In Persona 4 Golden, you have a large number and variety of Personas to build and use. While some Personas are ones that you probably will never ever use in combat, they are still useful as stepping stones for greater and better Personas. This is a list of some Personas that I recommend building to a certain degree as you play through the game.
Rakshasa
In the early game, Rakshasa is great to have on hand to pass down skills like Auto-Tarukaja, Dodge Physical, and Power Charge. These skills are useful from the beginning of the game all the way until the end. I find that physical attacks are the way to go in Golden considering some of the rebalancing that Atlus did. You can find Rakshasa in Marukyu Striptease or obtain it through fusion.
Lilith
Though Alraune’s design is more appealing to me personally, Lilith’s skill set is far more useful for both dungeon crawling and inheriting. Makarakarn, Old One, and Ailment Boost are fantastic when fighting random encounters. Status ailments of any kind are great for when you want to one-sidedly pummel an enemy, and Ailment Boost is a great way to ensure that it’ll land. Lilith is the only Persona in Persona 4 Golden that can create a Makarakarn Skill card at Chagall Cafe. You can obtain Lilith in Heaven or through fusion.
Neko Shogun
Neko Shogun has such a cute design! Look at him with his little armor and flags! As a unit, Neko Shogun is okay. Neko Shogun is a jack-of-all-trades who can use both physical and magic attacks, as well as heal. What Neko Shogun has going for him beyond his design is his access to Divine Grace.
First of all, you can use Neko Shogun to create a Divine Grace Skill Card at Chagall Cafe. Secondly, Divine Grace is a good skill to have on a healing-oriented Persona, which I recommend you make. This is so that you no longer have to bring Yukiko or Teddie if you do not want to. You can obtain Neko Shogun through fusion.
Loki
As opposed to the previous entries on this list, Loki is the first Persona I recommend to actually use and keep. Like Neko Shogun, Loki can work as both a physical or magical attacker. His stats are well-rounded enough for either. But his particular niche is in being an Ice specialist. This is because Loki is the only Persona in the game that can use Niflheim. You can obtain Loki through fusion after you maximize the Fool Social Link.
Shiva
Shiva is a highly offensive Persona that you can feel confident bringing with you to the endgame dungeons. There are three skills in particular that make Shiva something you should definitely aim for. Enduring Soul will revive you to full HP once per battle after you die, and Spell Master halves the SP cost for magic skills. Shiva naturally learns Ziodyne, Magarudyne, Maziodyne, and Megidolaon. But you can teach him other spells through fusion (which is the only way to obtain him).
Shiva’s Pralaya is a great move when fighting against random Shadows. This is not only because of the high damage it deals, but also because there is a 50% chance of instantly killing the enemy. The downside is that it eats up 25% of your HP, so you will definitely need a dedicated healer in your party if you plan on using Pralaya a lot.
Lucifer
Lucifer falls in a similar category as Shiva. He has so many useful skills that you should just aim for fusing him as a Persona to use in the endgame. I said above that you should keep Loki. But think of Loki as the back-up for if you cannot access Lucifer. He is naturally weak to Light, but he also learns Repel Light so you do not have to worry about that. He also has both Mind Charge and the passive Spell Master. By the time you learn it, Victory Cry (which fully heals both HP and SP after battle) might not be useful anymore. But if you think about it as an investment for future replays, then it is a great skill to just have in your compendium.
Trumpeter
Admittedly, a lot of my love for Trumpeter stems from when I was a kid. I thought Trumpeter looked funny, only for him to stay on my team until the end. Trumpeter has a high Magic stat that makes him a great general magic attacker. He also does not have any major natural weaknesses, so you do not need to worry about the enemy knocking you down. Marakukaja, Heat Riser, and Debilitate are all good support spells for your party. You can obtain Trumpeter through fusion.
Yoshitsune
If Yoshitsune thinks, I agree. If Yoshitsune speaks, I’m listening. Every game day before I got him felt like I was stumbling through a desert in pursuit of the oasis known as Hassou Tobi. Yoshitsune can also naturally learn Power Charge and Heat Riser – two skills that everyone needs in their kit. It doesn’t matter which Persona we are talking about. Always make sure you get Yoshitsune.
Persona 4 Golden is available on the PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass, Windows PC, and Nintendo Switch.
