Persona 5 Royal Shido Palace Guide

Shido Palace Overview

Shido’s palace is the fourth dungeon in Persona 5 Royal, located in Maruyama Observatory. It’s shaped like a stage with a runway, which thematically fits his need to control and perform. The floor design loops back on itself in a few spots, and one of the earliest moments where you’ll notice it is the elevator puzzle. You take the lift up to find the switch that opens the next area, but the switch itself is behind a door that the lift was supposed to open. That’s on purpose, and it’s how the game teaches you the basic loop of these puzzles. The main goal is to steal his heart, which means reaching the Throat at the end of the runway. There are two Throats in this palace. The first one unlocks the ability to steal hearts from minor rivals. The second, final Throat triggers the main story boss fight against Shido and his alter ego. Between those two points you’ll encounter several environmental puzzles and a few optional side-content rooms. The most important mechanic here is the elevator puzzle system. You’ll use the lift to move between floors, and each floor has different switches. Flipping the right switch changes which doors are open on other floors. The trick is keeping track of which switch does what. I write down the floor numbers and which switches I’ve already tried in my notebook app. It cuts down on backtracking significantly.

Another thing to note: Shido’s palace has a time pressure element. You have a limited number of days to complete it. If you spend too long on side activities, you’ll run out of time and get a game over. I finished my first run with about two days to spare after skipping most of the extra cafes and confidant requests that weren’t critical.

Boss Fight: Shido

The first Throat summons a weaker version of Shido that you fight. He uses physical attacks and has a weakness to gunshot. Equipping the right ammo or characters with gun skills makes this much easier. The second Throat fight is the real deal. Shido transforms into an eldritch creature called a Shadow, and that’s where things get interesting. Shido’s Shadow has multiple phases. In the first phase, he uses powerful physical attacks and can counter-attack if you hit the wrong weakness. In the second phase, he gains magic attacks, including strong electric spells. The key insight most players miss is that he becomes vulnerable to strike attacks after you drain his HP below a certain threshold. Before that point, gunshot or slash works better. I wasted about ten minutes hitting him with bullet damage right before the transition because I didn’t know about the shift. His ultimate attack is a massive physical strike that can wipe out a party member in one hit. If you’re not prepared, bring plenty of Recovery Drops and have a character with Power Wall or Spark Dollar ready to absorb the damage. Takemi can craft high-tier recovery items if you’ve built that confidant relationship.

Navigation Tips

Check every corner of the palace for treasures. The later floors have more valuable items, including armor pieces that boost your defense against his elemental attacks. One useful item to grab is the Electric Barrier armor, which reduces damage from his electric moves in the second phase. The museum sections have paintings you can examine. Some contain hints for puzzles, and others give you bonus AP or XP. I found a painting on the fifth floor that revealed the location of a hidden switch, which saved me from retracing my steps for twenty minutes. If you’re stuck on a puzzle, backtrack to a previous floor and look for another switch you might have missed. The palace is designed so that flipping different switches in sequence opens new paths. There’s no single correct order, but some sequences are faster than others.

Common Pitfalls

One thing that catches people off guard is the enemy scaling. The enemies get stronger as you progress through the palace, so if you come in under-leveled, you’ll struggle. A good rule of thumb is to be at least level 30 before entering. I was level 28 on my first run and barely made it through the middle floors without grinding. Another pitfall is ignoring the confidant requests that unlock new abilities. Sae Niijima’s confidant eventually gives you access to additional battle commands, and Yusuke’s confidant unlocks higher-tier weapon synthesis. These aren’t strictly necessary for the boss fight, but they make everything easier.

What This Guide Doesn't Cover

I’m not going to give you exact coordinates for every treasure chest, because the game expects you to explore and figure things out. If you want a complete walkthrough with timestamps and exact locations, there are plenty of community resources that do that in detail. Similarly, I’m not covering the third eye ability in depth here. It’s useful for spotting hidden switches and enemies, but it’s a general palace mechanic, not specific to Shido’s stage. If you’re having trouble with puzzles, making sure your third eye is leveled up through the Okumura confidant arc will help across all palaces, not just this one. There’s also no mention of speedrun strategies. If you’re trying to beat the game as fast as possible, the optimal route through Shido’s palace involves skipping certain side rooms and taking a specific elevator sequence that’s documented elsewhere. For a normal playthrough, the general approach outlined above works fine.