You’ve seen the red splash screens. You’ve heard the glass shatter. If you’ve spent any time in the Persona universe, you know that the "All Out Attack" is the series’ signature "I win" button. But in Persona 5: The Phantom X, things took a weird, specialized turn with the introduction of characters like Messa. Honestly, the Messa All Out Attack is one of those mechanics that looks simple on the surface but hides a bunch of math that can make or break your run in the harder Palaces.
Kinda frustrating, right? You trigger the knockdown, you expect the screen to clear, and then… the boss is still standing with half their HP. Most players assume an All Out Attack (AOA) is just a flat damage multiplier based on your team's average level. That’s actually a huge misconception. In the mobile spin-off, the way Messa interacts with the AOA system is fundamentally different from how Joker or Ryuji handled it in the original Persona 5.
Why the Messa All Out Attack Hits Differently
Basically, Messa is a character built around Damage over Time (DOT) and specific status stacking. In most Persona games, an All Out Attack deals "Almighty" damage. This is great because nothing resists it. However, it also means it doesn't usually benefit from your elemental buffs or specific passive triggers.
Messa changes that script.
When you trigger a Messa All Out Attack, the game calculates damage based on the highest Attack stat among your participating Phantom Idols, but it also factors in the "Weaken" stacks present on the enemies. If you’re playing P5X, you’ve probably noticed those little icons hovering over the shadows. If you don't have those stacks maxed out, your AOA is basically a wet noodle.
The 100-Stack Secret
Here is what most guides skip: the "Finish" pose. You know that cool stylized art that pops up at the end? In the Phantom X engine, that pose isn't just a cosmetic reward for winning. It’s a mechanical confirmation. To get the full damage bonus from a Messa All Out Attack, every single enemy on the screen must have 100 stacks of Weaken.
If even one tiny slime is at 99 stacks, you lose the "Weak State" multiplier. This multiplier is massive—literally doubling your final damage output. This is why you see high-level players waiting. They won't trigger the AOA immediately after a knockdown. Instead, they’ll use extra turns to push those stacks to the limit.
Combat Flow and The DOT Trap
It's tempting to think of Messa as a pure finisher. But honestly, she’s more of a catalyst. In a typical fight, your flow should look something like this:
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- Status Application: Use Messa’s active skills to spread DOT.
- Weakness Exploitation: Knock the enemies down using their specific elemental vulnerabilities.
- The Decision: This is where people mess up. Just because the "All Out Attack" prompt appears doesn't mean you should press it.
If you’re facing a multi-tiled boss, the Messa All Out Attack scales based on the number of squares the boss occupies. However, the damage tapers off. Testing by the community (shoutout to the theorycrafters over at the P5X Reddit and Discord) shows that after the first five stacks of Weaken, the marginal gain per stack starts to drop by about 0.05%.
It sounds like a tiny amount. But over 100 stacks? That's the difference between a 50% boost and a 10% boost. You have to balance the "now" vs. the "later." Sometimes, it's better to decline the AOA, let the enemies stay downed (which lowers their defense and evasion), and hit them with a high-damage physical skill instead.
What Most People Get Wrong About Scaling
There’s this persistent myth that your whole team's strength matters for the Messa All Out Attack.
Nope.
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The game actually only looks at the character with the single highest Attack stat. If your Messa is level 40 but your Joker is level 60, the AOA uses Joker’s base numbers. What Messa contributes is the multiplier. Each additional P5 collab unit or specific "Idol" in the party adds a scaling factor—usually around 0.6x to 0.8x per member.
So, if you want that screen-clearing damage, you don’t need a balanced team. You need one "Hyper-Carry" with astronomical Attack stats and a support team designed to maximize Messa’s stacking speed.
The Gear Factor
Don't ignore your weapons. In the console versions of Persona, weapon damage was a secondary concern for AOAs. In Phantom X, because the Messa All Out Attack is treated as an Active Skill type damage, anything that buffs "Active Skill DMG" (like Lucoa’s marks if you’re playing crossover content) will directly spike your AOA numbers.
How to Maximize Your Messa Setup Right Now
If you want to stop seeing those "Resist" messages and start seeing the "The Show's Over" screen, you need to change your priority list.
First, stop auto-battling. The AI is notorious for triggering the Messa All Out Attack the second it becomes available. It doesn't care about your Weaken stacks. It just wants to see the pretty colors. You'll lose 50% of your potential damage this way.
Second, focus on "Effect Hit" stats for Messa. If her status effects don't land, her stacks don't build. If her stacks don't build, her AOA is useless. It’s a domino effect.
Third, pay attention to the enemy size. For a 1x1 enemy, the base modifier is roughly 350%. For a 3x3 boss? It jumps significantly, but only if you hit the "Weak State" threshold.
Actionable Steps for P5X Players
- Audit your Attack stats: Check who your highest ATK character is. That is the "Engine" of your All Out Attack. Focus your best gear on them, even if they aren't the one "triggering" the move.
- Manual Stack Management: In boss fights, count your Weaken stacks. Do not press the AOA button until you see that 100 mark.
- Team Composition: Run at least three characters from the same "set" (like the P5 collab units) to get the 2.2x or 2.8x party multiplier.
- Defense Debuffs: Lowering an enemy's DEF before the AOA actually works. Unlike the older games where AOA was fixed damage, in P5X, the enemy's defense stat is subtracted from your final total. Use a defense-down skill first.
The Messa All Out Attack isn't just a flashy animation. It's a calculated strike. If you treat it like a math problem instead of a cutscene, you'll find that those "impossible" Palace bosses suddenly start melting.
Stop hitting the button early. Build the stacks. Let Messa finish the job properly.