There was a time when Final Fantasy used to be one of the few JRPG franchises that had made their way into the mainstream. Shin Megami Tensei was a great series in its own right, but the lack of any western releases hurt the popularity of the franchise. This changed with the release of the wildly successful SMT spin-off, Persona. While Persona 1 and 2 might've enjoyed an admirable level of popularity in the West, it's the release of Persona 3 that truly marked the establishment of one of the most popular JRPG franchises of all time.
Ever since this monumental release, the Persona series has grown to become one of the most popular modern gaming franchises of all time, and the launch of Persona 5 has more than cemented this series as one of the very best at what it does. Attacking an enemy's weak point and unleashing an all-out attack for massive damage will never cease to be entertaining.
Speaking of weaknesses, it must be said that a central part of Persona's combat is using different elemental attacks on enemies to figure out what they're vulnerable to. At a glance, the power differences between these elements might seem negligible, but there are actually some things to note upon further inspection. So, without further ado, here are all the elements in the Persona series, ranked in order of their effectiveness.
Updated on December 23, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: Persona is a series full to the brim with some of the best JRPGs ever made, with the fifth game serving as a monumental step for this series in the right direction. Players love the high-school setting of this series and how it lends itself to a great social simulation aspect that meshes perfectly with the core gameplay loop of the series. The wealth of amazing characters coupled with a strong story in each title helped this series achieve the immense hype and adoration it enjoys to this day.
A big part of the combat loop in the Persona games are the various enemy weaknesses that players can exploit in combat to great effect. Taking advantage of these weaknesses is important to ensure that players can easily overpower their enemies in battle and look flashy in the process, especially when they unleash an All-Out Attack! While the magical elements are definitely quite important in their own right, players shouldn't forget the impact of both Physical skills and Ailments in battle too.
Physical Types
Persona 5 marked the first time in the series that physical abilities were grouped into two distinct categories.
- Phys skills refer to all attacks of a normal variety, such as the regular attack and various other physical skills. For the most part, most Personas aren't really weak to this element, making this skill more cost-effective than anything else.
- Gun attacks are introduced in Persona 5 and end up adding another layer of depth and strategy to a game that already boasts an amazing combat system. Each member of the Phantom Thieves has a unique firearm that can be used in battle, which can be used to great effect while trying to exploit enemy weaknesses. On top of this, there are also various powerful Gun skills that players can use in combat to down their foes with ruthless efficiency.
Ailment Types
There are various debilitating status effects that players can use in the Persona games to great effect, with these being grouped under two major categories.
- Physiological ailments are meant to physically debilitate the target and prevent them from attacking efficiently. The three major Physiological ailments are Dizzy, Forget, and Sleep.
- Mental ailments affect a target's cognition and distract them from participating in combat, casting spells, and everything else along the same lines. The major Mental ailments are Confuse, Fear, Despair, Rage, and Brainwash.
9 Psychokinesis
One of the two new elements introduced in Persona 5, Psychokinesis might sound like a cool power... but ultimately ends up being nothing more than your run-of-the-mill spell that is whipped out to exploit a weakness.
It doesn't help that the animations of most Psychokinetic attacks are fairly boring, turning them into a chore to use in every sense. However, there's no denying that the idea of using a new element in a Persona game still has a unique draw for many old fans, even if newcomers might not enjoy this same impact.
8 Nuclear
The second element introduced in Persona 5 does end up outshining the other addition simply because it just feels way more satisfying to unleash nuclear attacks on enemies.
However, as is the case with Psychokinetic spells, this element needs some time to breathe before coming into its own in the series. For what it's worth, its inclusion in the latest Persona title has been quite a success and is bound to evolve over time.
7 Ice
One of the classic elements in the series, Ice ends up taking a lower spot on the list because — similar to the point discussed in Psychokinesis — Ice attacks aren't really all that fun to use in the series.
Most fighters who use Ice in battle tend to be not as effective as other party members in the Persona series... unless they specialize in another department as well. Regardless, there's no denying that landing a powerful Ice attack and freezing enemies in their tracks is still a blast!
6 Electricity
Whatever the power level of electricity may be, it must be said that landing an electrical attack on an enemy always feels satisfying in some way or the other.
However, aside from its pleasing aesthetics, there's nothing really of note to speak about when it comes to electricity. If there's one thing that plays in its favor, it's that electrical attacks can shock enemies sometimes, allowing for the party to get some breathing room and unleash highly damaging attacks.
5 Fire
Fire has always been the cooler element to use in a majority of games, and Persona is no exception to this golden rule. In fact, one can argue that this is the case with most JRPGs — landing a fire attack on an enemy is always satisfying, no matter what.
Persona 5 cranks this up a notch, introducing a Burn status that can be inflicted upon landing a particularly effective elemental attack. If that wasn't good enough of a benefit as is, then the next element on this list can use this status effect to augment its attacks.
4 Wind
Wind could've been on the lower end of this list for a variety of reasons. For starters, while wind attacks might be fun to use, they lack the "oomph" one can enjoy with electrical and fire attacks.
However, Persona 5 adds one small thing that completely changes the effectiveness of this element. If a wind attack is used on an enemy with the Burn status, then the attack does bonus damage. This makes the combination of Wind and Fire attacks a deadly one in Persona 5.
3 Curse
Curse and Bless are two elements that have also been significantly enhanced with the release of Persona 5. If this game didn't exist, then both these elements would've definitely been at the lower end of the spectrum. After all, both Curse and Bless elements were limited to just instant death attacks in these titles.
However, Persona 5 upgrades these elements significantly, allowing players to use normal attacks of the Curse and Bless element to exploit enemy weaknesses. It might seem like a small change, but the effect this has on Curse attacks is quite substantial. Plus, the fact that Joker from Smash uses a Curse spell as a special attack certainly plays out in its favor.
2 Bless
On the face of it, both Curse and Bless elements are virtually identical. Both elements had attacks that could instantly kill foes, along with the addition of normal attacks from Persona 5 that make these elements even more viable in battle.
So, there's only one reason why Bless is placed ahead of Curse on this list — it just feels way more satisfying to use in battle. This point has been touched on numerous times in this list, and it definitely applies to the Bless element. Defeating an enemy with a Bless spell always feels amazing, no matter what.
1 Almighty
Regardless of which Persona game a player might be playing, there's one fact that rings true no matter what — Almighty attacks have always reigned supreme. Unlocking Megido for the first time in any Persona game is always an achievement due to the sheer level of damage that one can unleash.
Megidolaon pretty much becomes the party's go-to attack by the end of any Persona game when the player wishes to finish a battle as quickly as possible, and one need only look at the damage output to understand why this is the case.