Summary
Just like any other J/RPG, Magic is essential for combat in thePersonaseries. WithPersona, there are four categories of Skills: Physical, Magic, Support, and Passive. As the name indicates, Magic is used to inflict Affinity (ex: fire, ice, wind) damage that can potentially stun/Down an opponent.Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5and their respective remakes give players a handful of characters.
A party member’s Magic Stat will ultimately determine how much damage they’re inflicting with Affinity Skills. Most party members that have high Strength tend to have poor or average Magic. Despite this, if they’re just using Affinity Skills to Down enemies and pass the baton/shift to another character, then it’s best not to hold the low Magic stat against them. Although they may have a bane in Magic, their boon lies in another stat.
Personas: Tomoe, Suzuka Gongen, Haraedo-no-Okami
List of Magic Skills:
Chie Satonaka is the third character to join the party inPersona 4/Golden. Unlike Yosuke Hanamura, Chie’s stats are less “all-around” and lean towards Strength and Agility. One of her innate Skills is Bufu, a low-damaging attack that deals Ice damage. This is an extremely useful Skill for the first boss fight (Shadow Yukiko), but Chie’s Magic Skills coupled with her low SP doesn’t make her an ideal Magic party member.
Chie’s strongest Magic Skill is Bufula, which deals medium Ice damage to one enemy. She’ll learn Mabufu, which deals light ice damage to all foes. However,P4/Gplayers prefer to use her over Teddie (who learns stronger Ice Skills) and Kanji (who has higher Strength). This is due to Chie’s Agility and her Physical Skills (ex: Agneyastra). Teddie may have better Magic, but his all-around stats give him Skills that are better suited for Support or Healing. Kanji has the better Strength and Endurance, but his Agility is average, making his turn last for most battles. Thus, Chie works as a better “go-between” for those that want a fast, physical fighter that can still Down the Shadows with an Ice weaknesss.
Persona: Palladion, Athena (P3 Reload)
Aigis' Magic stat isn’t that impressive either, but her strengths lie in her high Endurance. Unlike Chie, Aigis doesn’t learn any Affinity Skills when she levels. However, she’ll learn Akasha Arts (heavy Strike damage to all enemies for 1-2x) and Pierce Skills, as well as Support Skills. She’s good to have on the teamif players need a sturdy, physical attacker.
Some players may swap out Aigis for another party member, such as Akihiko. This is usually due to Akihiko having more-balanced stats and access to tier 3 of Zio Skills (i.e: Ziodyne and Maziodyne). Unlike Akihiko, Aigis' Physical Skills usually target multiple opponents, and her Theurgy (Orgia Mode) can be useful when used properly.
Persona: Castor
Shinjiro is a temporary party member who’s useful if players need a physical attacker, but not so much if they need magic/affinity. Shinjiro’s Magic Stat isn’t impressive, but given that his Skill Pool consists of Physical and Passive Skills, this is to be expected. InPersona 3 Reload, he has Bloody Charge, which is a Support Skill that more than doubles the damage of his next Physical move and raises his crit rate at the cost of half his HP.
Even though he doesn’t have any Affinity Skills, Shinjiro’s a team member that players will want to usein the short time they have him. He’s ideal for tackling enemies that have resistances to all Affinities, and he’ll even learn Debilitate (lowers Attack/Defense/Accuracy of one foe for three turns) if he’s leveled up (Persona 3 Reload).
Personas: Hermes, Trismegistus
Junpei’s Magic is low, and his starting Magic Skill is Agi. Unfortunately, the protagonist’s starting Persona, Orpheus, also has Agi. This can get redundant quickly, and it doesn’t help that Junpei’s stronger Agi Skills (Agidyne) require level 60. Like Chie, he only learns one Affinity Skill that targets all opponents: Maragi. For the beginning ofPersona 3 Reload, he’s easily outclassed by the other party members and the protagonist, with the latter being able to Fuse Personas with stronger Agi Skills.
Fortunately, it does get better for Junpei from a gameplay standpoint. He’ll grow stronger after awakening to his second Persona, and the quality-of-life gameplay changes added toReloadmake him a better party member. Like Chie, Junpei’s Magic issuitable for Downing enemies, but not his main form of attack.
Personas: Captain Kidd, Seiten Taisei, William
Ryuji is similar to Akihiko and Chie in terms of gameplay. He learns Zio Skills (Akihiko), but a good chunk of his Physical Skills can target multiple opponents (like Chie). InPersona 5 Royal, if awakened to his third Persona (William), he can learn an exclusive Skill that grants Charge (double damage for next physical attack) to all party members.
For Ryuji, his Magic is better for Downing enemies than attacking, or the protagonist can even Fuse a Persona with stronger Magic and Zio Skills. However, he learns Maziodyne and Ziodyne, which are “heavy” damaging Skills, meaning he’sone character players may keep on their teamuntil the end game. Ryuji also learns Matarukaja, which raises the Attack of all allies for three turns. Combine this with Charge, and he can take care of most enemies without much of a problem.
Personas: Take-Mikazuchi, Rokuten Maou, Takeji Zaiten
AcrossPersona 3/4/5, Kanji’s Magic Stat is incredibly poor at max level. Like Chie, his Persona’s Physical Skills will be his strength, and his high Endurance, like Aigis, guarantees he can take a hit or two. On the downside, Kanji’s low SP and poor Magic means that even Downing enemies is better left for the protagonist, who can Fuse multiple Personas.
However, Kanji has the Passive Skill Elec Amp, which can boost the power of Zio Skills. If players want to use him for Zio, then they should consider keeping the Amp/Boost Skills in his Skill Set. Otherwise,it’s better to have Kanji on the teamfor his raw Strength and leave the Magic attacking to other party members such as Yukiko, Yosuke, and of course, the protagonist.
