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The gameplay of Persona 4 Golden may be a little different for those who played Persona 5 Royal as their first Persona game. There's no Baton Pass or Ranged Weapons, and the Nuke and Psy Affinities do not exist. Like most Persona games, the first boss in P4G is challenging on a brand-new playthrough due to the lack of items, good weapons, Personas, and more.
Persona 4 Golden players will unlock the first dungeon, Yukiko's Castle, on April 17th. The deadline is April 29th, which should be more than enough time for newcomers. However, players shouldn't wait until the 29th to rescue Yukiko just in case they're underleveled or need a stronger fusion. They'll also want to be at max HP and SP before taking on Shadow Yukiko.
Shadow Yukiko: Best Personas, Team Set Up, & Skills
Unlike in Persona 5 Royal, P4G players will only have the protagonist, Yosuke, and Chie for the first boss. Shadow Yukiko is on Floor 8, but players should make sure they're level 14-15 before attempting to battle her. If playing on Hard or Very Hard Mode, 15 should be the minimum level. Level 15 also means that the protagonist will have more options when Fusing Personas, since a Persona can't be fused if it's one level higher than the main character.
To Fuse Personas, players will need to get Personas from Shuffle Time. They'll then need to return to the Velvet Room from the TV World's main "lobby," and speak to Margaret. Sometimes, a Persona will gain bonus experience from weather effects, but for now, players shouldn't worry about getting these bonuses. They should, however, take a look at their teammates' strengths and weaknesses before they start fusing:
Yosuke
Yosuke is one of the fastest party members and will usually get the first turn in battle. This can work in the team's favor since his Persona (Jiraiya) has access to Sukukaja and Dia. The Support Skill Sukukaja will raise the Evasion/Accuracy of its user or an ally for three turns. Dia restores a small amount of HP to its target. At level 14, Jiraiya will learn Sonic Punch. This is a weak Physical Skill (costs 8% HP), but it will be Yosuke's best method of attack against Shadow Yukiko.
Unfortunately, Jiraiya is a bit of a jack of all trades and has a low SP pool, so players will want to refrain from using Yosuke to spam Garu. Instead, they should have him focus on buffing (Sukukaja) and healing (Dia) while using physical attacks (Sonic Punch) or Guarding in-between turns.
Chie
Chie is slower than Yosuke, but she has the best Endurance out of the starting team (excluding some of the protagonist's Personas) and learns the Ice-damaging move, Bufu. While Chie's magic and SP are a little underwhelming, Bufu will come in handy when battling Shadow Yukiko. She can also buff allies with Tarukaja, which raises the Attack of its target for three turns. At level 11, her Persona (Tomoe) will learn Skull Cracker. This costs 9% HP and deals light physical damage with a slight chance of inflicting Confusion. However, this status ailment can't be inflicted on bosses like Shadow Yukiko.
Although her SP is lower than Yosuke's, Chie has more HP, which allows her to use physical attacks more frequently than Yosuke. Players will also want to make sure that her SP doesn't drop too low when battling Shadow Yukiko simply because of her Bufu skill. Ice Affinity attacks are the only way to down Shadow Yukiko without relying on Critical Hits.
Protagonist
The next step in preparations is to have a good team of Personas. Players need to fuse the Personas they get in Yukiko's Castle to make stronger Personas. A physical attacker like Valkyrie can be obtained from Shuffle Time on floors 5-7. However, players can get a stronger physical attacker in Eligor, who can be fused through Ghoul and Apsaras.
When Fusing, players will want to make sure they're transferring the right Skills. A Persona that has high Magic and low Strength shouldn't be inheriting Physical Skills, and a Physical Persona shouldn't be using Magic for offense or support. If players absolutely want their protagonist to have a Healing and Support Persona in their lineup, they should observe the stats of each new Persona in the Fusions List.
One Persona that players will want to level up before Fusing, is Slime . This is because of Slime's Red Wall Skill, which it learns at level 4. Players don't need to keep Slime itself for the boss battle, but they'll want to transfer its Red Wall Skill when Fusing. Red Wall will apply Fire-resistance for three turns.
Aside from Eligor and a Fused Persona with Red Wall, players may want to bring a Persona with Bufu. It's preferred that Bufu goes on a Persona that has high magic. When battling Shadow Yukiko, the protagonist can assist Chie in Downing the enemy with Ice Skills. Unlike Yosuke and Chie, the protagonist is very flexible, and his stats will change based on the Persona he has equipped.
Should You Buy Items and Armor?
Items
Outside Konishi Liquors (North Shopping District) are vending machines. Each drink from the machine gives 10-SP. It may not be much and players will get much better SP items later on, but for the first dungeon, these are a must - especially for those taking on the dungeon in one sitting. The vending machines restock every Monday.
Players might obtain items that inflict elemental damage upon defeating enemies or opening chests. Ice Cube and Ball Lightning, which deal ice and electric damage respectively, will be useful against Shadow Yukiko. With this in mind, players should make sure not to sell them or throw them away.
Armor, Weapons, and Accessories
Players needn't worry too much about buying Accessories, Armor, or Weapons for the first dungeon. Unique Accessories that increase Ice Affinity spells can be found in the locked chests throughout Yukiko's Castle, and they're far more useful than anything from Shiroku Store this early on in P4G. Plus, new weapons and armor will arrive at Shiroku once Yukiko has been rescued.
With Personas Fused and items stocked, it's time to return to the 8th floor of Yukiko's Castle. Players should make a save file before entering the dungeon in case the protagonist needs to return to the first floor and farm EXP or money. They should also remember that every party member should be at level 14 or higher.
Shadow Yukiko Strategy
Shadow Yukiko drains Agi/Fire and has a weakness to Bufu/Ice. She'll attack with Double Fangs, which deals light physical damage to its target 1-2x. Players will want to watch out for her Terror Voice skill. This will inflict Fear on its target and has a 100% chance of hitting. If Shadow Yukiko manages to inflict Fear, she'll follow it up with Shivering Rondo on her next turn. This will deal heavy Almighty damage to those with the Fear ailment. She can also use Agi and White Wall. Agi deals light fire damage (which Chie is weak to) and White Wall will give Shadow Yukiko Ice Resistance for three turns.
If players still have Izanagi (or if they used Izanagi in a Fusion), they can use the (transferred) Rakunda skill. This will lower Shadow Yukiko's defense for three turns.
Players should start out by using physical attacks to chip away at Shadow Yukiko's health. Alternatively, they can stack on Sukukaja, but they might want to wait before using too much SP. The next step is to have Chie use Bufu to down Shadow Yukiko, then follow up with an All Out Attack.
Shadow Yukiko will use Ice Wall, which means that she won't be able to be downed by Ice skills for three turns. Players can bypass this ice resistance by hitting her with Bufu anyway (which will get rid of White Wall), or they can stall with physical attacks, buffing, or healing until the Resistance wears off.
Eventually, Shadow Yukiko won't attack for one turn. Instead, the message "Shadow Yukiko has a passionate stare..." will appear. This is the time to use Red Wall on Chie, or have her Guard. On Shadow Yukiko's next turn, she'll use the skill Burn to Ashes, which will inflict fire damage on everyone. If Chie (or anyone else for that matter) is down, then Shadow Yukiko will get a 1 More and be able to attack twice in a row.
At quarter health, Shadow Yukiko will summon Charming Prince. This guy is weak to Zio/Electric, so players should use a Zio skill from one of the protagonist's Personas (or use the Ball Lightning item) to down him. They can then follow up with Bufu on Shadow Yukiko to down her, before using another All Out Attack. While Charming Prince isn't as threatening as Shadow Yukiko, he can use Makajam, which will seal his target's Persona. With this in mind, players will want to keep hitting him with Electric attacks to make sure that he gets as few turns as possible.
Once Charming Prince reaches quarter health, he'll Escape, and Shadow Yukiko won't be able to summon him again. Players can then set about using buffs or debuffs to raise defense/evasion/attack for allies and lower Shadow Yukiko's defense/evasion/attack respectively. They should keep stacking on Bufu or using the Ice Cube item to trigger All Out Attacks. They'll need to be using healing or SP-restoring items too here, as if the protagonist falls in battle, it's an instant game over.
Eventually, Shadow Yukiko will be defeated, and players can sit back and watch the following cutscenes. If players still have Free Time after clearing out Yukiko's Castle, they can start building up their social links or raising social stats. If players waited until the last day, then they'll be launched into the next part of the story and recruit Yukiko.
Persona 4 Golden is available on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
