Introduction to Metro of Desire and Basic Mechanics
Metro of Desire is a roguelite mode in Persona 5: The Phantom X, offering players an ever-changing experience with each playthrough. This mode requires strategic use of skills, management of the party, and utilization of boons received during exploration to overcome powerful enemies and bosses. At the end of every run, there are numerous rewards to collect, making the challenges worthwhile.
The guide covers everything players need to know about Metro of Desire, including mechanics, the best Charms to pick, Lost Items, and rewards from completing challenges and runs. It begins with an overview of the basics of exploring the Metro of Desire dungeon.
With the release of version 1.2, Metro of Desire has become a permanent Roguelite mode within the Metaverse activities. The most significant change is the removal of Marthym’s Roulette event and Travel Tickets, which were used for pulls from the Roulette. Certain minor changes have affected the meta, and now Tier 4 bosses are enabled, meaning players might face stronger enemies on their runs.
Understanding the Mechanics of Metro of Desire
Metro of Desire allows players to dive into dungeon exploration through the Metro Platforms in the Metaverse. Each platform hosts either an easy or moderate challenge enemy, reward chests (players can choose from Subway Coins, a Charm, or a Lost Item), a merchant, or a Shadow that grants rewards based on probability or choices.
Diving into Metro of Desire doesn’t require Stamina, so players can try this mode as often as they want. Each time they access the Control Center, they can depart and delve into a randomly generated dungeon with a selected Boss. Bosses will be waiting at the end of a route, and each route is unlocked when new difficulty levels are completed.
The basic rules of Metro of Desire include:
- HP cannot be recovered outside of combat unless players use certain Items called Prayer Magatama, or in special cases.
- The Party members and their equipment, as well as Wonder’s Persona, become locked once they enter the Metro of Desire.
- If players decide to retire from the Metro of Desire, they will lose all progress and forfeit the rewards.
- Each run will be different, but the bosses will be set depending on the routes the players pick through the platforms.
- Each platform passed will increase enemy difficulty in terms of HP and damage.
- At the start of the first round, a certain effect will happen (for example, the Wave of Passion effect will hurt both enemies and allies).
- Items called Charm will alter the Party’s stats and add extra effects, like the ability to receive a Shield each time they are hit by a Wave of Passion. Players have a maximum amount of Charms that they can carry per run, but they can use Railway Coins to purchase Charm slots at any given time during exploration.
- At the end of each Intersection, players will face a Ruffian ‘Depraved Shadow’, and they will need to defeat it to reach the next line and continue exploring until they reach the true Boss.
- At the end of the exploration, the amount of Experience and Train Tickets gained depends on the overall score (Coins Earned, Damage Caused + Number of Chamrs x level x completed sets + Number of Lost Items found).
Other important factors to keep in mind during exploration include certain effects that empower bosses, monsters, and weaken the Party. The higher the difficulty level, the stronger these effects will be.
Key Items Found in Metro of Desire
While exploring each of the platforms, players can pick up five different things:
- Railway Coins: The Metro of Desire currency, used to purchase Charms and Lost Items from Marthym the Merchant.
- Charms: Powerful boons that scale based on how many of the same type of players pick. They come in blue, purple, or yellow quality, and they can form sets that players can complete as part of a collection challenge to earn rewards. Charms grant various combat enhancements and will be critical to survive the most dangerous enemies during the delving and boss phases. At the end of the exploration, Charms are converted to Exp and Train Tickets to gain various upgrades. Complete Sets can be claimed in the Lost and Found tab of the main menu to obtain rewards such as Meta Jewels.
- Lost Items: These items can be obtained at a really low chance after beating enemies, and can also be acquired from chests, stray shadows, and by trading with Marthym when she appears on platforms. At the end of the run, Lost Items can be traded at the Lost and Found menu for Meta Jewels, but players can only do it once per Lost Item.
- Prayer Magatama: This item can be used to restore the Party’s HP, and can also be used in a type of ‘bargain’, for example: Activating effects that will relinquish all earned Magatama in exchange for Railway Coins.
- Charms can be sold at any given time in exchange for Railway Coins, so if players decide they prefer to get Lost Items, they can open the charm menu clicking on the Briefcase icon on the top left corner of the screen, and then select Sell Charm on the bottom right corner, while highlighting one of the charms they don’t want.
What Are Charms in Metro of Desire?
Charms come in various forms and shapes, and the best ones are related to damage output and damage mitigation, though every Charm set has its own utility, and as they level up, they unlock better perks that benefit the players. Charms work as ‘stat boosts’ that vary depending on two factors: Quality and the Set they correspond to. For example, Blue quality charms are lower level than Purple and Gold, and the Stalwart Set charms offer boosts to protection, Party Defense%, and damage mitigation (shields). Other charms like Brawl increase Multi-Targeted and single target damage dealt to enemies, and its set effect distributes all damage taken by one of the enemies to the whole enemy party in a second wave of damage. As players might have guessed, all charms are useful, and the better the quality and level they have, the better the results and probabilities of success during exploration.
All Rewards in Metro of Desire
Players need to defeat each boss in the various difficulty levels to unlock the next tier, which will unlock new routes across the platforms and grant them the chance to complete Special Operations (SO), which are basically reward tiers for completing each difficulty level. These are all the rewards that players can get by completing all SOs:
Special Operations are not the only rewards in Metro of Desire; players can also increase their ‘Track Record’ by gaining experience (like a Season Pass) at the end of each run. The More Lost Items, enemies defeated, and Railway Coins and Charms acquired, the more experience they will receive.
The Track Record has 100 levels, with important rewards such as Gold & Platinum Tickets, Platinum Milicoins, Everlasting Incense, Orange Revelation Envelops, Orlov (used to overclock a Persona to Rank 7), and even a Free 4-Star Phantom Idol free draw.
Players can also obtain rewards by completing Charm Sets and collecting Lost items in the Lost and Found menu. The rewards are mostly Meta Jewels, but this is a great way to get more draws at the Gacha Banners.
Lost items come in rarities from Normal to Super Rare, with the latter being extremely difficult to collect. Each Lost Item grants a unique perk that will boost both charms and the stats of the party. Some lost items impose a penalty in exchange for a great boost, and also require the completion of certain conditions to eliminate the detrimental effects.
How to Unlock All Bosses in Metro Of Desire
To unlock each of the Bosses in Metro of Desire, players need to complete ‘Routes,’ and upon defeating them, the next level of difficulty will become available. However, the order can be a little bit confusing at first. Players will start by facing a boss in Level 1 Difficulty, then they will unlock two other bosses at Level 2 Difficulty, and beating them will unlock their first Level 3 Boss, and so on. Each branch has a different boss, with their own modifiers and levels of challenge.
Each of the Bosses at the end of the Metro of Desire Platform Routes is a force to be reckoned with. The important thing to keep in mind is that each boss will have its own ruleset, and the higher the difficulty level, the harsher these rules and boosts will be. Some bosses will receive increased defense, while others will have their HP greatly enhanced (by the thousands).
Of course, the amount and quality of the charms obtained during the exploration phase will greatly influence the resilience, damage mitigation, and damage output the party causes. Picking the best charms and prioritizing survival and mitigation are good strategies for beating the hardest challenges in Metro of Desire.