There are a ton of new goodies in Persona 5 Royal for players to unpack. From a new district to additional confidants to powerful Persona’s, developer Atlus has added a ton of content for users to enjoy. Along with a bunch of major changes, there are also minor ones such as being able to level up your Baton Pass skill. On paper this might not seem like a big deal, but Persona 5 Royal actually buffed this ability, making it one of the best tools in your arsenal. This only amplifies once you gain the ability to actually increase the potency of your Baton Pass with different party members.
How to Unlock Darts
Tied to the new district of Kichijoji, players will unlock the ability to visit this district on 6/5 when Ryuji asks to go play darts. This will act as a small tutorial, explaining the new district of Kichijoji, along with where various shops are located. Once you arrive at the Darts & Billards shop, Ryuji and Morgana will give you a quick rundown of how the Darts mini-game works.
How to Play Darts
The goal of this game is to work with your A.I. partner to reduce your score to exactly 0. This is done by throwing darts at the board marked by specific numbers. So if you hit a 20, 3, and a 10 you’ll reduce your score by 33 points. There are three difficulty levels (301, 501, and 701), each of which boasts a different point value you have to work your way down from. Each game consists of five rounds, with both you and the A.I. throwing three darts each time you step up. A round consists one of person throwing darts, so plan accordingly!
To throw darts, tilt your controller to move the highlighted area around the dart board. Once you find a spot you want to toss darts at, hold down R2 to lock it in place. A little red circle will begin bouncing around the highlighted area. This circle indicates where the dart will actually land, so take your time and wait for the opportune moment to strike. Then either tap X or flick the controller forward to toss a dart. I recommend just hitting X because the delay between the controller motion to actually tossing the dart can easily cause you to miss.
You will keep rotating between you and your teammate until you either lose or hit a score of zero. If you manage to get the score low enough on your turn for the A.I. to claim victory you’ll need to give them a few words of encouragement. I find selecting the positive and calming responses typically results in them closing the game out by themselves.
Additionally, you can increase your performance at this game by purchasing a book in Shinjuku. Reading it allows you to activate your Third Eye while playing via holding down L2. This slows the bouncing dot down, giving you a much greater chance at actually landing a Bull. Joker can also buy a Specialty Dart in the Shibuya’s Underground Mall. This makes the throwing area thinner, which limits where the dot can bounce around while you’re throwing. We suggest at least reading the book since you’ll need a lot of Bulls to actually beat the 701 difficulty level.
How to Rank Up Baton Pass
To actually level up your Baton Pass you’ll need to successfully complete games of darts with different teammates. All of your party members will start out at Rank 1 and you will need to complete a successful game to rank that person up. If Joker is the one to hit zero then your party member will rank up once, but if your teammate is the person to his zero then they will rank up twice. With the exception of 701 – which almost entirely requires Bulls – you should always try to let your party member be the one to finish.
This is the only way to rank up Baton Pass, so we recommend you work on this when you don’t have any Confidants to attend to. Each rank not only increases the damage of Baton Pass but gives the person using it HP and SP once you hit Rank 3. It’s a very potent ability that can make a huge difference in a fight against a lot of different Shadows.
Plus, the mini-game is actually quite fun to play and who doesn’t like to throw darts with an adorable talking cat? Just me? Okay.
