Board 8 > Anagram plays Persona 3 (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Did you ever fight the Reaper in P5?

Basically the same concept.

I didn't fight him. I remember hearing about him from Morgana, but he never showed up for me. Is it just a strong enemy?
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Anagram posted...

Got to floor 10, opened up the teleporter, went for the boss, lost immediately to the Dancing Hands. Didn't go to the lobby and save because my allies were tired and would bail.

Kill me.

Ah, yeah, that happens. Persona 3 is, IMO, the hardest of the P3-P5 trio. A good deal of that is from the lack of quality of life improvements the future games added, some is that I think the encounters are a bit harder in some cases, and then some is stuff like that.

Anagram posted...

I feel bad about using multiple days for anything that could theoretically be done in one day, but that might just be conditioning from Persona 5. Am I expected to spend a day getting up 5 levels, then just leave if I can't fight the boss?

Also, is there anything in particular I can be doing to earn more money?

In the early game it pretty much goes like that, yeah. You get tired really quick and that means your teammates will bail/you fight less effectively. As I mentioned, tiredness takes a lot longer to set in as you gain levels so it gets better as you go. It's possible to do things like reach the barrier in one night even at the beginning, but it's tough and usually requires a thorough understanding of the mechanics and what you're getting into. Not things you're going to have on a first playthrough without using a guide.

Don't feel bad at all at just getting as far as you can and then stopping for the night.

In theory, I guess a strategy you could use if it bothers you is to try and avoid fights at first to just climb the floors without getting tired. Then, once you reach a boss/teleport floor, you can use it to save. Then work backwards a bit and fight a bit on the floors you rushed past for the experience so you can actually beat the miniboss. But don't feel compelled to do anything like this, it's just an idea if it is something that's bothering you.

Anagram posted...

What is the significance of an enemy with distress icons coming out of its head? In P5, that meant they wanted to talk, but that's not a thing in this game.

On the field? It means you're higher level than them by a good deal and they'll run away from you rather than try to attack you and draw you into battle. You can still initiate battle yourself by hitting them on the field yourself.

In battle? It's a kind of status effect. IIRC, it makes them more likely for you to get a critical on. Happens... I don't want to say at random, but I think it's more likely as your level is higher compared to them.
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Anagram posted...

I didn't fight him. I remember hearing about him from Morgana, but he never showed up for me. Is it just a strong enemy?

Yeah. The Reaper is an endgame-tier enemy that pops up if you stick around on any floor of too long (same as if you stuck on one floor of Mementos for too long. Though I think the timer is a bit lower in P3.) If you start hearing chains rattling as you're walking around that means he's spawned. At which point get out of there because he'll absolutely wipe you. Going up/down a floor or a return point will all get rid of him.
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Thanks for the advice on the Reaper.

xp1337 posted...

In battle? It's a kind of status effect. IIRC, it makes them more likely for you to get a critical on. Happens... I don't want to say at random, but I think it's more likely as your level is higher compared to them.

Thanks.
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Average Academics get
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Wait, does the history teacher wear a samurai helmet?
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Yes, he does.
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xp1337 posted...

Yes, he does.

Fair enough.

On an unrelated note, is the P3 protagonist supposed to look younger than Joker, or is it just the art style? I could swear they're both juniors.
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Yeah, they're both second-year HS students (what would be juniors in the US.) I think it's just the art style.
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KamikazePotato posted...

The lack of costumes in P3/P4 is good (and something you'll get used to, I imagine). The costumes worked in P5 due to the theme, but it wouldn't work for P3/P4, where the emphasis focuses much more on the fact that the fact that the party is made up of high schoolers who are in way over their heads.

I just realized I didn't respond to this. I still feel like they could have gotten investigator uniforms or something. I'm assuming the Metaverse works the same way in this game, which I admit is a big assumption.
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Finally beat the stupid Dancing Hands, they weren't too tough when I was fully healed and stuff.

What would the American equivalent be to summoning demons by shooting yourself? Summoning demons by eating a Big Mac?
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Falling down when you miss is the most obnoxious mechanic
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I'm still waiting for the day that the One More system just gets replaced with Press Turns.

So this latest boss one-shots Takeba, is immune to slashing damage, and resists fire.

Not 100% sure how to beat this guy.
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P3/P4 characters look a bit younger overall than the P5 characters despite the same age. Mostly due to the different designs of the 3D models.

I'm assuming the Metaverse works the same way in this game, which I admit is a big assumption.

Do you want clarification on this? It's not a spoiler but I'm not sure how little you want to be told about things.
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KamikazePotato posted...

Do you want clarification on this? It's not a spoiler but I'm not sure how little you want to be told about things.

As long as it's not a story spoiler, sure. I don't mind basic world stuff, especially if I'm supposed to know it.
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Anagram posted...

So this latest boss one-shots Takeba, is immune to slashing damage, and resists fire.

Not 100% sure how to beat this guy.

Ah, he's pretty tough IIRC.

Some tips:

-If any equipment you picked up has Resist Elec on it, give it to Yukari, it'll negate her weakness.
-If you have any Persona resistant to Strike, that'll help.
-IIRC, while not a weakness, it takes a bit more damage from lighting, so anything with Zio might help too
-Buffs/Debuffs can be very helpful. So any -kaja/-kunda spells might be worth looking at.
-If you have Magic Mirrors you can troll him by reflecting Mazio back.
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Anagram posted...

KamikazePotato posted...

Do you want clarification on this? It's not a spoiler but I'm not sure how little you want to be told about things.

As long as it's not a story spoiler, sure. I don't mind basic world stuff, especially if I'm supposed to know it.

Simply put: each game's supernatural elements work a little differently. The Metaverse as you know it doesn't really exist in Persona 3 or 4, and the way each cast summons and obtains their Personas is different. The Persona 3 cast is actually brute forcing things - they never had an awakening in the same way the Persona 5 cast did. They're cheating with Evokers.

(none of that is a spoiler)
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Is it the table boss?
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foolm0r0n posted...

Is it the table boss?

Don't remember its name, but it's on floor 14.

KamikazePotato posted...

Simply put: each game's supernatural elements work a little differently. The Metaverse as you know it doesn't really exist in Persona 3 or 4, and the way each cast summons and obtains their Personas is different. The Persona 3 cast is actually brute forcing things - they never had an awakening in the same way the Persona 5 cast did. They're cheating with Evokers.

Does the Metaverse just have changing attributes over time or something?
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It's an entirely different thing
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Peace___Frog posted...

It's an entirely different thing

Neat, thanks.
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foolm0r0n posted...

Is it the table boss?

No, table is mid-game-ish.
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Okay, let's do this again.
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By the way, the boss' name is Rampage Drive.
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This jerk boss constantly casting Mazio, which injures everyone and knocks down Takeba, or just buffing its attack and nearly one-shotting anyone, forces Takeba and me to waste all of our time healing, leaving only Iori to use magic to attack, and he's the least equipped to make that work. Takeba constantly losing turns is making things a million times worse.
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And he killed me, great.
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Okay, well, I looked up how to beat him online, sue me. Had to go back and find an Apsaras and use Cadenza. If I'd fused Orpheus earlier, I'd have just been screwed. And even Cadenza was only useful because it healed, no one dodged attacks from its alleged evasion boost.
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Made it to the barricade, got the first old document, good.
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Is there any penalty to/reason not to run from enemies once you're in battle?
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Defend with people who are weak to the elements so the enemy doesn't get extra turns
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Are you playing on Hard?

I definitely don't recommend doing that for a first playthrough, if you are.
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I remember in particular one of the early fights on Hard (I think this one--I know it used electric attacks) the only way I was able to beat it was by stacking evade and praying that I got lucky with dodging. Ended up taking me a bit of extra grinding and still numerous tries on top of that to get a battle where the RNG was really in my favor.
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foolm0r0n posted...

Defend with people who are weak to the elements so the enemy doesn't get extra turns

I didn't realize you can order the computer allies to do that.

pyresword posted...

Are you playing on Hard?

I definitely don't recommend doing that for a first playthrough, if you are.

No, just normal.
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Imagine asking Junpei to bring the class roster if this game was made today. He'd just be asked to text a picture of it.
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foolm0r0n posted...

Defend with people who are weak to the elements so the enemy doesn't get extra turns

There isn't a defend command in this one. The MC can wait, but all that does is pass your turn.
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Elizabeth's mall date was fun. Not sure what I think of the voice acting, but the date itself was funny and gave her some nice characterization.
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Apparently there's no social link to work on on Saturdays.
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Anagram posted...

Elizabeth's mall date was fun. Not sure what I think of the voice acting, but the date itself was funny and gave her some nice characterization.

My only thought after the date with Elizabeth was that I wanted more dates with Elizabeth.

(also fun fact: Mitsuru and Elizabeth have the same VA)
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I want to do well enough on the upcoming tests to impress Mitsuru, but my academics is only rank 2. I have three days, but I don't know if I can raise it to rank 3 before then. Also my charm and courage are both rank 1.
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Anagram posted...

I want to do well enough on the upcoming tests to impress Mitsuru, but my academics is only rank 2. I have three days, but I don't know if I can raise it to rank 3 before then. Also my charm and courage are both rank 1.

Building stats is tough in P3 simply because there are only 3. You should probably focus more on charm and courage right now because you've got plenty of time to build academics to ace a test, but you'll need max charm and courage way before then.
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Yeah, okaaaaaaay.

Mitsuru seems like the girl to aim for, at least right now. Yukari is not quite as interesting.
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I mean, Mitsuru is the best, ain't gonna lie, but the game saves the best for last
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When Kenji calls and says he wants to hang out tomorrow, is that like in P5 when someone will say it and it's just a waste of time and you should just do normal stuff instead?
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Nope, in P3, if you say you want to hang out, you're hanging out.
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No I mean, is it worth it? Or should I just ignore his ass?
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Anagram posted...

Okay, well, I looked up how to beat him online, sue me. Had to go back and find an Apsaras and use Cadenza. If I'd fused Orpheus earlier, I'd have just been screwed. And even Cadenza was only useful because it healed, no one dodged attacks from its alleged evasion boost.

Cadenza is pretty nice in the early game. Think I kept it around longer than those Persona had any right being in my party.

ftr, if you had gotten really stuck and asked, I'd have tried to give you much more specific advice than the general tips I gave before. Glad to see you got past it at any rate.

Anagram posted...

Apparently there's no social link to work on on Saturdays.

The old couple at the used bookstore (Hierophant) isn't around on Saturday? Weird. They should be, I think.

Anagram posted...

Yeah, okaaaaaaay.

Mitsuru seems like the girl to aim for, at least right now. Yukari is not quite as interesting.

wrong

>_>
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Oh, you can get unique scenes and you do occasionally level up under the right circumstances, too, if I recall correctly.
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I feel pretty confident that Anagram will not like Yukari (especially if he plays The Answer), so yeah, Mitsuru is the one.
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