Mistiques and Affinities in Soul Hackers 2: What are they and how do they work?

At its core, Soul Hackers 2 may feel like a complex game to some. It stands out among the other MegaTen (Megami Tensei) games with its rather unique approach to the Demon Summoning franchise of JRPGs. Mistiques are in-game items that players can unlock in a variety of ways and can be equipped to enhance their Elemental Affinities.

At first, players only get a few weak Mistiques. However, the deeper players progress into the game, the more likely they will find some truly remarkable Mistiques in Soul Hackers 2. Initially, players are only allowed to equip one Mistique per character, but that will also change.

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What are Mistiques and Affinities in Soul Hackers 2, and how do they enhance gameplay?

While Mistiques may sound complicated, it’s actually a pretty simple system. They are equipment slots, similar to Relics in other JRPGs. Every character can only equip one at the start of the game, but further on in the game, they will be able to equip even more.

Interestingly, these Mistiques can be unlocked in a variety of ways. They could be an occasional Side Mission reward, or after unlocking all the skills of a demon, they tend to reward the party with a Mistique. In this instance, they will be based on an Element that the demon is affiliated with.

There are so many powerful Mistiques in Soul Hackers 2 (Image via Atlus)

Mistiques in Soul Hackers 2 have multiple uses. They can enhance Elemental Damage, reduce Elemental spell costs, and much more. Here are the types of Mistiques that players can equip.

• Arcana: Decreases Skill-type MP consumption
• Augment: Increases Skill-type power
• Boost: Increases Skill-type power when used against enemy Weakness
• Burst: Increases Skill-type power but also increases MP consumption

After gaining access to the COMP Smith, players will start to really begin enhancing what power they have access to in Soul Hackers 2. The COMP Smith can take the parts that demons drop after a battle and enhance various aspects of the characters, ranging from Commander Skills to stats.

The COMP Smith can also grant players more Mistique slots, making this an ideal use of enemy drops. The Mysterious Girl outside of Cirque du Gourmand can also help with the acquisition of Mistiques, but she can only be unlocked later on in the game.

The COMP Smith can enhance players' Elemental Affinities (Image via Atlus)

After completing her Side Mission, she will allow players to trade in weaker, unwanted Mistiques to craft newer, stronger ones. The stronger the Mistique, the higher Affinity level the character will need in order to equip it.

Each character in Soul Hackers 2 has a series of Affinities, rated by letters in their stats, which can also be seen in the COMP Smith’s store. By unlocking more powerful gear and fusing together more powerful demons, they can start getting some incredibly powerful Mistiques. However, Mistiques do have Elemental Affinity requirements to equip.

The higher the Roman Numeral next to a Mistique is, the stronger that particular Mistique is. A good example is the Fire Arcana VI that requires a B-tier in Fire Affinity. Thankfully, the COMP Smith can increase characters’ Elemental Affinities, but it costs crafting materials and money.

In Soul Hackers 2, players can make their Elemental Affinities quite powerful this way, allowing them to equip bigger and better Mistiques. Doing this is key to dealing as much damage as possible, and serving up justice to the various demons and Demon Summoners that players will come across in Soul Hackers 2.