LP Beach

Supplemental: The Antique Store, or how unchecked materialism is good, actually

As of 6/9 in Persona 3 FES and Portable, we have gained access to the Antique Store! We gain access to it later in Reload, and I probably won't go in too detail on it since it is considerably less interesting there. FES and Portable, on the other hand, have plenty of notable things to remark on. Going forward, this will probably be the store service we use the most. Kurosawa only sporadically has things I care about, Be Blue V will have the last of its wares in the very near future, and Aohige Pharmacy doesn't get anywhere near the repertoire of good items it does in Reload, so the Antique Store is where the bulk of our business will be directed. Now on its most basic level, the Antique Store is analogous to Rag's Jeweler from the mainline MegaTen franchise. In fact, this was all it was in Vanilla. In FES, a brand new mechanic was added in Weapon Fusion (Brand new for Persona 3 anyway, weapon fusion as a series mechanics has been a thing since SMT 2), which was retained for Portable with some minor tweaks and additions while still mostly working the same. Let's go over the trading post aspect first before delving into the more complicated weapon fusion mechanics.

Trading Gems

If you're playing FES or Portable for yourself, you'll have noticed that upon entering Arqa enemies begin to drop gemstones every now and again. We're now at the point where we can begin to make use of those, as the Antique Store does not accept money. All transactions are conducted via trading gems, with every item having a specific gem cost to obtain. Now we're not able to collect every variety of gem at this stage of the game, so it'll be a bit before we can trade for all of these things. Definitely note down enemies that drop gems that trade for particularly valuable items, in the event you want to do some farming. Gem trading has two dedicated menus.

For Cards

In Vanilla and FES, this menu was dedicated to the stat boosting Minor Arcana cards, and is the one stop shop for powering up your Personae independent of levels in these versions of the game. In Vanilla where the arcade didn't actually do anything, this was your only option for bulking up your Personae. There are 4 types of cards with 4 different levels of potency. The types are Sword, Cup, Wand and Coin(Like the shuffle time cards!), with the potency levels being Page, Knight, Queen and King. Sword boosts ST, Cup boosts EN, Wand boosts MA and Coin boosts AG. The bonuses are +1 for Page, +2 for Knight, +3 for Queen and +4 for King. Additionally, Page and Knight cards give +1 LU, while Queen and King cards give +2 LU. There is not a dedicated card type for boosting LU specifically. The gems required for these cards are actually rather varied in Vanilla, with more standardized costs being introduced in FES and retained in Portable. To obtain these cards in Vanilla, you needed:

Sword: 1 Turquoise at any potency level plus an additional gem that differs from level to level. Page requires 1 Aquamarine, Knight requires 1 Onyx, Queen requires 1 Emerald and King requires 1 Garnet.
Cup: 1 Onyx at any potency level, and then Page requires 1 Emerald, Knight requires 1 Garnet, Queen requires 1 Opal and King requires 1 Topaz.
Wand: 1 Aquamarine at any potency level, and then Page requires 1 Onyx, Knight requires 1 Emerald, Queen requires 1 Garnet and King requires 1 Opal.
Coin: 1 Amethyst at any potency level, and then Page requires 1 Turquoise, Knight requires 1 Aquamarine, Queen requires 1 Onyx and King requires 1 Emerald.

Pretty complicated and difficult to farm for as you can imagine. Atlus must have thought the same thing, as the costs were heavily simplified in FES and Portable. In these versions of the game, Onyx has become the standard gem to trade for stat cards, with Page requiring 1 Onyx, Knight requiring 2X, Queen 3X and King 4X. Additionally, Knight and King require an additional gem depending on the card arcana, with Knight requiring 1 of the additional gem while King requires 2. These additional gems are as follows:

Sword: Amethyst
Cup: Turquoise
Wand: Garnet
Coin: Aquamarine

If you plan to take on the big bonus boss of the game, you will want plenty of stat cards to max out the stats of your best Personae. Keep in mind the types of Shadows that drop the gems that allow you to get the cards you need, particularly those that provide gems for Cup and Wand cards. Now this is the end of what you can get here in FES, but Portable expanded the menu further with Skill cards as well! Some valuable cards can be traded for at the Antique Shop, and then you can turn around and dupe them at the Inari Shrine to have as many as you could ever want for no cash investment. The Skill cards you can trade for in Portable are:

Regenerate 1, 2, and 3: 1, 5X and 7X Aquamarine, respectively
Invigorate 1, 2, and 3: Same as Regenerate but with Amethyst
Growth 1, 2, and 3: Same as Regenerate but with Opal
Null Poison: 1 Turquoise
Null Charm: 1 Turquoise
Fire Boost: 1 Turquoise and 1 Garnet
Ice Boost: 1 Turquoise and 1 Garnet
Elec Boost: 1 Turquoise and 1 Topaz
Wind Boost: 1 Turquoise and 1 Emerald
Auto Tarukaja and Auto Rakukaja: 4X Turquoise
Resist Slash, Strike, Pierce: 1 Sapphire and 1 Diamond
Resist Fire: 2X Sapphire and 1 Ruby
Resist Ice: 2X Sapphire and 1 Pearl
Resist Elec: 2X Sapphire and 1 Ruby
Resist Wind: 2X Sapphire and 1 Pearl
Arms Master: 10X Pearl
Speall Master: 10X Diamond
Megidolaon: 10X Ruby

Some very powerful skills to be had here! The most notable ones for my money are Growth 3, the physical resists, Arms Master and Spell Master. The elemental resist cards are occasionally helpful for patching out weaknesses, while the boost are mostly just there for if you have the spare gems and don't feel like spending money on the Personae that produce them as cards. Invigorate sounds like it might be good, but it actually scales really terribly in this game so I wouldn't recommend investing in it. Plus it's just a pain in the ass to remember to set the Personae that have it after every fight unless you card Invigorate 3 onto everything you have. Definitely pick up a Growth 3 as soon as possible and have the Inari shrine dupe the hell out of it, as it makes leveling up Personae much easier and faster. (For those who don't know, Growth 3 is a passive that gives Personae full experience at the end of battle even if they were not your equipped Persona at its conclusion) With all that laid out, lets move onto,

For Items

Now it'll be a bit before we can get a good supply of cards of any type from the Antique Store, but something we can do a bit more readily is trade for the copious valuable items that are available. The Antique Store is the main place for us to reliably obtain the most powerful healing items available in the game plus numerous other useful combat items such as reflecting mirrors and sutras. The full selection of items are as follows,

*Bead: 1 Opal and 1 Garnet
Bead Chain: 2X Opal
*Snuff Soul: 2X Emerald
Chewing Soul: 3X Emerald
Precious Egg: 1 Ruby and 1 Pearl, 2X Ruby and 1 Pearl in FES/Portable (This is the only non-card item that had its cost changed across versions)
Balm of Life: 1 Pearl and 1 Garnet
*Purifying Rice: 2X Aquamarine
*Cursed Paper: 2X Turquoise
Homunculus: 1 Diamond and 1 Sapphire
Magic Mirror: 1 Sapphire and 1 Topaz
Attack Mirror: 1 Diamond and 1 Opal
Dekaja Gem: 1 Topaz and 1 Opal
Dekunda Gem: 1 Topaz and 1 Emerald
*Fierce Sutra: 1 Amethyst and 1 Aquamarine
*Agility Sutra: 1 Aquamarine and 1 Turquoise
*Protection Sutra: 1 Turquoise and 1 Amethyst
Megido Gem: 2X Garnet
Traesto Gem: 2X Topaz
**Trafuri Gem: 2X Amethyst
Teddy Bear: 2X Amethyst
Japanese Doll: 2X Onyx
Kaleidoscope: 2X Aquamarine
Goggle-eyed Doll: 2X Turquoise
*Means the item was added in FES
**Means the item was added in Portable (yes it was just the Trafuri Gem that got added)

A bevvy of useful and not so useful items to be certain! For the former category, stuff like the date gifts like the dolls and Kaleidoscope are not really useful at all outside of very rare cases in Vanilla. By the time you actually get the gems for them with any regularity, items like Snuff Souls and Beads are also generally not that useful to grab. On the better side of things, Bead Chains, Balms of Life, the mirrors and the sutras (specifically Fierce and Protection) are fantastically useful and this is the only place you can reliably get them. Sutras are doubly good in Portable as your party members can now use them, giving everyone the capability to support the party! Another thing you may want to stock up on is Homunculi, as nothing will ruin your day faster than your Protagonist getting tagged by an insta-kill. The more Homunculi you have, the less of a problem that will be. Keep in mind the necessary gems for the aforementioned items and keep notes on what drops them when you see them. A healthy supply of these will help you go a long way. With that done, onto the bigger draw of the Antique Store.

Weapon Fusion

From the moment we unlock the Antique Store and receive our first Nihil Sword from the proprietor, Rare Forms will now begin to drop Nihil weaponry that we can then fuse with Personae from our stock to create unique weapons with effects they otherwise cannot get randomly. Nihil weapons come in various forms, with all types of weapons our party both current and future can use. Within FES, all but two of these weapon types can be used by the Protagonist, giving him a very large selection of powerful unique weapons once we get further in the game. Once a Nihil weapon has been fused, it can be fused once more to create a new weapon if you so desire. This means you never have to worry about getting multiple copies of a single Nihil weapon type and can just upgrade your already fused weapons when they begin to fall behind in power. All well and good, but why should you bother with Weapon Fusion if you can just buy or find weapons? Because fused weapons trump those options at every stage of the game, and by a huge margin once we're far enough along!

So how does this work exactly? Naturally we'll need to actually have a Persona to fuse with a weapon in order to do this. It also cannot be a Persona you currently have equipped, to make sure you don't leave yourself Personaless. Once those conditions have been fulfilled, we first need to determine the attack power and accuracy of the weapon. This is derived from your Persona's current level, so you can actually level up Personae to improve the strength and abilities of the weapons they fuse into. The way this works is that every experience level will fall into a "range", and within these ranges the resultant fused weapons will have an Attack and Accuracy stat derived from the relative value of the Persona's stats. Don't take this to mean high stats influence weapon power, rather stats are compared against each other to determine a weapon's Type, which can be one of three distinct stat spreads. (Shout outs to Misfit119 for their guide that has this handy dandy chart!)



Type A happens when the Persona's highest stat is either ST or EN, and this type has balanced attack power and accuracy. Type B is when MA or AG is the highest stat, and trades a small amount of accuracy for a decent amount of attack. Type C is when LU is the highest stat, and focuses on accuracy over power. The only exception to this is a Weapon variety we won't see for a little bit. Gun type weapons invert Type A and B for some reason.

So a handful of things to remark on here. As you can see, even from the jump fused weapons trump anything Kurosawa is selling in FES. His best stuff has around 50 attack power and even fusing off a piss gremlin like Pixie will get us something stronger than that. Kurosawa is a bit more competitive in Portable as his stock updates more regularly and he's selling some ~80 power weapons at the time of this writing, but we can still pretty easily create Personae that will trump his inventory on a fused weapon. As the game goes on, Fused Weapons rocket past all other available options. The level ranges for hitting the next tier of power can be as little as 4 levels, and as we develop our social links we can easily have situations where a Persona starts in one range and then upgrades to the next upon fusion, giving us access to a much stronger weapon for the stage of the game we are in. Having your team kitted out with fused weapons wildly accelerates your All Out Attack damage, and your physical fighters all too often can deal better damage with their fused weapons than their skills. And keep in mind that the best weapons we can find or buy top out around 290-310 Attack power by the end game, so there's never going to be a point where we luck into something better than Fused Weapons. That alone makes Fused Weapons a great investment, but there's something else going for them. Fused Weapons will have special abilities otherwise not seen on weapons you can find or buy, often replicating the effects of powerful accessories. These abilities are dependent on the Arcana of the Persona used in the weapon fusion. These abilities are as follows,

Magician: Replicates the Ice Evasion line of skills, with the effectiveness of the ability improving with the level of the Magician used. The ranges for this are,

Level 1-29: Low Evasion Chance

Level 30-59: Medium Evasion Chance

Level 60+: High Evasion Chance

Note that for reasons we'll get into later, you're not liable to ever actually see the Level 60+ variant of this effect without doing some impractical prep work. Regardless, this is something Akihiko obviously likes and is a good investment for him. This ability is similar for the Priestess, Emperor and Justice Arcana, with them instead covering Fire, Elec and Wind respectively with the same level scaling for the ability's effectiveness. Obviously good pick ups for the characters that have the relevant weaknesses.

Empress: At all levels, Empress Personae convey low resistance to Wind damage. I'm not sure if this actually overwrites weaknesses though, so I'd only really use it in lieu of not having a dodge ability. The Tower, Star and Sun Arcana have the same effect with the same level scaling for the Elec, Ice and Fire elements respectively.

Hierophant: Grants Auto-Sukukaja. Not bad for the Protagonist if you'd prefer they rock a Bracer instead of a Speed Enhancer, but of minimal use for anyone else. Strength and Temperance work similarly, conveying the Auto-Tarukaja and Auto-Rakukaja abilities instead. Strength is probably the most useful as everyone would enjoy stacking Tarukaja and another damage boosting passive from the battle's offset. That being said, all of these abilities get invalidated by later Persona passives, so late game they're essentially useless options.

Lovers: At all levels, Lovers weapons give you a flat resistance to the Charm ailment, though not immunity. Situationally useful, but I'd rather just farm the accessory that grants Charm immunity since that isn't actually that tall an ask. Hermit, Death and Devil do the same thing for the Poison, Rage and Fear ailments respectively. Hermit and Death are never helpful, while Devil can be useful for exactly one fight I can think of offhand. I'll leave it up to you if you think that's worth keeping it in mind for.

Chariot: Replicates the Counter line of skills, scaling depending on the level of the Persona used.

Level 1-29: Replicates Counter, a roughly 30% chance to repel physical attacks for low damage. (Note that Persona 3 Reload nerfed these abilities a ton, not that it's relevant to the rest of this post)

Level 30-59: Replicates Counterstrike, roughly a 40% chance to repel physical attacks for slightly more damage than they would have dealt to you.

Level 60+: Replicates High Counter, a 50% chance to repel physical attacks for about double the damage they would have dealt.

Like the most of the evasion abilities, you're not liable to see the 60+ variant without taking some special preparations. Note that these abilities do not stack with characters that learn them naturally, when two counter skills exist on a skill set the game either uses the stronger of the two or just cancels one out if it's the same ability. That all being said, this actually isn't a bad choice for your low hp, defensively frail characters like Yukari. It's essentially an extra dodge chance against any physical attacks hurled your way, and that can be useful in many situations though not something to bank on.

Fortune: Gives a bonus to your Max SP depending on the level of the Persona used. The scaling is as follows,

Level 1-39: +10 Max SP

Level 40-69: +20 Max SP

Level 70+: +30 Max SP

Absolutely terrible, what the hell is this scaling!?! Even at the game's offset, +10 SP will let you cast 2-3 more single target spells. This ability does not take at all to the end game, where +30 Max SP will only buy you one more spell, and you'll have likely come up with an SP engine anyway. Never create a Fortune weapon, this ability blows.

Hanged Man: Gives a bonus to your Max HP. The scaling for this is as follows,

Level 1-19: +20 Max HP

Level 20-39: +30 Max HP

Level 40-69: +40 Max HP

Level 70+: +50 Max HP

Much better, from the scaling to the effect! More HP is one of the simpler ways of improving your character's survivability, so pretty much everyone benefits from having Hanged Man weapons. That being said, for boss fights specifically, there is something that can trump Hanged Man weapons when it comes to survivability. In general though, Hanged Man weapons afford great power AND extra defense to those that use them, so nobody suffers from having them. If you're not interested in Dodges or more niche abilities like Counter, Hanged Man weapons are the ones to create for everyone in your party.

Moon: Provides a critical rate boost to your normal attacks, scaling with the level of the Persona used. The scaling is as follows,

Level 1-39: Small crit rate boost

Level 40-69: Medium crit rate boost

Level 70+: High crit rate boost

Now boosting the critical hit rate of your normal attacks sounds pretty unappealing, but as mentioned previously weapon attacks don't actually suck in Persona 3, and can often trump your skill damage precisely because of fused weapons. Boosting the chance of landing crits is great for characters like Junpei, who never get access to the weapon boosting passive relevant to them. I believe this also improves the chance you land a double hit strike (when you get the longer animation that isn't a crit), so it can be a remarkably big boost to your outgoing damage. The main caveat to this ability is that it's tied to the Moon arcana. It is going to be forever and a half before we pursue that Arcana in FES, so it's kind of tough to get the most out of this one. Portable actually benefits a bit here, because not only will we be addressing the Moon social link sooner, we'll be maxing it in short order as well. Still, if you see a Moon persona that falls into a good level range, don't hesitate to fuse it for your physical bruisers.

Judgement: Grants the ability to inflict all ailments in the game to your weapon (Excepting for Down, Freeze and Shock). The scaling for this is as follows,

Level 30-59: Medium Chance

Level 60+: High Chance

Note that the lowest leveled Judgement Persona is level 59, so it's just barely possible to even get the weakest version of this effect. Anyways this is a whatever effect. I'm not a huge fan of ailments in this game since they mostly only work on regular enemies, with the exception of things like Freeze and Shock which do work on most bosses. Since this can't inflict those and there are abilities that inflict them 100% of the time, I don't consider this to be worth much. It can be fun to screw around with, but I wouldn't recommend it as a serious ability to use.

Aeon: Boosts all stats of the equipper (Except HP and SP). The new Arcana to FES gets the simplest but arguably most useful effect. Because the lowest level Aeon is already level 63, like Judgement there's not much to the scaling on this.

Level 60-79: +4 to all stats

Level 80+: +5 to all stats

Simple and effective, like I said. Once you're able to fuse an Aeon, there's essentially no reason not to just use it to create Aeon weapons for your entire party. +4 to everything is a decent bit of power that everyone appreciates, and most weapons that boost stats don't even afford this kind of boost to a single stat. That said, it's not the end all be all.

Now you may have noticed I skipped over the Fool Arcana. Fool works a bit differently. Regardless of level of the Persona used, Fool weapons will always have 1 attack power and 99 accuracy. Pretty useless against anything except Rare forms, but the caveat is that each Fool Persona has a unique ability it conveys to a fused weapon. As follows,

Orpheus: Small chance to inflict all ailments on attack. Same as Judgement but weaker. Not a fan, but it may come in handy against strong single enemies early on.

Slime: SP +20. Fortune can't catch a break huh? This is the same effect you get from a level 40 Fortune. Still sucks obviously, but if you're really hard up for casting 5 more Zio spells with the drawback of tanking your All Out Attack damage, here you go.

Legion: Grants +100 Max HP. Christ, this one is on steroids. This is the ability I mentioned that invalidates Hanged Man weapons for most boss fights. +100 HP is a huge durability boost, and I highly recommend having this on hand for your protagonist and squishier characters like Yukari. For fights where you will be using All Out Attacks, it's a bit of a bad idea because it drops your damage so much, but when survivability is all you care about, this fused weapon is aces. It eventually falls off, but it'll be a long while before that happens.

Black Frost: +10 MA. This one is okay, it's decent for characters who just hurl spells like Yukari and Mitsuru. +10 Magic is about 25-50 more damage depending on the defenses of what you're dealing with, so it can help close out fights faster on occasion. We can't get this until mid September though, so we'll see if I can remember to cook up some weapons with it.

Ose: +10 ST. Okay they're just taking the piss on this one. It makes your skills stronger, but since Fused Weapons tend to trump single target skills, I really could not recommend going for this one. I guess it's okay for boosting up AOE skills, but I'm not a huge fan of AOE physicals in this game save for one.

Decarabia: +10 EN. This one is okay, that's a pretty solid defense boost. The HP from Legion is probably better for most characters, but there are some high HP characters who might benefit from the durability boost this provides instead. Again though, you need to really consider if it's worth tanking your All Out Attack damage.

Loki: Medium chance to inflict all ailments. See Judgement.

Susano-o: +3 to all stats except HP and SP. What the hell is this!?! The weakest Aeon in the game gives you literally the exact same effect but better, and gives you a strong weapon on top of it. Susano-o is 13 levels higher than the weakest Aeon for a worse effect and weapon. Absolute trash, never get this.

Orpheus Telos: Halve incoming Magic damage. Thankfully the real ultimate Fool gives a way better ability. An Orpheus Telos weapon halves the damage of most attacks in the game, affording you a huge durability boost. This one is good to pick up for something later in the game.

But wait, there is more! Because there's one more aspect of weapon fusion I have yet to go over.

Special Fusions

There are a number of Personae that, when fused into a weapon, will ignore the normal rules of Weapon Fusion and instead create a Unique Weapon. These weapons are extremely powerful and have useful abilities tied to them, often being way ahead of anything else you can get at the stage of the game they become available. Like, even more so for fused weapon standards. Note that these Unique Weapons will always be a specific weapon variety, even if the base weapon used is something different. For instance, Cu Chulainn will always produce the Spear Gae Bolg, even if you fuse him onto a bow. These Unique Weapons also cannot be re-fused once created, so be mindful that they represent a lost weapon to fuse once created. This is a more than acceptable cost, as you'll see when I list them out.

1-Handed Swords*

Deus Xiphos: 400 Attack Power and 94 Accuracy. +10 to MA. Created by weapon fusing the Level 72 Judgement Persona Michael.

Lucifer's Blade: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to All Stats. Created by weapon fusing the level 89 Judgement Persona Lucifer. (Shocker, I know.)

Look at those numbers! And those stat bonuses! Yes, these unique fusions create the strongest weapons in the game by a ridiculous margin. Memorize which Persona creates what, because you'll want to be able to make these when it's time for the final boss. This does actually represent something unfortunate for the MC in Portable, as he will not be able to get his ultimate weapon come time for the final boss unless you did a ludicrous amount of grinding that would invalidate the need for the sword anyway. In FES, the protagonist has his pick of the litter when it comes to Ultimate weapons, and not all ultimate weapons are created equal in terms of their materials. Some can be obtained much sooner, including funnily enough, the FemC's ultimate weapon.

*In FES, Mitsuru and the MC use the same 1-Handed swords, so these are also the best pieces of gear for Mitsuru. Portable introduced a new Rapier sword type that is used by Mitsuru exclusively, while 1-Handed swords are now MC exclusive weapons.

2-Handed Swords

Balmung: 310 Attack Power and 93 Accuracy. Gives +100 HP to the equipper. Created with the Level 59 Strength Persona Siegfried.

Laevateinn: 340 Attack Power and 83 Accuracy. Gives the Fire Boost ability to the equipper and has the unique property of making your weapon attacks Fire elemental. Created with the Level 52 Magician Persona Surt.

Masakado's Katana: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 73 Tower Persona Masakado.

Balmung replaces Legion weapons for Junpei and the MC in FES, but it's not one of my preferred weapons since it's less useful at the time you get it compared to Legion weapons. Laevateinn on the other hand is awesome. It's the first Elemental weapon we can get, boosting its own attack power with Fire Boost to sweeten the pot. Elemental weapons cannot crit, but they have high attack power and can have their damage augmented with elemental passives. Slap the Agni Bracers on Junpei or the MC and they can run roughshod with this weapon! I believe Elemental weapons can also get an extra boost from weapon boosting passives, though I need to test this more to make sure. Finally, Masakado's Katana is the ultimate 2-Handed sword and is available at reasonable time for the end game. This is invariably what I put in the hands of the MC in FES.

Fists

Sabazios: 340 attack power and 85 Accuracy. Grants Ice Boost and makes your weapon attacks Ice element. Created with the level 68 Lovers Persona Cybele.

Evil Gloves: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 77 Tower Persona Mara.

Sabazios allows Akihiko to blow Mitsuru's Ice damage out of the water (no pun intended) if you gear him up properly. Evil Gloves are the ultimate fist weapon, and they're ideal for beating off your foes. Mara is quite a high level though, so you're only really going to have them in time for the final boss really. Still a more than worthwhile pick up for it though.

Axes/Cudgels

Mjolnir: 340 Attack Power and 80 Accuracy. Grants Elec Boost and makes your weapon attacks Elec element. Created with the Level 53 Chariot Persona Thor.

Corpse Rod: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 81 Devil Persona Beelzebub.

These are mostly useless in Persona 3 Portable for reasons we won't be covering for a long time. In FES, the protagonist can make good use of Mjolnir if geared for it, but the Corpse Rod is available too late for me to really think it's the ideal ultimate weapon to slap in his hands.

Spears

Gae Bolg: 260 Attack Power and 85 Accuracy. Grants Wind Boost and makes weapon attacks Wind Element. In Portable, it grants the fairly useless Dodge Wind ability instead, though still makes attacks wind elemental (There may be other changes like this I haven't gotten a chance to discover, will update this post if I see any). Created with the Level 40 Tower Persona Cu Chulainn.

Gungnir: 310 Attack Power and 97 Accuracy. Grants the Elec Boost ability but does not change your weapon attack type. Created with the Level 57 Emperor Persona Odin.

Pinaka: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 82 Tower Persona Shiva.

So many of these come from Tower Personae now that I think about it. Anyway, Gae Bolg is an incredible weapon for the stage of the game it's available in. While it is the weakest Unique weapon, it's available so much earlier and is so much better than everything else at that point, it secures itself a place as one of the best weapons in the game. Augmenting it with Wind Amp creates wind damage that makes Yukari deeply jealous, and it makes the dedicated Spear user of the game alongside the protagonist in FES the premiere damage dealers for a huge chunk of the game. Portable nerfed it slightly by removing Wind Boost from it, but Vayu Bracers still give it tremendous punching power. Gungnir is kind of whatever honestly, if only because the character that uses it will never really reach the same height for Elec damage that Akihiko or the protagonist will. Pinaka might just barely be fusable in time for the final boss, but don't be surprised if you have to supplant it with an Aeon weapon instead.

Bows

Saarnga: 400 Attack Power and 90 Accuracy. Grants Wind Boost but does not change your weapon attack type. Created with the Level 78 Sun Persona Vishnu.

Quintessence Bow: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 86 Tower Persona Chi You.

Man Yukari stays losing here. Why do these both require such high level Personae? You're not liable to get the Quintessence Bow in time for the final boss and while Saarnga will more than likely be available, it's not that big of a help to Yukari. She'll mostly be on healing duty if you use her, and you'd likely prefer the defensive bonuses of an Aeon weapon or even a Legion bow. Poor girl can't catch a break.

Guns*

Metatronius: 450 Attack Power and 94 Accuracy (I can appreciate the irony). +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 87 Aeon Persona Metatron.

Only one weapon for guns. Available too late and the character that can use it is pretty bad in fights anyway.

*Guns are exclusive to the party member that uses them, and are not usable for the protagonist even in Vanilla and FES. So there's not even a preference reason to use this for the bonus boss.

Knives*

Vajra: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 85 Sun Persona Asura.

You ever get the feeling of deja vu? Read the description for Unique guns.

*Like guns, this weapon type is exclusive to the party member that uses them and cannot be used by the protagonist in Vanilla and FES. Methinks they put a little less care into the options for these weapons.

Naginatas*

Khakkhara: 400 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 80 Aeon Persona Atavaka.

Vel Vel Muruga: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. Created with the Level 70 Star Persona Kartikeya.

No I did not make any typos there. For some reason, there are two Naginatas with the exact same effect except one is stronger and made with a much lower leveled Persona. Kartikeya is a sidequest reward, so I guess Khakkhara is there as a back up in case you didn't get that. Regardless, Vel Vel Muruga is available way sooner than Lucifer's Blade, creating an amusing example of game preferred gender as the MC is not going to have this level of power at his disposal in time for the final boss, much less anything in the last block of Tartarus. Definitely pick up Vel Vel asap.

*Naturally, Naginatas are exclusive to Portable and only make an appearance for the FemC. Since I won't get to mention it anywhere else really, Naginatas also have a different naming scheme for their base materials for some reason, you get Void Naginatas instead of Nihil Naginatas.

Rapiers*

Kokuseki Senjin: 400 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. Grants Ice Boost but does not change your weapon attack type. Created with the Level 84 Empress Persona Alilat.

Snow Queen Whip: 450 Attack Power and 100 Accuracy. +10 to all stats. Created with the Level 80 Empress Persona Skadi.

What's with these fusions where the lower leveled Persona creates the stronger weapon? That being said, if you want to free up an accessory slot for Mitsuru while still getting the most out of her Ice damage, the Kokuseki Senjin isn't a terrible option. +10 EN and MA though is pretty hard to pass up, and Skadi can be obtained just in time for the final boss, so that's probably what you should go for regardless.

*Rapiers are Mitsuru's new exclusive weapon type in Portable, neither of these exist in FES and are newly added.

Phew, that was quite a lot! Weapon fusion is a service I'll be making heavy use of going forward, and we can probably expect me to do some Rare form hunting in the very near future.

I meant to get this out awhile ago, the next supplemental video! I decide to go with the music club for the Fortune link in FES since that seems like it'd be the most different from the art club option. Much like all alternative links though, the whole thing plays out essentially the same. Not sure if it was for the better the Persona 4 way of actually making these choices result in different stories for the links, or if it was a smart idea to just remove this concept entirely. On the one hand, it's cool to have variation like that but it is annoying to have to do multiple playthroughs if you want to see all the story content. On the other hand, I'm fine with meaningless choices being removed but there's definitely less flavor to it. This has been mentioned previously, but the framing for Fuuka's link is slightly different for the FemC, with Fuuka's cooking efforts being part of a bona fide club she made. It ultimately has very little bearing on the link as the script is still mostly the same, but you do get food items from this link to gift people on dates. It's a nice little gameplay variation and there's like one or two times it can be helpful.

Part 20 is out! For a change of pace (in the recording process anyway) Reload ended up being a pretty light load this time around with a lot of the more interesting and new stuff occurring in FES and Portable. The supplemental video to go with this one is going be pretty hefty this time. Disregarding that, this is a fairly breezy in game week with some very light though enigmatically compelling story progression. We also have several links that are on the cusp of maxing across all versions of the game, giving us both catharsis and some interesting fusion prospects once we return to Tartarus. Speaking of, next video will be a Tartarus excursion! Money is going to become increasingly less of an issue as we progress in the game, resulting in Tartarus excursions generally finding themselves relegated to the back end of moon cycles. It does not help the Rescue sidequests encourage tackling it this way as well.

Extra Notes

In FES

-Since it turns out I was ahead on Charm relative to what you need in FES, that is now Maxed we have almost complete freedom with our schedule in FES now. I'll still want to hit the quiz game every time it's available, but now there is ample time to fit in other things since the night time portion of FES is pretty low on things to do (It was even worse in Vanilla where the Arcade did nothing). We can now work in the Tower social link into evenings, which we can now participate in on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays with absolutely no opportunity cost since we can still study while doing that. The Tower social link develops quite slowly, even with a Tower Persona (which we're a ways off from having) but we have so much time to dedicate to it before the game is over that hardly matters. Likely it will max out around the end of August.

-I'm not sure the exact date this happened, but new gear is now available at the Police Station and Be Blue V. Kurosawa is just selling shit, as usual, but Be Blue V has a number of fantastic accessories added to the inventory now. The most worthwhile one is the Vitality Ring, which gives a tremendous 30% bonus to your HP. (Yes the Energy Ring that unlocked last month is already invalidated) This is a very appreciable durability boost for the MC, and Yukari also likes to have this if she's not gearing out for damage. Another interesting line of accessories now available are the Charm/Ward line, that convey the Dodge passives to a corresponding element. It'll be awhile before we can patch out weaknesses, so increasing the chance of dodging dangerous spells is the next best thing for now. I generally prefer fused weapons to get these abilities, but until we can both obtain the relevant Nihil weapons and decent Personae to create them, this is our only reliable option for it. A Wind Charm can be nice for Junpei, as there isn't really anything else he cares to have at the moment. The only other interesting accessory is the Magic Ring, which does the same as the Vitality Ring but for SP. Increasing SP isn't too helpful right now, but it might be a good idea to keep in mind once we start breaking into Tier 2 magic, which will happen very soon.

-Money is essentially a non-concern in FES now. While the compendium can drain it pretty quickly, we'll be getting tons of passive income from Tartarus exploration and the only offsetting drain now is the Quiz Game. Try to keep yourself around 20k just so you always have enough to play Quiz Game. This does mean we can start to play around with fusion a bit more and start making some solid Personae to turn the MC into the death machine he's destined to be.

In Portable

-Charm is maxed out here as well, and this has more interesting gameplay implications in Portable! Now, the FemC actually never needs to cap Charm, as Akihiko is the last social link that checks against it (Requiring Rank 4, if you forgot). One perk of the stat though is that it actually has a gameplay effect that isn't just clearing event flags, exclusively in Portable! Once you hit Rank 6 Charm, you now gain a bonus to social link points equal to that of having the relevant Arcana in your Persona stock, and this stacks with the Arcana bonus! Because the bonus is around a 51% increase rounded up in Portable, this can more than double the social link points you earn for answering correctly. Not only does this mean we don't have to be as mindful of our Persona stock going forward, it also means we can get enough points to get Rank Ups in situations where we normally wouldn't be able to. The only limitation to this bonus is that as far as I can tell, it doesn't apply to Relationship Fortunes. Social Linking will be a lot easier going forward in Portable!

-One nice thing about the modified Request rewards in this version of the game is that I've been able to mostly keep my equipment up to speed with the game's power curve. Between some additional joke weapons being added and some Requests giving out relatively strong armor, we're not too set back by the incredibly limited funds we've had to work with up to this point. Much like the other versions of the game, we'll be moving past that particular hurdle now since we're getting much more money from the average exploration while our passive income drain has become limited to bi-weekly quiz game sessions.

-Like the MC, the FemC can form romantic connections that don't really result in much new being added to the game, but unlike the MC she can actually choose to keep things platonic. I'm bringing this up now because Akihiko is an option for romance, but rather infamously the first flag to trigger this route in his social link is buried in an innocuous choice in his Rank 4 link that actually directs away from an answer that gives you social link points. I can only assume this was a deliberate means to troll Akihiko's fans, which I kind of respect.

In Reload

-Truth be told I actually don't have much to say here for once since not much really opens up to us this week, and the more interesting stuff is going to be happening in Tartarus now. Probably the most interesting things we have coming up in that regard is that we several high level links that can produce very strong Personae for us now (Chariot, Emperor, Justice and Hermit) so it's definitely a good idea to look out for those Arcana when performing fusions. The only other thing to mention is that we only really need to optimize our schedule for maxing out Charm in the near future. It's a long ways off before we need max Academics and it takes awhile to get there. I'm a little ahead on Academics, so if I see a good chance to work in a team night activity in the future, I'll probably take it.

Social Progress

In FES

Academics: +114 (Rank 3)
Courage: MAX
Charm: MAX

Priestess Social Link: Rank 3
Fortune Social Link: Rank 2
Justice Social Link: Rank 9

Charm has been maxed out well ahead of schedule, so we have a pretty good amount of freedom with our night time slot going forward. Academics will be growing pretty steadily, though between the high point requirement to max it and various other factors, it likely won't be until around August until we max it. With the time we have until the next exam, I should be able to secure enough points to place in the Top 10 for that, securing us a reward but we'll likely have to wait until the finals to get the #1 placement we need. Chihiro is just about ready to max out, the date with her on Sunday gave us the remaining social link points we needed for that and it'll be taken care ASAP next in-game week. For all the fans of Yuko out there, don't worry she'll be back in our social link schedule soon... just in time for Summer!

In Portable

Academics: +98 (Rank 3)
Courage: MAX
Charm: MAX

Priestess Social Link: Rank 3
Hermit Social Link: Rank 3
Temperance Social Link: Rank 4
Magician Social Link: Rank 9
Star Social Link: Rank 4


Things have been surprisingly tight and stressful in Portable, largely due to the much more limited time spent in Tartarus forcing me to play much more frugally. With Charm maxed though, we're pretty much over that hump and we'll be resolving all these problems with the next Tartarus trip. The social link bonus for Max charm means I don't need to stress which Personae I have on hand nearly as much, and the passive income drain of Quiz Game is greatly outpaced by the amount of money we're going to start bringing in. In particular, equipment really starts to take off in value at this stage of Portable. Draw those sword cards frequently and unload your treasure trove at Kurosawa first thing the next day! Junpei is close to maxing out, but otherwise most of our links are just mid-way in their progression.

In Reload

Academics: +108 (Rank 4)
Courage: MAX
Charm: +78 (Rank 5)

Emperor Social Link: Rank 9
Justice Social Link: Rank 6

As stated previously, we're going to be hyperfocusing Charm in the near future. We're getting close to the deadline for that, and we have a handful of days that the game is going eat up on us due to exams and story events. We're pretty close to maxing it though, so it's just going to take a couple weeks of the special Hagakure bowl and then we'll be golden. Hidetoshi is just about ready to max, giving us our second maxed out link already! We're doing good there, though it'll be a bit before we can enjoy the full benefits of it.

In Persona 3 (FES, Portable, and Reload), if you're aiming to maximize your social stats and complete all Social Links, there are key strategies to follow. This guide will focus on how to efficiently develop your stats and when to prioritize certain Social Links to avoid wasting valuable time.
Key Tips for Managing Social Links and Stats:
Youtuve Vanced
Start School Social Links as Soon as Possible: In Portable and Reload, always start Social Links in school the moment they become available, as these can sometimes conflict with out-of-school links. Exam weeks and holidays offer extra time to work on out-of-school links, so use those opportunities wisely.
Focus on In-School Links Over Out-of-School Links: Unless it's a holiday or exam week, always prioritize school-based Social Links to avoid unnecessary time wasted on out-of-school links. This is especially crucial in FES, where managing multiple female Social Links can lead to the Jealousy mechanic complicating things.

Social Stats and Key Deadlines:

To fully maximize your stats, you need to be mindful of rank requirements for Social Links and deadlines. The required ranks for Courage, Charm, and Academics are largely the same across all versions of the game, but there are some version-specific differences and methods for boosting stats.
Courage:

Required Ranks:
Tower (Rank 2)
Star (Rank 4)
Priestess (Rank 6)
Deadline: Max out by 7/25 for the Lovers Social Link.
Boosting Methods:
Movies (+4), Wild Duck Burger (+3), Edogawa’s Medicine (+2, doesn’t advance time), Karaoke (+2), and Horror House (+4, available in FES and Reload).

Charm:

Required Ranks:
Moon (Rank 2)
Devil (Rank 4)
Lovers (Rank 6)
Deadline: Max out by 7/25 for the Lovers link.
Boosting Methods:
Pop quizzes, High exam scores, Movies (+4), Hagakure Ramen (+3), Chagall Cafe coffee (+2), and Photo Sticker (+4 at the arcade).

Academics:

Required Ranks:
Temperance (Rank 2)
Sun (Rank 4)
Empress (Rank 6)
Deadline: Max out by 10/12 for the Empress Social Link.
Boosting Methods:
Lectures (+2), Studying at the Library (+2 or +4 if in Great condition), Studying at Home (+2 or +4), Wakatsu (+3), Naganaki Shrine Offering (+2 or +5), and Quiz Game (+4 at the arcade).
Note: The Empress Social Link requires you to top an exam, which is only possible with maxed Academics.

Version-Specific Changes and Strategies:

FES:
Arcade becomes a critical tool for boosting stats, particularly with the Horror House and Photo Sticker options.
Edogawa's Medicine helps shave days off your schedule by offering extra Courage boosts.
You’ll need to manage Jealousy in the FES version, particularly with female Social Links, as they can become romantic and jealous if you work on multiple at once.

Portable:
Social link ranks have been shuffled slightly. For example, Courage is tied to Priestess (Rank 2), Tower (Rank 4), and Justice (Rank 6).
Charm no longer requires a Rank 6 link, but it’s still beneficial to max it early.
New part-time jobs (like working at Chagall Cafe) can provide extra stat boosts.
The more relaxed timeline for FemC makes maxing stats easier, especially with extra free time for out-of-school links.

Reload:
Sleeping in class gives +2 Courage (a new feature in Reload).
Iwatodai Strip Mall provides new dining options that offer +4 stat boosts when unlocked.
The Study Sessions before exams provide +4 to +6 Academics.
Reduced exam requirements for high scores (Rank 2 for the first two exams) make it easier to achieve top marks while working on other stats.

Time Management and Stat Boosting:

Courage and Charm are generally easier to manage in Reload and Portable due to a more relaxed schedule and additional options like part-time jobs and the Iwatodai Strip Mall.
Academics is the most time-consuming stat to max out, but the added study options in Reload (like study sessions) and the arcade make this more manageable. In Vanilla, you can use Naganaki Shrine offerings to boost Academics without spending time, which is a major advantage.

Miscellaneous:

Incidental Boosts: There are some additional, random boosts that occur during the game, like the Summer School week that grants +18 Academics. These are helpful but don’t factor into your core schedule.
Social Link Management: Always have the right Persona equipped for the corresponding Social Link once it reaches Rank 2, and use the Relationship Fortune when necessary to avoid link reversals due to neglect or jealousy.

By following these guidelines, you can efficiently manage your time and max out all stats while completing every Social Link. Keep track of deadlines, use your free days wisely, and prioritize in-school links to avoid falling behind.

This version should be clearer and easier to follow for anyone looking to efficiently plan their stat-boosting and Social Link progression!

Supplemental: Fuuka Yamagishi Et All



"What an easy win!"

Just taking the time to preemptively state that Fuuka's original English voice is perfect for her, and the critics of it are just hating. With that out of the way, Fuuka is the new addition to SEES as of the third full moon operation, though she's not a proper party member per se. Instead, she takes over navigation duties for Mitsuru, a designation that in the original releases of Persona 3 and 4 were more relevant to the plot than the actual gameplay. Since Fuuka isn't really a full party member (though rest assured, we did get an actual combatant on her joining with Mitsuru rejoining the frontlines) we'll just cover what she can do across all versions in a single post. Starting out with,

In FES and Portable

There's a very thin difference between the PS2 and PSP versions for Fuuka in terms of her abilities, since she's not an actual fighter. As stated previously, Fuuka takes over on navigation for Mitsuru, becoming the party's new disembodied voice who offers insipid battle commentary and unhelpful directions. The key difference between Mitsuru and Fuuka in this role is that Fuuka gains EXP alongside the party and her abilities gradually upgrade. These upgrades are varying degrees of helpful or useless, and the easiest way to demonstrate this is to just lay them out bare.

Full Analysis: Fuuka starts with this ability, and it is a very small increase in information that you get for scanning enemies. Mitsuru's analysis only displayed the enemy's HP, SP and resistances. In addition to that, Fuuka's Full Analysis displays the enemy's skills as well. This might also be confirmation bias, but it certainly feels like Fuuka scans enemies faster than Mitsuru. When I'm bothering to keep track of it, Mitsuru usually takes full round of 4 party members taking turns to analyze enemies, while Fuuka usually does the same in 2-3 turns. If this is actually the case, I can't say for sure because Mitsuru has such a relatively brief time in this role. This ability isn't too helpful most of the time, but it can be nice to know what the enemy is about to fuck you up with if you take too long to kill them. Note that Fuuka cannot discern the information of Tartarus guardians for you, despite the game making several mentions of her superior scanning abilities in universe. She is able to give the skinny on Full Moon bosses at least.

Support Scan: Fuuka learns this at level 23 in Vanilla and FES only. It was removed in Portable with nothing to replace it. The reason for that is because this ability is merely a UI upgrade, displaying what buffs and debuffs the enemy has when you are selecting them for your attacks. Portable made this a standard UI feature from the beginning of the game, so this ability just vanished from Fuuka's skill list and is the sole difference she has in Portable. Anyway, it's a helpful way to know when buffs and debuffs are in effect if you're like me and have short term memory of 5 seconds, but it does not actually tell you how many turns are left before the effects expire. You have to keep track of that yourself, I'm afraid.

Third Eye: Learned at level 32. This is another UI upgrade, but a much more helpful one. Once you have scanned an enemy, Third Eye will change your targeting cursor when selecting an enemy if they nullify, absorb or reflect an attack. It's a nice little reminder if you haven't committed an enemy's weakness to memory and forgot to review the scanned information before going to attack. The one problem with this ability is that it only changes your cursor for nullification type defenses, it doesn't highlight if an enemy is merely resistant to something or if they are weak to it.

Healing Wave: Learned at level 41. This is a field ability that causes your party to recover 15% of their HP when traveling to a new floor. It's generally unwise to go around at low HP just on the off chance you let an enemy ambush slip through, but this is a nice little bit of passive healing to offset physical skill costs or to just top off your party.

Oracle: This isn't learned by leveling up, but is instead gained after a story event later in the game. It's not the most exciting reward though, because this skill is ass. Once Fuuka has learned Oracle, a new option will be added to your Tactics menu where you can command Fuuka to prepare and use the skill. After a few turns pass, Oracle will do one of the following,

1.) Fully Restore the party's HP
2.) Fully Restore the party's SP
3.) Fully Restore the party's HP and SP
4.) Cure all ailments
5.) LOWER THE PARTY'S HP AND SP TO 1

That's right, the skill has a 20% chance to backfire and actually just about kill your party. I would also like to point out that by the time you get it, it's not at all hard to have access to Medirahan to reliably fully heal your party or even just the Divine Grace skill that makes Mediarama almost as good as Mediarahan. So this skill only really has about a 40% chance of doing something useful most of the time, and it doesn't even come out instantly! Adding to the ridiculousness of this skill, you can also only use it once per day for no real reason. I get once per fight, but per day? Oracle can be fun to play Russian Roulette with (how fitting) but it is not at all something you should seriously consider as a tactical option for battle. It's also not the only random effect skill in this game, there's also a fusion spell with similar effects but more chances to screw your party over. I don't know what the devs obsession was with this kind of skill, I was so upset in Persona 4 Golden when Teddie's final upgrade turned out to be Kamui Miracle, an even worse version of Oracle. Fortunately, the story upgrade that yields this skill also unlocks the remaining skill Fuuka can learn which is way more helpful.

Escape Route: Learned at level 62 after a certain story event. Escape Route is a field skill that allows Fuuka to pull the party out of Tartarus on command, with no limits to it. It completely invalidates Traesto Gems and teleporters, and in Portable it allows you to explore Tartarus almost completely risk free due to Floor Jump being a thing. It's learned pretty late, but it makes end game exploration so much easier so it easily earns the designation of Fuuka's best skill.

And for one final thing Fuuka can do that isn't really a gameplay boon but is neat nonetheless, she has an additional option in the field menu where she can change the background music in Tartarus. Her music options are 4 random remixes of songs from previous Persona and SMT games. They're also only about 30 seconds to a minute in length and are somehow more droning and repetitive than the standard Tartarus music, so I rarely play them.

Now you're probably thinking "wow, this all sounds not very helpful". Atlus probably thought the same thing, as Fuuka was heavily retooled for Reload and given some actually helpful abilities to assist the party with.

In Reload



"Hear my prayers... let me help you all!"

In the intervening decade and a half since Portable released, the dev team for Persona got the novel idea that maybe it'd be cool if the navigator characters got abilities that were actually helpful to the player. Persona 4 Golden first flirted with this by... making Rise stupidly broken as she just randomly threw out buffs to the entire party every couple turns, knew every enemy's weaknesses instantly, and gave the protagonist a second copy of the Enduring Soul ability. This got reigned back a bit for Persona 5, but the general concepts they were going for with Golden Rise have stuck around and are now featured in a much more balanced form that's also fun to play around with in Reload. Let's start things out with the more interesting exclusive mechanics of Reload.

Fuuka has the Theurgy Oracle. Now that might sound like a dire thing to start with, but Oracle has been reworked to be a bona fide limit break that isn't complete dogshit. As turns pass in battle, Fuuka's Theurgy gauge slowly builds up, and naturally she can use Oracle once it is full. Fuuka gets a slight bonus to her Theurgy gauge when she fully scans an enemy, though this is much less pronounced than the Theurgy bonuses other characters get. Oracle takes about 25-30 turns to charge up, and once fully charged it can be used during anyone's turn without taking up an action. It's essentially an on demand One More! Oracle can do one of three things,

1.) Restore the party's HP and cure ailments
2.) Restore the party's SP
3.) Apply Tarukaja, Rakukaja and Sukukaja to the entire party

Note the lack of a negative effect in this list. It's also worth noting that Oracle does not decide what effect it applies at complete random and is actually influenced by the party's current status. If everyone is low on HP and suffering from ailments? Effect 1 will almost certainly trigger. Effect 2 has an increasing chance to occur the lower the party's SP becomes, with it almost certainly happening if the party is full on HP and 2 characters are completely spent on SP. If neither of those are the case, you'll get the extremely useful effect 3 to rev your party up. That's not all though! In the same story event that originally unlocked Oracle in older versions, Oracle in Reload will instead upgrade to become Revelation. Revelation is functionally the same as Oracle with two new effects,

4.) Cast Concentrate and Charge on the entire party
5.) Fully restore the party's HP, SP and revive any fallen party members

Effect 4 generally goes off if the party is in good condition, and they are fully buffed up with no buffs in line to expire. Sadly, the game can be a little arbitrary about that and it can be surprisingly difficult to rig this effect to happen. It's awesome when you do get it though. Effect 5 is essentially an emergency comeback effect. You will almost certainly see if fire off if your entire party is incapacitated save for the MC. A well timed Oracle/Revelation can heavily swing a fight in your favor! Past that, Fuuka also has the Characteristic Weakness Buffer. This passive effect is obtained from either attending all of Fuuka's Reading events or Gardening events, and it reduces the amount of damage a character suffers when their weakness is struck. If all of Fuuka's night time hangouts are attended, it will upgrade to Weakness Mitigator which is the same but stronger. The exact values are a 10% reduction for Buffer and a 15% reduction for Mitigator.

We've had a lot to say and haven't even gotten to Fuuka's skills yet! Luckily, she picked up some fantastic new tools here as well.

Full Analysis: Fuuka starts with this. Less a skill and more of a retooled version of the scanning system featured in the old versions of Persona 3. After a full round of combat has passed, you can order Fuuka to scan the enemy and unveil their weaknesses/resistances for the price of 35 of her SP. Note that while Fuuka does have stats in the old versions, they didn't actually affect anything. In Reload, Fuuka's SP does actually fuel a lot of her abilities, so it can be a good idea to hook her up with equipment that increases it. That aside, if a fight goes on for more than a turn you obviously want Fuuka to give you this information so you can always use the optimal actions for all future encounters. Also unlike the older versions, this actually does let Fuuka scan literally everything for their full capabilities, though most bosses hide their skill lists from you. As mentioned previously, using this ability also slightly fills Fuuka's Theurgy gauge, allowing her to prep Oracle faster.

Jamming: Fuuka starts with this. It's worth noting now that save for her Theurgy, Characteristic and Full Analysis, all of Fuuka's abilities are utilized in the field. Jamming costs 20 SP to use and lasts until you travel to a new floor or engage in combat. When in effect, Jamming prevents shadows from noticing you, though Rare Forms and the Reaper ignore it. Not terribly helpful, it's not that hard to run from enemies in this game if you really need to avoid conflict.

Sylphid Aura: Learned at level 26. Now this one is something special! Sylphid Aura costs 24 SP to use, and it provides Rakukaja and Sukukaja to the entire party for the next fight they get into. The most obvious use of this is applying it before a boss fight, giving you a tremendous advantage right out of the gate. This is a huge boon for a large chunk of the game, though it does fall off once you get access to the Auto-Party Buff passives later in the game. Until then though, this is a fantastic way to open battles and should always be used before tough fights.

Shock Noise: Learned at level 38. Costs 30 SP inflicts Distress on every enemy on the current floor, though again it doesn't impact Strong Shadows or Rare Forms. This is a cool idea for an ability but it's a bit too expensive to be practical. Very rarely do you need more than the advantage a pre-emptive strike already gives you, but I guess if you're really struggling with enemies in a new section of Tartarus, it's worth considering.

Escape Route: Learned at level 51. This is the same as it is in the PS2 and PSP versions, with the exceptions that it costs 24 of Fuuka's SP to use now and it's available much earlier without the need for the story event upgrade. It's relatively less useful in Reload since it's generally much easier to make your way to teleporters while avoiding conflict and there is an actual cost to it now, but it is a nice option if you need to egress out in a hurry.

Tartarus Search: Learned at level 64. Costs 50 SP to use and fully maps out a floor for you. This is actually a pretty useless ability for its intended effect. 50 SP is a lot, and in general floors in Reload are very short and easy to explore so the time save it gives you a lot of the time is minimal. That said, it does have a more helpful secondary use, but it's going to be awhile before we see the relevant mechanic for that at the time I'm writing this.

And that's a wrap. I actually really appreciate the expanded abilities Fuuka got in Reload, even if some of them are too gimmicky to be consistently useful. We'll be seeing Oracle and Sylphid Aura help out immensely going forward.

Another supplemental video to the pile! Over in FES, the dramatic climax of Chihiro's storyline takes place and now all that is left is for the MC to close in for the finisher. And then he'll never talk to her again. We also spend some quality time with Elizabeth in one of her more amusing scenes, spy on Junpei's personal life, and develop late night friendships with grouchy old men! Meanwhile, the FemC gets to hang out with Theodore who continues to establish himself as a goober, engage in some delightful club activities, and also get ripped off by the same sketch old guy the MC does!

Supplemental: Mitsuru Kirijo FES/Portable



"You'll fall by my hand!"

Level 99 Stats

ST: 55
MA: 85
EN: 52
AG: 61
LU: 51

Mitsuru resists Ice attacks and is weak to Fire.

Skills

Bufu, Mabufu, Dia and Marin Karin: Starts With
Bufula: Level 21
Diarama: Level 24
Spirit Drain: Level 27
Tentarafoo: Level 32
Mabufula: Level 42
Ice Boost: Level 45
Mind Charge: Level 50
Bufudyne: Level 55
Diarahan: Level 58*
Ice Break: Level 61*
Mabufudyne: Level 71*
Ice Amp: Level 76*

*Skills marked with an asterisk are ones only obtainable after an in-story upgrade.

The SEES Ice Queen herself has joined the frontlines! Mitsuru is pretty alright for most of the game honestly. You may have heard legends of her insistence on using Marin Karin over something more useful, but really that'll cease to be an issue entirely by the next Full Moon when we unlock the Full Assault tactic that just flatly shuts that skill off. Even without that, the Knock Down tactic also shuts that skill off, so there are ways to work around it. With that out of the way, Mitsuru is probably the biggest one-trick pony in the entire game. She slams the enemy with high powered Ice magic, and that is all she does. While she has a couple of useless support skills like Tentarafoo and Spirit Drain (only drains around 16-20 SP from the enemy, absolute trash) and the single target healing nearly everyone in the game gets, Ice magic is the reason you're bringing Mitsuru. She breaks into higher tiered magic sooner than anyone else, she picks up the ability to invalidate ice resistances to make sure she isn't walled out, and she learns the relevant passive boosts to make her damage even more impressive. While Yukari does have a superior MA stat, Mitsuru's access to passive boosts without needing accessories means that she hits much harder than Yukari ever will. Mitsuru also possesses much higher HP than Yukari, meaning in spite of her slightly lower EN Mitsuru is far more durable than Yukari at basically any stage of the game. Really, Mitsuru's level cap stats really paint a misleading picture on how she is throughout the game. Her MA always has an edge, but her path through the game sees her with relatively balanced stats across the board and actually remarkably decent ST. She can put in some work with a good 1-handed sword, so despite being fairly singular in her intended usage, it's not like she'll often find herself completely useless either. That said, Mitsuru does falter in the fact that while she is a potent damage dealer, other characters are only slightly behind her in raw numbers and they often bring way more to the team dynamic in exchange. Hell, even Yukari has a huge leg up with her healing magic, which is definitely much more helpful than Mitsuru smacking things upside the head when she can't freeze them. Mitsuru can be a fun character to use and she's far from bad, but I do consider her to be the "top of the low-tiers" when rating her against other party members.

In FES

I've already covered the misconception regarding Marin Karin and Tentarafoo, but there is one really obnoxious skill in Mitsuru's kit that unfortunately she does like to uselessly fire off even when in Full Assault. Mind Charge. This skill is ass in FES and Portable. For some reason, I guess because it technically yields more damage on a single hit, Full Assault does not shut off Mind Charge. And the AI is absolutely horrible with deciding when to use it, eagerly seizing the opportunity to waste 15 SP. I've had Mitsuru Mind Charge against enemies she could finish off with a sword strike for crying out loud! Even if she had any intelligence with how to use the skill , it'd be for naught as Mind Charge only flatly doubles the damage of the next attack, which means it's useless over just attacking twice. Often worse than that actually due to variance in damage rolls. I'll go more in on Mind Charge and Power Charge later when the MC can access them, but know that in FES there is only one fight where these skills are helpful and two fights in Portable. Thankfully, there is a tactic that shuts off Mind Charge, but it has the annoying drawback of also disabling multi-targeting skills. Such is life. Regardless, when geared for damage, Mitsuru does quite well in this game. For a not insignificant chunk of the game, she'll easily be the best damage dealer after the Protagonist, and that definitely has value when the MC/FemC need to flex onto a supporting role. Still, as mentioned previously other characters aren't that far behind her and often have more flexibility when their primary function fails them. In particular, Special Fused Weapons tend to invalidate the need for Mitsuru as those lay out far more damage than she can ever hope to do. Sabazios in particular makes Akihko a way stronger Ice attacker than Mitsuru can dream of being, but even just generally speaking Junpei with Laevateinn and the Agni Bracers will punch well above a Mitsuru Bufudyne. Still, it'll be awhile before we reach that stage so Mitsuru has her time in the sun. She just melts before long.

In Portable

You don't have to worry about her using the ailment skills in her kit or wasting SP on Mind Charge, but otherwise Mitsuru is probably the least affected by the mechanics shake ups in Portable. She's still just laying out Ice magic, all day every day. She at least get some small boons in new Fusion weapons exclusive to her, but that's so late in the game it's hardly worth considering.

In Reload

This will probably be the last FES/Portable entry where I have this sub-section as we've hit the point where I can write up for the unique mechanics regarding party members in Reload going forward. Since I haven't gotten to that though, know that of the characters in Reload, Mitsuru is probably the closest in overall game design to her FES/Portable incarnation. She's still all about the big Ice damage, but her status ailment skills have seen both a bump in usefulness and given secondary reasons to use them, and she's swapped out her single-target healing for the much more useful Rakunda/Marakunda. Additionally, Theurgy gives her the ability to really pop off with the big numbers when it comes to Ice damage, and she doesn't need Ice Break for it on top of that! Mitsuru's actually really fun to use in Reload, even if I still think she falls short of what other party members are capable of.

Part 21 is out! After a lengthy break from it (save for a brief tutorial on Theurgy in Reload) we're finally back at it. This is the point of the game where general exploration becomes a lot easier as not only do we have access to much stronger options and more plentiful restoratives for our SP, we can now dedicate any money that we get to gearing up and tuning our team for the coming battles. As an opposing reaction though, bosses will generally become much trickier, and the Strong Shadows featured in Reload should always be taken on with caution. Still, this first excursion out isn't too bad, and the bosses featured definitely lowball the challenge.

Extra Notes

In FES

-This is the point of the game where when you have some free time (both in and out of Universe), you should definitely look into hunting Rare Forms to gather up every variety of Nihil weapon in the game. Thankfully, all Rare Forms, regardless of where you find them, can drop Nihil weapons, so the easiest way to do this is to just explore an older block of Tartarus you've grown past. Usually by the time you're exploring a new leg of Tartarus, you should be able to create a Persona that is high enough level to scare off every enemy in the previous leg. This makes for a good way to gather money and treasure in addition to searching down Rare Forms.

-This applies to all versions of the game, but Yukari will be mandatory for the next Full Moon boss. Be sure to bring her along, as the game doesn't have leaked experience and nothing sucks more than having to bring a much weaker character to a big boss battle. Thankfully, this is the last time the game does outright character select forcing, but there are a couple instances where some of your preferred characters may be MIA for a fight, so it's a good idea to train up someone outside your A-Team every now and again.

-Take note of anything that can drop Turquoise. That can be traded for Protection Sutras, which are an amazingly helpful item for this stage of the game. It'll be a bit before we gain proper access to multi-targeting defense buffs, and Tarunda alone isn't always enough to halt near party wipe damage.

-I play the Golden Beetle fight pretty safe here, but as shown if you enter the fight with most of the party having Auto-Tarukaja, you can just knock them all down with a Mazio and end the fight immediately with an All Out Attack.

In Portable

-I make a pretty big blunder in this version and enter Tartarus without buying any new supplies or trading for any helpful items. I was able to wing it in the full recording, but always be sure to catch yourself and make sure you're fully prepared before entering Tartarus. This version plays very fast in comparison to FES and even Reload, so it's surprisingly easy to make a simple mistake like that.

-Rescuing people is very simple. Elizabeth/Theo gives you a rough estimate of where someone is, you find them on one of the mentioned floors, and then Fuuka will ferry you and the lost individual out of Tartarus (even though she doesn't learn that ability until 50 levels later but whatever). Since Floor Jump is a thing in this version, you don't really lose any progress by hauling people out unless you had to explore the entire floor to find them. Thankfully, they usually spawn in pretty close to where you enter.

-The Golden Beetles are one of the few instances I've noticed a boss being slightly tuned up to make them more of a threat in Portable. They have more than double the health in this version of the game, likely to prevent the chance for an immediate victory like FES had. It doesn't affect the fight too much, though do note the slight annoyance in that we can't see the whole turn order so it can make the proceedings a little precarious after they get their Tarukajas up.

In Reload

-We now get to properly play around with Theurgy! Theurgy as a whole has several slow but conventional ways it builds for each character. Whenever somebody has their turn come up or they get Shifted to, they gain a small bit on their Theurgy gauge. Characters also gain a slight amount on their gauge when they hit a weakness, which can be procced multiple times a turn through One More! Beyond that, each character has a unique condition that gives them a much larger boost to their Theurgy gauge when they fulfill it. In order, Yukari gains gauge when she heals someone, Junpei gains gauge when he lands a critical hit, Akhiko gains gauge when he starts his turn with a buff in effect (and I believe he also gains some on his gauge when he receives a buff) and Mitsuru gains gauge when she lands an ailment on an enemy OR debuffs them with Rakunda (which her description doesn't directly state) and Fuuka's charges a bit when she uses Full Analysis on something. Not all of these conditions are created equal in how much gauge they provide. Yukari generates way more Theurgy gauge via casting Media, for instance, while Akihiko builds up much more slow and steady with his buff condition. The obvious benefit in contrast though is that Akihiko can always have his condition fulfilled without having to sacrifice his turn, while Yukari needs at least one person to not be at full health and must use up her turn for healing instead of attacking. Gauge charge is retained between battles, and you can stock your Theurgy to use in a situation you feel is ideal. Naturally this is often a great way to gain a huge advantage at the start of fights with bosses or Strong Shadows, but it can also help with defeating Rare Forms or even just as a panic button. In particular, multi-targeting Theurgies like Akihiko's or the Protagonist's Jack Brothers are a great way to regain control of fights that might be looking a little rough. The only way you can lose Theurgy gauge is by being KO'd, which halves your gauge. Ailments also prevent you from using Theurgy or gaining Gauge. Oh and speaking of Jack Brothers!

-By simply having fused Jack Frost and Jack 'o Lantern, we gain access to the Protagonist's second Theurgy, Jack Brothers! Theurgy fills in for Fusion Spells in Reload, and it's a much more consistently useful system in this game. Jack Brothers is much better than the crappy joke skill it was originally, in addition to having a higher chance of the Knock Down going through it also deals some pretty solid Almighty damage. It's far from the best damaging Theurgy the protagonist gets, but it will be awhile before we get another one, and there are actually some ways to further augment Almighty damage in this game. You do not need to have either of the Jack Brothers (the characters) in your stock to use it, simply having the relevant Personae in your compendium is enough for using Fusion Spells in this game. That means, fuse, fuse, fuse to unlock more fusion spells! There's several other fringe perks of filling the compendium in this version we haven't had a chance to see yet, so all the more reason to do so.

-One last thing to note about Theurgy is that offensive Theurgies have a completely unique formula for determining the damage they deal. Theurgy attacks use both a character's ST and MA in equal measure to determine damage, meaning that elemental Theurgies can benefit from boosting ST and the same applies to physical type Theurgies with MA. This means it's not actually worthless to increase MA on physical characters or to boost ST on caster characters. Akihiko in particular does well with his Theurgy since he has ST and MA in equal measure, allowing him to hit pretty close to Junpei, Yukari and Mitsuru despite his Theurgy having a lower damage modifier to compensate for it being AOE.

-Always throw up a Rarity fortune before entering Tartarus. It's easily the most helpful fortune in the game. I ran into 5 Rare Forms over the course of my Tartarus trip, more than making back the money I spent and giving several big EXP payouts! The coins Rare Forms give out increase greatly in value as the game goes on, so the static price of this Fortune becomes an absolute steal later on.

-Like FES and Portable, there is no leaked experience in this game (at least, not for party members). That said, a mechanic will be introduced later that does function as very silly alternative to it, so don't feel obligated to go out of your way to train up everyone evenly.

-As mentioned in her character bio, Fuuka's Theurgy weights itself towards the party's needs when deciding what effect it will use. This gives us a great new method of recovering our SP as the chance of it doing so rises greatly as the party's average SP total decreases, though unfortunately I had pretty bad luck with it this expedition.

-The boss this time around was nothing to write home about, and is a good cold run for how much Theurgy can speed up fights for you. We've also kind of hit the point where All Out Attacks really start to suck against anything that isn't a trash mob. Using your Theurgy on a downed enemy will always yield considerably more damage than an All Out Attack, to say nothing of having your entire party unload them.

-One last Theurgy thing, all Theurgies pierce resistances, so there's never going to be a situation you can't hit big damage with them!