Shido’s Ship Palace is the penultimate dungeon of the base Persona 5.

The goal in this palace is fairly straightforward: Explore the ship collecting letters of recommendation from Shito’s most trusted lackeys. However, in practice, this is far more difficult than it sounds. Each section is broken up with an elaborate puzzle floor, and most of the enemies here are rather difficult. Make sure you bring plenty of SP recovery items with you.

Disclaimer: This guide was originally written for Persona 5, which Atlus released stateside in 2017. If you’ve found your way to this guide and are playing Persona 5 Royal — the 2020 update with additional content that’s hitting Xbox and Switch later this year — you can still follow along. However, note that Royal did introduce changes to several parts of the game, adding grapple points and reworking certain boss encounters. So while the paths are generally the same, you may run into some inconsistencies.

If you want to find all the Persona 5 Royal Will Seeds in this dungeon, then check our our Shido’s Palace Will Seeds of Pride locations guide to get them all.

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Table of contents

• Restaurant: letter one
• Pool deck: letter two

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Restaurant: letter one

Return to the safe room and cross the hall. Head up the stairs on the right side. Follow the path and go through the central hall door. You will be in a giant reception room with plenty of people and a few enemies. Clear the threats and head down the stairs. From there, walk forward, through the door, and into the restaurant.

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Walk forward and talk to the maitre d’. He will rudely inform you that you need a member card to dine here. Leave this area and go back up stairs. In the back, left area of the room there will be a man with a speech bubble over his head. Eavesdrop on his conversation.

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Turns out he dropped his card. How terribly convenient. Turn on Third Eye and follow his footsteps down to the bar. Talk to the bartender and ask about lost items. Once the bartender foolishly gives you the lost card, return to the restaurant and enter.

Makoto and Ryuji will sit down to eat. Eventually, Ooe, the politician you are looking for, will interrupt their meal. Unsatisfied that there are two young people by his table, he will make a scene. Makoto tries to secure the letter peacefully, but things turn violent. Beat the letter out of him with Nuke skills.

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One letter down, four to go.

Pool deck: letter two

Once you have the first letter, take the elevator in the restaurant.

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Run forward down the hall until you reach a square room. It is here that you will first turn into mice.

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Welcome to the fun and mildly tedious mechanic for this palace! In rooms that have a golden statue of Shido, you and your party members will be transformed into tiny mice. While you may look adorable with your tiny masks, this form is far from fully functional.

Getting into fights is a death sentence, as you will be unable to move or attack (each turn will be spent trying to escape until you are successful or fall). Most notably, you cannot open doors while you are a mouse (although you look really cure when you try). The plus side, however, is that you are small enough to fit through the ducts in rooms. This will help you solve many puzzles.

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In this first mouse room, there is a small duct in the back. Run to it now and crawl through.

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Unlock the door to your right and then head through the left door. Keep going left until you reach a gigantic room full of enemies. Luckily, the enemies won’t be able to see you very easily. Basically, do your best not to run into them and you should be fine. Take the first duct on the right side of the room.

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Once you exit, move left to unlock the door. Go through and enter the back room. Here you will find a golden looking switch. Activating it will turn off all Shido statues on the boat. Do so now.

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Take the unlocked door to your right and go down the right hall. Open the chest and unlock the door.

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Once through the door, take two lefts and go down the stairs. You will be in a small square room. Take the right door. Unlock a shortcut to your right and follow the forward path. Take the long hallway right for another chest or continue forward for the elevator.

Once on the pool deck, you will find the pool deck safe room to your right and a locked chest in front of you.

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Head down the left hallway to emerge into the pool area.

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Stick to the right to find the former noble sitting in a chair, lounging. Walk up and talk to him.

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This guy has no interest in talking to your right now, so walk forward until you find a masked woman in a bikini. Talk to her.

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Ryuji gets an idea, so turn around and head to the bar. You will ask to borrow some suits and the bartender will ask for your boarding pass. You don’t have one of those, so walk behind the stairs. Oh look, a secret vent.

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Bust it open and go inside. Examine the fitting booths to continue on. When you emerge, the boys will be standing around waiting for the girls to change. Once they have emerged in their swimsuits, return to the former noble. He will take notice of them now and Ann will trick him. While the trickery is enough for him to offer a letter, this guy turns out to be a real creep. Take him down with electric moves and avoid getting brainwashed.

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Three more letters and you can finally take on Shido.

Slots: letter three

Take the door on the north side of the deck. Time for another mouse area.

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Go forward and take a left. Follow the path until you reach a duct on your right. Enter it.

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Unlock the door to your right and fight the enemy in the hall to your left. Return to the mouse hall and keep moving forward. Take the next duct on your right.

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Unlock the door and then move up the stairs to your left. Run all the way down the path your right and unlock the door. Take a left turn down the hall and enter the room with a switch. Hit the button.

Take two rights and open the chest.

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Return to the switch and hit it again. Take a right and go through the duct on the left side of the room.

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Take a left and unlock the door. Return to the button again and press it. Go back to the door you just unlocked and continue forward. Go down the stairs and take a quick left. Go down the hall and take another left. Go up these stairs and unlock the door to the button room. Hit the button and go back down.

Take a right at the bottom of the stairs and enter the hall. Take a left at the end of the hallway and then another left. Look for the small duct in the back of this square room.

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Crawl through and unlock the door to your left. Take the right door and keep moving forward. Enter the mouse room and take the right duct.

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You will now be in a rather long hall. Unlock the door to your right and take the forward path. Grab the chest and return to the button.

Once the button has been pressed, go back down the stairs and through the hall. Take the left door out of the square room. Take another left and unlock the door in front of you. Take the right path to enter a big room. Make your way through the enemies and enter the green door. Go forward and leave this accursed mouse area.

You will now be on the back deck of the ship. The enemies will get harder from here on out, so be sure to prepare. Take the left stairs down. There is the back deck safe room to your right.

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Walk around the deck and defeat the enemies. Go into the alcove behind the stairs to grab a chest.

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Head to the door on the left side of the deck. You will now meet a mysterious man. He will chastise you for making trouble and throw some enemies your way. Use Bless skills to take them out and then go through the door.

Go down the stairs and find the locked chest.

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Run around to the back of the room and down the stairs. On this level, you will find the entertainment hall safe room. Take the stairs to the lowest level and approach the TV president. Haru will take the lead this time. She will chat for a bit and then a fight will break out. Take the main boss out with Ice skills and use Electricity on his bird companions.

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You now have over half the letters!

Private room: letter four

Return to the second floor of the entertainment area and exit out the back door. Time for more mice puzzles.

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Start by walking forward and crossing the big room. Open the door and take a left. From here, take a right and then a left. You will now be in front of a button. Activate the mouse statues.

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Take two rights out of the button hall and enter the small duct.

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Unlock the door and return to the button. Press it. Go back to the door you just unlocked and take the right door. Unlock the door to your right and then go left up the stairs. Take a left and then two rights. Take the right door and head down the stairs. Unlock the door at the bottom.

Return to the button, press it, and then go back up the stairs. Open the door and become a mouse. Take the duct on the left side of the room for a chest.

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Go back to the button to press it. Return to the stairs. and go down the right hall. Follow the path until you reach the first right. Unlock the door. Now take your second right and follow the path. Go through the square room and follow the hall. At the end, press the button.

Return to the hall now and take the duct on the right.

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Unlock the door to your right and press the button. Return to the square room and press onward. Take the second left through the door and unlock the door in this room. Head back to the button and press it. Return to the square room on the left and go through the door. Go through the duct in the back.

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Take a right down the hall and enter another duct in the square room.

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Follow the path to the right. Enter the big room, now in mouse form. Run all the way south, towards the exit. Find the duct on the side of the wall and enter it. Exit the area.

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Finally you are out on the side deck. Take a right down the hall and find the side deck safe room. The Cleaner guy will show up again. Take his minions out with Bless.

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Continue up the side deck and take the right door. Amazingly, the mouse stuff has not yet finished. However, this area is much simpler.

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Head forward and through the door. Take the duct on your left.

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Take the forward door. Take two rights and enter into the middle square room. Go through the duct to your left.

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Unlock the left door and then take the elevator up.

Walk forward and find yourself … back at the start? Weird. Go back to the restaurant and talk to a waiter. Look for a guy with a speech bubble.

Return to the side dock safe room however you see fit. This time, go left instead of right. There will be a overhang as well as a steamy vent. Look to the right and climb up the side of the boat.

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Keep climbing until you reach the top. Head left and jump across the room partitions until you reach the VIP’s room.

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Futaba will take the lead this time. As usual, you are going to have to fight him. Once the battle actually starts, use Nuke on the center enemy and Psi on his allies.

One more to go.

The engine room: letter five

Jump back along the partitions. Instead of jumping down to the side deck immediately, head across the long board to the right for a chest.

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Jump all the way down to the side deck and examine the steamy vent. Bust it open with Ryuji and enter the engine room. The Cleaner will meet you when you jump down. Fight more of his goons using Bless and follow him down the hall.

Take a left to grab a locked chest. Return to the fork and head right. You will be in a storage area. Climb the box to your right and crawl inside the vents.

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Drop in on the Cleaner and get ready to fight. The Cleaner is certainly the hardest of the bosses thus far. As usual, stay patient and use critical strikes to take him down as often as possible.

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Eventually he will go down and cough up the fifth letter. Go back upstairs to be met by a familiar face …

Goro Akechi Boss Fight

Phase 1

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Akechi has returned to take you down. Turns out Shido is his dad, and Akechi just wants to get revenge. Listen to his very sad story and then fight his monsters. Akechi will summon empowered minions that you have seen before. They hit harder and do not have any weaknesses. Rather than dealing group damage, focus on taking one down and then move on to the other.

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Akechi will now begin to fight. He is pretty easy in this phase. Wail on him with physical damage. About half way through his health bar, he will do a big group attack. Just make sure that you keep your teammates stay healthy as you go. Akechi will eventually fall.

And then he completely loses it …

Phase 2

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This fight requires a bit more patience. Akechi will erect walls that block either physical or magic damage for three turns. Do not use the type of damage that he is blocking against or he will reflect it back at you. Use the other damage type and wait out the wall.

Stay healthy and slowly whittle down his health bar. Eventually, he will fall.

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Talk to him for a little bit and then, well, he never really stood a chance on his own. Say goodbye and head back to representatives chamber door. Open it, discover the treasure and leave the palace. Time for the last calling card.

Send the calling card

Decide when you are ready to fight Shido and have Futaba design and create the final calling card. Enjoy her amazing work and prepare to fight.

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Masayoshi Samael Shido boss fight

Finally, after hours and hours of prep work, it is time to take Shido down. Enter the representatives chamber and approach the treasure. Shido will transform the arena and mount a massive beast made out of the masses.

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Phase 1

First up is the Beast of Human Sacrifice. This form of the boss is impervious to physical attacks. Use magic skills to take it down quickly. The Beast of Human Sacrifice will charge up, preparing for a massive attack. When this happens, guard the next attack. Eventually, the beast will sprout wings and fly.

Next is the Wings of Human Sacrifice.

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This time you need to use physical skills to take it down. Use the same strategy as before.

Finally it will become the Tomb of Human Sacrifice. The boss is now susceptible to all damage. However, when its health gets low, it will begin to charge. Destroy it as quickly as possible.

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Phase 2

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Shido is ready to fight his own battle. He rips off his uniform and decides to take you on. This phase is very easy. Use your strongest abilities on him until his health is low.

Phase 3

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It seems that Shido has been watching too much Dragon Ball Z. He may look scarier, but just use the same strategy as you did in the second phase. However, this time, Shido will gain extra actions. He will strike twice per turn using a random type of group magic. As such, it is best to equip a Persona without weaknesses.

Once he reaches half health, Shido will gain an extra action. Keep beating on him and staying healthy. The lower his health gets, the more actions he will gain. You absolutely have to slow your damage and spend more time buffing your defense or healing. Eventually, after a lot of hits, SSJ4 Shido will go down.

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Shadow Shido may be down but the real Shido is not out. He attempts to kill himself to collapse his palace early. The gang tries to escape, and things get dramatic.

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Have a chat with Igor and await Shido’s change of heart.