Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Walkthrough - Chapter 1
As you may suspect for a game called Persona, the Personas that we use and summon in the game play a vital role. In this guide I will go over most of the Personas in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and we'll talk about which ones are good and why.
For this guide I won't be covering any ultra rare Personas that take extraordinary luck to get; this also includes Rare mutations. While some of these Personas are amazing they're simply not obtainable for the vast majority of people. There is nothing worse than reading a guide like this and all of the "best" Personas listed are ones you have to grind 8-12hrs for or obtain through pure RNG... That kind of defeats the purpose of getting them, doesn't it?
I do mention some mutations in this guide but that's typically because they're easier to get or provide some great benefit. Maia custom is a 'story' mutation which ends up being one of the best Persona for Maya throughout the entire game. Then you have Hotei, I really only mention him and that mutation because of Estoma. When you're under the effects of Estoma you will get into less random encounters. It's a rare skill and worth going out of your way to get.
This game allows for up to 5 party members at a time which means it becomes much harder to pick a 'best' Persona. What is best will change from dungeon to dungeon and depending on what else you're using in your party. For example, there may be a Persona that is objectively better than the one you're using but if you switch your Persona for it you may lose access to some Fusion Spells which would result in an overall downgrade for your team.
One such example is the early game Pixie Persona. This Persona comes with healing spells as well as different attack types for Fusion Spells, one of those spells is Maha Garu which is used in the Cyclone Slash Fusion Spell. Despite Pixie being a level 2 Persona I end up using it until level 20~ish in my playthroughs because it fills a role so perfectly. It heals (which means I can switch out Maia on Maya) and it also is used in one of the best Fusion Spells of this level range. An extra bonus is because Pixie is lower level the SP cost is minimal.
A max rank Pixie comes with 99 Luck
When it comes to choosing a Persona you may want to consider more than just the Persona itself too. Each Persona can be Returned in the Velvet Room for a reward (assuming you raised the Persona to max rank). Depending on your playstyle and what you want to do, you may want to Return some Personas for the items they give.
For the most part Personas will give you various cards when returned, the best rewards are rare cards or accessories that give you a permanent stat increase when you level up. I recommend players level and return Marduk multiple times during my walkthrough because he'll give an Agility Source. When you have this accessory equipped every level up you'll get +1 AGI, it's a huge help to leave it on as you do all your leveling through the game.
Below are all of the permanent stat boosting items you can get by returning a Persona.
Hit Point Source (+5 HP): Return a Parvati Persona
Spirit Source (+5 SP): Return a Peri Persona
Strength Source (+1 Str): Return a Mars Persona
Vitality Source (+1 Vit): Return a Yebisu Persona
Technique Source (+1 Tec): Return a Fuuma Kotarou Persona
Agility Source (+1 Agi): Return a Marduk Persona
Lucky Source (+1 Lck): Return a Fukurokuji Persona
Another tip is if you get a card you really like, such as Mediarama, you can take it to Time Castle in Rengedai and Register it. This will allow you to purchase additional cards of this type for Yen. Keep in mind though, if you do this with a really rare card it will likely cost you 900,000 Yen to purchase that card from Time Castle. It probably isn't worth it for the regular player to Register the ultra rare cards because you'll never be able to afford buying it back.
With all of that said, let's dive into the list of Best Personas.
Best Personas
(Level 2) Pixie (Lovers): In my opinion this is one of the best early game Personas for Ulala because it comes with a heal along with different attack types making it useful for Fusion Spells. One of the useful spells is Maha Garu which is used in the powerful Cyclone Slash Fusion Spell. A max rank Pixie also comes with 99 Luck making it a good choice for when/if you gamble in the game's casinos.
(Level 9) Airgetlam (Emperor): He only has sword and earth damage but he does raise Tec by 1 with each level. In my opinion he is a good choice for new players because by the time you figure out how to use the Persona system good enough to do Fusion Spells consistently you'll have benefited from his +1 Tec for about a dozen levels.
(Level 12) Ryume (Strength): For the most part I recommend this Persona if you're going to use Jack Frost. Ryume has Blizzard Breath which is an ice spell that hits all enemies, it's a great fusion choice for Ice Blast.
(Level 13) Surya (Sun): In order to get this Persona you'll need to spend Free Cards to get Sun Cards. Surya has both Fire and Wind attacks so he can be used in a decent amount of Fusion Spells. The main reason I recommend this Persona is because there isn't much else for you to get in this level range.
(Level 15) Minotaur (Chariot): Normally this is a good Persona to use on Katsuya during the early game. You'll be using Sonic Punch for the most part and if you're using Pixie or Tengu you can perform the Ryusei Rekken Fusion Spell with repeated Maha Garu spam. Be warned though, if you're trying to do Cyclone Slashes instead using Sonic Punch can get in the way of your Fusion Spells.
(Level 16) Tengu (Magician): Best on Baofu. He has Maha Garu by default which is used in a powerful early game Fusion Spell called Cyclone Slash. You need to use 1. any wind spell, 2. any water spell and finally Maha Garu to perform this fusion. It will deal "large damage to all enemies" which is amazing for lower levels.
(Level 16) Hotei (Rod): Works best on Katsuya; but you'll keep it in your inventory forever for Estoma. This is another mutation Persona but it's the first available Persona with Estoma which is a spell that reduces your random encounters. When equipped this Persona will raise Katsuya's Tec by 1 per level which helps him deal more damage as well. You must mutate a Arianrhod, Genjo, Minotaur, Nekomata, Ryume, Surya or a Tengu to get this Persona.
(Level 18) Jack Frost (Lovers): The icon of the series. Jack Frost is an o.k. Persona, he has Ice and Strike attack types and can get a unique rumor skill called Atomic Bufula which deals medium ice damage. For this Persona to be useful you'll need to pair it with another Persona that uses ice damage. The Ice Blast Fusion Spell is actually pretty good.
(Level 18) Iris (Star): Give to Ulala. I give this Persona an honorable mention because it needs to be paired with something else that it can utilize Fusion Spells with. This makes it a good pair with Tenhou Gensui since both are Earth types.
(Level 22) Tenhou Gensui (Hermit): This Persona gives +1 vit on level up and comes with two attack types, Earth and Sword. If you have another Persona that uses earth damage you can easily do 2 Earth spells back to back for an easy Fusion Spell. Honestly, this isn't a great Persona but it does give +1 vit on level for more HP and it's pretty basic to use. Either Earth Fusion Spells or Double Thrust for single target damage.
(Level 22) Hel (Death): Hel is one of the first really well rounded Personas that you have access to. He can deal Wind, Earth, Nuclear, Dark, Fire, Ice and Water (with a Mutation) damage. His Nuclear attack hits all enemies but the rest are all single target.
(Level 23) Umayado No Ouji (Hierophant): This Persona made the list because it comes with Estoma as a spell. No Mutation required. Aside from Estoma, this Persona sucks. You can make it better when you summon it by using a Card on it to give it some damaging magic. What you give it depends on what other Personas you're using. One nice bonus is it does come with Diarama which is a good heal.
(Level 26) Nemesis (Arcana): Works best on Elly but it's good for more than just her. +1 Vit on level up will help your weaker characters and Nemesis comes with Water/Ice spells. He works well if you have a Jack Frost or Ryume Persona in your party... Or anything that can use an Ice/Water spell. Another nice thing about Nemesis is he can Mutate and learn Estoma which is a rare spell that reduces encounter rate.
(Level 28) Marduk (Emperor): Normally I put this on Baofu when I use it. We primarily are using Marduk for two things... The first is it will raise Baofu's Tec with each level up and the second thing is when you Return it at the Velvet Room you'll get an Agility Source. An Agility Source will give you a permanent +1 Agility increase each time you level up when you have it equipped on a character.
(Level 31) Maia Custom (Moon): One of the best Personas for Maya; it's mutated from Maia. You need to choose the compassionate dialogue choice when dealing with Ulala in GOLD to be eligible to mutate this Persona. This Persona is a powerful healer and offensive damage dealer.
(Level 32) Melchesedec (Judgment): Deals sword and wind damage, also gives +1 Tec on level up. The only weakness this Personas has is to Dark, everything else is neutral or slightly resistant except for Holy which it neutralizes.
(Level 34) Sif (Priestess): She goes best on Ulala as a support Persona. Tetraja is useful for protecting yourself and she has Diarama which is a large heal... however her only damage type is Lightning. Unless you use a Card on her when summoning that gives her a different ability. +1 Vit on level up too which helps Ulala's naturally low HP. This Persona is recommended multiple times during my Walkthrough, especially if Nate is your 5th party member. You will be fighting a lot of robot bosses and they're strong to every damage type except for Lightning.
(Level 34) Agrippa (Magician): This Persona works best on Baofu since it raises his Tec on level. He has Fire, Dark and Almighty damage types.
(Level 36) Loki (Tower): I love the Loki Persona for this level range since you'll have a few boss fights against Robots (X-1 and X-2) and Loki comes with Lightning (their primary vulnerability). He also comes with Ice damage too. Loki also gives +1 Vit on level up which is a great bonus and he reflects Sword/Attack damage while also voiding Holy/Dark damage.
(Level 38) Nata (Justice): You can summon this with the Paopei Material Card that you get from defeating Nata, a rare encounter, in Aoba Park. This Persona is immune to Holy/Dark spells which makes it an excellent choice for end game; it's only weakness is Lightning. The main value of this Persona is the Holy/Dark immunity. If you want to make this Persona a lot more powerful you'll need to put a card on it that grants it a different skill, Earth or Water will give you some more versatility.
(Level 46) Hunab Ku (World): I put this on Katsuya since it raises his Tec on level up. The Persona comes with Earth spells and a strong single target heal. When Summoning him you may want to use a Card to give it a different elemental attack, depending on your current setup.
(Level 47) Succubus (Moon): Goes best with Maya. It does Lightning and Ice damage by default but you can put a powerful card on it to make it do more. An extra bonus is this Persona is highly resistant to all magic, but weak to physical.
(Level 48) Armati (Judgment): Goes best on Baofu, Katsuya or Tatsuya. +1 Tec on level up and he has Mediarama (group heal), Megidola (large Almighty damage to all enemies), Bufudyne (large ice damage; single target), Fire, Tackle (physical) and Lightning. Basically he has tons of different attack types that can be used in Fusion Spells along with the strong Megidola attack for groups.
(Level 51) Izanami (Priestess): Ulala is who I recommend you use this on. It comes with Affectionate Prayer (group heal), Maha Aquadyne and Diamond Dust. This will allow it to participate in multiple Fusion Spells. It also gives +1 Vit on level up which is a big help to Ulala.
(Level 51) Tsukuyomi (Moon): Works best on Baofu or Tatsuya. This Persona comes with Maka Kaja and Sama Kaja; if you use a Raku Kaja Card on it when you Summon it, you'll make it into an amazing support Persona. It also comes with Zandyne as the primary damaging attack. Ultimately it's your choice if you want to put another Offensive or Defensive Card onto the Persona. In my opinion, in order to properly use this Persona you'll need to have another Persona with Affectionate Prayer and also learn the Support Fusion Spells. If you don't plan to do that and just want a powerful Persona, put a strong Offensive card on it instead.
(Level 55) Hathor (Priestess): Put this on Ulala or Maya (or Elly if you went her route). Probably one of my favorite late game Personas because it comes with Mediarama, Estoma and Gryva/High Pressure. It's not going to work in many Fusion Spells but that's ok because we'll probably be using Mediarama every round on harder fights anyway. Another bonus to this Persona is it will raise your Vit with each level.
(Level 49) Abeno Seimei (Magician):
Hastur - Baofu - Reflects magic, has Aquary Tide for Vain Splash and Maelstrom and can be given a Garudyne card to cast Ryusei Rekken alongside Nata. Raises Baofu’s Vitality. Beware of physical attacks since it takes double damage from them, but nothing Hathor’s Mediarahan can’t fix.
Honorable Mentions
(Level 38) Heinir (Star): Heinir has no weaknesses and comes with wind, sword and lightning damage. Honestly a pretty solid Persona that can fill many holes for Fusion Spells. You'll get +1 AGI on level up with Heinir equipped too.
(Level 42) Aeshma (Tower): +1 Vit on level up and only comes with water based damage spells. You'll have to use a card on this Summon if you want some sort of damage other than water.