I wanted to write a post to compliment my P5 persona builds but even though ATLUS finally lifted their concave-brain livestreaming restrictions to “commemorate” the re-release of P5R, the idiots at SEGA didn’t bother to release a patch to remove spoiler prevention on console so I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get these screenshots.
I wrote this up anyway for what it’s worth, but if you were wondering why some images are missing or don’t show awakened personas then now you know. I got my hands on a capture card so you get the full package now, enjoy.
Notes
Real quick, some generic notes that apply to all characters.
- Every character gets an evade skill corresponding to their weak element. It’s not the greatest but it’s better than nothing so I won’t touch on it each time.
- Sword and Gun attack values are not that important because they only affect that specific attack type and do not impact persona damage.
- Status ailments effects (i.e. High Burn, Medium Dizzy) on weapons also only apply on the respective attack type corresponding to the weapon with that effect.
- Armor defense values on the other hand are important because they affect the damage you take from enemy attacks regardless of what persona you have active.
- Defensive effects on armor (i.e. Reduced Physical Damage) apply when receiving damage under normal circumstances, irrespective of persona status.
- Stat bonuses from equipment are useless in theory as you can max out Joker’s stats via fusion and every other character’s via Jazz Club. In practice, nobody is playing NG++++++++ for this so we still want them.
Party Member Builds
Joker
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Paradise Lost R: High Curse Damage Reduction (itemize Satanael during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Nataraja EX: +6 All Stats (itemize Metatron during fusion alarm)
- Tyrant Pistol EX: +15 Ma (itemize Lucifer during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Tantric Oath R: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Satan during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Ring of Envy: Masukunda, Auto-Concentrate (Casino Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Gluttony: Marakukaja, Auto-Tetrakarn, Auto-Makarakarn (Bank Palace Will Seed accessory)
Ironically Joker is one of the more difficult characters to build for. It is due to lack of options, but for all the wrong reasons. Stat-boosting items are not really necessary on him as you can easily max out the stats on all of his demons without consuming in-game time. Skill accessories are also not really that useful since you can get whatever skills you want on any persona thanks to the guillotine, gallows, and electric chair. In this sense equipment for Joker probably matters the least of all characters, provided you’re building all of your demons correctly.
Still, we need to put something on him, so we may as well work with what we’ve got. Satanael’s dagger is best-in-slot as its passive is generically useful. Satan’s armor is used for the same reason. For guns, both Lucifer’s and Metatron’s are fine so just use either or both as the diminishing returns will hit either way once your persona stats start capping. Alternatively buy something that can be customized with status ailments if you don’t need gunshots to do damage for your comp.
I’d say accessories are a bit more interesting, but they aren’t really. Ring of Envy is useful in saving one action of setup, but it’s rather minor if you’re running Ann or someone with Ring of Greed. If you’re not using magic (i.e. phys, support, ailments) then Ring of Gluttony is another small QoL option. St. Hermelin Badge gets an honorary mention, but to make the most of it you would need to lock yourself into this accessory and build all of your demons around it, which I’m not that enthusiastic about.
Ryuji
| Trait: Eccentric Temper | |
|---|---|
| God’s Hand | Maziodyne |
| Agneyastra | Evade Wind |
| Charge | Arms Master |
| Fighting Spirit | Shock Boost |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Imprisoned Mjolnir: Elec Boost (itemize Thor during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Megido Buster: High Burn (itemize Shiva during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Tantric Oath R: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Satan during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Spiral Heal Charm: Mediarahan (itemize Maria)
- Salvation Crown: Salvation (Tanaka’s Shady Commodities Chaos Rank)
- Black Moon R: Apt Pupil, +8 St (itemize Tsukiyomi during fusion alarm)
Late-game, Ryuji is primarily a tanky support unit that provides Charge to the entire party via Fighting Spirit. His trait also passively buffs the physical attacks of everyone on the team, making it very obvious what kind of team comp you want to be using him in. His own damage is nothing to scoff at either, as he learns the high-tier phys skills in God’s Hand and Agnevastra.
In addition he also gets Maziodyne and Shock Boost, allowing him to threaten shock when the situation permits. We can drop the Elec Boost that he learns naturally, as his weapon gives this passively (and his magic damage is pretty meagre anyway). This lets us free up a skill slot for Arms Master from the Jazz Club, which is always very welcome to have on physical attackers.
For accessories, you have a few options. I’ll often bring a healing accessory on him depending on the team build, leaning more into the supporting role. It’s pretty handy on a phys-focused team as all of the skills cost HP. However when this isn’t necessary, you could go for Black Moon R which gives Apt Pupil and a strength boost; great for squeezing a bit more damage out of him on the turns he’s not casting Fighting Spirit.
Morgana
| Trait: Majestic Presence | |
|---|---|
| Magarudyne | Miracle Rush |
| Debilitate | Evade Elec |
| Mediarahan | Wind Boost |
| Salvation | Wind Amp |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Claiomh Solais R: +50 SP (itemize Mother Harlot during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Sudarshana EX: High Dizzy (itemize Vishnu during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Frost Ace Hood: +40 SP (itemize Jack Frost during fusion alarm)
- Dragon Scale Scarf: High Phys Damage Reduction (wash armor dropped by Fafnir in final palace)
Accessories:
- Black Headband R: Mana Surge, +8 St (itemize Magatsu-Izanagi during fusion alarm)
- Ring of Greed: Concentrate, Attack Master (Spaceport Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Pride: Charge, Defense Master (Cruiser Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Rosary of Purity: Holy Benevolence (itemize Maria during fusion alarm)
Morgana is unsurprisingly the worst unit in the game. He starts off by letting you hit wind weaknesses in the first couple of palaces, before quickly being relegated to an off-screen healer by the time your 5th unit becomes available because he’s made of paper and hits like a wet noodle. Once you get an SP adhesive then he’s pretty much entirely useless. His trait is also made redundant by Mediarahan, which he (and Makoto) learn naturally, clearly showing how much ATLUS likes him too.
The one thing he’s good at is healing, but the problem is a dedicated healer is not really needed in this game. It doesn’t cost us anything to build him though, so I’ve gone with the above. Often times Salvation doesn’t help more than Mediarahan, so we keep both to conserve SP. I’ve also dropped Samarecarm for Debiliate from Jazz Club as I’ve never needed a revive in 200+ hours of gameplay, but if you really want it then Rosary of Purity is just a better version.
I mainly use SP-boosting gear on him to give him more out-of-combat heals during palaces, but pick defensive gear if you’re actually using him in battle. For battle accessories, Ring of Greed / Pride are decent options to bring along to give him a bit more usefulness, as this will boost your overall damage output more than simply attacking with him. I’ve kept Magarudyne and Miracle Punch more for coverage, so don’t be relying on them for damage.
Ann
| Trait: Pinnacle of Magic | |
|---|---|
| Agidyne | Spell Master |
| Blazing Hell | Evade Ice |
| Concentrate | Fire Boost |
| High Energy | Fire Amp |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Dainaraka Whip: High Freeze (itemize Black Frost during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Gungnir: Med Despair (itemize Vishnu during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Lovely Witch’s Robe: +8 Ma (wash armor dropped by Scathach during final palace)
- Sirius Armor EX: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Messiah during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Shiny Belt R: Invigorate 3, +3 All Stats (itemize Izanagi-no-Okami during fusion alarm)
Ann is basically the magic version of Ryuji and fills much the same role. Her primary job towards the end of the game is to spam Concentrate for everyone via High Energy, and we’ve given her Spell Master from Jazz Club and an Invigorate 3 accessory to make sure she can do this as much as possible. Her trait also works nicely with this.
She also does pretty solid damage with her fire spells, so we keep the boosting passives and run Lovely Witch’s Robe for that extra magic stat (assuming you haven’t maxed her out in Jazz club). Sirius Armor EX is another option here, but neither are so impactful that they’ll change break points in any meaningful way, so just use what you prefer or have access to.
During the course of leveling her up, she also learns a number of sleep ailments and healing spells. These are relatively useful (and worth keeping) during a playthrough but are overshadowed by High Energy once it becomes available. By end-game, ailments should be left mainly to Joker as he can buff the success rate to 100%, and healing should be managed via accessories.
Yusuke
| Trait: Unparalleled Eyes | |
|---|---|
| Brave Blade | Mabufudyne |
| Vorpal Blade | Evade Fire |
| Charge | Arms Master |
| Hyakka Ryouran | Ali Dance |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Usumidori R: High Fear (itemize Yoshitsune during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Providence: +13 Ag (itemize Uriel during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Tantric Oath R: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Satan during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Black Moon R: Apt Pupil, +8 St (itemize Tsukiyomi during fusion alarm)
If you like glass cannons then you’ll probably like Yusuke. He’s a strong physical attacker and his “theme” focuses more on evading enemy attacks rather than tanking them (as evidenced by his stats and trait), probably in attempt to distinguish him from Ryuji. He learns the strongest single and multi-target physical attacks in the game, and also has ice spells to catch cheeky freezes which can remove phys resistances.
His biggest shortcoming is his frailty. However we can remedy this (or compensate, depending on your worldview) to some degree via Jazz Club. Yusuke gets the most benefit from—and hence is also the most reliant on—Jazz Club skills of all the party members. Arms Master and Ali Dance are big increases to his survivability, and Charge lets him compete with Ryuji for damage without needing to rely on Fighting Spirit or Ring of Pride.
Yusuke also learns Hyakka Ryouran in the third semester, which is Luster Candy for weebs. It’ll only last 3 turns rather than the 5 you’ll get when casting Neo Cadenza with Joker’s Orpheus F, but this won’t matter unless the battle lasts longer than 8 turns (5 from auto-buffs), and I’d rather use Joker’s turn to punch something and leave the rebuffing to Yusuke.
Makoto
| Trait: Gaia Blessing | |
|---|---|
| Freidyne | Spell Master |
| Mafreidyne | Evade Psy |
| Debilitate | Nuke Boost |
| Checkmate | Nuke Amp |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Gordios: High Critical Rate Up (itemize Cybele during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Judge End: +13 All Stats (itemize Michael during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Sirius Armor EX: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Messiah during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Ring of Greed: Concentrate, Attack Master (Spaceport Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Pride: Charge, Defense Master (Cruiser Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Spiral Heal Charm: Mediarahan (itemize Maria)
- Salvation Crown: Salvation (Tanaka’s Shady Commodities Chaos Rank)
Makoto is probably the most versatile unit you’ll get in your party. She naturally learns debuffs, heals, ailments, and nuke damage; although it would’ve been cool if they made her a Zio user to give Satou Rina some continuity. Makajam is solid throughout the story, but similarly to Ann, we need to make some sacrifices by the end of the game as we only have 8 skill slots to use.
Ultimately I landed on using her primarily for Debilitate (Jazz Club) and Checkmate. I’ve also kept her nuke skills to hit technicals, though note that Atomic Flare is a massive bait as the damage increase is trivial and the SP cost makes spamming it completely unsustainable. If she got a multi-target severe like Ann then it’d be worth keeping, but alas.
Most people keep Mediarahan on her as well, but I’ve thrown on Spell Master (also Jazz Club) for her instead since, as I’ve said a bunch of times already, you can just put a healing accessory on whoever wears it best in your team. A lot of times this might be Makoto, which is fine because she’ll benefit from the Spell Master effect on that too. And if you don’t need heals, then throw on a Concentrate or Charge accessory instead. Flexibility.
Haru
| Trait: Cool Customer | |
|---|---|
| Mapsiodyne | Psy Boost |
| One-shot Kill | Psy Amp |
| Life Wall | Gun Boost |
| Evade Nuke | Gun Amp |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Fleurs du Mal R: High Dizzy, +6 Ma (itemize Beelzebub during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Yagrush EX: High Shock (itemize Baal during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Sirius Armor EX: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Messiah during fusion alarm)
- Lovely Witch’s Robe: +8 Ma (wash armor dropped by Scathach during final palace)
Accessories:
- Magic Misanga: Spell Master (Full Moon challenge battle reward)
- Black Moon R: Apt Pupil, +8 St (itemize Tsukiyomi during fusion alarm)
Haru breaks the character mold we’ve seen up ‘til now by bringing two distinct types of damage and not compromising on either (compared to Ryuji, Yusuke, and Makoto who clearly have a “primary” attacking style despite learning multiple). Technicals are extremely strong in P5R, and psy can hit technicals off all mental status ailments, which makes her an excellent unit for almost all teams. She’s also got a passive-boosted One-shot Kill to hit technicals off physical status ailments, or just to crit in general.
Her third semester skill is Life Wall, which isn’t entirely necessary but is nice to have. Since her skill slots are fairly limited, I find this option gives more utility compared to keeping the single-target Psiodyne for marginal SP savings, as the damage is the same as the multi-target version.
One drawback of being a dual-wielder is that her equipment choice becomes a bit more difficult. To some degree you have to choose depending on what you’re facing, but I find Magic Misanga more effective as it makes Life Wall less cumbersome too. However if you really need crits (for when you’re fighting Lavenza, for example) then Black Moon R is also a fine accessory for Haru.
Kasumi
| Trait: Veil of Sunrise | |
|---|---|
| Masquerade | Bless Amp |
| Vorpal Blade | Evade Curse |
| Brave Step | Apt Pupil |
| Makougaon | Ali Dance |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Sword of Sinai II: High Dizzy (itemize Sandalphon during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Sahasrara EX: +6 All Stats (itemize Ardha during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Sirius Armor EX: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Messiah during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Bravery Sash: Arms Master (Foggy Day challenge battle reward)
Kasumi is a glass cannon in the same vein as Yusuke, and while she’s not definitively better, she’s not quite a sidegrade either. Maybe more of a diagonal upgrade? She has better damage on her physicals and respectable bless damage, while Yusuke only really has his ice skills to freeze. However Yusuke gets Luster Candy whereas Kasumi only gets a crit buff. This is still useful depending on what you’re doing, but Hyakka Ryouran is probably better across the board. Kasumi is also a bit squishier.
Regardless, there isn’t much room for creativity because she only learns 3 skills beyond the innate ones due to how late she joins your party. In fact, it would be easier to talk about the skills that we drop rather than keep. Kougaon is lower priority because she’s primarily a physical attacker anyway, so we can just keep the multi-target spell. Diarahan is also not needed as Mediarahan is accessible to everyone via Maria’s accessory. Lastly, Sword Dance is gone because Masquerade is just a better version of it.
What you’re left with is a strong (& fast) physical attacker that brings some support elements in the form of crit buffs and damage reduction (trait), as well as some flexibility on offense with decent bless damage. A minor optimization would be to learn Arms Master via Jazz Club and use Black Moon R instead for Apt Pupil with a bonus +6 strength, but this would require a 3rd playthrough to get it after Yusuke and Ryuji and is only a marginal improvement.
Akechi
| Trait: Ingenious Spirit | |
|---|---|
| Rebellion Blade | Debilitate |
| Laevateinn | Evade Bless |
| Riot Gun | Fortify Spirit |
| Eigaon | Ali Dance |
Equipment ▶
Melee:
- Hinokagutsuchi II: High Burn (itemize Futsunushi during fusion alarm)
Ranged:
- Ancient Day: +6 All Stats (itemize Vohu manah during fusion alarm)
Armor:
- Tantric Oath R: High Magic Damage Reduction (itemize Satan during fusion alarm)
Accessories:
- Ring of Greed: Concentrate, Attack Master (Spaceport Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Pride: Charge, Defense Master (Cruiser Palace Will Seed accessory)
- Spiral Heal Charm: Mediarahan (itemize Maria)
- Salvation Crown: Salvation (Tanaka’s Shady Commodities Chaos Rank)
Akechi is even worse than Kasumi when it comes to build variation because there is literally none. He only learns a single new skill, and has a very obviously redundant innate skill: Attack Master. I’ve also replaced Megidolaon with Ali Dance from the Jazz Club as I find its damage too pitiful to be useful, but this is just a luxury—definitely prioritize Yusuke for this if he doesn’t have it yet. This alludes to one of his glaring issues.
Akechi suffers from jack-of-all-trades disease unlike Haru, as he has four different types of attacks and passive boosts for none of them. At a glance this appears to be a specialist / generalist trade-off (which isn’t entirely incorrect), but due to the relative lack of phys and gun (and almighty) weaknesses in the game, he’s not as versatile an attacker as he might first seem.
His redeeming qualities are his early access to Debilitate and the SP reduction from his trait, which is more significant than you might think. Due to this, he’s pretty well-suited to be played instead of, or alongside Makoto as a support unit. You’d choose him when SP is scarce, Nuke doesn’t work, or you just want more access to Debilitate with more accessory skills for buffs or healing.
Futaba
| Trait: Infinite Scheme | |
|---|---|
| Subrecover HP EX | Treasure Skimmer |
| Subrecover SP EX | Ultimate Support |
| Support Plus 3 | Analysis |
| Support Rate Up |
Equipment ▶
Armor:
- Lovely Witch’s Robe: +8 Ma (wash armor dropped by Scathach during final palace)
Accessories:
- S.E.E.S. Armband: +15% Money (Persona 3 DLC)
- Expedite Ring: +50% EXP (Caroline & Justine challenge battle attempt reward)
You thought we were done but everyone forgets about Futaba. Understandably so though because she’s pretty unremarkable as a unit. Just make sure to visit Jazz Club with her on Sunday at least four times so that she can learn Support Plus 3 (Debilitate) and Support Rate Up to increase Moral Support’s activation rate.
As far as equipment goes, she doesn’t even have any swords or guns. I’ve used a Lovely Witch’s Robe for her armor slot since I had spares, but this doesn’t do anything so wear whatever you want. In fact, the official strategy guide (as in, published by ATLUS), confirms that only skills that increase money and EXP gain have any effect on Futaba. So if you’ve built her for luck because you believed GameFAQs rumors that it’d increase her skill activation rate then you might want to check under the truck for Mew while you’re at it.
Team Comp Examples
General Purpose
You should really be selecting team members based on the content that you’re facing, but frankly this isn’t that necessary due to how easy the game is. If you’re too lazy to optimize, this is a good general-purpose team comp that dishes out damage with minimal setup, and is also very effective for the Lavenza boss fight.
Makoto deals respectable nuke damage and brings supporting capabilities with Debilitate and Mediarahan/Salvation (via accessories). Haru is versatile, letting you hit psy techs if you engage with Kasumi’s hook, and crit with guns. This synergizes with Kasumi who buffs crit rate along with bringing her own phys crit skills, as well as decent bless damage. Makoto’s trait does go largely unutilized, but Haru’s and Kasumi’s are generically useful albeit not very flashy.
Since this comp is fairly well-rounded, Joker can use whatever persona the situation calls for. Magical and physical damage are both fine, or you could shift the buffing/debuffing responsibility over from Makoto and let the team clean up. You could even bring ailments and the crew would absolutely go to town.
Magic
This is a magic-focused team more for boss battles and tougher enemies. Between Spell Master and Ann’s / Akechi’s trait, you can be very liberal with Checkmate and High Energy and throw out big nuke, fire, almighty, and curse attacks one after another without needing to worry about your SP.
Ann’s main job is to make sure everyone always has concentrate, and Makoto and Akechi provide debilitate. You’ll probably want Mediarahan on one of them, too. Once everyone’s buffed and debuffed then you can just keep sending magic attacks until you need to redo your setup.
Joker can use pretty much any magic-attacking persona here as there’s no element requirement for finicky technicals. Just pick the persona that hits big or hits the weakness of the enemy and join in on the Concentrate party. It’s a surprisingly effective strategy considering how little thinking is required.
Technical
This party focuses on maximizing damage via technicals off physical ailments. Ryuji and Yusuke apply shock and freeze respectively, and Makoto’s trait buffs the success rate of this. She also has additional synergy with her nuke attacks, which can hit technical off those ailments. Not to mention Ryuji and Yusuke are already hitting massive physicals off their own ailments, buffed by Ryuji’s trait and Fighting Spirit / Hyakka Ryouran / Checkmate. Everything comes together really nicely with this setup.
More shocks and freezes is a bit excessive, so Joker should use a physical persona here to benefit from Fighting Spirit and Eccentric Temper, though a nuke attacker will also work fine. If you really want to go all-in on this build then give Joker’s demon Universal Law as well. However Undying Fury is not that much weaker here and will work in way more situations so I wouldn’t recommend it.
The biggest weakness of this team is resistance. Phys resistances can be overcome by freezing enemies, though this isn’t ideal. Most bosses and late-game enemies also won’t be affected by shock and freeze, so its usage is somewhat limited. On the upside, you can get this party rolling fairly early on into the game as the lower-tier elec / ice spells work fine and everyone joins the party relatively quickly. It’s a solid comp that will keep you sorted well through the mid-game, especially as technical damage is buffed on challenge difficulty.
Physical
If you’re a betting man, or a lazy man, then this team comp might be of interest. It’s a pure physical build that buffs up with Ryuji’s trait, Fighting Spirit, Brave Step, and Debilitate and presses any button that costs HP. Makoto’s trait isn’t necessary here so I’ve gone for Akechi instead as his trait helps with the buff / debuff upkeep and he also has a great physical attack.
Spamming physical skills will consume a lot of HP, so make sure you put a healing accessory on Akechi for longer fights. Otherwise, the back-pocket Morgana should keep you topped up. This party isn’t as easily crippled by physical resistances as before either, since Kasumi and Akechi’s magic damage is good enough to tide you over if you occasionally run into something annoying.
Joker will also want to use a physical offensive persona here to make the most of the team buffs. As we’re not gunning for anything fancy with technicals, weaknesses, or ailments, our standard general-purpose phys attacker will work just fine.