Persona 4

- The first dungeon is the hardest in the game because your characters don't have many skills, you don't have very effective personas, and the battle system is new to you. Keep at it, once you get it done you'll be fine for the rest of the game.

- Leveling isn't as useful as it is in most RPGs. The PC's stats are entirely determined by his equipped persona. The only thing you get from grinding a high level are higher health and mana (as well as the ability to use higher level personas). However I wouldn't try the boss until the late teens. Spend some time in the velvet room and fuse some useful personas. Don't be afraid to fuse your personas because once you've got it once you can always get it back in the compendium. If you're fusing a persona and the preview shows a skill you don't like, back out to the persona choosing screen and try fusing again. Also, focus on S-Links when you're not dungeon crawling! They provide extremely useful free levels to the personas you fuse.

- As for how you deal damage: Weaknesses, if you've played persona 3, aren't really as crucial. I usually only use attack magic on enemies that are resistant/immune to physical damage, or ones that are weak to magic and are particularly annoying if you let them live for a while, or like a big group of weak enemies that I can wipe out with an all-target spell. In addition, using attack magic on regular enemies is a good way to quickly run out of SP in the early game. Physical persona abilities are strong and inexpensive (and just meleeing isn't that bad either).

- The dungeons are not designed to be completed in one go: expect to spend up to 4 days or so in the first one if you're having a lot of trouble. Later dungeons, once you have more powerful persona, can be completed in one day if you prepare well and know what you're doing. Going home will restore your health and mana. The other ways to restore SP in a dungeon are with restorative items (expensive - but get in the habit of buying Tap Soda from the vending machines downtown), the Hermit s-link (a dog that recovers SP for money, also expensive), and persona abilities (you aren't far enough to get persona that can do that). Keep a good stock of Goho-M's from the store as they are very cheap and send instantly send you to the entrance of the dungeon to fuse persona or save or heal up or go home or whatnot. Once you get back to the dungeon you can start on the highest floor you've been to.

- If you still can't beat the dungeon in the time limit, getting to the limit will give you the option of going back in time a week. Obviously not preferable but maybe next time you'll get more prep time and suck less. It is always a really bad idea to leave the dungeon until very late, I usually try to do it asap if I don't have any social engagements.

- With the exception of Death, always take a Persona of the matching arcana with you when you do a Social Link with someone. You'll know you have one if the game says, "Since you have ___, a persona of the ____ arcana, you might get along with this person." There's an entrance to the Velvet Room in town so you can always do this. However, at night there is way into the Velvet Room, so always make sure you've got what you need for any S-Link you might do that night. As a side note, the persona does not need to be equipped, just in your party.

- If you're worried about which Arcanas to concentrate on maxing, it goes without saying that you'll want to max your teammates, or at least the ones you want to use. It's easy to max all of them though. Rise is probably the least valuable of them to max as far as her performance goes, since all she gains is the ability to tell you weaknesses. I didn't bother with the Hanged Man or Moon Arcanas and didn't really regret it, but if the characters associated with them interest you, then you should do them. It's just that I've been told their Personas aren't very useful.

- You will need 5 Expression and 5 Understanding (i.e. max in both of these categories) to finish the Justice and Hierophant S-Links. Also, you will need 5 Understanding to even get access to the Tower link (Through the tutoring job). Definitely, DEFINITELY get that Understanding. The Tower arcana has arguably one of the most broken Personas in the game, and a few other very good ones. You can easily raise Expression through the Sun S-Link (Drama/Music club) and you'll get Understanding from Temperance (Daycare job). Note that these still may not be enough to max them, so read lots of books. I'm told the Music Club offers better stat boosts if you say the right things, but I maxed both pretty comfortably with Drama.

- You need Diligence to unlock the Janitor part time job which gives the Devil social link (In turn unlocks Death arcana), and you can get Diligence from the Strength arcana.

- On rainy days, go to Aiya Chinese Diner and take on the Beef Bowl Challenge. This gives an increase to multiple stats at once.

- It is entirely possible to finish the dungeons in one day each. Don't stress about doing it, but if you think you can make your way through the dungeon and beat the boss in one day then don't hesitate to do so. Rainy days are good for spending in dungeons, as well, as you can fight enemies that drop materials for really strong equipment. It's not a big deal if you don't get these drops in every dungeon, but it's worth it to run through a dungeon on a rainy day if you have the time to spare. If you're really intent on maxing Expression and Understanding quickly, you can safely go without spelunking on rainy days. It's really not a big deal.

- Keep incrementally raising your Knowledge. It's not a priority, but try to score at least in the top ten on every set of exams as this will significantly boost all of your S-Links. For getting the number one score you'll get an item from Nanako, but there's only one of them that you actually need. This is the reward for the July exams and gives +5 to all stats. You'll need, I believe, 4 Knowledge to get it and all of the questions right. It's not hard to do, just make sure you take advantage of when your teammates ask for a group study session, as you'll increase both knowledge and S-Links. When you have absolutely nothing else to do on a rainy day, studying in the library will give twice as much of a Knowledge boost as usual. Also you need max Courage and Knowledge to get the Fortune S-Link, by the way.

- Fuse a Sarasvati early on with some good skills and lots of different elements. She gets Invigorate 2, which gives you 5 SP at the beginning of every turn. What this essentially means is that (With enough Goho-Ms, which you can buy at the shop, and they take you back to the dungeon entrance) you can allow your protagonist to do all of the magic using in the party, scoring knock downs and letting your teammates help you beat down enemies. Then, you can go by yourself to the first floor of the first dungeon and guard against a single enemy while they wail on you for tiny damage, gradually restoring your SP.

- In other words, with a skill like this, your protagonist has infinite SP. If you really want to min/max the game, you can use this perk to let you finish every dungeon in one day. It might be a bit of a hassle to do it in the first dungeon though, since the enemies will probably be doing a good amount of damage to you on any floor.

- When you use the Traesto spell or a Goho-M to exit a dungeon, you'll be able to go back to the highest floor you reached previously. I did not know this and felt really fucking stupid after a while so I'm repeating it now. Also, don't forget that the save point in front of the boss in the top floor of any dungeon can return you to the entrance.

- Weapons only add damage to normal attacks, NOT physical skills (As your Persona does those). Just a heads up, as I didn't know this until the guide told me. Armor should be your first investment, though Weapons are still important for saving SP.

- Far, far down the line, fusing a Yoshitsuna will put the game in easy mode as he has a skill called Hassou Tobi that literally out-damages anything else you can possibly get (It's a physical skill, though!). He's in the Tower arcana. I'm just saying this so that you know you really can't fuck yourself over since this will be waiting for you.

- The game is not that hard on Normal after you finish the second dungeon. Don't always be in a rush to grind, as often fusing a good Persona for a particular boss is more help. Hell, there are a good few bosses in the game that you can easily solo if you fuse a Persona that reflects or nulls the attacks they happen to use. Just always keep that in mind.

- You will probably always be hurting for money if you like to fuse or summon Personas a lot, but that's okay. You get lots of money from doing well on exams, and your part time jobs will give you a lot, too.

- First off, the Hermit arcana is good. Basically, you can recharge your SP in the dungeon lobby place for a cost. At level 1, it's like 65 yen per SP or whatever. Then it goes down by 5 each time. So if you get it to SLink level 5 or 6, at least it's much more reasonable.

- The guy who recharges your SP in the lobby (not really a guy, but, you'll see) has moods. It varies by day, but goes in a set order. Happy > Normal > Grumpy > Normal > Happy > Normal > Grumpy, etc etc. So try to keep in mind which day he'll be happy, and go exploring on those days if you can. I think he charges you 100% on normal, 70% on Happy, and 130% on Grumpy.

- This all sounds a little annoying, but it's a trade-off for having done away with the "Tired/Sick" system in Persona 3. That shit was annoying, and this is WAY less annoying, because you always have enough money as long as you're not spending it on minor shitty upgrades. And I'm playing on Expert, where everything costs a lot more.

- I don't think doing quests is terribly important, so don't ever prioritize them. Usually you only get a couple chest keys or some one-shot use items as a reward. It doesn't ever take up time necessarily, but don't make special trips to the dungeons just to get them.

- Speaking of items, use them! Some bosses suck, especially the first couple. Use the Super-Sonics and other full-party -kaja buffs freely on the first couple of bosses if you have them. Later you'll get spells that have these effects, and you won't need the single use items anyway. (Although it might be nice to have one or two for a less useful character to fire off.) I have many more single-use items than I will ever use, and I'm playing on Expert. Assuming you're playing on normal, go buck wild.

- It seems to me that focusing on doing your teammates' SLinks is the best idea, since it gives direct combat benefits, and enriches the story (in my opinion). I have yet to see a story that was as touching as the sick kid at the Shrine in P3, but it's still early.

- I've been able to do every dungeon in one day, and then usually I stop back to finish up fetch quests and level up a bit before the next dungeon becomes available. That will allow you to get in a lot more 'skill up' events and SLink events. I will definitely not max out all the links (that takes a walkthrough, I'd imagine), but I'll at least be able to finish the interesting stories.

- A few differences from P3. Having multiple 'serious' relationships doesn't really cause problems in P4. So that's nice. Also, people don't go into 'reverse' Slink mode just because you ignore them, as in P3. Another upgrade.

- And enemies don't waste a turn getting up. So that's even more reason to do an all-out-attack when given the option. The only time I don't is when I want to use a buff, heal, or item with that character's extra turn instead of doing damage.

- Remember that unlike other RPGs, buffs and debuffs actually work. You really shouldn't overwrite them if you can avoid it. I did overwrite them on all my party members and I found that I had to grind like a horny rabbit to beat all the bosses.

- Guarding makes it so getting hit with a weakness won't knock you on your ass. Also guard if you see the enemy use Mind Charge or Power Charge.

- I don't think there's any need to use a guide until December. Once December 3rd rolls around, consider getting a guide to get the best ending.

- Strength gives a boost to Diligence and Sun gives a big bonus to Expression in addition to the standard S. Link.

- Temperance, Devil, and Tower have stat requirements, but give you money, stats, and S. Links.

- Try and be level 17 by 5/21 and beeline the Priestess S. Link as much as you can before then. The reason for this is that the Fusion Forecast on that day gives Priestess Arcanas bonus experience. The Priestess persona to make is Sarasvati, which gets Invigorate 2 at level 19. Spread that skill like the plague and never worry about SP worries again, assuming you don't mind hitting Guard for a billion rounds. Sarasvati also gets Null Wind at level 23, but good luck spreading both that and Invigorate.

- You can warp out of the dungeon with a special item (forgotten the name, but you can buy it in the pharmacy), save, and then jump back to the last floor you were on when you re-enter. If you're worried about dying then do this often. You lose money buying the items, but it's much less frustrating than the frequent deaths.

- You can safely waste 2 or 3 afternoons per dungeon, so if you're out of mana then leave and come back and do the rest another day when it's recharged. If you need more time, then try and go on rainy days, since there are only 1 or 2 social links you can boost on those days anyway.

- The things that boost your stats the most are the items you buy from the blacksmith. Armor is *much* more important than weapons, since often you're not using physical attacks to kill things. Assuming you've collected enough random junk from enemies, you should unlock armor that makes all the non-boss fights trivial by the time you've gotten about 80% of the way through it.

- Make sure you can cover the 4 elemental bases (ice, fire, wind and lightning) with your party, preferably have personas that allow your main character to do all of them. Only about 1 in 5 of the enemy types has no vulnerability to any of those types, most of the rest will be vulnerable to light or dark which you haven't unlocked yet. Occasionally enemies will be weak to physical attacks too, which is something I sometimes missed while spamming magic all over the place.

- Make sure you have take direct control over all your team mates. The AI is okay if the fights are easy and you're feeling lazy, but it's nowhere near as smart as you are (hopefully )

- Don't be afraid to combine the Personas you pick up from enemies to get new ones. You can always get the persona back again from the ledger or from a fight. If you're having difficulty with a particular enemy, there's probably a persona which will help.

Social Links

- The most "efficient" Social Links to get are those of your party members and Hermit. Your party members gain new in-battle abilities as you improve their social links. You'll know why Hermit's so important when you get to it.

- November 2nd is the last day you can rank up Hierophant, and November 3rd the last day for Justice.

- If you'd like a full list, here's one, but Hierophant and Justice are the only dates that will really blindside you...

Fool: n/a

Magician: 21 Dec

Priestess: 20 Dec

Empress: Available to the end.

Emperor: 22 Dec

Hierophant: 2 Nov

Lovers: 18 Dec

Chariot: 19 Dec

Justice: 3 Nov

Hermit: 24 Dec

Fortune: 21 Dec

Strength: 22 Dec

Hanged Man: 22 Dec

Death: 23 Dec

Temperance: 23 Dec

Devil: 23 Dec

Tower: 22 Dec

Star: n/a

Moon: 22 Dec

Sun: 22 Dec

Judgement: n/a