I. THEORY
The basic SMT/Persona battle system is in play, which observes some basic rules, with game-specific variations. Pe:Re follows these mechanics:

* Action: You can use 1 action to cast a spell, use an item, etc. Also referred to as a character's 'turn.'
* Phase: Ally Phase or Enemy Phase. Also referred to as a 'round.' (ex: Casting a 3-round buff on an ally means it will last through 3 Ally Phases)
* Every character provides the team with one action per round by default.
* Striking a target's elemental weakness or a critical hit earns an Action ('Bonus actions').
* Striking a target's elemental resistance or immunity, missing, or the victim evading penalizes you an Action.
* Striking a target's elemental absorption will penalize you 8 Actions (effectively ending the Ally Phase).

Each party member has the ability to accrue 1 bonus action each. Each party member may also lose 1 action for the party through poor choices. Your party will always act from left-to-right in the battle window, looping back around to the first character if you have enough bonus actions - the order in which you arrange your party is important! Combat rotates between Enemy Phase and Ally Phase, depending on who is faster at the beginning of the battle.


II. PERSONAS
A Persona is a spirit with special powers, which are usually a manifestation of an aspect of the summoner's personality. Every Persona User begins with one "true" Persona and can unlock a small pool of other Personas; they can use any of these personas as they wish and can actively switch the equipped Persona in battle (one person may switch one time per Phase). Equipping a new Persona changes your elemental resists and weaknesses to match that Persona's, as well as your stats (except for HP and MP) and skills. A Persona can have up to around 8 skills and spells - they learn more than 8 over the course of the game, but will only ever have the newest ~8 skills at one time to maintain focus on specific battle roles and strategy types.

III. PERSONA ABILITIES, SYNC ATTACKS and SYNC ROLES
The power of Persona is not without a price, however. Invoking your inner self and projecting it into the outer world is an exhausting, if not downright stressful ordeal. Using physical attacks will cost HP; using magical spells will cost SP. Healing inside of hostile areas is extremely limited, so it is in your best interest to manage your resources wisely, and rely on your most renewable pool: Sync.
'Sync' is a form of skill currency that is accrued naturally in battle. You will earn 1 point of Sync for any combat action you perform or for taking any damage. You will also earn an amount of bonus Sync based on your Sync Role. Characters have Native Syncs which they can use with any persona. Each Persona also has a 'Sync Role' which determines how the user gets bonus Sync and a Persona Sync skill which can be used while that persona is equipped. Work together as a team to get the best out of your Sync Roles!
Example: Rylan has the Native Sync "Gaia Link." He can use this at any time as long as he has enough Sync accrued. When he equips Mnemos as his persona, he can ALSO use "Briar Skin," because it is Mnemos' Persona Sync. As long as Mnemos is equipped, Rylan also gains bonus sync whenever he takes damage - Mnemos' sync role is "Martyr: Taking Damage."
Additionally, some characters get along better with each other than others. They will boost or penalize the sync gain that other party members gain, just by being present.

Success in Pe:Re combat depends on your ability to use your HP and SP wisely in conjunction with your Sync Role. Sync abilities are powerful, and can be used to restore or mitigate the expenditure of HP and SP, the only restoration you will have available to you for most dungeons.