Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Persona Evaluation Guide
by Alessar (c) 2001

Version: 0.3
April 21, 2001
All commercial use and reproduction prohibited.
This is a work in progress. I decided to release it in this far-from-
complete stage to let people know that it's in the works, and to invite 
feedback. Feel free to send me your comments on the sections that are 
complete already, and I hope you will find this useful.

Email me at: alessar@ignmail.com 
 

I.      Introduction
     A. Persona Basics
     B. Mutation and Modification
     C. Customizing Personas
     D. Starting Play
II.     Persona Rankings
     A. Starting Personas
     B. Personas: Level 1 to Level 13
     C. Personas: Level 14 to 26
     D. Personas: Level 27 to 35
     
     ?. Ultimate Personas
     ?. Personas: Level 56 and Above
     ?. Fool Personas
III.    Credits & Thanks


I. Introduction
     Persona 2 is a fabulous game, but there are so many personas to 
choose from that it can be a bit overwhelming. When I played 
Revelations: Persona, Victar's Persona Rankings FAQ was a useful tool 
for me. Not only did it rate the personas, he gave his reasoning and his 
advice. This is not a comprehensive list of every persona's parameters 
and spells, and what it can be returned for. If you want to look up that 
information, consult Archaeopteryx's amazingly complete FAQ. (I used it 
as a reference when writing this in fact.) This is also not a 
walkthrough. I am also not going to be giving a great deal of situation-
specific advice; I will make a few suggestions, but for complete 
strategies, consult Sasoriza's boss strategies FAQ. 
     Rather, this is a list by level of the personas I've played (which 
is most of them), and my comments about them. The choices reflect my 
playing style, and your results may vary. I will endeavor to not put 
spoilery information in this FAQ, but there will be some. Specifically, 
I will be giving out some details on how the persona system works, I 
will occasionally mention hidden information about Personas (such as 
what a given Persona gives you when you return it at Rank 8), and I may 
refer to specific dungeons and bosses in general terms. I'm going to 
start by summarizing how the Persona system works, clarifing a few 
details and giving some advice on how to optimize your use of Personas.

A. Persona Basics
     Summoning Personas is really quite simple. You just pick the 
Persona, spend the appropriate Tarot cards for it in the Velvet room, 
and voila. The only limits are your stock of Tarot cards and your level: 
you can't summon a Persona that's more than 5 levels higher than your 
highest party member. As you should know from the game documentation, 
you get tarot cards by contacting the "demons" you encounter in 
dungeons. An interested demon will give a number of tarot cards of its 
class. It is important to know that not every type of Persona has a 
corresponding demon. Many of the classes of Persona can only be summoned 
by taking blank or "Free Tarot" cards to the Velvet room and having them 
converted into the appropriate kind of tarot. You get free tarot cards 
by making a demon happy and then signing a contract, and then on 
subsequent encounters when you make the demon interested, it will give 
you cards of its class and some free tarot in addition.
     The reason for the level limit on summoning is that, theoretically, 
a Persona that is too powerful for its user might 'possess' the user. So 
Igor won't summon high-level personas for you. However, this is a plot 
element and not a game mechanic. If you somehow come into ownership of a 
persona that is more than 5 levels above your party, it's perfectly fine 
to use it. 
     A few Personas require a rare object to summon them, called a 
material card. Once that material card is used, you will not get it back 
(for instance, from returning the persona once its reached rank 8), 
which means that you only get one chance to summon that Persona. (There 
are a few material cards that are gained by returning another persona at 
rank 8 or which are bought, but the best ones are gained from unique 
demons or item boxes in dungeons.)
     The level of a given persona never changes. Depending on how high 
that level is, the persona's starting attributes will be higher. Their 
spell assortment (in theory!) will also contain more potent spells and 
special moves. However, due to the game system, some spells will be 
useful at every level, and other spells won't be as useful as they could 
be depending on your characters' stats and attributes.
     When a character activates (i.e., equips or junctions it) a Persona 
there are three effects. First the character's attributes are averaged 
with the Personas. Secondly, the character gains whatever defense 
properties that Persona has, for instance, "Strong against Earth, Weak 
against Wind." The third effect is that each Persona contributes a 
certain permanent atttribute boost at level up. Since you can only 
specify how Maya Amano's attribute points are spent, paying attention to 
Persona's attribute boosts is essential to have some control over those 
other characters.
     Keep in mind that you can freely change Personas during combat 
(unless the character is out of your control, berserk for instance; and 
there is one boss in the game who can prevent Persona switching). While 
some of the Personas do seem to have serious vulnerabilities, you can 
switch them off them if they come into play. I prefer to pick stronger 
personas, but sometimes you don't have a choice.
     Personas rank up from being used in combat. Healing and support 
spells give a little more "experience" to the Personas than the combat 
spells do. Thus, healing-oriented Personas tend to develop more quickly. 

B. Mutation and Modification
     In Persona 1, after a Persona gained all its spells, it was usually 
ready to be recycled at the Velvet Room. That's not necessarily the case 
in this game. As you will know from the game manual, it is possible to 
cast "fusion spells" by combining the right spells in the right sequence 
in battle. Honestly, it's a lot easier than it sounds. Whenever you end 
a fight (the end of the whole fight) with a fusion spell, there is a 
chance that one of the Personas involved in that spell may "mutate." 
There are several possible results from mutation. The most common are 
"Two Ranks Up" and "Parameters Increased." Two Ranks is self-
explanatory. A Persona of first through 6th rank may get this effect. In 
the case of Parameters, the persona gets +1 to every attribute, 
similarly to levelling up. Increasing Parameters has no limit, I have 
personally taken a Persona to 99 in every attribute this way. 
Consequently, a lower-level persona can remain useful if its attributes 
continue to increase to stay on a par with new, higher-level Personas. 
Eventually, it will become obsolete, but this helps extend the 
usefulness of the Persona. I find this particularly useful on Personas 
that I am keeping for defensive purposes. (After all, it does no good to 
be strong against earth if the persona is lowering the character's TEC 
score, and subsequently, spell defense!)
     Another not uncommon result of mutation is to learn a hidden spell. 
Every persona (except for a handful of very special personas called the 
"ancestors") has one specific hidden spell which can be unlocked by 
mutation. Another similar effect is "Unknown Power Awakened." This is a 
secret power which may function when the host is near-death. It's a 
matter of luck and compatibility (discussed a bit later) if it 
activates. Personally, though I've had several personas gain this power, 
I've never seen it happen.
     The final possible result of mutation is that the Persona may gain 
the power of Modification. What that means is that you can take the 
Persona to the Velvet Room and turn it into another, completely 
different Persona. The option "Mutation" will appear on the menu. 
     Every Persona can gain modification ability EXCEPT: any starter 
persona other than Maia; any Fortune class Persona; any Persona summoned 
with the use of a Material Card; and the very highest-level personas 
(level 73 and up).  The way it works is that Personas with this power 
mutate into a "minor arcana" Persona that are categorized using the 
tarot suites of rods, cups, swords, and pentacles instead of "major 
arcana" types such as magician, tower, and moon. All viable personas of 
a given level range have the potential to mutate into the same persona, 
however, you can't have two of the same Persona so once one has mutated, 
it won't let another do so. For instance, all personas of up to level 12 
that gain modification ability would become "CUP Matsuo-sama." However, 
level 13-16 personas may become "ROD Hotei" and level 17-19 Personas can 
become "PENTACLE Fukurokuju." The progression continues like that up to 
level 72. However, there are exceptions.
     First, there is a small chance that any modification can be a "dud" 
resulting in a level 2 Poltergeist. Fortunately, since you can't have 
two of the same Persona, keeping a Poltergeist in stock in the velvet 
room the entire game will prevent this. Seriously, even if you never 
play the Poltergeist, summon it once and store it.
     Second, a very few personas can become another major arcana 
Persona. For the most part, it is just a case of having very good luck, 
because when most of these Personas modify, there's about an 85% chance 
they'll become the usual minor arcana Persona, but about a 15% chance 
that they'll become their secret other self. There are also a couple 
Personas that require a plot action of some kind to come into play. They 
don't use the percentage chance listed above, you either have achieved 
the special requirement or you haven't.
     Finally, another factor that affects mutation rate is the 
characters' compatability with their Personas. Different party members 
have different levels of compatibility for the various classes of 
Personas and this will result in an adjustment to the cost of using 
them, and the chance of mutation. Some characters can't use certain 
Personas; this is called incompatibility. For others, the SP cost may be 
increased, this is called bad compatibility. Many will work fine for the 
character, and have the listed SP cost. This is normal or average 
compatibility.  But other classes will give the character a reduction in 
SP cost. This is called good compatibility. And for some, while they 
appear to have good compatibility, the Persons will have an increased 
mutation rate too. This is called best compatibility and the only way to 
tell it is by observation or consulting the FAQ. Note that all the 
characters start with a Persona for which they have best compatibility. 
One of the advantages of the Minor Arcana Personas is that they have at 
least good compatibility with every character.

C. Customizing Personas
     There are two things that can be added to any summoned Persona: A 
spell card, and an incense card. (Actual incenses are used to boost the 
characters' attributes.) A spell card can only be used on a Persona if 
its not in conflict with its nature. For instance, you can't put a water 
spell like Aques on a Persona with an affinity to fire. Affinity is 
actually denoted by a little square icon in the personas screen, it's 
not just what kind of spells the Persona has. For instance, if the 
persona you are summoning has some fire spells but is not fire aspected 
(not uncommon for an earth or holy persona), you can go ahead and add a 
water spell if you want.
     Adding spells to your summoned personas is extremely important in 
the long-term. Even the weakest spell could complete a powerful fusion; 
A Persona may be very good but not have any potential to combine with 
the other Personas in the party. Judicious use of a spell card will 
allow it to engage in fusion and possibly increase in power. Of course, 
you'll need to know which spells are used for a fusion, but I leave you 
to find that information out yourself, either in gameplay or by 
consulting the main FAQ. I will give you the tip that while any two 
earth, air, fire, or water spells creates a high-damage single creatue 
attack, any two lightning, ice, or nuclear spells creates a moderate-
damage all creatures attack. Consequently, often when I am at a loss for 
what to do with two Personas, I'll give each an ice or lightning spell 
because I know I can get a good fusion out of them relatively cheaply. 
(I had "Bufu" spell cards all over the place by the end of the game even 
though I frequently used them!)
     The second thing you can do is add an incense card. This gives +10 
to one attribute or +5 to all attributes. Incense cards aren't 
essential, how you use them is up to you. The first time I played the 
game, Maya's TEC attribute started to seriously outstrip any persona she 
equipped, so I started putting TEC incenses on all her personas so that 
her score wouldn't be lowered as much. You can use the cards in other 
ways. For instance, if you have a slow character, give their persona an 
incense to boost agility. Or if you have a strong character, you can 
give their persona a strength incense so they are even more potent with 
physical attack spells or regular attacks. Remember, you can increase 
any persona's attributes by both ranking it up and mutating it, the 
incenses are strictly enhancements, not requirements.

D.      Starting Play
     I'm going to give you some advice for starting the game. This is 
just to get you going on a good track with your first personas, and not 
the beginning of a true walkthrough! :)
     
     1. Seven Sisters High. When you start out at Seven Sisters High, 
you are in a great training dungeon. There is a room on the first floor 
where you can get unlimited free healing. You can save anytime you want 
except during battle, so there's no reason not to. At the very start of 
the game your characters will be very fragile, and your Personas won't 
help too much yet. You will level up with just a few experience points, 
though, and the difference will be even more dramatic when the Personas 
rank up. When you start, just use each Persona's first attack power, 
focus on one demon at a time until you've won the encounter. After Maia 
manifests her Aqua power, you can can cast the Stone Rise fusion spell 
(detailed in the manual) by casting spells in the order: water (aqua), 
fire (agi), earth (magna). Start doing that, just Stone Rise everything 
that moves (unless you hit something resistant to it) until the Personas 
start really ranking up. You need to find a key to the 4th floor, where 
there's a boss fight is waiting for you. Don't rush it. After Seven 
Sisters, you'll gain a 4th party member, who will enter play at 8th 
level. So go ahead and poke around. Experiment a bit, there are other 
fusion spells the starter personas can cast, learn the use of their 
powers. Definitely rank up the personas until Maia gets Media (or Me Dia 
if you break up the syllables as they do on the spell card for it) so 
that you can cure everyone for about 30 hp at the same time.
     Contact some demons. In fact, try to make contracts with a few that 
you are encountering commonly. Most of the demons in Seven Sisters are 
fairly easy to persuade. You can get some valuable starting items too, 
like ball of return, but mostly focus on getting some Tarot and quite a 
few Free (blank) tarot. The low-level demons in this area won't give you 
many cards (3-5 if I recall right), but rest assured that it will be 
easier later on as demons start to give you 10, 20, 40, 80 cards at 
once. Try to get a dozen or so of each type of card that has demons 
running around, try to get a few dozen free tarot if you have the 
patience. It will be well worth it having them at the end of the 
dungeon.
     By the time you go to the end boss, your characters should be at 
least sixth level, and have their Personas ranked up to about 6th rank 
as well. If you were lucky, you may have gotten some "two ranks up" 
mutations; my Maia was 8th rank at that point and had gained her hidden 
spell but that's really a case of my personal luck. Note that you CANNOT 
GO BACK INTO REGULUR DUNGEONS, so you need to get all your stuff squared 
away before fighting the boss. And remember, save before you enter the 
room with the boss! :)

     2. Your First Trip to the Velvet Room. Once Baofu joins your party, 
you can visit the Velvet Room for the first time; since he's 8th level, 
you can summon at least up to 13th level personas. But don't overlook a 
few low-level personas that can be quite useful. It should have been no 
problem to gain at least 8 Lovers and 8 Devil cards. Summon Pixie and 
Poltergeist. Additionally, if you have at least 27 Free Tarot, convert 
them to Emporer Class (a type for which there is no demon you can get 
cards from) and summon Airget Lam. If you have another 20 free tarot, I 
recommend summoning Temperance Harpie (there are Temperance demons, I 
just don't think there are any in that first dungeon, but its worth 
spending the cards now to have extra personas.)  At this point in the 
game, you probably don't have enough money to buy spell cards, but don't 
worry, they'll be available soon enough.

     3. Mount Mifune. The second dungeon is in the form of a maze-like 
path up the mountain. Of the enemies here, quite a few use physical/shot 
attacks and quite a few use magic/air attacks. Once Maia has reached 
rank 8, I recommend you put Harpie on Maya; if she takes too much damage 
from shot attacks (Harpie's weakness) swap in Maia and heal. However, 
Harpie will be protective from the several creatures that use earth 
attacks and Maya and Ulala both have best compatibility with hre, so 
she's likely mutate a lot. She's not that great otherwise, but she is a 
perfect candidate to modify into CUP Matsuo-sama.  You can continue to 
use the starter Personas or not as you like. I recommend putting Airget 
Lam on Katsuya every time he's about to level so that he gets some TEC; 
otherwise the computer doesn't seem to put points into his TEC until his 
strength is in the high twenties. Poltergeist will work well on Baofu, 
and Pixie on Ulala. Find the earth fusion that can be cast with this 
selection, experiment a bit. If you're lucky, you might even get a few 
spell cards in encounters... Finally, a little before you get to the 
back of the sanitarium, there'll be a shrine hidden off into the woods 
(a few screens back). Make sure you find it and stuff the donation box 
until it's full. It will let you get something later. There will be 
another Velvet Room right inside the building at the end of the trail, 
so build up some more cards in preparation of that. It's time to 
supplement the starting Personas with backup...go ahead and look in part 
two to see my suggestions about that.


II. Persona Rankings.
     These listing are sorted by level, in level ranges that I thought 
made good break points. There's no "right" amount of levelling up, 
everyone has their own play style. But it does seem the game designers 
expect your characters to be around the level of the demons they will 
encounter by the end of a dungeon, so I have tried to roughly pick 
ranges that encompass every few dungeons.  Additionally, when you first 
gain access to the Velvet Room, Baofu's starting level guarantees you'll 
be able to summon at least up to level 13, so that's the level range of 
the first section. The next level range is based on the next character 
to join; the range becomes guesswork after that.

     I played around with ideas for formatting these entries but 
couldn't really top Victar's. I wasn't going to bother with the defense 
info, but it's one of the first things I look at in picking a Persona, 
so I've gone ahead and put it in here. The format used in the listings 
below is:

Level - ARCANUM (Persona type) - Name
Defense information. Affinity.
Detailed commentary.
Overall rating (5 * scale) and short comment.

     I take a lot of factors into consideration when I assign a rating, 
and not all of them have equal weight. The Persona's defensive status is 
a big factor, what it protects against is generally weighted more 
heavily than what it's vulnerable to. The reason for this is I'm trying 
to focus on the useful aspects of the Personas; and basically, if a 
Persona is weak against some kind of attack, you can switch off to a 
different one. However, being strong versus several kinds of attacks is 
a real benefit. Still, if a Persona's vulnerabilities outweigh its 
defenses, it's a strike against it.
     Another major factor is the spell selection. I do look at what the 
"hidden" spell is, and weigh the spells for being both appropriate for 
its level and a useful mix overall. Ability to engage in both common and 
rare fusion spells can be a heavily weighted factor. By common spells I 
mean the basic elemental attack fusions; by rare, I mean fusions that 
require spells which only a few personas possess. Additionally, there 
are unique fusions, which require specific personas with specific 
spells. Most unique fusions require three to five members of a given 
mythological pantheon operating together; unfortunately, the personas 
involved are often spread across a very large level range, which means 
that unless you invest time in "buffing up" the lower level members, 
they're going to be a burden to drag around. Still, not all of the 
combos are like that and a few of them are resoundingly potent. 
     Lesser factors include attributes, both the starting statistics and 
the attribute that a bonus is given to at level up; and the item the 
Persona can be returned for at rank 8.

Scale Explantion:

      - No stars. Completely worthless Persona.
*     - A sub-par Persona. Weak or terribly average with nothing to 
recommend it.
**    - An average Persona. Probably needs a spell card to be useful, or 
has limited usefulness, such as being good only for an item.
***   - A good Persona. Exact usefulness may vary with game play, but 
generally worthwhile.
****  - Top-notch, useful, powerful, and capable of being used for many 
levels in the game.
***** - One of the most powerful and useful Personas in the game. There 
are only a few.

A. Starter Personas

1 STAR Callisto
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
Usable only by Ulala
     Though you will find enemies with wind attacks early on, her 
vulnerability won't be too much of a detriment. At the lower power level 
of the start of the game, the increase in damage won't be very high, 
perhaps an extra 10 hp. In fact, if Ulala's TEC is raised, thus raising 
her SDF, the vulnerability can be compensated for.  Her rock attaks are 
useful against those same wind-aspected monsters, and if you encounter 
earth monsters, her Zan (non-elemental damage) is very handy. Her hidden 
spell is nothing special; I would advise that as soon as you rank her up 
to 8, move on to another persona and switch back when you need to use 
her earth spells in fusion.
** Decent for such a low-level Persona, but not memorable


1 JUSTICE Helios
Voids Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
Usable only by Katsuya
     Helios is rather neutral towards most enemeies you'll face early 
on. There are a few that are strong with respect to fire but not many. 
His final spell is Maha Agi, which attacks an entire group, and which 
begins a whole series of fusion spells that use the formula fire, earth, 
maha agi___; of course, you need another Persona which can use at least 
Agi to do so. 
** Decent for such a low-level Persona, but not memorable


3 MOON Maia
Voids Holy, Darkness, Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
Usable only by Maia
     Maia is mostly about healing, but she can attack with holy and 
water spells. Her Multidimension doesn't have a good success rate, but 
it's almost a unique spell. Maia ignores holy and dark spells, which 
have instant kill potential, and she's also immune to mind/nerve spells 
such as sleep and confuse, which is very handy. Whenever the party is in 
trouble, switching Maya back to Maia will probably save the day because 
she's so defensively powerful and has so much recovery power. Her SP 
cost is low; you would do well to keep Maia around until 20th level so 
you can heal out of combat cheaply.
     If you play Maya "in character" (kind and forgiving), after a 
certain plot event you may be able to gain the ability to modify to a 
higher-level version of Maia, Maia Custom. 
***  One of the most valuable personas in the game; do not Return it 
under any circumstances


6 HANGED MAN Odysseus
Voids Wind, Lightning. Affinity: Wind
Usable only by Baofu
     Odysseus defenses will be useful going up Mount Mifune. However his 
attacks aren't going to be that useful either. If you get very lucky, a 
mutation will unlock his soothing melody spell (healing spell usable in 
combat only, but stronger than Media). I have never actually bothered 
having Odysseus reach rank 8. If you choose not to put Airget Lam on 
Katsuya, put him on Baofu instead as a good replacement for this one.
* Very poor, a starting Persona should have had a little more usefulness


B. Other Personas Level 1 to 13
As noted above, when you gain your fourth party member, he'll be at 
level 8 which means that you will be able to summon Personas up to 13th 
level right after finishing the first dungeon, Seven Sisters high. This 
next section of personas is pretty wide, but they will probably be 
what's available for the second through fourth dungeons. 

2 LOVERS Pixie
Strong against Wind, Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
     Pixie is a great asset. She starts with a healing spell and gains 
wind and lightning attacks. Kotoludi cures possessed status, and you 
will probably encounter some demons with this annoying attack early on. 
Her rank 8 spell is Megido, which inflicts moderate non-elemental damage 
to all enemeies (multiple groups). Megido is not normally found on 
Personas of under 35th level! It will take Pixie a while to rank up to 
8, but it will be worth it. Her attributes start quite low, however, as 
she ranks up her Luck will increase abnormally. At rank 8, Pixie always 
has a 99 luck. Put Pixie on Ulala and try to get her to mutate a few 
times so that her stats improve. She's going to be useful for quite a 
while.
*** An unusually potent Persona worth putting some effort in to 
developing.


2 DEVIL Poltergeist
Voids Darkness, Weak against Holy. Affinity: None
     His attack spells are pretty rudimentary, mostly earth which makes 
him useful against air creatures as he's got no specific vulnerability 
to air; he can cure poisoning at rank 2, which is handy. Otherwise 
there's not much to recommend him.
(Special) Keep Poltergeist in stock the entire game to prevent dud 
mutations. ** otherwise.

     
5 TEMPERANCE Harpie
Strong against Sword, Attack; Weak against Earth, Shot. Affinity: Wind
     Harpie is not that great a persona. Going up Mount Mifune, she can 
be a liability in several instances. The main reason I recommend her is 
that she's a good choice for a persona to turn into CUP Matsuo-sama, 
which is a very good Persona. She does have pretty good attack spells, 
which will let her do fusions with Pixie. She's highly compatible with 
Maya, who tends to rank Maia up to 8 rather quickly. And her return item 
is merely 10 Free Tarot, so she's easy to mutate and not going to be 
missed. Finally, her attribute is Luck, which is not so common in 
Personas that the women tend to use. 
** A strong candidate for Modification otherwise not that special.


9 EMPEROR Airget Lam
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
     Airget Lam is the lowest level Persona to boost Technique at level 
up. His starting attributes are good, and his earth attacks are 
reasonably useful. He will work well with Poltergeist in dropping rocks 
on demons. The computer tends to not spend attribute points on the men's 
TEC scores early on. Airget Lam is the only way you can correct that. 
He's more compatible with Baofu than Katsuya, but Baofu already should 
have a compatible Persona in Poltergeist, so I recommend him for 
Katsuya.
*** A useful Persona with a good mix of benefits


11 LOVERS Robin Goodfellow
Strong against Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
     This Persona is very similar to Airget Lam, except it's two levels 
higher and its good spells aren't quite as readily available.  Also, 
while Airget Lam gets bonus points for being a Technique booster, Robin 
loses points for being an Agility booster. If you really want another 
earth Persona, for fusions perhaps, it would be OK. But I personally 
would use Callisto instead and save my cards.
* A pale copy of a good Persona


12 STRENGTH Ryume
Strong against Ice, Lightning, Nuclear; Weak against Attack, Strike. 
Affinity: Water
     Ryume is a good Persona, but he costs too much to summon before 
Mount Mifune so I didn't recommend him in my mini-walkthrough. Once 
you're at the top though, you might want to summon him before entering 
the asylum. His water and ice attacks will let him help in a few 
fusions. If a monster has dropped a Bufu card for you by the time you 
summon Ryume, you should seriously consider using that card on another 
new Persona so that it and Ryume can do an ice fusion together. He is 
vulnerable to two forms of physical attack, but I think shot is more 
common so he's not too bad. 
     [Note that 'attack' is a subtype of physical attack (it should have 
been named 'tackle' in my opinion, to avoid confusion) and Ryume is only 
vulnerable to that subtype and strike, not to all melee attacks.]
     I would recommend adding a Dia or MeDia spell to him, but you 
should have Maia and Pixie available for that. His Poismudi and Kotuludi 
are going to be very useful for quite a while, and his hidden spell is 
Recarm, which raises a fallen party member in combat.
     Ryume can participate in a unique fusion; however, the spell in 
this case is not that great.
**** It might not be obvious, but this is a very strong recovery persona 
with some useful attacks.


12 STAR Kimnara
Voids Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
     Kimnara is a fun Persona. His fire attacks are strong, and you get 
Maha Agi fairly early. His soothing melody is a stronger healing spell 
than MeDia, though it can only be used during a fight. He is the first 
Persona to get Trafuri, which is the escape combat spell. It's quite 
rare, and you can return a rank 8 Kimnara for a Trafuri card. Kimnara's 
defenses are definitely useful in the third and even fourth dungeons. 
Could be a lifesaver in the third boss fight.
*** A good basic persona with a rare return item, uncommon spells, and 
useful defenses. Definitely worth summoning, but probably not keeping.

 
12 CUP Matsuo-sama
Absorbs Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
Requires: Mutation from another level 1-12 Persona
     Like most minor arcana Personas, he's extremely useful. He starts 
with Maha Aqua, which will allow certain water fusions.  His most useful 
spells though are de kaja (which cancels various attribute boosting 
spells), wall of water (which protects the entire party completely from 
water attacks), and refresh ring (which cures all status ailments on one 
character). Matsuo-sama is a good persona but will really come into his 
own in the fifth dungeon. [Note that I count the trail up Mount Mifune 
and the Asylum atop it together as the second dungeon.] You will be 
using higher level personas by then, but his powers will be very handy. 
Therefore, build him up when you get the chance, and be sure to have him 
with the party then. Finally, as a CUP, Matsuo-sama is at least good 
compatibility with everyone.
*** A very worthwhile defensive persona 


13 SUN Surya
Reflects Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
     Surya is a pretty useful persona; he's not so focused as many 
others are. He has maha agi, but he also has maha garu. His spiral shot 
is useful as a physical attack. He has good flexibility and he makes a 
logical partner to combine in fusion spells with Kimnara, but he could 
also cast fusions with Maia, Pixie, and others. He will be very good 
against the third boss, and is also a likely candidate to modify into 
ROD Hotei.
*** An attack persona with unusual flexibility


C. Personas level 14 to 26
This is a pretty broad range, and it covers Personas for the next few 
dungeons. You will eventually be getting a fifth character, and when you 
do you should be able to summon Personas up to about 26th level. In 
general, I'm assuming that these Personas will be in use up to either 
the Science Lab or the TV Station. 


14 HIEROPHANT Genjo
Voids Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
     Genjo's ability to ignore mind and nerve magic could be very 
useful, especially in the fourth dungeon. His lack of affinity allows 
you to add a spell of any element, which is good because his innate 
selection is quite mediocre and doesn't lend to fusing.
     Genjo is one of a few Personas which can participate in a fusion 
spell unique to it and members of its mythic pantheon; however, the 
spell in this case is not that great.
* A useful defense, not really much to this Persona otherwise


14 HERMIT Nekomata
Reflects Mind/Nerve. Affinity: None
     Nekomata is quite a tricky character. She reflects mind and nerve 
spells, and like Genjo, has no affinity to limit her when adding a 
spell. She does have air, almighty, and status attacks already, which is 
not a bad selection.
** Useful defenses, ok spells. A fixer-upper Persona.


15 EMPRESS Arianrhod
Strong against Physical; Weak against Magic. Affinity: Wind
     Arianrhod is an unusual Persona; she's an air persona but she has 
no wind attacks. She does have zio, the first lightning spell, but 
that's about it. She does have a useful power which will be invaluable 
against the boss of the fourth dungeon: Wall of Air. Once cast, the 
party gains the status: Voids Wind. (Note: Wall spells do not stack; the 
last one cast takes precedence.) She's the lowest-level Persona to have 
a spell such as this. Her weakness against magic is not really a 
liability at the beginning of the game; her stats are quite even and 
basically anyone with a decent Tec won't notice much extra damage. Her 
resistance to all physical, however, will noticeably help. She really 
could use an extra spell added onto her though; either a wind attack or 
ice (to fuse with Ryume) might be good.
*** A lifesaver against the fourth boss; a good defensive persona 
overall.


15 CHARIOT Minotaur
Strong against Physical; Weak against Magic. Affinity: Earth
     This isn't a very useful persona. His ability to soak physical 
attacks might come in handy, but the persona is weak in general. He has 
the generally-good defensive spell wall of earth, but I don't believe 
you'll need it at all. His attack spells are physical, and aren't that 
good, really. Kotoludi is a useful spell but other, far more utilitary 
Personas around this level have it. I would recommend skipping this one; 
if you do summon it to use its defenses, I wouldn't make it a point to 
level it up to rank 8 before returning it.
* The only use I can see for this persona is swapping it in to resist 
strong physical attacks


16 ROD Hotei
Voids Fire; Reflects Nuclear; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
Requires: Mutation from another level 13-16 Persona 
     I usually mutate Sun Surya but you could use another Persona. He 
starts with a fire spell capable of completing a fusion, he gains the 
ever-useful Estoma in the middle of his spell progression, and his 
hidden spell is Recarm. He also has holy, nuke, and throw attacks thus 
making him diverse and quite useful. Even if you're about to put aside 
Personas in the mid-teens when you get him, he's strong enough to keep 
around and use for a while, and his universal compatibility makes him 
available to any party member that needs a fire Persona.
*** A very useful fire persona


16 MAGICIAN Tengu
Voids Wind; Weak against Earth. Affinity: Wind
     Tengu is a very strong persona for its level. It starts off with a 
good group wind attack, gains an Almighty group attack, has Wall of Air 
which can protect your whole party, and even has Recarm, thus making him 
a must for the fourth boss fight if you don't have Arianrhod. Another 
good factor is that he gives a TEC bonus; while TEC will become more 
common shortly, it's still rare around this level. He very similar in 
power to Hotei, actually, but with different spells.
*** Very useful air persona


17 JUDGEMENT Phaleg
Voids Holy; Weak against Darkness. Affinity: Water
     Phaleg is not that great. He does gain water spells, but while 
Tengu and Hotei are starting with Maha Agi and Maha Garu, Phaleg is 
starting with Aqua and gaining Maha Aqua (which makes the original 
spell-slot a waste really) several ranks later. And that's comparatively 
weak; even gaining Aques at rank 8 doesn't make up for it. He is a good 
candidate for being converted into Pentacle Fukurokuju, though, as his 
return item is worthless and he does have enough innate spell power to 
participate in a common water fusion. I had a hard time mutating him 
though, even on Ellen who should have best compatibility with him. 
** Worth mutating and that's about it.


17 HANGED MAN Shax
Voids Water; Strong against Attack, Sword; Weak against Earth, Fire, 
Shot
     Shax has both ice and lightning attacks (two each, a waste of 
spells basically), thus making him a natural to pair with Personas like 
Ryume and Arianrhod. His other attributes are not outstanding, and shot 
vulnerability is bad in general.
** An ok persona, but another candidate for a hopefully quick mutation 
into Pentacle Fukurokuju.


18 STAR Iris
Absorbs Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
Requires: Material Card - Flash of Colors
     Iris is a potent Persona. If you haven't let go of Maia yet, now's 
the time to do so. Iris's healing power is quite similar, and her attack 
strength is Earth. Sadly, she has the fairly typical mix of a weak 
attack spell, a weak to group attack spell, and a medium single attack 
spell of the same element. This leaves her sadly lacking in diversity, 
but still very useful in the fourth dungeon. I would invest a spell card 
in Iris; if you've gained a Frei card, and you could in the fourth 
dungeon, I would use it on her. It would give her an atypical attack and 
she could cast fusions with Hotei or Hel. Iris will work well on either 
Maya or Ulala.
*** Useful persona, fairly strong and with a few tricks available.


18 LOVERS Jack Frost
Absorbs Ice; Voids Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
     Jack Frost might actually be so cute he's worth summoning for no 
other reason. That's good, because there isn't much reason to summon him 
otherwise. At his level I don't think you'll be encountering too much 
that uses water attacks, but you will encounter several things with 
Fire. He has few spells, though he's hiding an extra spell: Atomic 
Bufula. If you spread a rumor, this spell will appear, and it can fuse 
uniquely, however, it's pathetically weak. (Not that you can get the 
other component for ten levels...)  He does have a high rate of persona-
talk with his own kind and Jack O'Lantern, but Lovers cards aren't that 
hard to get. Summon him for nostalgia, or if you want to see his rare 
spell, pass otherwise. He could be very useful in the fifth boss fight, 
though I would expect you to have stronger Personas by then.
** Adorable but not very useful.


19 TEMPERANCE Fearal
Strong against: Sword, Attack; Weak against Shot, Earth. Affinity: Wind
     For a physically-oriented Persona, Fearal is not that great. Weak 
against shot is, in my opinion, a fairly serious vulnerability to have 
as most of the human enemies you encounter will have strong shot 
attacks. Her weakness against Earth is mitigated by gaining the spell 
Wall of Earth at rank 8, but her other moves are not that special in 
general. At least she starts with Maha Garu, which will definitely let 
you participate in a fusion spell with her. If you summon her, adding a 
healing or assistance spell could increase her usefulness dramatically.
** Fairly weak, but not completely useless.


20 HIEROPHANT Aizen Myouou
Voids Earth, Darkness, Holy. Affinity: Earth
Usable only by Nate.
     Aizen Myouou is one of the best starting Personas. He has excellent 
defenses and a range of attacks (holy, earth, and physical). With a 
lucky mutation he'll manifest Maka Kaja, which is the magic attack 
boosting spell. His return item isn't great, so go ahead and have Nate 
use him a lot and increase his power with some mutations.
*** A good overall persona. A shame he's only usable by Nate.


20 PENTACLE Fukurokujo
Reflects Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
Must be mutated from another level 17-19 Persona.
     You will want Fukurokujo, if for no other reason than to return hm 
at rank 8 for a Lucky Source. This accessory, if equipped at levelup, 
grants an extra +1 to Luck. Fukurokujo has a mix of healing (including 
status recovery) and earth attacks; nothing really special but nothing 
really bad either and useful to have all in one place.
**** A decent healing persona with some attack power, and the source of 
a rare and precious item. 


20 MOON Pariker
Voids Physical (except Sword), Weak against Holy, Sword. Affinity: None
     Pariker really only has one thing going for her, and that's voiding 
most Physical. Her spell selection is on the weak side. Be careful of 
her vulnerabilities.
** Useful to resist damage from physical attacks - if you encounter any 
that are that dangerous. 


20 FOOL Sarutobe Sasuki [See Fool section.]
**** It's a FOOL, they pretty much all rock. But you might want to save 
your card...


21 SUN Kinich Kakmo
Voids Fire; Strong against Attack, Sword; Weak against Earth, Shot, 
Water. Affinity: Fire
     This Persona has a lot of vulnerabilities, and I don't think its 
resistances make up for it. Sword attacks are not exactly rare, but 
they're not really common either. Fire Breath attack does level-based 
damage (based on the summoner, not it) so this Persona has some 
flexibility there, but its spells overall are just typical. It does 
return for an Anti-force card (which teaches a Persona Tetrakarn) and 
that can be useful but it's not the only source for that card.
** A mediocre Persona; the return item could be useful. 


21 STRENGTH Otohime
Absorbs Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
     Another mediocre Persona. The low 20s seem to be filled with them. 
She has Throw, Healing, Water, and Status attacks which is a pretty 
flexible assortment. Her ability to absorb water is a notch above the 
typical for a Persona that's weak against Fire. If you need a water 
Persona, you could do worse. (You could also do better). Keep in mind 
that if you want her throw attacks to do any reasonable damage, put her 
on someone strong, like Katsuya.
*** A fairly typical water Persona. Good to have healing in this 
arcanum, and absorbing water is a plus.


22 DEATH Hel 
Voids Darkness, Holy. Affinity: None
     Meet the Swiss Army knife of low-level personas. Meet the first 
persona to be granted a 5 star rating. Hel has an attack spell of every 
type except Almighty, Holy and Lightning. (Water - Acid Rain - is gained 
by mutation). She has no weaknesses and ignores the instant kill attacks 
(as well as simple damage) of Holy and Darkness. She can participate in 
a huge number of fusions. This is a Persona you can plan on keeping and 
using for the next 10, 15 or even 20 levels. Feel free to add an incense 
card to her if you have it, she'll be with you a while. Since Baofu will 
likely be the one using her, I would recommend an AGI card to compensate 
for his slow speed. Also, you should use a spell card on her, something 
that's going to be worth your while. I wouldn't bother adding another 
attack, she has so many already. Rather, consider this is a Persona that 
can leap into most attacks. She will probably mutate a lot too. I 
recommend you add a support spell (if you have it) such as Maka Kaja, or 
a recovery spell like Mediarama or maybe even Trafuri so that if your 
party is mostly wiped out by a holy or dark attack, you can still 
successfully flee. When the dust clears, Hel will be there to pick up 
the pieces and dish out punishment.
***** Summon this Persona, she's incredibly useful.


22 HERMIT Tenhou Gensui
Voids Earth; Weak against Wind. Affinity: Earth
     After the amazing usefulness of Hel, we're back to another 
mediocre, 1-note persona. His earth spells are not so useful (Magna and 
Magnus, no "maha" in there) and he uses sword attacks. His best spell is 
probably Raku Kaja (physical defense up), and that's not all that great. 
** Pretty mediocre. 


23 STAR Gandharva
Absorbs Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
     Gandharva is similar in power and disposition to Otohime. His 
ability to actually absorb Fire is potentially useful. His fire attacks 
aren't particularly fusable. He does learn a healing move, but it's his 
last move.
** Absorbing Fire is his great strength. Doesn't stand out otherwise.


23 JUDGEMENT Nike
Voids Fire, Holy; Weak against Darkness, Ice, Water. Affinity: Wind
Usable only by Ellen.
     Nike sucks. She's vulnerable to the main attacks you'll be 
encountering in the very first dungeon you'll have her in. Seriously, 
you'll see Ellen get killed again and again if you leave Nike on her.  
She starts with Maha Garu, which is not that great for when you'll have 
her. It's replaced at rank 8 by Maha Garula but it'll be an uphill 
struggle to get there. Her holy and status powers are of so-so 
usefulness in the meantime.
* If you have something else Ellen can use, get rid of her right away.


23 HIEROPHANT Umayado no Ouji
Reflects Shot, Throw. Affinity: None
     Umayado is a pretty handy Persona. He has two extremely useful 
spells: Estoma (which reduces encounters) and Trafuri (which escapes 
from them). His ability to reflect Shot could be handy in a lot of 
places (more so in Nate's route than Ellen's). His other powers are 
pretty sucky - if you need him just for his 2 good spells, put a spell 
card on him too. Since he has no affinity, you can pick anything you'd 
like. Maha Agionn might be good.
*** Not essential, but useful if you need Estoma and Trafuri


24 HANGED MAN Kabanda
Voids Water; Weak against Fire. Affinity: Water
     Kabanda's best move is Wall of Water, which will protect your 
entire party from water attacks, however his spell progression overall 
is pretty bad. He starts with Aqua, which is ludicrous for a 24th level 
Persona, then gains Aques at rank 4, which is the spell he ought to have 
started with.  Select this Persona to protect your party against water 
attacks (useful in the sewers on Nate's route) but adding a spell is 
almost essential. Perhaps an ice attack would be good. If you're lucky 
he'll modify into ROD Nankyoku Roujin.
** A redundant assortment of spells. If he didn't have wall of water, 
this would be a * Persona.


24 TOWER Kanaloa
Voids Darknes, Holy, Water. Affinity: Water
     Of the three water personas in this level range, Kanaloa is head 
and shoulders above the other two. His resistances are superior, his 
spells are not merely water attacks but also throw and darkness. His 
mutation spell, Transfixion, is fairly rare and somewhat powerful. He 
also possesses a Rumor spell, Wonderful Aques, which is part of a unique 
fusion. On top of all that, he has Media, which while weak, is still 
useful.
*** This is the best water persona in the low 20s


24 SWORD Kanshou
Voids Attack, Sword. Affinity: Wind
Requires: mutation from another persona level 20-24
     Kanshou is all about sword attacks. He has several different sword 
techniques, plus the ability to increase the attack power and agility of 
party members.  If you want a strong physical attack Persona, Kanshou's 
not bad for its level. However, I don't think you really need one that 
much. If he was more powerfully defensively, or if you could add a 
spell, this Persona would be much more useful. As it is, its somewhat 
lacking.
** A well-focused Persona, unfortunately an unneeded one.


25 JUSTICE Mars
Strong against Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
     Expect to summon this Persona. Mars is the origin of the Strength 
Source item, which like the Lucky source, grants an extra attribute 
point at level up. Fortunately, Mars is not exactly a bad persona. He 
has fire, sword, and holy attacks, as well as Media. (Media is really 
handy for ranking up Personas it should be pointed out.) His mutation 
spell, Fire Storm, is pretty potent. You might be tempted to add a spell 
to him, since he doesn't have the terminal spell for a fusion, but since 
you're going to return him for his item ASAP, its probably not worth it 
unless you've got several extras lying around (poisma or something like 
that perhaps; or a maha garu spell to increase flexibility in fusions).
*** A reasonable, self-contained package, easy to level up and return


26 Lovers Jack O'Lantern
Absorbs Fire; Weak against Water. Affinity: Fire
     Jack O' Lantern is a bit more useful than his icy counterpart. His 
spell progression is a bit strange, but he can participate in fusions 
reasonably well. I personally had stupendous luck with his mutations 
with Ulala, and he not only ranked up incredibly quickly, he massively 
increased in power. Jack also is hiding a rumor spell, Dynamic Agilao. 
His Devil's Smile spell is fairly rare and can be used in a fairly rare 
fusion (though the other spells needed are a bit higher level so you'd 
need to keep him around for quite a while to unlock it).  
*** A strong fire Persona. 


26 Empress Nemesis
Voids Mind, Nerve. Affinity: None
     Nemesis is a very strong neutral Persona. She has no particular 
vulnerabilities, and she's immune to those annoying status attacks that 
take your characters out of your control; it might be worth your while 
to keep her around just to resist them.  If you've levelled up enough to 
summon her for the fifth dungeon, she will be a great asset. Though she 
has both a water and an ice spell, you can add any element you wish to 
her. I chose Maha Agionn, making her potent against both fire and water 
enemies but you could as easily add an air or earth spell. She also has 
shot, darkness, and healing moves. She would work well on any of the 
women, and if you can summon her, I'd seriously consider replacing Nike 
on Ellen with Nemesis. Because she is immune to mind and nerve spells 
you could also increse her recovery powers and make her a healer.
**** Very flexible persona with rare defensive capabilities.


D. Personas level 27 to 35
[Under construction]

III. Credits & Thanks

Thanks go to Dollies, for posting her game play diary and thus helping 
me get through the game the first time; Archaeopteryx, for writing a 
massive FAQ and being a great answer guy on the Gamfaqs board; Hyral7 
for providing some sanity-saving info on the boards as well; Sasoriza 
for tackling fight strategies and being a real booster of the game; and 
the GameFAQs board in general for being helpful and supportive.
