual Attention

At first, Yaldabaoth will only use Arrow of Light to inflict damage. This part is simple enough, in that you just deal as much damage as you can to draw out the four arms to begin the heavier part of the fight.

To make things easier when the arms become active in the battle against Yaldabaoth in Persona 5 Royal, try not to let Yaldabaoth use more than one arm at a time.

With the differing affinities and limited time to heal, limiting the arms allows you to be more precise with your attacks.

When the arms are active during the battle, Yaldabaoth can move up to five times per turn. And though dealing with the arms is pivotal to dealing with the damage your team is taking, Yaldabaoth's body is the real target during the fight in Persona 5 Royal.

Deal with the arms to keep the team safe, but overall, keep attacking Yaldabaoth's body to continue to the next stage.

Yaldabaoth Can Revive Defeated Arms During The Distorted Attack Phase

Once you're into the next phase when Yaldabaoth has roughly a third of its health, the arms begin using their "Distorted" level attacks listed in the table above.

These attacks each have different impacts on the Thieves, but the real danger is that Yaldabaoth will revive defeated arms to half health occasionally during its lengthy turn.

persona 5 royal yaldabaoth using arrow of light to attack

The best way to deal with this frustrating feature is to quickly handle the revived arms while they're at lower health.

Once Yaldabaoth hits a third of the HP he had on his main body when the new Distorted attacks began from his arms, Yaldabaoth revives any defeated arms and restores all four to their full HP.

As with before, though, Yaldabaoth's body is still the target. so focus on the main body whenever possible, and be sure to keep your team both healed and buffed when you can.

A sure sign that the fight is entering the end stage is when Yaldabaoth uses Divine Apex. The move takes two turns to charge, but it leads to the casting of Rays of Control to deal extreme Almighty damage to the Phantom Thieves.

The more arms that are active in battle, the more powerful Rays of Control will be when Yaldabaoth casts it on the third turn.

If you're confident that you can wail on Yaldabaoth and take out the last of its HP, you'll stop the powerful attack in its tracks.

However, if you don't think you can end the fight before Yaldabaoth Rays of Control, take out as many arms as you can to dampen the effectiveness of the attack, and have the party guard right before the attack as well.

If allowed to cast Rays of Control, Yaldabaoth will immediately recast Divine Apex on its next turn to begin the cycle again until you've depleted its HP.

The Final Blow

During a cutscene that begins when you've depleted the last of Yaldabaoth's HP (and with Mishima's encouragement), the people of Tokyo begin to cheer you on.

persona 5 royal joker and satanael about to end the yaldabaoth fight

Just when things look dire, thanks to the masses turning against the God of Control, Joker is able to continue the fight.

With the full faith of the country behind him, Joker unchains Arsene and manifests him into Satanael, the imposingly colossal Persona capable of standing up to Yaldabaoth when no one else can.

Satanael only has one attack, but it's all you'll need to finish the fight. When you regain control, simply select Sinful Shell to hit Yaldabaoth with the full weight of the Seven Deadly Sins and wrest control of the masses away from him once and for all.

From there, enjoy the long cinematic and then carry on into the Third Semester, if you've met the conditions for it!

NEXT: Persona 5 Royal: What Carries Over In NG+?