Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
"Persona Evaluation Guide"
Version: 0.6 (February 8, 2005)
by Alessar
(c) 2005 Matt Redding. All rights reserved and commercial duplication
prohibited. Please send comments and corrections to [email protected],
and put an appropriate subject line on your email, like "Persona FAQ." Or,
contact me on the GameFAQs message boards. If you're not GameFAQs, YOU CANNOT
have this document on your website.

This remains a work in progress. I apologize for the long delay in its
completion, but I felt that the earliest levels were the most critical to get
people started. At this point, I will be completing the guide without the
benefit of a recent play through and will be unable to give as much advice in
regards to hints about good personae to use on certain bosses. However,
having been told that my critique is the "American Idol" of the Megaten
world, I could not hold off any longer. ;)

Feel free to send me your comments on the sections that are complete already,
and I hope you will find this useful.

I.   Introduction
    A. Persona Basics
       1. Summoning for Beginners
       2. Activating a Persona
       3. Ranking Up
    B. Mutation and Modification
       1. Mutation Events
       2. Which Personae Can Modify?
    C. Customizing Personae
    D. Starting Play
       1. Seven Sisters High
       2. Your First Trip to the Velvet Room
       3. Mount Mifune
II.  Persona Rankings
    A. Starting Personae
    B. Personae: Level 1 to 13
    C. Personae: Level 14 to 26
    D. Personae: Level 27 to 35
    E. Personae: Level 36 to 50
    F. Personae: Level 51 to 69
    G. Personae: Level 70 to 99
    H. Fool Personae
III. Optimized Groups [pending]
    A. Any Four Elementals
    B. The Ancestors
    C. Ultimate Personae
    D. Pantheon Lists
IV.  Tips & Tricks
V.   Credits & Thanks


I. Introduction
    Persona 2 is a fabulous game, but there are so many Personae to choose
from that it can be a bit overwhelming. When I played Revelations: Persona,
Victar's Persona Rankings FAQ was a useful tool for me. Not only did it rate
the Personae, he gave his reasoning and his advice. This is not a
comprehensive list of every Persona's parameters and spells, and what it can
be returned for. If you want to look up that information, consult
Archaeopteryx's amazingly complete FAQ. (I used it as a reference when
writing this in fact.) This is also not a walkthrough. I am also not going to
be giving a great deal of situation-specific advice; I will make a few
suggestions, but for complete strategies, consult Sasoriza's boss strategies
FAQ.
     Rather, this is a list by level of the Personae I've played (which is
most of them), and my comments about them. The choices reflect my playing
style, and your results may vary. I will endeavor to not put spoilery
information in this FAQ, but there will be some. Specifically, I will be
giving out some details on how the Persona system works, I will occasionally
mention hidden information about Personae (such as what a given Persona gives
you when you return it at Rank 8), and I may refer to specific dungeons and
bosses in general terms. I'm going to start by summarizing how the Persona
system works, clarifing a few details and giving some advice on how to
optimize your use of Personae.

A. Persona Basics
1. Summoning for Beginners
    Summoning Personae is really quite simple. You just pick the Persona,
spend the appropriate Tarot cards for it in the Velvet room, and Igor summons
it. The only limits are your stock of Tarot cards and your level: you can't
summon a Persona that's more than 5 levels higher than your highest party
member. As you should know from the game documentation, you get tarot cards
by contacting the "demons" you encounter in dungeons. An interested demon
will give a number of tarot cards of its class. It is important to know that
not every type of Persona has a corresponding demon. Many of the classes of
Persona can only be summoned by taking blank or "Free Tarot" cards to the
Velvet room and having them converted into the appropriate kind of tarot. You
get free tarot cards by making a demon happy and then signing a contract, and
then on subsequent encounters when you make the demon interested, it will
give you cards of its class and some free tarot in addition.
    The reason for the level limit on summoning is that, theoretically, a
Persona that is too powerful for its user might 'possess' the user. So Igor
won't summon high-level Personae for you. However, this is a plot element and
not a game mechanic. If you somehow come into ownership of a Persona that is
more than 5 levels above your party, it's perfectly fine to use it.
     A few Personae require a rare object to summon them, called a material
card. Once that material card is used, you will not get it back (for
instance, from returning the Persona once its reached rank 8), which means
that you only get one chance to summon that Persona. (There are a few
material cards that are gained by returning another Persona at rank 8 or
which are bought, but the best ones are gained from unique demons or item
boxes in dungeons.)

2. Activating a Persona
    When a character activates (i.e., equips or junctions it) a Persona
there are three effects. First the character's attributes are averaged with
the Persona's. Secondly, the character gains whatever defense properties that
Persona has, for instance, "Strong against Earth, Weak against Wind." The
third effect is that each Persona contributes a certain permanent attribute
boost at level up. Since you can only specify how Maya Amano's attribute
points are spent, paying attention to Persona's attribute boosts is essential
to have some control over those other characters.
    Keep in mind that you can freely change Personae during combat (unless
the character is out of your control, berserk for instance; and there is one
boss in the game who can prevent Persona switching). While some of the
Personae do seem to have serious vulnerabilities, you can switch them off if
enemies with those attacks come into play. I prefer to pick Personae with
strong defenses, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

3. Ranking Up
    The level of a given Persona never changes. Depending on how high that
level is, the Persona's starting attributes will be higher. Their spell
assortment (in theory!) will also contain more potent spells and special
moves. However, due to the game system, some spells will be useful at every
level, and other spells won't be as useful as they could be depending on your
characters' stats and attributes.
    Personae instead "rank up" from being used in combat and using their
special abilities. Most abilities give 1 point toward ranking; healing and
support spells give 2 points of this special "experience." Each Persona has a
specific rank-up pattern; some gain ranks at an even rate, some rank up
quickly at the beginning and slow down to a crawl in the end; others rank up
quickly, slow down, and speed up again later. Unfortunately, the only source
for this information is in the deluxe strategy guide published in Japan and
will not be available. If I happen to mention something like, "this persona
took a long time to rank up," this is am referring to. For the most part,
they all even out, but there are a couple that are just very slow levellers.
If you notice a great deal of variation in how quickly your Personae rank up,
now you'll understand why.

B. Mutation and Modification
1. Mutation Events
    In Persona 1, after a Persona gained all its spells, it was usually
ready to be recycled at the Velvet Room. That's not necessarily the case in
this game. As you will know from the game manual, it is possible to cast
"fusion spells" by combining the right spells in the right sequence in
battle. Honestly, it's a lot easier than it sounds. Whenever you end a fight
(the end of the whole fight) with a fusion spell, there is a chance that one
of the Personae involved in that spell may "mutate." There are several
possible results from mutation. The most common are "Two Ranks Up" and
"Parameters Increased." Two Ranks is self-explanatory. A Persona of first
through 6th rank may get this effect. In the case of Parameters, the Persona
gets +1 to every attribute, similarly to leveling up. There is no specific
limitation on how many times you can get this mutation; I have personally
taken more than one Persona to 99 in every attribute this way. Consequently,
a lower-level Persona can remain useful if its attributes continue to
increase to stay on a par with new, higher-level Personae. Eventually,
because its spells are just not top-grade, it will become obsolete; but this
mutation process helps extend the usefulness of the Persona. I find this
particularly useful on Personae that I am keeping for defensive purposes.
(After all, it does no good to be strong against earth if the Persona is
lowering the character's TEC score, and subsequently, spell defense!)
    Another not uncommon result of mutation is to learn a hidden spell.
Every Persona (except for a handful of very special Personae called the
"ancestors") has one specific hidden spell which can be unlocked by mutation.
Another similar effect is "Unknown Power Awakened." This is a secret power
which may function when the host is near-death. It's a matter of luck and
compatibility (discussed a bit later) if it activates. Personally, though
I've had several Personae gain this power, I've never seen it happen.
    The final possible result of mutation is that the Persona may gain the
power of Modification. What that means is that you can take the Persona to
the Velvet Room and turn it into another, completely different Persona. The
option "Mutation" will appear on the menu. (Unfortunately they mixed the
terminology there so sometimes when people say "mutation" they mean any of
the mutation events, and sometimes they mean the actual transformation only.

2. Which Personae Can Modify?
    Every Persona can gain modification ability EXCEPT: any starter Persona
other than Maia; any Fortune class Persona; any Persona summoned with the use
of a Material Card; and the very highest-level Personae (level 73 and up).
The way it works is that Personae with this power mutate into a "minor
arcana" Persona that are categorized using the tarot suites of rods, cups,
swords, and pentacles instead of "major arcana" types such as magician,
tower, and moon. All viable Personae of a given level range have the
potential to mutate into the same Persona, however, you can't have two of the
same Persona so once one has mutated, it won't let another do so. For
instance, all Personae of up to level 12 that gain modification ability would
become "CUP Matsuo-sama." However, level 13-16 Personae may become "ROD
Hotei" and level 17-19 Personae can become "PENTACLE Fukurokuju." The
progression continues like that up to level 72. However, there are
exceptions.
    First, there is a small chance that any modification can be a "dud"
resulting in a level 2 Poltergeist. Fortunately, since you can't have two of
the same Persona, keeping a Poltergeist in stock in the velvet room the
entire game will prevent this. Seriously, even if you never play the
Poltergeist, summon it once and store it.
    Second, a very few Personae can become another major arcana Persona. For
the most part, it is just a case of having very good luck, because when most
of these Personae modify, there's about an 85% chance they'll become the
usual minor arcana Persona, but about a 15% chance that they'll become their
secret other self. There are also a couple Personae that require a plot
action of some kind to come into play. They don't use the percentage chance
listed above, you either have achieved the special requirement or you
haven't.
    Finally, another factor that affects mutation rate is the characters'
compatibility with their Personae. Different party members have different
levels of compatibility for the various classes of Personae and this will
result in an adjustment to the cost of using them, and the chance of
mutation. Some characters can't use certain Personae; this is called
incompatibility. For others, the SP cost may be increased, this is called bad
compatibility. Many will work fine for the character, and have the listed SP
cost. This is normal or average compatibility. But other classes will give
the character a reduction in SP cost. This is called good compatibility. And
for some, while they appear to have good compatibility, the Persons will have
an increased mutation rate too. This is called best compatibility and the
only way to tell it is by observation or consulting the FAQ. Note that all
the characters start with a Persona for which they have best compatibility.
One of the advantages of the Minor Arcana Personae is that they have at least
good compatibility with every character. Luck is also a factor in getting
mutations.

C. Customizing Personae
    There are two things that can be added to any summoned Persona: A spell
card, and an incense card. (Actual incenses are used to boost the characters'
attributes.) A spell card can only be used on a Persona if its not in
conflict with its nature. For instance, you can't put a water spell like
Aques on a Persona with an affinity to fire. Affinity is actually denoted by
a little square icon in the Personae screen, it's not just what kind of
spells the Persona has. For instance, if the Persona you are summoning has
some fire spells but is not fire aspected (not uncommon for an earth or holy
Persona), you can go ahead and add a water spell if you want.
    Adding spells to your summoned Personae is extremely important in the
long-term. Even the weakest spell could complete a powerful fusion; A Persona
may be very good but not have any potential to combine with the other
Personae in the party. Judicious use of a spell card will allow it to engage
in fusion and possibly increase in power. Of course, you'll need to know
which spells are used for a fusion, but I leave you to find that information
out yourself, either in game play or by consulting a general FAQ. I will give
you the tip that while any two earth, air, fire, or water spells creates a
high-damage single creature attack, any two lightning, ice, or nuclear spells
creates a moderate-damage all creatures attack. Consequently, often when I am
at a loss for what to do with two Personae, I'll give each an ice or
lightning spell because I know I can get a good fusion out of them relatively
cheaply. (I had "Bufu" spell cards all over the place by the end of the game
even though I frequently used them!)
    The second thing you can do is add an incense card. This gives +10 to
one attribute or +5 to all attributes. Incense cards aren't essential, how
you use them is up to you. The first time I played the game, Maya's TEC
attribute started to seriously outstrip ANY Persona she equipped, so I
started putting TEC incenses on all her Personae so that her score wouldn't
be lowered as much. You can use the cards in other ways. For instance, if you
have a slow character, give their Persona an incense to boost agility. Or if
you have a strong character, you can give their Persona a strength incense so
they are even more potent with physical attack spells or regular attacks.
Remember, you can increase any Persona's attributes by both ranking it up and
mutating it, the incenses are strictly enhancements, not requirements.

D.  Starting Play
    The following is a Mini-Walkthrough for the first two dungeons of the
game. It is intended just to explain to you how you should be using the
system and to put you on the right track. There are no navigational
instructions, just a general description of how play should proceed. I have
endeavored to not have this be spoilery content. Here are a couple of general
play tips:
* You can exit most normal dungeons and come back to them. There are a few
that are in remote locations that you can't, however, derelict buildings in
the city can be left and resumed.
* You can never re-enter a normal dungeon once it is completed. There is one
optional side dungeon you can keep re-entering. It is there to let you re-
encounter demons you missed for purposes of getting Tarot cards.
* The skill "Hula of Misfortune" appears to do no damage. In actuality, it
roughly HALVES your current money
* When discussing Personae defenses, the term 'attack' refers to physical
moves of the tackling variety. It was a bad name choice as it can obviously
be confused with the basic Attack command and term. Weakness to attack is not
weakness to all physical blows, just the attack sub-type.

1. Seven Sisters High
    Approximately the first 40 minutes of the game features no fighting.
After a plot event your characters gain their powers, and the the actual
gameplay begins. You will be in Seven Sisters High, which is a GREAT starter
dungeon. You can save anytime you want except during battle, so be sure to do
so as soon as you get control of your characters. The first encounter you
have will be a preset tutorial in demon negotiation. After that, bad luck
could get you killed in your first real encounter.
    At the very start of the game, your characters will be fragile, and your
Personae won't help too much yet. You will level up with just a few
experience points, though, and the difference will be even more dramatic when
the Personae begin to rank up. When you start, just use each Persona's first
attack power, focus on one demon at a time until you've won the encounter.
After Maia manifests her Aqua power, you can cast the Stone Rise fusion spell
(detailed in the manual) by casting spells in the order: water (aqua), fire
(agi), earth (magna). Start doing that, just Stone Rise everything that moves
(unless you hit something resistant to it) until the Personae start really
ranking up. With luck, you will get some mutation effects and increase in
power even more. You need to find a key to the 4th floor, where there's a
boss fight waiting for you. Don't rush it. After Seven Sisters, you'll gain a
4th permanent party member, who will enter play at Eighth level, so that
should tell that the designers expect you to be close to that. So go ahead
and poke around. Experiment a bit, there are other fusion spells the starter
Personae can cast; you should learn the use of their powers. Definitely rank
up the Personae until Maia gets Media (or Me Dia if you break up the
syllables as they do on the spell card for it) so that you can cure everyone
for about 30 hp at the same time.
    Contact some demons. In fact, try to make contracts with a few that you
are encountering commonly. Most of the demons in Seven Sisters are fairly
easy to persuade. You can get some valuable starting items too, like ball of
return, but mostly focus on getting some Tarot and quite a few Free (blank)
tarot. The low-level demons in this area won't give you many cards (3-5 if I
recall right), but rest assured that it will be easier later on as demons
start to give you 10, 20, 40, 80 cards at once. Try to get a dozen or so of
each type of card that has demons running around, try to get a few dozen free
tarot if you have the patience. It will be well worth it having them at the
end of the dungeon.
    By the time you go to the end boss, your characters should be at least
sixth level, and have their Personae ranked up to about 6th rank as well. If
you were lucky, you may have gotten some "two ranks up" mutations; my Maia
was 8th rank at that point and had gained her hidden spell but that's really
a case of my Personal luck. Since you cannot return to this nice starter
dungeon with its free healing, so be sure to get all your stuff squared away
before fighting the boss. And remember, save before you enter the room with
the boss! :)

2. Your First Trip to the Velvet Room
    Once Baofu joins your party, you can visit the Velvet Room for the first
time; since he's 8th level, you can summon at least up to 13th level
Personae. But don't overlook a few low-level Personae that can be quite
useful. It should have been no problem to gain at least 8 Lovers and 8 Devil
cards. Summon Pixie and Poltergeist. Additionally, if you have at least 27
Free Tarot, convert them to Emperor Class (a type for which there is no demon
you can get cards from) and summon Airget Lam. If you have another 20 free
tarot, I recommend summoning Temperance Harpie (there are Temperance demons,
I just don't think there are any in that first dungeon, but its worth
spending the cards now to have extra Personae.) At this point in the game,
you probably don't have enough money to buy spell cards, but don't worry,
they'll be available soon enough.

3. Mount Mifune
    The second dungeon is in the form of a maze-like path up the mountain.
Of the enemies here, quite a few use physical/shot attacks and quite a few
use magic/air attacks. Once Maia has reached rank 8, I recommend you put
Harpie on Maya; if she takes too much damage from earth or shot attacks
(Harpie's weaknesses) swap in Maia and heal. Maya and Ulala both have "best"
compatibility with her, so she's likely mutate a lot on either of them. She's
not that great otherwise, but she is a perfect candidate to modify into CUP
Matsuo-sama because her return item is worthless. You can continue to use the
starter Personae or not as you like. I recommend putting Airget Lam on
Katsuya every time he's about to level so that he gets some TEC; otherwise
the computer doesn't seem to put points into his TEC until his strength is in
the high twenties. Poltergeist will work well on Baofu, and Pixie on Ulala.
Find the earth fusion that can be cast with this selection, experiment a bit.
If you're lucky, you might even get a few spell cards in encounters...
Finally, a little before you get to the back of the sanitarium, there'll be a
shrine hidden off into the woods (a few screens back). This shrine to
Junnosuke Kuroda is the first step to unlocking the Ancestral Personae,
however, getting the right cards to use them on your first play can be
tricky. If you want to start unlocking them, stuff the donation box until
it's full and won't accept any more money. But again, if you don't have
enough money to do that, you can get these rare Personae on the replay.
There will be another Velvet Room right inside the building at the end of the
trail, so build up some more cards in preparation of that. It's time to
supplement the starting Personae with backup...go ahead and look in part two
to see my suggestions about that.

II. Persona Rankings.
    These listing are sorted by level, in level ranges that I thought made
good break points. There's no "right" amount of leveling up, everyone has
their own play style. But it does seem the game designers expect your
characters to be around the level of the demons they will encounter by the
end of a dungeon, so I have tried to roughly pick ranges that encompass every
few dungeons. Additionally, when you first gain access to the Velvet Room,
Baofu's starting level guarantees you'll be able to summon at least up to
level 13, so that's the level range of the first section. The next level
range is based on the next character to join; the range becomes guesswork
after that.
    I played around with ideas for formatting these entries but couldn't
really top Victar's. I wasn't going to bother with the defense info, but it's
one of the first things I look at in picking a Persona, so I've gone ahead
and put it in here. The format used in the listings below is:

Level - ARCANUM (Persona type) - Name
Defense information. Affinity.
~Any special notes about compatibility, creation, or Mythos membership
    Detailed commentary.
* Overall rating (5 * scale) and short comment.

    I take a lot of factors into consideration when I assign a rating, and
not all of them have equal weight. The Persona's defensive status is a big
factor, what it protects against is generally weighted more heavily than what
it's vulnerable to. The reason for this is I'm trying to focus on the useful
aspects of the Personae; and basically, if a Persona is weak against some
kind of attack, you can switch off to a different one. However, being strong
versus several kinds of attacks is a real benefit. Still, if a Persona's
vulnerabilities outweigh its defenses, it's a strike against it.
    Another major factor is the spell selection. I do look at what the
"hidden" spell is, and weigh the spells for being both appropriate for its
level and a useful mix overall. Ability to engage in both common and rare
fusion spells can be a heavily weighted factor. By common spells I mean the
basic elemental attack fusions; by rare, I mean fusions that require spells
which only a few Personae possess. Additionally, there are unique fusions,
which require specific Personae with specific spells, or at least specific
rare spells. Most unique fusions require three to five members of a given
mythological pantheon operating together; unfortunately, the Personae
involved are often spread across a very large level range, which means that
unless you invest time in "buffing up" the lower level members, they're going
to be a burden to drag around. Still, not all of the combos are like that and
a few of them are resoundingly potent.
     Lesser factors include attributes, both the starting statistics and the
attribute that a bonus is given to at level up; and the item the Persona can
be returned for at rank 8.

Scale Explantion:

      - No stars. Completely worthless Persona.
    * - A sub-par Persona. Weak or terribly average with nothing
        to recommend it.
   ** - An average Persona. Probably needs a spell card to be useful, or
        has limited usefulness, such as being good only for an item.
  *** - A good Persona. Exact usefulness may vary with game play, but
        generally worthwhile.
 **** - Top-notch, useful, powerful, and capable of being used for many
        levels in the game.
***** - One of the most powerful and useful Personae in the game.
        There are only a few.

A. Starter Personae
    The starter Personae are not particularly potent, but then, they are
very low level. One thing that's interesting is that the number of fusions
you can achieve with them (especially if all 4 of them have unlocked their
hidden spell) is quite high. Though Maia is technically a non-elemental
Persona, she has a water attack spell, and therefore all 4 elements are
represented in this set. Thus, you can cast all four elemental "boost"
fusions (which have 3 different elements combining into 1 single attack) with
them, as well as a few other attack and status fusions.

1 STAR Callisto
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
~Usable only by Ulala
    Though you will find enemies with wind attacks early on, her
vulnerability won't be too much of a detriment. At the lower power level of
the start of the game, the increase in damage won't be very high, perhaps an
extra 10 hp. In fact, if Ulala's TEC is raised, thus raising her SDF, the
vulnerability can be compensated for. Her earth attacks are useful against
those same wind-aspected monsters, and if you encounter earth monsters, her
Zan (non-elemental damage) is very handy. Her hidden spell is mafui (silence)
-- nothing special; I would advise that as soon as you rank her up to 8, move
on to another Persona and switch back when you need to use her earth spells
in fusion.
** Decent for such a low-level Persona, but not memorable

1 JUSTICE Helios
Voids Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
~Usable only by Katsuya
    Helios is rather neutral towards most enemies you'll face early on.
There are a few that are strong with respect to fire but not many. His final
spell is Maha Agi, which attacks an entire group, and which begins a whole
series of fusion spells that use the formula fire, earth, maha agi___; of
course, you need another Persona which can use at least Agi to do so. **
Decent for such a low-level Persona, but not memorable

3 MOON Maia
Voids Holy, Darkness, Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
~Usable only by Maya
    Maia is mostly about healing, but she can attack with holy and water
spells. Her Multidimension doesn't have a high success rate, but notice its
category: "(Special) Type: None." Multidimension does not count as either
magic or physical, so it can be used on demons that void and reflect magic!!
This makes it one of the most powerful spells in the entire game, not that
you'll appreciate it at such a low level. (Look for fusions that have the
same definition; they're rare, and extremely powerful). Maia ignores holy and
dark spells, which have instant kill potential, and she's also immune to
mind/nerve spells such as sleep and confuse, which is very handy. Whenever
the party is in trouble, switching Maya back to Maia will probably save the
day because she's so defensively powerful and has so much recovery power. Her
SP cost is low; you would do well to keep Maia around until 20th level so you
can heal out of combat cheaply.
    If you play Maya "in character" (kind and forgiving), after a certain
plot event you may be able to gain the ability to modify to a higher-level
version of Maia, Maia Custom.
*** One of the most valuable Personae in the game; do not Return it under any
circumstances

6 HANGED MAN Odysseus
Voids Wind, Lightning. Affinity: Wind
~Usable only by Baofu
    Odysseus' defenses will be useful going up Mount Mifune. However his
attacks aren't going to be that useful either. If you get very lucky, a
mutation will unlock his soothing melody spell (healing spell usable in
combat only, but stronger than Media). Soothing Melody fuses with 3 other
certain spells to create a very powerful status attack on all opponents (one
that has an almost 100% effective rate.) If you get Soothing Melody,
Odysseus' usefulness basically doubles. If you choose not to put Airget Lam
on Katsuya, put him on Baofu instead as a good replacement for this one.
* Pretty weak for a starting Persona, though the hidden spell is extra good.
I think they should have made him more balanced though.

B. Other Personae Level 1 to 13
    As noted above, when you gain your fourth party member, he'll be at
level 8 which means that you will be able to summon Personae up to 13th level
right after finishing the first dungeon, Seven Sisters high. This next
section of Personae is pretty wide, but they will probably be what's
available for the second through fourth dungeons.

2 LOVERS Pixie
Strong against Wind, Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
    Pixie is a great asset. She starts with a healing spell and gains wind
and lightning attacks. Kotoludi cures possessed status, and you will probably
encounter some demons with this annoying attack early on. Her rank 8 spell is
Meggido, which inflicts moderate non-elemental damage to all enemies
(multiple groups). Meggido is not normally found on Personae of under 35th
level! It will take Pixie a while to rank up to 8, but it will be worth it.
Her attributes start quite low, however, as she ranks up her Luck will
increase abnormally. At rank 8, Pixie always has a 99 luck. Put Pixie on
Ulala and try to get her to mutate a few times so that her stats improve.
She's going to be useful for quite a while. As the lowest level (and thus
cheapest SP) Persona in the game, many players like to summon Pixie later in
the game and give her the strongest healing spell available (Mediarahan, full
heal of the whole party) which they can then use for about 2 SP.
*** An unusually potent Persona worth putting some effort in to developing.

2 DEVIL Poltergeist
Voids Darkness, Weak against Holy. Affinity: None
    His attack spells are pretty rudimentary, mostly earth which makes him
useful against air creatures as he's got no specific vulnerability to air; he
can cure poisoning at rank 2, which is handy. Otherwise there's not much to
recommend him, though he would work well with Callisto. (Special) Keep
Poltergeist in stock the entire game to prevent dud mutations.
** otherwise.

5 TEMPERANCE Harpie
Strong against Sword, Attack; Weak against Earth, Shot. Affinity: Wind
    Harpie is not that great a Persona. Going up Mount Mifune, she can be a
liability in several instances. The main reason I recommend her is that she's
a good choice for a Persona to turn into CUP Matsuo-sama, which is a very
good Persona. She does have pretty good attack spells, which will let her do
fusions with Pixie. She's highly compatible with Maya, who tends to rank Maia
up to 8 rather quickly. And her return item is merely 10 Free Tarot, so she's
easy to mutate and not going to be missed. Finally, her attribute is Luck,
which is not so common in Personae that the women tend to use.
** A strong candidate for Modification otherwise not that special.

9 EMPEROR Airget Lam
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
    Airget Lam is the lowest level Persona to boost Technique at level up.
His starting attributes are good, and his earth attacks are reasonably
useful. He will work well with Poltergeist or Callisto in dropping rocks on
demons. The computer tends to not spend attribute points on the men's TEC
scores early on. Airget Lam is the only way you can correct that. He's
technically more compatible with Baofu than Katsuya, but Baofu already should
have a compatible Persona in Poltergeist (which Katsuya won't work well
with), so I recommend him for Katsuya.
*** A useful Persona with a good mix of benefits

11 LOVERS Robin Goodfellow
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
    This Persona is very similar to Airget Lam, except it's two levels
higher and its good spells aren't quite as readily available. Also, while
Airget Lam gets bonus points for being a Technique booster, Robin loses
points for being an Agility booster. The computer always focuses on Agility
for Ulala, she really doesn't need to ever have an agility-boosting Persona
on. If you really want another earth Persona, for fusions perhaps, it would
be OK. But I personally would use Callisto instead and save my cards.
* A pale copy of a good Persona

12 STRENGTH Ryume
Strong against Ice, Lightning, Nuclear; Weak against Attack, Strike.
Affinity: Water
~Member of the Saiyuki group
    Ryume is a good Persona, but he costs too much to summon before Mount
Mifune so I didn't recommend him in my mini-walkthrough. Once you're at the
top though, you might want to summon him before entering the asylum. His
water and ice attacks will let him help in a few fusions. If a monster has
dropped a Bufu card for you by the time you summon Ryume, you should
seriously consider using that card on another new Persona so that it and
Ryume can do an ice fusion together. He is vulnerable to two forms of
physical attack, but I think shot is more common so he's not too bad.
     [Note that 'attack' is a subtype of physical attack (it should have
been named 'tackle' in my opinion, to avoid confusion) and Ryume is only
vulnerable to that subtype and strike, not to all melee attacks.]
    I would recommend adding a Dia or MeDia spell to him, but you should
have Maia and Pixie available for that. His Poismudi and Kotuludi are going
to be very useful for quite a while, and his hidden spell is Recarm, which
raises a fallen party member in combat.
    Ryume can participate in a unique fusion; however, the spell in this
case is not that great.
**** It might not be obvious, but this is a very strong recovery Persona with
some useful attacks.

12 STAR Kimnara
Voids Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Kimnara is a fun Persona. His fire attacks are strong, and you get Maha
Agi fairly early. His soothing melody is a stronger healing spell than MeDia,
though it can only be used during a fight. He is the first Persona to get
Trafuri, which is the escape combat spell. It's quite rare, and you can
return a rank 8 Kimnara for a Trafuri card. Kimnara's defenses are definitely
useful in the third and even fourth dungeons. Could be a lifesaver in the
third boss fight.
*** A good basic Persona with a rare return item, uncommon spells, and useful
defenses. Definitely worth summoning, but probably not keeping. You may, in
fact, summon him repeatedly throughout the game to get his return item as
it's the most expensive spell card there is!

12 CUP Matsuo-sama
Absorbs Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
~Requires: Mutation from another level 1-12 Persona
    Like most minor arcana Personae, he's extremely useful. He starts with
Maha Aqua, which will allow certain water fusions. His most useful spells
though are de kaja (which cancels various attribute boosting spells), wall of
water (which protects the entire party completely from water attacks), and
refresh ring (which cures all status ailments on one character). Matsuo-sama
is a good Persona but will really come into his own in the fifth dungeon.
[Note that I count the trail up Mount Mifune and the Asylum atop it together
as the second dungeon.] You will be using higher level Personae by then, but
his powers will be very handy. Therefore, build him up when you get the
chance, and be sure to have him with the party then. Finally, as a CUP,
Matsuo-sama is at least good compatibility with everyone.
*** A very worthwhile defensive Persona, tailor-made to protect you against a
certain boss.

13 SUN Surya
Reflects Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Surya is a pretty useful Persona; he's not so focused as many others
are. He has maha agi, but he also has maha garu. His spiral shot is useful as
a physical attack. He has good flexibility and he makes a logical partner to
combine in fusion spells with Kimnara, but he could also cast fusions with
Maia, Pixie, and others. He will be very good against the third boss, and is
also a likely candidate to modify into ROD Hotei.
*** An attack Persona with unusual flexibility

C. Personae level 14 to 26
This is a pretty broad range, and it covers Personae for the next few
dungeons. You will eventually be getting a fifth character, and when you do
you should be able to summon Personae up to about 26th level. In general, I'm
assuming that these Personae will be in use up to either the Science Lab or
the TV Station.

14 HIEROPHANT Genjo
Voids Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
~Member of the Saiyuki group
    Genjo's ability to ignore mind and nerve magic could be very useful,
especially in the fourth dungeon. His lack of affinity allows you to add a
spell of any element, which is good because his innate selection is quite
mediocre and doesn't lend to fusing.
    Genjo is one of a few Personae which can participate in a fusion spell
unique to it and members of its mythic pantheon; however, the spell in this
case is not that great.
* A useful defense, not really much to this Persona otherwise

14 HERMIT Nekomata
Reflects Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
    Nekomata is quite a tricky character. She reflects mind and nerve
spells, and like Genjo, has no affinity to limit her when adding a spell. She
does have air, almighty, and status attacks already, which is not a bad
selection. Her return item is an ok weapon for Ulala that may inflict Charm
status.
*** Useful defenses, ok spells. A fixer-upper Persona but good.

15 EMPRESS Arianrhod
Strong against Physical; Weak against Magic. Affinity: Wind
    Arianrhod is an unusual Persona; she's an air Persona but she has no
wind attacks. She does have zio, the first lightning spell, but that's about
it. She does have a useful power which will be invaluable against the boss of
the fourth dungeon: Wall of Air. Once cast, the party gains the status: Voids
Wind. (Note: Wall spells do not stack; the last one cast takes precedence.)
She's the lowest-level Persona to have a spell such as this. Her weakness
against magic is not really a liability at the beginning of the game; her
stats are quite even and basically anyone with a decent Tec won't notice much
extra damage. Her resistance to all physical, however, will noticeably help.
She really could use an extra spell added onto her though; either a wind
attack or ice (to fuse with Ryume) might be good.
*** A lifesaver against the fourth boss; a good defensive Persona overall.

15 CHARIOT Minotaur
Strong against Physical; Weak against Magic. Affinity: Earth
    This isn't a very useful Persona. His ability to soak physical attacks
might come in handy, but the Persona is weak in general; unlike Arianrhod, he
really IS vulnerable to magic and in general. He has the generally useful
defensive spell wall of earth, but I don't believe you'll need it. His attack
spells are physical, and aren't that good, really. Kotoludi is a useful spell
but other, far more utilitary Personae around this level have it. I would
recommend skipping this one.
* The only use I can see for this Persona is swapping it in to resist strong
physical attacks. Maybe.

16 ROD Hotei
Voids Fire; Reflects Nuclear; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
~Requires: Mutation from another level 13-16 Persona
     I usually mutate Sun Surya but you could use another Persona. He starts
with a fire spell capable of completing a fusion, he gains the ever-useful
Estoma in the middle of his spell progression, and his hidden spell is
Recarm. He also has holy, nuke, and throw attacks thus making him diverse and
quite useful. Even if you're about to put aside Personae of the mid-teen
levels when you get him, he's strong enough to keep around and use for a
while, and his universal compatibility makes him available to any party
member that needs a fire Persona.
*** A very useful fire Persona

16 MAGICIAN Tengu
Voids Wind; Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
    Tengu is a very strong Persona for its level. It starts off with a good
group wind attack, gains an Almighty group attack, has Wall of Air which can
protect your whole party, and even has Recarm, thus making him a must for the
fourth boss fight if you don't have Arianrhod. Another good factor is that he
gives a TEC bonus; while TEC will become more common shortly, it's still rare
around this level. He very similar in power to Hotei, actually, but with
different spells.
*** Very useful air Persona

17 JUDGEMENT Phaleg
Voids Holy; Weak against Darkness. Affinity: Water
    Phaleg is not that great. He does gain water spells, but while Tengu and
Hotei are starting with Maha Agi and Maha Garu, Phaleg is starting with Aqua
and gaining Maha Aqua (which makes the original spell-slot a waste really)
several ranks later. And that's comparatively weak; even gaining Aques at
rank 8 doesn't make up for it. He is a good candidate for being converted
into Pentacle Fukurokuju, though, as his return item is worthless and he does
have enough innate spell power to participate in a common water fusion. I had
a hard time mutating him though, even on Ellen who should have best
compatibility with him. It's sad really; misnamed as Deva, Phaleg was
probably the most useful low-level Persona in the first game.
* Worth mutating and that's about it.

17 HANGED MAN Shax
Voids Water; Strong against Attack, Sword; Weak against Earth, Fire, Shot
    Shax has both ice and lightning attacks (two each, a waste of spells
basically), thus making him a natural to pair with Personae like Ryume and
Arianrhod. His other attributes are not outstanding, and shot vulnerability
is bad in general.
** An ok Persona, but another candidate for a hopefully quick mutation into
Pentacle Fukurokuju.

18 STAR Iris
Absorbs Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
~Requires: Material Card - Flash of Colors
    Iris is a potent Persona. If you haven't let go of Maia yet, now's the
time to do so (well don't RETURN her, just try out Iris on Maya!). Iris's
healing power is quite similar, and her attack strength is Earth. Sadly, she
has the fairly typical mix of a weak single-target attack spell, a weak group
attack spell, and a medium single-target attack spell of the same element.
This leaves her sadly lacking in diversity, but still very useful in the
fourth dungeon. And, the ability to absorb an element is very useful. I would
definitely invest a spell card in Iris; if you've gained a Frei card, and you
could do so in the fourth dungeon, I would use it on her. It would give her
an atypical attack that really complements her, and she could cast nuke
fusions with Hotei or Hel. Iris will work well on either Maya or Ulala. Trust
me, Nuke fusions rock.
*** Useful Persona, fairly strong and with a few tricks available.

18 LOVERS Jack Frost
Absorbs Ice; Voids Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
    Jack Frost might actually be so cute he's worth summoning for no other
reason. That's good, because there isn't much reason to summon him otherwise.
At his level I don't think you'll be encountering too much that uses water
attacks, but you will encounter several things with Fire. He has few spells,
though he's hiding an extra spell: Atomic Bufula. If you spread a rumor, this
spell will appear, and it can fuse uniquely, however, it's pathetically weak
on its own. (Not that you can get the other component for about ten
levels...) He does have a high rate of Persona-talk with his own kind and
Jack O'Lantern, but Lovers cards aren't that hard to get. Summon him for
nostalgia, or if you want to see his rare spell, pass otherwise. He could be
very useful in the fifth boss fight, though I would expect you to have
stronger Personae by then.
** Adorable but not very useful. Ho!

19 TEMPERANCE Fearal
Strong against: Sword, Attack; Weak against Shot, Earth. Affinity: Wind
    For a physically-oriented Persona, Fearal is not that great. Weak
against shot is, in my opinion, a fairly serious vulnerability to have as
most of the human enemies you encounter will have strong shot attacks. Her
weakness against Earth is mitigated by gaining the spell Wall of Earth at
rank 8, but her other moves are not that special in general. At least she
starts with Maha Garu, which will definitely let you participate in a fusion
spell with her. If you summon her, adding a healing or assistance spell could
increase her usefulness dramatically.
** Fairly weak, but not completely useless.

20 HIEROPHANT Aizen Myouou Voids Earth, Darkness, Holy. Affinity: Earth
~Usable only by Nate.
    Aizen Myouou is one of the best starting Personae. He has excellent
defenses and a range of attacks (holy, earth, and physical). With a lucky
mutation he'll manifest Maka Kaja, which is the magic attack boosting spell.
His return item isn't great, so go ahead and have Nate use him a lot and
increase his power with some mutations.
*** A good overall Persona. A shame he's pre-summoned and only usable by
Nate.

20 PENTACLE Fukurokujo Reflects Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
~Must be mutated from another level 17-19 Persona.
    You will want Fukurokujo, if for no other reason than to return him at
rank 8 for a Lucky Source. This accessory, if equipped at level up, grants an
extra +1 to Luck. Fukurokujo has a mix of healing (including status recovery)
and earth attacks; nothing really special but nothing really bad either and
useful to have all in one place.
**** A decent healing Persona with some attack power, and the source of a
rare and precious item.

20 MOON Pariker
Voids Physical (except Sword), Weak against Holy, Sword. Affinity: None
    Pariker really only has one thing going for her, and that's voiding most
Physical. Her spell selection is on the weak side. Be careful of her
vulnerabilities.
** Useful to resist damage from physical attacks - if you encounter any that
are that dangerous.

20 FOOL Sarutobe Sasuki [See Fool section.]
**** It's a FOOL, they pretty much all rock. But you might want to save your
card...they're very rare and this one's not essential.

21 SUN Kinich Kakmo
Voids Fire; Strong against Attack, Sword; Weak against Earth, Shot, Water.
Affinity: Fire
    This Persona has a lot of vulnerabilities, and I don't think its
resistances make up for it. Sword attacks are not exactly rare, but they're
not really common either. Fire Breath attack does level-based damage (based
on the summoner, not it) so this Persona has some flexibility there, but its
spells overall are just typical. It does return for an Anti-force card (which
teaches a Persona the spell Tetrakarn which bestows Reflect Physical for one
attack) and that can be useful but it's not the only source for that card.
** A mediocre Persona; the return item could be useful but you have options.

21 STRENGTH Otohime
Absorbs Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
    Another mediocre Persona. The low 20s seem to be filled with them. She
has Throw, Healing, Water, and Status attacks which is a pretty flexible
assortment. Her ability to absorb water is a notch above the typical for a
Persona that's weak against Fire. If you need a water Persona, you could do
worse. (You could also do better). Keep in mind that if you want her throw
attacks to do any reasonable damage, put her on someone strong, like Katsuya.
*** A fairly typical water Persona. Good to have healing in this arcanum, and
absorbing water is a plus.

22 DEATH Hel
Voids Darkness, Holy. Affinity: None
    Meet the Swiss Army knife of low-level Personae. Meet the first Persona
to be granted a 5 star rating. Hel has an attack spell of every type except </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Almighty, Holy and Lightning. (Water, in the form of the all-attacking Acid
Rain spell, is gained by mutation). She has no weaknesses and ignores the
instant kill attacks (as well as simple damage) of Holy and Darkness. She can
participate in a huge number of fusions. This is a Persona you can plan on
keeping and using for the next 10, 15 or even 20 levels. Feel free to add an
incense card to her if you have it, she'll be with you a while. Since Baofu
will likely be the one using her, I would recommend an AGI card to compensate
for his slow speed. Also, you should use a spell card on her, something
that's going to be worth your while. I wouldn't bother adding another attack,
she has so many already. Rather, consider this is a Persona that can leap
into most attacks. She will probably mutate a lot too. I recommend you add a
support spell (if you have it) such as Maka Kaja, or a recovery spell like
Mediarama or maybe even Trafuri so that if your party is mostly wiped out by
a holy or dark attack, you can still successfully flee. When the dust clears,
Hel will be there to pick up the pieces and dish out punishment. Oh, and if
Hel gets the mutation ability ... don't bother.
***** Summon this Persona, she's incredibly useful.

22 HERMIT Tenhou Gensui
Voids Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
    After the amazing usefulness of Hel, we're back to another mediocre, 1-
note Persona. His earth spells are not so useful (Magna and Magnus, no "maha"
in there) and he uses sword attacks. His best spell is probably Raku Kaja
(physical defense up), and that's not all that great.
** Pretty mediocre.

23 STAR Gandharva
Absorbs Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Gandharva is similar in power and disposition to Otohime. His ability to
actually absorb Fire is potentially useful. His fire attacks aren't
particularly fuseable. He does learn a healing move, but it's his last move.
** Absorbing Fire is his great strength. Doesn't stand out otherwise.

23 JUDGEMENT Nike
Voids Fire, Holy; Weak against Darkness, Ice, Water. Affinity: Wind Usable
only by Ellen.
    Nike sucks. She's vulnerable to the main attacks you'll be encountering
in the very first dungeon you'll have her in. Seriously, you'll see Ellen get
killed again and again if you leave Nike on her. She starts with Maha Garu,
which is not that great for when you'll have her. It's replaced at rank 8 by
Maha Garula but it'll be an uphill struggle to get there. Her holy and status
powers are of so-so usefulness in the meantime.
* If you have something else Ellen can use, perhaps Nemesis, get rid of her
right away. Nike almost got a - rating from me, I think she's a slow to rank-
up Persona on top of her other problems, but I can't remember that clearly.

23 HIEROPHANT Umayado no Ouji
Reflects Shot, Throw. Affinity: None
~A member of the Saiyuki group (I think)
    Umayado is a pretty handy Persona. He has two extremely useful spells:
Estoma (which reduces encounters) and Trafuri (which escapes from them). His
ability to reflect Shot could be handy in a lot of places (more so in Nate's
route than Ellen's). His other powers are pretty sucky - if you need him just
for his 2 good spells, put a spell card on him too. Since he has no affinity,
you can pick anything you'd like. Maha Agionn might be good.
*** Not essential, but useful if you need Estoma and Trafuri

24 HANGED MAN Kabanda
Voids Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
    Kabanda's best move is Wall of Water, however his spell progression
overall is pretty bad. He starts with Aqua, which is ludicrous for a 24th
level Persona, then gains Aques at rank 4, which is the spell he ought to
have started with. Select this Persona to protect your party against water
attacks (useful in the sewers on Nate's route) but adding a spell is almost
essential. Perhaps an ice attack would be good. If you're lucky he'll modify
into ROD Nankyoku Roujin.
** A redundant assortment of spells. If he didn't have wall of water, this
would be a * Persona.

24 TOWER Kanaloa
Voids Darkness, Holy, Water. Affinity: Water
    Of the three water Personae in this level range, Kanaloa is head and
shoulders above the other two. His resistances are superior, his spells are
not merely water attacks but also throw and darkness. His mutation spell,
Transfixion, is fairly rare and somewhat powerful. He also possesses a Rumor
spell, Wonderful Aques, which is part of a unique fusion. On top of all that,
he has Media, which while weak, is still useful.
*** This is the best water Persona in the low 20s

24 SWORD Kanshou
Voids Attack, Sword. Affinity: Wind
~Requires: mutation from another Persona level 20-24
    Kanshou is all about sword attacks. He has several different sword
techniques, plus the ability to increase the attack power and agility of
party members. If you want a strong physical attack Persona, Kanshou's not
bad for its level. However, I don't think you really need one that much. If
he had more defensive powers, such as voiding darkness, or if you could add a
spell, this Persona would be much more useful. As it is, its somewhat
lacking.
** A well-focused Persona, unfortunately an unneeded one.

25 JUSTICE Mars
Strong against Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Expect to summon this Persona. Mars is the origin of the Strength Source
item, which, like the Lucky source, grants an extra attribute point at level
up. Fortunately, Mars is not exactly a bad Persona. He has fire, sword, and
holy attacks, as well as Media. Media is always handy, even if its just used
for some out of combat healing. (Remember though, healing spells help a
Persona rank up faster...) His mutation spell, Fire Storm, is pretty potent.
You might be tempted to add a spell to him, since he doesn't have the
terminal spell for a fusion, but since you're probably going to return him
for his item ASAP, its not worth it unless you've got lots of extra spell
cards (poisma or something like that perhaps; or a maha garu spell to
increase flexibility in fusions).
*** A reasonable, self-contained package, easy to level up and return

26 LOVERS Jack O'Lantern
Absorbs Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Jack O' Lantern is a bit more useful than his icy counterpart. His spell
progression is a bit strange, but he can participate in fusions reasonably
well. I personally had stupendous luck with his mutations with Ulala, and he
not only ranked up incredibly quickly, he massively increased in power. Jack
is also hiding a rumor spell: Dynamic Agilao. His Devil's Smile spell is
fairly rare and can be used in a fairly rare fusion (though the other spells
needed are a bit higher level so you'd need to keep him around for quite a
while to unlock it). Absorbing fire helps put him ahead of Mars in quality.
*** A strong fire Persona.

26 EMPRESS Nemesis
Voids Mind, Nerve. Affinity: None
    Nemesis is a very strong neutral Persona. She has no particular
vulnerabilities, and she's immune to those annoying status attacks that take
your characters out of your control; it might be worth your while to keep her
around just to resist them. If you've levelled up enough to summon her for
the fifth dungeon, she will be a great asset. Though she has both a water and
an ice spell, you can add any element you wish to her. I chose Maha Agionn,
making her potent against both fire and water enemies but you could as easily
add an air or earth spell. She also has shot, darkness, and healing moves.
(She's like a slightly weakened version of Maia Custom.) She would work well
on any of the women, and if you can summon her, I'd seriously consider
replacing Nike on Ellen with Nemesis. Because she is immune to mind and nerve
spells you could also increse her recovery powers and make her a healer.
**** Very flexible Persona with rare defensive capabilities.

D. Personae level 27 to 35
This is a much smaller range of Personae than the last set, but I estimate
these are the Personae you'll tap for the next dungeon or two. In general,
they are noticeably better than what you had available in the low 20s and the
next group after this features members who could specifically be usable a few
dungeons further along in the game, so I split the list at 35.

27 CHARIOT Taranis
Strong against Physical, Weak against Magic. Affinity: Wind
    Taranis is a fairly mediocre Persona. He does have the spell Killer
Wind, which targets all enemies. While it won't complete a fusion as Maha
Garula would, it's a stronger spell so it will enhance other fusions it is a
part of. His physical attacks are fairly weak, disappointing really. He'd be
a good candidate to mutate into ROD Nankyoku Roujin as he has just enough
spells to easily participate in fusions; he would also be useful to have in
case you run into heavy physical attacks.
** Not too useful. Good mutation candidate, defenses quite so-so.

27 PRIESTESS Tensen Nyan Nyan
Reflects Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
    Tensen Nyan Nyan is a status effect-oriented Persona. Consequently,
she's fairly weak in combat as the status attacks generally have only a small
chance of affecting a foe. Her final normal spell is Medirama, and her
mutation spell is Recarm. If you are able to get her to rank 8 and unlock
that mutation spell, she could be a fairly strong support Persona. However, I
had a hard time ranking her up. I think she has one of the slowest rank-up
patterns in the game. If you're going to use her, put a primo attack spell on
her, something that will complete a mutation like a Maha spell of the second
power level or freila or something like that, and hope for a 2-rank up
mutation.
*** Potentially a good support Persona, she is a bit of a fixer-upper

28 HERMIT Grinbulsti
Resists Physical; Weak against Mind/Nerve. [Check these attributes]
    Grinbulsti is one of the worst Personae I've seen in terms of defense. I
believe that his Resists Physical is a half-strength version of Strong
against Physical, so it's not too great. And his weakness? If there's any
status attack used on you, you WILL succumb. His spells are really not useful
either. However, his return item is a material card which allows you to
summon another Persona, so I do recommend you summon him and use the cheesy
quick rank-up trick: Place a Dia card on him, (yes, DIA), go to Kasu High,
get into a fight with some very low-level demons. Set combat to auto, have
everyone defend, and have the person with Grinbulsti just cast Dia until they
run out of spell points. Since healing spells rank you faster than combat
spells, this is the quickest and safest way to go.
* Worth only for his return item, or he would be a -

28 EMPORER Marduk
Voids Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
    Marduk's a decent elemental Persona. He's actually not quite as good
with fire as Jack O' Lantern is, but he has Posumudi (Antidote/cure poison)
which is always useful, and Straight Slash. His mutation spell is Freila,
which helps a lot. Finally, his return item is the Agility Source (though you
can get it another way too). Most of the male characters suffer for Agility,
so this is a great source for them.
*** Pretty typical 1-note Persona, but a good return item and no really bad
weaknesses

28 ROD Nankyoku Roujin
Strong against Magic; Weak against Physical
~Requires: mutation from another Persona level 25-27
    Nankyoku Roujin has several different fire attacks and some status
powers. He has two noteworthy spells. The first is Pine Bamboo Plum. The name
refers to certain trees revered in Japanese culture, but the spell is a very
strong healing move. It randomly heals every party member for some amount of
damage, usually 1-250 points. That makes it potentially more potent than
Medirama. His mutation spell is Summon Spirit, which is the silence all
spell. It's also the spell that fuses with all rumor spells, and fairly rare.
There are only about a half-dozen Personae which can learn this spell, and
Nankyoku Roujin is the first of them.
**** Good fire Persona with special healing and fusion powers. Worth making a
point of getting.

29 STRENGTH Kerepres
Strong against Ice, Lightning, Nuclear; Weak against Attack, Strike.
Affinity: Water
    Kerepres has physical, water, and ice attacks, which is a fairly good
mix. Acid Rain, Blizzard Breath, and Wing Beat attack all your opponents.
They're potentially very useful - but watch out for demons that reflect them,
especially since they effect all.
** Average Persona. Good candidate to try to mutate into Yebisu. It's
interesting that she resists all three of the secondary element types.

29 HIEROPHANT Shaka
Strong against All. Affinity: Earth
~Requires: Material Card Yuiga Dokuson
    Shaka is a very powerful Persona. His defenses are great. Note that
being strong against all subsumes Void: Dark/Holy. Shaka's attacks are Holy
and Lightning based. He also has Mafui and Recarm. His mutation spell is
Refresh Ring (very useful in general!). Put a potent spell of your choice on
him, possibly a strong healing spell, or an elemental attack of your choice.
**** A very good all-around Persona.

30 STAR Kenren Taishou
Absorbs Ice; Voids Water; Weak against Fire
~Member of Gensomaden Saiyuki
    With a mix of strong water attacks and Maha Mudo, Kenren Taishou will
probably serve you well. His Tetraja is useful, and his mutation spell is
Wall of Water. A very good water Persona.
*** Above average water Persona.

31 WORLD Demeter
Voids Darkness, Holy. Affinity: None
    Demeter's got an odd bag of moves but I've always found her useful.
Diarama's not the greatest healing spell, but it's better than nothing and
it's good for ranking with. Ninety Nine Needles, Marin Karin, Maha Magnus and
Magdyne are all fusion components. You could enhance her usefulness with
another attack, probably water, almighty (zanma perhaps) or a nuclear spell,
depending on your other Personae. As an extra bonus, she gives a Tec bonus,
and Katsuya will probably be her main user and in need of such by now. A kaja
spell might also be useful. Also, she hides a rumor spell.
*** A nice overall earth Persona, I think of her as being somewhat defensive
but I think that's just the way I play her.

31 MOON Maia Custom
Voids Darkness, Holy, Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
~Requires: Mutation from MOON Maia. Useable only by Maya
    Before I analyze Maia Custom, let me explain that a great deal of her
usefulness comes from getting her much earlier than you would be able to
summon her, when your characters are perhaps as low as 13th level.
Consequently, her powers are all abnormally strong when your party first gets
her, but are actually fairly typical for her level.
     Still, Maia Custom's defenses are pretty much top-notch. Only "Strong
Against Everything" is better, really. Hama is the same as the starting
Persona, and now it's a ludicriously weak spell. It should have been replaced
with Mahanma in my opinion. Invitation to Sleep is a new move, it's somewhat
useful. Scratch gives her a basic physical attack (and I always like a
Persona to have one off-type move for versatility's sake). Aqua is replaced
with Maha Aques, and its fusion was probably a huge help to you when you got
it. Like Maia, she has Multidimension as her final spell. In case you didn't
read the earlier entry, notice that its category is "(Special) Type: None."
This means taht Multidimension does not count as magic and can be used on
demons that void and reflect magic!! (You'll be encountering some of those
annoying things by this level... :) This makes it one of the most powerful
spells in the entire game, even if the success rate isn't high. I don't know
if Maya's LUC (or perhaps TEC) affects its success, but I suspect that one of
them do because I brought Maia Custom out again at the end of the game and my
success rate was at least four out of five with it.
**** Maia Custom's mutation spell is Recarm, thus, along with her defensive
statuses and Medirama, she's a 1-woman revive and restore system.

32 JUDGMENT Melchisedec
Reflects Holy; Weak against Darkness. Affinity: None
    I'm surprised this isn't categorized as a Wind Persona, it has quite a
few Wind moves, plus some sword and holy. I suppose the angel nature makes it
a holy (and therefore a "none" affinity) Persona. Sadly, it's a 'weak angel'
and is easily dispatched by dark, though it reflects holy. However, that's
pretty useless: most things with holy attacks void them, just like this
Persona. I'd pass on summoning Melchisedec and just get a more generic wind
Persona if I were you.
** Average moves, poor defenses... not worth bothering with.

32 PENTACLE Yebisu
Strong against Magic; Weak against Physical. Affinity: Earth
    All of the pentacles are good, Yebisu is a favorite among Persona 2 fans
for being one of the best of its level and its arcanum. It starts with
Diarama, which is good for healing one person who definitely needs reliable
healing, but also gets Pine Bamboo Plum (which despite the variability,
really does usually heal quite a bit). Yebisu has Maka Kaja and Raku Kaja,
which you would expect to pretty much cement it in the role of
support/healing. However, at rank 7 it gets Rock Fall, which is an
Earth/attack all spell, and very good for fusion attacks, and at rank 8 it
gets Summon Spirit.
**** Wonderful healing Persona with useful (if specialized) attack fusion
capabilities

33 HERMIT Byakko
Voids Ice, Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
~Unusual Compatibility: At least Good compatibility with all characters!
Member of Shiijin Tenchishou set
       Byakko is a special case among Personae. By himself, he's fairly
weak, but he has some extra factors going for him. First of all, he can
participate in not one but TWO special fusions with other members of his
pantheon - and unlike several other such spells, these are both GOOD fusions.
Secondly, he's unusually compatible, this is probably to encourage you to use
him in those full-pantheon fusions (though he'll mutate best for Maya and
Ulala). The spells he needs for those fusions are Wall of Water and any water
attack spell. His best water spell is Acid Rain, but since the rest of his
pantheon is a bit higher level, it would be to your advantage to put the
strongest water attack spell possible on him (Torrent card to give him Maha
Aquadyne if possible). Since this pantheon has one Persona of each element,
my general advice for elemental sets applies (see section III.A).
    Anyway, on with the main analysis. Byakku learns only 5 spells but each
is distinctive. One physical attack, Suku Kaja (which enhances speed), one
water attack, one ice attack, and Wall of Water. A very good mix, it's just
that the spells are somewhat weak. Blizzard Breath attacks all, but its power
is level-based so it might not be so good at first, but if you keep him
around it will equalize things some. Acid Rain also attacks all, but the
damage is relatively low. His mutation spell is Absolute Zero, which isn't
really much better than Blizzard Breath. Still, he's fairly easy to mutate.
If you add Maha Aquadyne he should power-up quite quickly, and any of the
party can use him. His defenses are also a bit better than typical for a
water Persona.
(Special), *** if considered normally.

33 SUN Heimdal
Reflects Lightning; Voids Wind; Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
~Member of the Ragnarok Combatants
    Heimdal's a pretty versatile Persona. If you want a Wind Persona, I'd
definitely pick Heimdal over Melchesdic. He has a couple of ice attacks along
with Maha Garula (good for triggering fusions) and Killer Wind (his mutation
spell, better for boosting air fusions when he doesn't need to complete
them). Soothing Melody's not a very strong healing move, but as previously
mentioned it's a component to some good status attack fusions. Add any spell
you find useful to him; you'll probably find yourself doing ice+ice fusions
with him and Byakko. Heimdal can particpate in a pantheon-specific fusion,
though it's not a great one.
**** Solid Persona, unusual mix of wind and ice (ice being more common on
water Personae).

34 MAGICIAN Agrippa
Strong against Magic; Weak against Physical. Affinity: Fire
    Agrippa's sort of a fill-in Persona. He has a good mix of abilities, but
nothing spectacular. His best spell is probably Megido, and his mutation
spell is Summon Spirit. With darkness, almighty, and fire attacks, he can
help with several fusions though can't complete any. Once Summon Spirit
unlocks, he may be a bit more useful. Still, I suspect you're mostly going to
have him cast Megido to chew up your opponents. It's a VERY nice change to
have a fire Persona that's NOT weak against water though.
*** An ok fire Persona, Jack of all trades, master of none.

34 PRIESTESS Sif
Reflects Lighting; Voids Wind; Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
    Sif has the same defensive properties as Heimdall. However, her powers
are mostly lightning and status-related. You may find yourself actually
adding Maha Garula or the like to her, otherwise she's likely only going to
be doing lightning+lightning fusions. Also, Sif is definitely one of the
Personaes that takes quite a while to rank up. You'll really appreciate any
mutation/two ranks up that you get. Her spells Tetraja, Diarama, and Kotoludi
will come in handy. Despite being Thor's wife in Norse mythology, she is NOT
a part of the Ragnarock pathenon fusion.
*** Add an air spell, useful support Persona in general.

35 CHARIOT Seiten Taisei
Voids Fire; Weak against Water
    Seiten Taisei starts out with Maha Agionn, and that's a Good Thing, as
he's able to cast powerful fusions right at the start. His kotoludi might be
useful (especially if you don't have Sif). He has two physical attacks, not
bad. His mutation spell is Killer Wind, which gives him a second element.
Sama Kaja boosts spell defense; not a critical spell but useful. Megido is a
very strong almighty spell. I consider him a fairly strong Persona, but I
don't find him a candidate for adding another spell. I wouldn't bother adding
another elemental attack spell because he has fire, air, and almighty
already; I wouldn't add another status curing or support spell to him, and
physical attacks aren't an option. If you were desperate to have another
element, maybe lightning, sure, go ahead, add a zionga or freila to him if
that's what you need. But don't go out of your way to put a spell on him.
*** Very useful mix of spells in a fire Persona.

35 FOOL Tenjiku Tokubei
**** It's a FOOL, they pretty much all rock. But you might want to save your
card...they're very rare and this one's not essential.

E. Personae level 36 to 50
This part of the game seems to be where the differences in play style really
start to become apparent. Some people really leap forward in the levels,
while others start to use use Estoma or focus on negotiation. Consequently,
people tackle the next several dungeons at a lot of different levels. By now,
you should be developing good resources (in terms of Tarot cards and spell
card selection). Hopefully, you're mastering the trick of summoning Personae
in useful sets. The Personae in this range represent a new level of power,
and consequently, any Persona that has spells typical for this level is going
to be pretty good. Furthermore, this is the point where this guide becomes
more from memory than from recently-taken notes.

36 CUP Galahad ***
36 TOWER Loki **
36 EMPRESS Seioubo **
37 EMPEROR Baal ***
37 TEMPERANCE Stuparideth *
38 STAR Heinir ***/****
38 JUSTICE Nata ***/****
38 WORLD Njord ****
39 DEVIL Surt ***
39 HIEROPHANT Yama ***
40 HERMIT Genbu ***
40 PENTACLE Peri ***
41 HANGED MAN Barbatos **
41 PRIESTESS Parvati ***
42 TOWER Aeshma ***
42 LOVERS Vivian **/***
43 CHARIOT Susano **
43 STRENGTH Takshaka *
44 DEATH Ankou ****
44 JUSTICE Gundari Myouou **
44 ROD Nodens ***
45 EMPORER Hurakan **
46 SUN Il-Dana special
47 DEATH Charon *
47 MOON Succubus ****
48 JUDGEMENT Armati *
48 SWORD Chu Chulainn ***/****
48 EMPRESS Rinok ***
49 MAGICIAN Abe no Seimei ****+special
50 CHARIOT Ares ***
50 TOWER Seeker ***
50 FOOL Tobi Katou special

F. Personae level 51 to 69
51 FORTUNE Cerberus
51 MOON Tsukuyomi
51 PRIESTESS Izanami
52 CUP Bacchus
52 EMPORER Indra
52 JUSTICE Skanda
53 HIEROPHANT Mithra
54 MOON Maihime Amano SPECIAL
54 TEMPERANCE Phoenix
54 WORLD Mucalinda
55 FOOL Junnoske Kuroda SPECIAL
55 MAGICIAN Manana
55 PRIESTESS Hathor
56 HERMIT Kinich Ahau
56 STRENGTH Vrita
56 SWORD Arthur
57 HANGED MAN Adramelech
58 SUN Tatsunoshin Suou SPECIAL
58 WORLD Seiryu
59 CHARIOT Mahakala
59 JUSTICE Bishamonten
60 ROD Quetzalcoatl
60 STAR Valkyrie
61 DEVIL Beelzebub
61 EMPRESS Kali
61 HANGED MAN Prometheus SPECIAL
62 MAGICIAN Isis
62 STAR Astria SPECIAL
62 SUN Apollo SPECIAL
62 TOWER Hastur
62 WORLD Uruboros
63 JUSTICE Hyperion SPECIAL
63 MOON Artemis SPECIAL
63 TEMPERANCE Suzaku
64 FORTUNE Urd
64 PENTACLE Sarasvati
64 PRIESTESS Scathach
65 EMPORER Odin
65 FOOL Fuuma Kotaru
65 FORTUNE Verdandi
66 FORTUNE Skuld
66 STAR Hanuman
67 HIEROPHANT Varuna
68 CUP Dagda
68 STRENGTH Wong Long
68 TOWER Seth
69 JUDGEMENT Amurtart
69 MAGICIAN Rangda

G. Personae level 70 to 99
70 FORTUNE Fenrir
70 STAR Fariedone
71 HERMIT Tishtoriya
71 PRIESTESS Lakshmi
72 EMPORER Lugh
72 HIEROPHANT Alfred
72 SWORD Futsuno Mitama
73 MOON Nannar
73 SUN Virocana
74 DEATH Mot
74 JUSTICE Pallas Athena
76 JUDGEMENT Gabriel
77 FORTUNE Gyokukoujoutei
78 EMPRESS Gaia
80 LOVERS Alice
82 HIEROPHANT Brahma
83 JUDGEMENT Michael
85 CHARIOT Shiva
86 EMPORER Vishnu
88 WORLD Shokuin
90 HANGED MAN Azazel
96 JUDGEMENT Satan
99 DEVIL Lucifer

H. FOOL Personae

III. Optimized Groups
A. Any Four Elementals
    When creating a matched set of 4 Personae of different elements, always
add Earth to Water (and vice-versa) and Fire to Air (and vice-versa), and
preferably make the add-on spell a Maha version. That guarantees that you'll
always have 2 of the same element, one a terminal spell, and at least 1 of
the element necessary to link them.

B. Ancestors
    These three Personae are the returned ancestors Maya and the Suou
brothers, along with one of the characters from Innocent Sin who appears only
as a supporting NPC in this game. The ancestors each have only two moves, one
starter and one gained at rank 8. However, they have a fusion move with their
rank 8 moves that almost insta-kills the boss of the dungeon their
requirements come from.
54 MOON Maihime Amano
55 FOOL Junnoske Kuroda
58 SUN Tatsunoshin Suou


C. Ultimate Personae
    These personae are high-level character specific Personae. You can use
them as your end-game Personae, though there are some more powerful ones in
the game. Overall, they're pretty good and the main party's set have a group
fusion move.
61 HANGED MAN Prometheus
62 STAR Astria
62 SUN Apollo
63 JUSTICE Hyperion
63 MOON Artemis


IV. Tips & Tricks
Quick Rankup Trick:
    If you need to rank up a low level persona, and you are past the point
where you would consider it possibly useful, do not despair. I discovered
something while trying to rank up Kimnara so that I could return him for a
cheap Escape card when I was very high level. If you do a fusion using a
persona that's significantly lower level than the person using it, that
persona will get gobs of extra rank up points. And I mean, do a fusion -->
gain a rank. Or two. I experimented and found out how many levels it needed
to be, and I can't remember the exact amount now, but it's about 30 or 40
which is actually not too bad. Still, it's only likely you'll be doing this
for a handful of Personae.

V. Credits & Thanks

    Thanks go to Dollies, for posting her game play diary and thus helping
me get through the game the first time; Archaeopteryx, for writing a massive
FAQ and being a great answer guy on the Gamfaqs board; Hyral (aka Yushiro)
for providing some sanity-saving info on the boards as well; Sasoriza for
tackling fight strategies and being a real booster of the game; Beans for
giving me another reason to work on this; and the GameFAQs board in general
for being helpful and supportive.
    I also have to give some credit to the people on the SMT: Nocturne board
who nagged me into doing this. Valorous and ... ?

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