Persona 5 Strikers: Best Skills for The Phantom Thieves

In Persona 5 Strikers, Personas gain new Skills as they level up much like they do in the other Persona games. With the real-time gameplay and hack-and-slash combat system, it's best to have a Skillset that doesn't burn through SP but still covers enough distance to damage enemies. Persona 5 Strikers has a total of nine playable characters, which means nine different Skillsets per character.

Persona Skills are divided into seven different categories: Physical, Magic, Ailment, Support, Healing, Passive, and Navigator-exclusive skills. Furthermore, each Persona can only know up to eight skills at a time. Thankfully, S trikers has a feature called "Swap Skills." Meaning if a Skill is accidentally deleted for another, players can swap it back in by going into the pause menu.

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Joker

Unlike the other Phantom Thieves, Joker can use more than one Persona because he has the Wild Card ability. This allows Joker to have much more coverage than his friends, who each have a signature element.

On the downside, being able to use multiple Personas means that Joker's Skills will vary from Persona to Persona, creating a lack of consistency with the character. The best way to construct Joker's Skills is by checking each Persona's stats and fusing stronger Personas. When using Persona Fusions, skills from the Personas that are to be fused can be transferred into the new, sometimes stronger Persona.

Some Personas are more Physical-aligned than Magical. Check the HP and the SP of each Persona. For example, a Persona like Valkyrie learns more Physical Skills as she levels up, and her Magic is her weakest Stat. Therefore, players should avoid transferring too many Magic-aligned Skills on her. Likewise, a Persona like Hua Po is Magic-Aligned and will have more SP than HP. Transferring Physical Skills to Hua Po is counterproductive because it works better as a Magic-attacker.

Joker will gain the ability to carry more Persona as the story progresses. Be sure to visit the Velvet Room before infiltrating Jails.

Skull

Skull's main element is the Zio/Electric-skills, but his mana isn't as high as characters like Panther or Sophie. Where Skull lacks in Magic-offense, he makes up for in Physical and the second-highest Defense and HP out of the Phantom Thieves (barring Joker). Equipping him with Ziodyne (or Maziodyne) means he can Down enemies that have a Zio-affinity weakness.

He'll learn a mix of Physical, Magic, and Support skills as he levels up, but here are some suggestions to narrow down the list:

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Technical High	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Kaja spells last longer when scoring a critical hit on the enemy.	N/A
Charge	Support	26 SP	The next Physical attack deals double damage.	Self
God's Hand	Physical	25% HP	Colossal Damage dealt to nearby enemies.	Narrow
Ziodyne	Magic	24 SP	Deals Heavy Electric damage.	Narrow
Shock Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase chances of inflicting Shock on enemies with Zio-skills.	N/A
Attack Master	Passive	N/A (Self)	At the start of battle, grants Automatic Tarukaja on user.	N/A
Agneyastra	Physical	24% HP	1-3x Medium Physical damage on enemies.	Wide
Elec Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Boost strength of Electric moves by 25%.	N/A

Mona

Mona gets the highest-tiered Healing Skills in the game (barring Joker, of course). As such, he's good to have for Healing or for targeting enemies with a Wind-affinity weakness. His Skills like Garudyne or Magarudyne are good to use on enemies that have been Burned, so try to have him and Panther on the same lineup. Unfortunately, he can't take too much of a hit thanks to his low defense.

Other characters like Queen and Sophie can use Healing spells too. In late-game, however, when the enemies get tougher, it's better to use stronger healing spells. This is why Mona is good to swap in with Queen or Sophie depending on who the Phantom Thieves are fighting.

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Dodge Elec	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Doubles evasion against Electric attacks.	N/A
Wind Amp	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Wind-attacks damage increased by 25%.	N/A
Salvation	Healing	84 SP	Fully revive an ally at full HP and cures ailments for other allies.	Self & Allies
Magarudyne	Magic	24 SP	Deal Heavy Wind-damage to enemies. Causes Technical damage to Burned enemies.	Wide
Mediarahan	Healing	68 SP	Fully restores all HP to all allies	Self & Allies
Technical Adept	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Damage with Technical hits is increased.	N/A
Masukunda	Support	24 SP	Decrease enemies' Agility for a short period of time.	Wide
Wind Amp	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Wind-attack damage increased by 50%.	N/A

Panther

Panther has the best Magic-stat out of the Phantom Thieves but lacks Physical strength and Defense. She also has access to a few Ailment spells that are useful on weaker enemies - especially in the beginning or when surrounded.

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Concentrate	Support	26 SP	The next Magical attack deals double damage.	Self
Blazing Hell	Magical	54 SP	Deal Severe Fire damage to surrounding enemies.	Wide
Fire Amp	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Fire attacks by 50%.	N/A
Burn Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase the chances of inflicting Burn.	N/A
Dodge Ice	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Doubles the evasion from Ice attacks.	N/A
Soul Thief	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Will drain SP from enemies that have Status Ailments (ex: Burn)	N/A
Matarunda	Ailment	24 SP	Decrease Attack on nearby enemies.	Wide
*Brain Jack	Ailment	10 SP	Medium chance of inflicting Brainwash on foes.	Wide

Since certain Ailments can't afflict bosses, swap out Panther's Brain Jack for Agidyne or Diarahan. It's not a bad idea to alternate between Brain Jack and Diarahan and have Panther serve as a backup Healer to Mona or Sophie.

Fox

Like Skull, Fox has high HP and strong Attack and Defense. His magic/SP is a bit higher than Skull's, enough so that he can be used to target Bufu-affinity weaknesses. However, he works better as a Physical fighter than a Magic-user.

Equipping him with accessories that increase the chance of Critical hits is recommended since most of his Physical Skills inflict powerful damage at the cost of some HP.

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Sword Dance	Physical	21% HP	Deals Colossal damage to enemies.	Narrow
Evade Fire	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Triples evasion against Fire attacks.	N/A
Masukukaja	Support	24 SP	Increase Agility/Evasion for allies and self for a short amount of time.	Self & Allies
Mabufudyne	Magic	22 SP	Deals Heavy Ice damage on enemies.	Wide
Speed Master	Passive	N/A (Self)	Casts automatic Sukukaja on the user at the start of battle.	N/A
Freeze Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase chances of inflicting Freeze on the enemies.	N/A
Myriad Slashes	Physical	20% HP	2-3x Medium physical damage on enemies.	Narrow
Brave Blade	Physical	24% HP	Deals Colossal damage to enemies.	Narrow

Queen

Queen's Strength and Magic are about the same, but she shares a high Agility stat with Fox. She uses Nuclear-aligned Magic attacks and has a balance of Physical, Magical, and some Healing and Support. Her mana isn't as high as Sophie's, but she should have enough to provide backup, or she can battle on the front lines with the other Phantom Thieves.

Watch out for her Defense, since it's a bit lower than Skull or Fox's. Equip her with the right Persona 5 Strikers weapon and armor before going into Jails.

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Atomic Flare	Magical	36 SP	Severe Nuclear damage to enemies.	Wide
Nuke Amp	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Nuclear damage by 50%.	N/A
Defense Master	Passive	N/A (Self)	Automatic Rakukaja on user at the start of battle.	N/A
Nuke Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Nuclear damage by 25%.	N/A
Marakukaja	Support	24 SP	Increase Defense on allies and self for a short amount of time.	Self & Allies
Mafreidyne	Magical	26 SP	Heavy Nuclear damage to enemies.	Wide
Mediarahan	Healing	68 SP	Fully restores HP for all allies.	Self & Allies
Dekunda	Support	6 SP	Removes all stat debuffs for all allies.	Self & Allies

Oracle

Oracle's Persona, Necronomicon, only learns 8 Skills in total. These Skills assist the Phantom Thieves by increasing Showtime Gauge or occasionally healing allies. Once Oracle reaches level 53, she'll get Final Guard, which will occasionally nullify an enemy's fatal attack.

Unlike the other Phantom Thieves, Oracle's Skills can't be swapped out and will be automatically equipped once she learns them. When Oracle gets Moral Support X or Active Boost X, this will automatically replace Moral Support or Active Boost.

Noir

Despite her appearance, Noir works better as a Physical fighter than she does a Magic fighter. She uses the Psi Skills, which gives her a weakness to Nuclear. Noir also learns Healing spells that can cure ailments. Where she does well as an attacker, she moves a bit slow when using the Attack button. But, if players can memorize her combos and have a good Skillset, she'll make a good asset to the frontline.

The difficult part about Noir is her Skills. She learns many good Skills and has quite a variety. Despite the recommended table below, it's recommended to alternate between her other Skills depending on who she's teamed up with:

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Riot Gun	Physical	40% HP	Severe Gun damage to enemies with high chance of Critical.	Wide
Gun Amp	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Gun damage by 50%.	N/A
Mapsiodyne	Magical	26 SP	Heavy Psy damage to enemies. May cause the Mental ailment.	Wide
Ailment Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase chance of inflicting ailments.	N/A
Heat Riser	Support	36 SP	Increase Attack, Defense, Critical, and Auto-evade for one ally.	Self or One Ally
Amrita Shower	Healing	8 SP	Cure all non-special ailments for all allies.	Self & Allies
Gun Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increases Gun damage by 25%.	N/A
One-Shot Kill	Physical	30% HP	Severe Gun damage to enemies with a high chance of Critical.	Narrow

Sophie

Sophie is one of the newer Phantom Thieves in Persona 5 Strikers. She uses Kouga-aligned Skills as her main Affinity, but she can also Heal and buff allies.

Unlike the other Phantom Thieves, Sophie is the only one to get her True Persona in Strikers. This gives her access to higher-tiered Bless and Healing spells as well as Passive Skills. By the last few dungeons, she's someone who should rarely be taken off the team.

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Makougaon	Magical	26 SP	Heavy Bless damage to enemies.	Wide
Marakunda	Support	24 SP	Decrease Defense of all foes for a short amount of time.	Wide
Angelic Grace	Passive	N/A (Self)	Increase evasion against all Magical damage (excludes Mudo/Hama/Almighty)	N/A
Bless Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Bless damage by 50%.	N/A
Divine Grace	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Healing magic is increased by 50%.	N/A
Mediarama	Healing	32 SP	Medium amount of Healing to the entire party.	Self & Allies
Bless Boost	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Increase Bless damage by 25%.	N/A
Recarm	Healing	32 SP	Revive one ally at 50% HP.	One Ally

Wolf

Wolf is the second-newest team member to join the Phantom Thieves. Unlike the Phantom Thieves, he's already a full-grown adult and serves as a supporting character for the majority of the game.

Zenkichi Hasegawa, Wolf's real name, doesn't join the team until the Kyoto Jail. Despite being a late-game party member, he's a powerful unit to have and has access to Almighty Skills. Wolf has an ability called Madness that slowly drains his HP in exchange for raw power during combat. Stat-wise, his HP and Strength is higher than Fox and Skull, but he doesn't get any Physical moves that deal Colossal or Severe damage

Skill	Category	Cost	Effect	Range
Agneyastra	Physical	24% HP	1-3x Medium Physical damage to nearby enemies.	Wide
Megidola	Magical	24 SP	Heavy Almighty damage to foes.	Wide
Debilitate	Support	36 SP	Decreases Attack, Defense, Critical, and Auto-evade for one enemy.	One Enemy
Heat Riser	Support	36 SP	Increase Attack, Defense, Critical, and Auto-evade for 1 ally.	Self or One Ally
One-Shot Kill	Physical	30% HP	Severe Gun damage to enemies with a high chance of Critical.	Narrow
Triple Down	Physical	24% HP	3x Light Gun damage to nearby enemies.	Wide
Firm Stance	Passive	N/A (Auto)	Take half damage from enemies at the cost of evasion.	N/A
Dekaja	Support	6 SP	Removes all stat debuffs for all allies.	Self & Allies

Wolf can use either Megidola or Megidolaon. Megidola is preferred because it costs less SP, which isn't as high as Wolf's HP. Firm Stance can also be swapped out for one of his other Skills if players prefer to use his Madness Ability.

Persona 5 Strikers is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS4.

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