Orpheus Persona 5 Royal Guide

Orpheus Persona 5 Royal Guide

Persona 5 Royal is one of my favorite games of all time. I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of the Persona or SMT games before P5, but once I played it, I went consumed as much Persona content as I could, including playing through the old games. I have 100s of hours’ worth of playtime across the Persona franchise, so I like to think I know my stuff. That’s why I’m putting together this Orpheus Persona 5 Royal guide. I hope that you can leverage my knowledge with this Persona or Demon.

Orpheus is one of the strongest Personas in P5R, although it’s slept on quite a bit. In terms of survivability, it’s pretty unmatched. If you use Orpheus right, it should be practically impossible for you to die. While that balances out in its relative offensive weakness, its defensive capabilities are so strong that we can overlook that.

This Persona 5R Orpheus guide will run you through a little bit of lore, as well as how I would recommend you use Orpheus in-game.

Key Details

  • Arcana: The Fool.
  • Weakness and Resistance: Resists Bless / weak to Electricity and Curse.
  • Trait: Circle of Sadness.
  • How to Obtain: DLC or Deluxe Edition.
  • Appearances: Persona 3 / 5 / 5R.

Orpheus’ Lore

Like most other Personas, Orpheus isn’t so much inspired by mythology as they are directly taken from it. In this case, Ancient Greek mythology.

Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus or Apollo, depending on the version of the story you’re reading, and his muse Calliope. Either way, Apollo was fond of Orpheus and gifted him with a golden lyre. He was taught to sing by his mother, and soon became a master of music with his tunes compelling even stone to dance.

Later on in life, Orpheus married. His wife, Eurydice, died. Distraught, Orpheus traveled to the Underworld and used his music to soften the hearts of Hades and Persephone. The two gods agreed to allow Orpheus to bring his wife back – on the condition that he didn’t look upon her until they were already out of the Underworld. Orpheus reached the surface, and in his anxiety looked back before his wife had arrived. She vanished from his sight, never to be seen again.

After this, Orpheus became an Apostate. He shunned all of the gods save Apollo, to whom he was still grateful for the gift of his golden lyre. For his blasphemy, he was ripped apart by Maenads who were followers of Dionysus.

Orpheus Persona 5 Royal Guide – Special Abilities

Circle of Sadness

In Persona 5 Royal, Orpheus has a unique Persona trait called the Circle of Sadness. This trait will revive you in combat with one HP whenever you’re defeated, up to four times. Orpheus also learns to Endure at level 27, which will allow you to survive a killing blow with one HP left, once in combat. Those two together give you five different instances in which you should be defeated but can survive.

I’m not sure about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever even died five times in one fight in total, let alone if I got to keep all the damage I’d done each death. In practicality, Orpheus and Circle of Sadness should make you practically invincible, because if you’re taking enough damage to die five times in combat, you’re doing something seriously wrong.

Cadenza

Cadenza is Orpheus’ other special ability and unlike Circle of Sadness, this one was present in Persona 3. Rather than a trait or passive, Cadenza is a skill. The move costs a hefty 25 SP, but for that, you heal your entire party for 50%. Cadenza will also increase the evasion rate of your party for three turns, and that buff is stackable with Sukukaja.

So, Orpheus will let you die five times, and can instantly heal 50% of everyone’s health and raise their evasion, including yours. There’s no reason imaginable that you should ever die while using Orpheus in combat.

Orpheus Persona 5 Royal Guide – How to Obtain Orpheus

Unfortunately, Orpheus is a DLC Persona. It’s packaged with the female version of Orpheus that was a part of Persona 3, a Picaro version, as well as Izanagi. Orpheus came included as a part of the deluxe edition, but for anyone who bought the regular version, Orpheus can be purchased for $2.99. There is no way to access Orpheus in your game without purchasing it.

Orpheus Persona 5 Royal Guide – Playstyle

I would describe Orpheus’ playstyle as sticky. The Persona as a whole is built around keeping you alive as long as possible, thus “sticking” you to the field. As I mentioned, the combination of Circle of Sadness, Endure, and Cadenza means you should never be dying. Ever.

On the offensive side of things, Orpheus doesn’t have too much going for it. It’s got a handful of fire attacks, and fire damage passive, but that’s nothing to write home about. I wouldn’t recommend using Orpheus over something like Izanagi if you’re going for either fast dungeon clears or high damage output. If you need to maximize your survivability, though, then Orpheus should be your first pick.

If you’re playing as a support for your playthrough, Orpheus is arguably the strongest persona in the entire game, granted not the vanilla game. Cadenza and your inability to be killed is such a strong combination and can easily carry your entire party through Persona 5 Royal’s toughest fights.

Orpheus’ Key Relationships

While Orpheus is just a DLC in Persona 5R, it’s the signature Persona of the Persona 3 protagonist. This is why there’s a female and male version of Orpheus – Persona 3 let you play as either a male or female character, unlike Persona 4 and 5.

In the story of Persona 3, Orpheus is also linked closely with Thanatos or death. When the protagonist summons Orpheus for the first time, Death forcibly bursts from Orpheus’ head, ripping it apart. This mirrors Orpheus’ end in mythology as he was ripped apart by the followers of Dionysus.

When Orpheus and Death are merged, it creates the Messiah Persona – the protagonist’s ultimate persona. Thus, Orpheus, Death, and Messiah create something of a holy trinity within the Persona 3 protagonist. Where Orpheus failed to save his wife from her doom and refused death, willing Hades to return her to life, the protagonist of P3 willingly accepts death and becomes a messiah for humanity – saving them from The Fall.

FAQ

Question: What Persona game is Orpheus from?

Answer: Orpheus is originally from Persona 3, but it does appear again in Persona 5 and Persona 5R in the form of a DLC Persona.

Question: What is Orpheus Picaro?

Answer: Orpheus Picaro is a stronger version of Orpheus unique to Persona 5. All DLC Personas related to previous important Personas in the franchise, such as Izanagi, have Picaro versions included in their DLCs.

Question: How do you get Orpheus in Persona 5?

Answer: To get Orpheus in Persona 5, you need to either own the Deluxe Edition or buy the Orpheus and Orpheus Picaro pack for $2.99. You can then summon Orpheus in the Velvet Room.

Conclusion

That’s it for this Persona 5 Royal Orpheus guide. As a figure in the Persona universe, Orpheus is incredibly interesting. Its place in Persona 3 and the significance it holds is very well implemented, especially when you consider how Orpheus’ story mirrors that of the P3 protagonist. Orpheus rejected death and was punished, whereas, in Persona 3, we accept death and become a messiah – hence the Death and Orpheus persona fusion.

From a gameplay standpoint, Orpheus is incredibly strong in Persona 5 R. Circle of Sadness is one of the best defensive traits in the entire game. Combine that with Endure and Cadenza and you should practically be unable to die. That’s why you see challenge runs often using Orpheus, it’s survivability is unmatched by any other Persona.

I wouldn’t recommend using Orpheus if you’re looking to deal high damage, but if you’re struggling to survive, or you want to play support, it is the best Persona in the entire game.

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