As Persona 3 Reload graces Persona fans with a Persona 3 remake that retains the core story but revamps its graphics and certain gameplay elements, fans of the Megami Tensei spinoff can still engage in the game's thrilling turn-based RPG components on their journey as SEES Operatives, working to save the world from Shadows during the Dark Hour. While players still rely on their Personas to get the job done, they also need to make sure their allies have the right Passive Skills to maximize their current skillset.

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Given the nature of Passive Skills as effects that are constantly in play without activation, they can have a massive role in combat when paired correctly with specific Skills or attacks. However, just which Passives in the game should players prioritize?

10 Ailment Boost

Source: Abaddon (78), Magatsu-Izanagi (52), Nidhoggr (51), Pazuzu (61), Penthesilea (63)

By the time players reach the mid-game to endgame portion of Persona 3 Reload, they will likely appreciate the extra firepower that Ailments provide on top of traditional attacks. However, as with other turn-based RPGs that have status effects, Ailments in this Persona title also have probabilities attached to them.

Thankfully, Ailment Boost can provide a Persona with the extra firepower they need to ensure an Ailment slips through an opponent's defenses. With this Passive Skill's additional 50% chance of inflicting Ailments, a combo such as Ghastly Wail for an insta-kill on all opponents with Fear could be made more plausible.

9 Divine Grace

Source: Houou (71), Parvati (52), Saki Mitama (41), Zorro (25), Kaguya (-)

Healers form a crucial part of any party's roster, and they're especially vital in Persona 3 Reload due to the heavy-hitting nature of the more challenging opponents in the deeper levels of Tartarus. Considering how Recovery Skills in this Persona game are expensive as it is, a Passive Skill like Divine Grace can ensure healing spells become more worthwhile when used by the team's healer.

Having Divine Grace assigned as a Passive Skill immediately doubles the effects of Magic Skills that provide healing benefits. Not only does this make healing spells a more economically-viable option for healers, but it also ensures that teams get more out of otherwise-weaker single-target or multi-target Dia variants.

8 Ali Dance

Source: Shiva (88), Vanadis (64), Vishnu (82)

While defensive gameplay in a turn-based RPG like Persona 3 Reload often relies on units tanking damage through resistances, absorptions, and even nullification, players of Persona who want to skip the complex rock-paper-scissors of elemental relationships could equip their Persona with Ali Dance and penalize enemy attacks at the onset.

With this Skill, enemies trying to hit the user will immediately get a reduced Hit Rate, lowering the chances of hitting the player in the first place. Units with lower defenses could use this Passive to boost their protective capabilities, while main damage dealers could use this Passive to secure their survival for more sustained combat performance.

7 Firm Stance

Source: Asura (91), Atavaka (79), Castor (70)

Proper defense can mean the difference between victory or defeat in Persona 3 Reload, especially by the time players begin facing some of Tartarus' tougher foes in their playthrough. Players who have enough firepower among their Persona but lack proper defensive measures could gamble with Firm Stance to have some form of guaranteed defense. At its core, Firm Stance allows the user to receive -50% Damage across all damage sources from enemies.

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However, this Passive Skill does come with the caveat of the Persona not being able to dodge attacks. While this seems like a setback at first glance, this also means the Persona no longer has to worry about their EVA stat, leaving them with more room to focus on heavy-duty defense or securing more ways of reducing damage to become a more effective tank for the team.

6 Auto-Maraku, Masuku, Mataru

Source: Varies

Sometimes, all it takes is one Persona's buff to ensure all members of the party perform more optimally in combat, especially against tougher foes. With the Auto Trio, a Persona possessing a specific Passive could start combat by blessing allies with a 3-Turn boost to Defense (Auto-Maraku), Hit and Evasion (Auto-Masuku), or Attack (Auto-Mataru) depending on their particular priority in combat.

Ideally, players should have one "extra" Persona reserved as the dedicated support unit of the team that can provide a buff when needed. An aggressive party could opt for Auto-Mataru for straightforward offense or go for Auto-Masuku for consistent damage with reasonable evasive maneuvers. Teams with protection lapses could benefit from Auto-Maraku.

5 Arms Master, Spell Master

Source: Varies

Unlike other turn-based RPGs with riveting stories, gameplay in Persona 3 Reload will have players call forth their titular Personas to fight supernatural battles for them. Personas in the game have element-based Skills that cost the HP (for Physical) or SP (for Magic) of their summoners when used. Unfortunately for players, later stages in the game can make certain attacks too risky to perform despite the damage they provide, forcing players to juggle resource management on top of factors such as Ailments and even the probability of attacks.

Thankfully, players can make resource management easier through specific Passives. Personas who focus on Physical Skills could benefit from Arms Master, which halves the HP Cost of these attacks, while Spell Master halves the SP Cost of Magic Skills. Players who assign these Passive Skills to their Personas could pack more punch, making this appropriate for the team's primary DPS and damage dealer.

4 Invigorate, Regenerate

Source: Varies

Despite how powerful a Persona can become in Persona 3 Reload, they can't be of much use in combat if their users don't have enough HP or SP to activate their Skills. While Personas can be tailored to become support units and constanty heal their comrades for a steady supply of both resources and vitality, auto-recovery effects can give support Personas more room for versatility with their kits.

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Depending on a user's needs, they may be able to get constant SP regeneration per turn through Invigorate or even consistent HP regains via Regenerate. Players may assign either Passive to units that rely more on Physical Skills (Regenerate for HP costs) or Magic Skills (Invigorate for SP costs), or simply for users who have heavy-hitting Skills that cost quite a lot of resources to use.

3 Survival Trick

Source: Arsene (29), Attis (74), Orobas (45), Satanael (-)

The number of insta-kills that exist in Persona 3 Reload can make the experience annoying for turn-based RPG fans who aren't used to the idea of preparing for such situations in the dark story. After all, they may have their combos in place, but their damage dealer or main support was incapacitated with a pesky insta-kill that players now have to deal with. Thanks to Survival Trick, a Persona has one shot of brushing off an insta-kill Magic Skill, although not necessarily unscathed.

When triggered, Survival Trick allows a Persona to survive an insta-kill Magic Skill, but with only 1 HP remaining. Despite this setback, this survival option can help a user make a daring comeback against a difficult enemy. When assigned to the team's primary DPS, a healer can be in the right position to heal them without having to waste much-needed SP on revives.

2 Enduring Soul

Source: Anat (59), Attis (79), Byakko (69), Hell Biker (71), Koumokuten (57), Messiah (92), Palladion (68), Thanatos (80), Shiva (-)

The popularity of Phoenix Down as an item in Final Fantasy may be traced to its purpose of reviving allies in desperate situations. In Persona 3 Reload, the game offers a plethora of ways to revive fallen allies in combat, giving players the choice of spending SP to give their party a fighting chance in the form of a full team. Unfortunately, battles of attrition can make revival Skills burdensome to use, especially when compared to more powerful attacks. However, players can change this trend with Enduring Soul.

With this Passive Skill, the user now gets an instant revive when killed in combat. Not only does this restore them to Full HP, this also stacks with other Endure Passives such as Endure Dark (auto-revival from Dark insta-kills) and Endure Light (auto-revival from Light insta-kills). Enduring Soul is only effective once per battle, but a one-time resurrect might be the saving grace players need to win a fight.

1 Victory Cry

Source: Orpheus Telos (-)

While it's true that a Persona's combat performance can improve at a staggering rate with the right Passives, sometimes it's more practical to have a Passive Skill to make one's playthrough of this Megami Tensei spinoff title more comfortable. This is where Victory Cry comes in, as its full restoration of HP and SP after combat can become a godsend in extended incursions in Tartarus.

Fans need to remember that journeying in the tower will have the party carry over their HP and SP from every combat encounter. Unless they actively use healing Items or healing Skills, they may end up facing a boss at a stark disadvantage. Having the healer's Persona equip Victory Cry can give it enough juice at the start of every encounter to at least heal the party at a reasonable rate.

Persona 3 Reload

Platform(s)

PC , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One , PS4 , PS5

Released

February 2, 2024

Developer(s)

P-Studio

Genre(s)

JRPG

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