Soul Hackers 2: 6 Essential Tips & Tricks for New Players

by Mike Alexander / Game Guides, Tips & Tricks / 03 Jan 2022

If you haven’t heard of Devil Summoner, then you’re missing out on nearly 30 years’ worth of lore. Not to worry, Soul Hackers 2 is just as welcoming to new players as it is to veteran fans of the Shin Megami Tensei spinoff. As long as you pay attention to the tutorials, you’ll get there eventually!

But, what if you just can’t wait? What if you want to be the best devil summoner you can possibly be, as soon as possible? Well if that’s the case, I have some good news for you. With this handy list of tips & tricks, you’ll be battling your way through Soul Hackers 2 like a pro in no time. So when you’re ready to delete some digital demons, prepare yourself for learning, and let’s get started!

Debuffs are Killer

As you progress through Soul Hackers 2, you’ll quickly notice that the various debuffs that can be inflicted on your party can be so serious that they become run-ending. And further in, there will even be circumstances where you can’t use commander skills or items to dispel them.

So, how do you prevent these debuffs? Well, a great way to do that is to pay attention to equipment pieces that negate various debuffs. Make notes of what you’ve equipped each member of your party with because it might save you a lot of pain in the future.

Don’t Rush the Story

If you find the narrative of Soul Hackers 2 to be particularly engaging, you might be tempted to get through those story missions as quickly as you can. Doing this might be ok for a while, but you’ll find yourself in a place where you’re severely under-leveled for many fights quickly.

In order to make sure you level up evenly with the game’s difficulty curve, you should take on every side quest you find and follow them to the end. The experience you get from these will give you a solid boost to your leveling, and you’ll also regularly get some great items as well.

Dungeon Fast Travel

When you’re exploring one of the many dungeons in Soul Hackers 2, you’ll unlock teleport points every so often. These are great to quickly jump to another location on the same menu, but there is another, even more effective use for these teleport points.

On the fast travel screen, using the R2 and L2 buttons will allow you to cycle through ALL of the teleport points in the dungeon. Across levels and everything. Remember this in case you ever find yourself needing to get from one floor to another quickly.

S-Links by Any Other Name

In the persona series, you can form bonds called S-Links with the other characters throughout the game to strengthen their performance in battle, as well as your own relationship with demons of a certain arcana. In Soul Hackers 2, you have a similar system, but it is instead called Soul Levels.

You gain points for Soul Levels through dialogue choices in conversations. Even better, you can keep track of who gets points for any given response by checking the character icons on the top right of the screen when you have an answer highlighted. If you want one character in particular to have more Soul Levels than the others, this is the way to do it.

All The Skill Slots

When leveling up Ringo, there will be opportunities to obtain permanent buffs and bonuses. Every time this opportunity presents itself, it would be wise to get as many extra skill slots as you can. More skill slots means your demons can have even more helpful skills, which is never a bad thing.

The extra difficult fights towards the end of the game will push your team to its limits, and having supplementary skills at the ready will go a long way towards helping you conquer those challenges.

Strike Weaknesses

Like all Shin Megami Tensei games, you are able to stun enemies in battle by attacking them with a skill that they are weak to. To find these weaknesses, you’ll need to use whatever skills you have and hope you find them on each enemy demon. But, once you have that knowledge, you have it for the rest of the game.

With this in mind, keeping a diverse set of demons with skills that cover every possible weakness would be in your best interest. With Commander Skills, it is even possible to switch demons out mid-battle if you just can’t hit a weakness.

Controls for Soul Hackers 2

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.
View all posts