The Persona 3 Thread

Spoiler question about the end game:

Spoiler:

What's a good level to confront Nyx? I'm 74 with a party average around 68, and I really want to move on the final battle and be done with grinding. I do not have the 'best' persona, like Helel and Lucifer, but I do have a number of Max persona from the first wave of S. Links

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

Spoiler question about the end game:

Spoiler:

What's a good level to confront Nyx? I'm 74 with a party average around 68, and I really want to move on the final battle and be done with grinding. I do not have the 'best' persona, like Helel and Lucifer, but I do have a number of Max persona from the first wave of S. Links

That should be good enough, I think, as long as you have some decent items (e.g. Somas) with you. I think the lowest at which it's been successfully beaten is around 60, but that was with a TON of Velvet Room work. At any rate, be prepared for a very long, protracted battle. Not that your level will lead to that; it's just a long battle regardless. Even my recent NG+ run, in which I just destroyed it, was long. Also, if you still have a few days, you might consider turning some of those top-tier personas into weapons. There are some incredibly powerful weapons there, including some that give +10 to all stats! Equivalent to leveling up a persona 17 levels.

Spoiler:

Cu Chulainn: Gae Bolg (spear / 260 attack, 85 accuracy / inflicts Wind damage instead of Pierce damage + Wind Boost)
Surt: Laevateinn (two-handed sword / 340 attack, 83 accuracy / inflicts Fire damage instead of Slash damage + Fire Boost)
Thor: Mjolnir (bludgeon / 340 attack, 80 accuracy / inflicts Elec damage instead of Strike damage + Elec Boost)
Odin: Gungnir (spear / 310 attack, 97 accuracy / Elec Boost)
Siegfried: Balmung (two-handed sword / 310 attack, 93 accuracy / HP +100)
Cybele: Sabazius (fist / 340 attack, 85 accuracy / inflicts Ice damage instead of Strike damage + Ice Boost)
Michael: Deoxypus (one-handed sword / 450 attack, 94 accuracy / Magic +10)
Masakado: Katana of Masakado (two-handed sword / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)
Mara: Ultimate Evil Hands (fist / 450 attack, 99 accuracy / all stats +10)
Vishnu: Shaarnga (bow / 400 attack, 90 accuracy / Wind Boost)
Beelzebub: Corpse Staff (bludgeon / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)
Shiva: Pinaka (spear / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)
Asura: Vajra (knife / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)
Chi You: Original Dreadnought Bow (bow / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)
Metatron: Metatronius (gun / 450 attack, 94 accuracy / all stats +10)
Lucifer [Judgement, not Star Lucifel]: Holy Grail Lucifer (one-handed sword / 450 attack, 100 accuracy / all stats +10)

Spoiler:

When I did P3:FES, I spent a bunch of time grinding through that optional dungeon, and set up a completely game-breaking demon (Lucifer?) that had the ridiculous spell that does 9999 damage, and then would completely regenerate your SP after your turn. It took a while, but I think once I decided to end the final fight, it took about twenty seconds. I let the boss go for a bit before I brought the hammer down because I wanted to see what it did.

Chaz wrote:
Spoiler:

When I did P3:FES, I spent a bunch of time grinding through that optional dungeon, and set up a completely game-breaking demon (Lucifer?) that had the ridiculous spell that does 9999 damage, and then would completely regenerate your SP after your turn. It took a while, but I think once I decided to end the final fight, it took about twenty seconds. I let the boss go for a bit before I brought the hammer down because I wanted to see what it did.

A friend of mine did this too, though I think he used Thanatos. This does not work in P3P though, as both the required persona skills are gone.

So what's up with The Answer?

Spoiler:

All these doors showed up when I'm supposed to be off preparing for Jan 31. Am I going to get a chance to go back and play with these extra bosses after the showdown with Nyx or is this just an alternative to grinding the final block of Tartarus between now and the end of the month? Also does it simply equate to bonus dungeon or is there additional narrative to be uncovered there?

psoplayer wrote:

So what's up with The Answer?

Spoiler:

All these doors showed up when I'm supposed to be off preparing for Jan 31. Am I going to get a chance to go back and play with these extra bosses after the showdown with Nyx or is this just an alternative to grinding the final block of Tartarus between now and the end of the month? Also does it simply equate to bonus dungeon or is there additional narrative to be uncovered there?

Spoiler:

No additional narrative. There is an extra block of dungeon with higher level enemies and loot, and some hard bonus bosses. You will get the chance to work on these in New Game+, but not on this file after Jan. 31. (And not, I think, in The Answer, which I gather doesn't carry over data.)

grobstein wrote:
Spoiler:

You will get the chance to work on these in New Game+, but not on this file after Jan. 31. (And not, I think, in The Answer, which I gather doesn't carry over data.)

Spoiler:

Wait, so Margaret claims that each of these doors holds answers... but they aren't actually part of The Answer content that was added in FES? If there's no narrative attached to them then they're probably just getting ignored. Sorry Margaret, I'll see you in P4G.

Not sure there's a reason to spoiler all this. psoplayer, I'm not sure if you're playing FES or Portable, but this might clear things up for you:

The Answer is an additional storyline that takes place after the main game. It revolves around the player characters being caught in a sort of time skip where they cannot leave the dorm and are forced to relive the same day. It has no social links, no side activities, and is very focused on high-difficulty dungeon crawling. It was removed from Portable for space reasons and because the narrative doesn't make a lot of sense unless you play as the male protagonist.

Portable has a "Vision Quest," hosted by Margaret from Persona 4, where players can fight higher-difficulty versions of the Full Moon bosses and other challenging fights. You get rewards for finishing those battles, and if you complete all of them, you can fight Margaret herself as an optional very high difficulty boss. Defeating her gives you an item with no in-game benefit and a sense of self-satisfaction.

Almost everything makes sense now. I'm on Portable as a male protagonist, and the game hasn't bothered to lay out a clear deadline for completing the optional stuff. Given the structure of the game and the irreversible march of time I have to assume that the opportunities for creating sweet weapons and making sweet love will have to come to an end.

So what do I get out of NG+? If I had to guess, the persona compendium stays completed but I won't have the cash to buy the big guns until I earn it?

Wait...There is "sweet love" to be had in this game?

I couldn't find this anywhere so P3 is becoming a movie.

FYI people playing P3P on a Vita: you can now map the right stick to more buttons than before. You can choose the L and R buttons so you can swing the camera around when exploring Tartarus using the R stick!!!

They also now let you map things to the 4 corners of the touch screen if wanted.

Jamull99 wrote:

FYI people playing P3P on a Vita: you can now map the right stick to more buttons than before. You can choose the L and R buttons so you can swing the camera around when exploring Tartarus using the R stick!!!

They also now let you map things to the 4 corners of the touch screen if wanted.

That's awesome.

EverythingsTentative wrote:
Jamull99 wrote:

FYI people playing P3P on a Vita: you can now map the right stick to more buttons than before. You can choose the L and R buttons so you can swing the camera around when exploring Tartarus using the R stick!!!

They also now let you map things to the 4 corners of the touch screen if wanted.

That's awesome.

Yes it is. Especially since I tried using the stick to move the camera several times when I was playing earlier.

obirano wrote:
EverythingsTentative wrote:
Jamull99 wrote:

FYI people playing P3P on a Vita: you can now map the right stick to more buttons than before. You can choose the L and R buttons so you can swing the camera around when exploring Tartarus using the R stick!!!

They also now let you map things to the 4 corners of the touch screen if wanted.

That's awesome.

Yes it is. Especially since I tried using the stick to move the camera several times when I was playing earlier.

I have done this too many times to count.

So. How do I change it? Can't seem to find it.

obirano wrote:

So. How do I change it? Can't seem to find it.

Hold your finger on the screen for about 5 seconds.

I guess I'm blind or something.

Since this is my first time really giving this game a go, is it really worth splitting your party up?

obirano wrote:

I guess I'm blind or something.

Since this is my first time really giving this game a go, is it really worth splitting your party up?

It's a nice trick when you're re-exploring levels that aren't challenging, but need to be swept of goodies.

I'm stuck. I'm fighting the Reckoning Dice and I cannot damage it. It can either block or reflect all my attacks from all twelve of my personas. It doesn't damage me just constantly cast status effects and reflect physical attask spells. Is this a glitch or do I suck at this game.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I'm stuck. I'm fighting the Reckoning Dice and I cannot damage it. It can either block or reflect all my attacks from all twelve of my personas. It doesn't damage me just constantly cast status effects and reflect physical attask spells. Is this a glitch or do I suck at this game.

That's the one that megidolaons and tetrakarns all the time, right? Physical attacks work best, believe it or not. You need a persona that nulls the weapon you have equipped (ranga is immune to strike around that level, for instance), so that you can "break" the tetrakarn without hurting yourself. Also, Aigis is strong against pierce, which is her attack style, so if she breaks the tetrakarn it won't hurt her much. If Junpei has Marakukaja by then, that would be a huge help. Predict when it's going to wear off (3 turns) and re-cast.

Well, I'm 20 hours into P3P, so I guess it was a great purchase. I'm still not sure if I love the game. I'd say I'm still in just "like" mode. It can get a bit tedious at times. So far, I haven't been particularly challenged, but I'm sure that's because I just put it on normal. I didn't want to get annoyed with the game and never come back to it. I believe I just unlocked the 3rd block, although I haven't actually had a chance to go, yet.

Edit: I'm guessing once I finish this I'll be ready for P4 Golden. The updated graphics will be appreciated, and I should be used to the style.

Another question for the veterans. I just now hit the 85th floor and have been hoarding skill cards. Do they come any easier in the future? Should I continue to hoard them for later, more difficult battles?

I'm starting to miss how easy fusing was in Devil Survivor 2.

You can buy skill cards with gems at the Antique Shop once that opens a little bit later, so you can pretty easily grab one you the moment you need it. The only thing I've used skill cards for so far is to get all-hit versions of all four elements on a single persona to make clearing packs of shadows in Tartarus easier. Then again, most people probably wouldn't end up with a level 60 Narcissus, so treat my advice as an outlier.

Reading about your formerly level 57 Narcissus was a lot of what got me thinking about taking more control of my own elemental abilities. The antique shop is open to me but it still seems like gems are only trickling in slowly. That's why I'm wondering if I'll need to grind for them or if they start to show up more often on later floors. I guess I could grind up levels then split the party and keep looping through Tartarus.

I had a lot of fun with both Devil Survivor games by doing things contrary to the norm. No worries there.

Thanks for the help!

When the shop first opened up I didn't have many gems, so I didn't pay attention to it. Now that I stop to look again I find myself with 99 of most gems, and I'm able to grab almost anything I could ask for (not that I feel like I need anything in the antiques shop). There's a few gems that are rarer, but I'm starting to see them fairly often in the final block that just opened.

I just finished the third full moon event and I must say that I have zero clue what I'm doing fusing personas. I just randomly pick stuff.

It's not vital for completing the game. Keep playing with it if you're having fun with it. Feel free to ignore it or come back later once you have an idea what you're looking for. To actually understand the system and work towards a specific goal requires me to have a handful of FAQs loaded in different tabs. It's almost like a mini-game of its own right. Out of all of them, I've found this big PNG to be the most useful when opened in paint and putting red dots next to the personas available in my compendium.

psoplayer wrote:

It's not vital for completing the game. Keep playing with it if you're having fun with it. Feel free to ignore it or come back later once you have an idea what you're looking for. To actually understand the system and work towards a specific goal requires me to have a handful of FAQs loaded in different tabs. It's almost like a mini-game of its own right. Out of all of them, I've found this big PNG to be the most useful when opened in paint and putting red dots next to the personas available in my compendium.

I think there is a simulator floating around somewhere out there. . . . At least people have built fusion simulators for other SMT games. Here is a GameFAQs link that seems to be on topic. I haven't used any of these tools but they might be good.

I have my courage, academics, and charm are all maxed now. When I Dont have a social link to pursue I end up sleeping the days away. Am I missing something? I feel like I should be doing something other than sleeping.