As has been the case for recent Persona games, I wanted to make a post going over my builds for NG+. These were the Personas I found to be the strongest and most useful, and the builds I ended up using on them in Merciless.
Related:
- Persona 5 Royal Builds
- Persona 4 Golden Builds
- P5S Fusion Calculator (with Combo Skills, Skill Descriptions, etc.)
To max out Persona stats, I used the ‘coalescing power’ method, which involves fusing together strengthened Personas to create new ones with continually higher stats. The method can be read about here (use Google Translate) or you can watch Rozalin’s video on the topic here. Max stats aren’t necessary for any content, even on Merciless, so it’s completely optional. I should also give a shoutout to VeloPls, a speedrunner of P5S, for some inspiration behind these builds, check out their YouTube channel for more Strikers content (beware of some story spoilers).
One last thing, I do have a YouTube channel of my own where I post build guides, boss fights and other Persona/RPG content, so stop by there as I’ll likely have videos for these Personas coming out soon.
Lucifer
It’s no surprise that the Persona that’s locked to NG+ is the strongest in the game. Lucifer’s exclusive skill Morning Star can be used to basically delete everything, and he also starts out with the best resistances as well. This build is centered around abusing technicals by applying Dizzy, then following up with Morning Star to break boss shields and do a lot of damage. Dizzy is the ailment used because bosses are susceptible to it, and if an opponent is inflicted, any attack on them becomes a technical. Only the Final Boss and the first phase of the Osaka Jail boss are immune to Dizzy, for every other one you can apply the ailment and start comboing them with Morning Star.
Alice
Alice is essentially the best trash mob clearer in the game. As long as a non-boss opponent doesn’t block/resist Curse, they can quickly be taken out with Die for Me. I also added Maeigaon and Curse Boost/Amp, just in case Insta-Kills don’t work in certain situations. I normally start battles with Alice equipped, as she clears dungeons the fastest, so I put Attack/Speed Master on her to always start out with those buffs, without having to continually swap Personas. Alice’s combo skills of Concentrate, Mamudoon and Megidolaon are also some of the best in general.
Metatron
Metatron is the Bless-based counterpart to Alice, which is why I gave him Mahamaon, to deal with any enemies that block Curse insta-kills. Mahamaon has a lower chance for insta-kill than Die for Me, but it has a much wider range, making Metatron just as good for dungeon clearing. I kept Sword Dance and added Knockdown Style (Greatly decreases Down Gauge when landing a critical hit) just for when I felt like using the Physical skill instead of magic ones.
Yoshitsune
One of the strongest Personas from previous games returns, and is no disappointment. Yoshitsune’s Hassou Tobi continues to be a very good skill (though it’s not the strongest anymore, see the damage video I did below), and can be used to clear both mobs and bosses. This build is centered around applying Shock with Wild Thunder (most bosses are still susceptible to it), which allows for Phys skills like Hassou Tobi to become a technical, letting it easily break shields and hit for more damage. Yoshitsune can’t inherit Magic skills, so I had to use a skill card for Wild Thunder, but even Zio could be used in that slot as it’s being used for the ailment more so than damage. If an Elec skill card can’t be found, Freeze or Dizzy can work in place of Shock. Salvation is on here to quickly heal (Hassou Tobi costs 30% HP) without having to swap Personas, but it could be replaced by just Diarahan or the healing skill could be on a separate Persona.
Black Frost
Black Frost’s build is based around the same idea as Yoshitsune, just with applying Freeze and following up with a strong Phys skill. Agneyastra is actually the highest damage Phys move in the game, above even Hassou Tobi (see damage vid below).
Arsene
Have to keep the starter around and I stuck with the same build for Arsene as Lucifer, because Dizzy+Almighty can be used to beat almost every boss. This type of build is of course better on Lucifer, because Morning Star does about 50% more damage than Megidolaon, but I still tend to use Arsene more often. The remaining skills slots are taken up by Debilitate and Heat Riser, which are some of the best skills in the game and can be put on any Persona. Arsene actually has a full skill tree for once, learning Maeigaon and Riot Gun at later levels, so a Curse or Gun Build could also work for him.
Two things might be noticeable for these Personas. One is that most have a weakness or two which isn’t patched up, the reason being that you can often keep a boss permanently staggered by hitting their weakness or a technical, giving them little opportunity to target you, so your own weak point doesn’t matter as much. But if you find yourself getting hit and knocked down many times, Resist/Null skills can be added in place of other ones.
The second thing is the lack of Charge/Concentrate. In previous Personas, using those skills was a no brainer because it resulted in the next turn’s attack doing 2.5x damage. In Strikers, using Charge/Conc has the same effect, but due to the action style of the game, taking time to use those skills can feel unnecessary. The timer of how long an enemy is inflicted with an ailment continues to go down when casting Charge/Conc, so it often seems better to attack as many times as possible during that window, instead of powering up for one stronger attack. It’s basically personal preference, but I rarely feel the need to use those skills this time around.
Most builds on here center around ailments and capitalizing on them, so they’re most effective with a high Luck stat and the Bond skill ‘Luck Boost’ levelled as high as possible. Ailments and insta-kills will feel a lot weaker otherwise.
As can be seen by Arsene, any Persona can be usable if you invest stats into them. Some other good Personas, based on their element, what skills they learn and what combos they have:
- Fire: Cerberus, Mara
- Ice: King Frost
- Elec: Thor, Raja Naga
- Wind: Norn, Fortuna
- Psy: Forneus, Kali
- Nuke: Mot, Trumpeter, Ganesha
- Curse: Abaddon
- Gun: Seth
