Persona 3 Bosses Guide

Persona 3 Bosses Guide: Tips, Weaknesses, More

Persona 3 is a challenging JRPG with many different enemies and bosses to fight, as you will see in our Persona 3 bosses guide. While bosses can be the most difficult part of the game, they do not have to ruin your Persona experience. We are here to help you out when taking on the dozens of bosses in Persona 3.

The Persona 3 bosses guide will detail all of the bosses from across the entire school year, including both the mandatory ones for the story and all of the optional ones. We will give you the breakdown of what bosses are weak to, immune to, and general tips for winning each fight.

Bottom Line Up Front

There are more than 40 bosses that exist in Persona 3 alone. The most insane part is that a vast majority of them are technically required if you would like to see the game’s true ending. In general, there are three types of bosses in Persona 3. The first is the Tartarus floor bosses that appear every few floors.

They make up the bulk of the bosses, and you could see some of them as “optional” however, they are required if you would like to see the true ending of the story. The second type is the truly optional ones, of which there are few. Last but not least, there are the monthly story bosses that you encounter in each of the required special missions.

Persona 3 Bosses Explained

There are more than 40 bosses that you can encounter in Persona 3. There are three different types of bosses that you can battle against within the game. In general, what players should look forward to when fighting bosses in Persona 3 are the weaknesses and resistances that they have.

Each boss will resist some elements, be immune to others, and so on. Some of them will even be weak in some aspects of the game, allowing you to take advantage of that. These parts are essential as they help you to earn extra turns, or worse, give different turns to the bosses.

In addition, another feature that players should worry about is the status ailments that bosses use. These can debilitate your entire party, turning them against one another, freezing them up, and so on. Then there are the standard tactics that bosses use, like solid attacks and buffs. This is why players should prepare as much as possible for the Persona 3 bosses.

All Bosses Guide

I will break down every single one of the bosses you will face in Persona 3. I’ve fought and defeated all of them myself, particularly in Persona 3 Portable, so I have a general idea of the most painful ones to deal with. It is worth keeping in mind that nearly every boss is immune to light and dark attacks.

Tartarus Bosses Explained

Tartarus Bosses Explained
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First, off of the three main groups, there are the Tartarus bosses. Tartarus is the massive tower at the center of the Persona 3 storyline. Appearing only during the Dark Hour, this is the main dungeon through which the SEES team investigates.

In a procedurally-generated tower with literally hundreds of floors, there are floor bosses every few floors that you must beat to move to the next area. At first, it seems like the Tartarus bosses are optional to the game’s plot and only for those players looking to grind.

However, they are required for progressing through the main story, especially for the actual ending of Persona 3. In this way, I would consider them to be mandatory bosses. Here is what you need to know about each of them.

Venus Eagle

Persona 3 Boss_Venus Eagle
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The first boss that you fight is Venus Eagle. It is on the fifth floor of Tartarus and is immune to wind, light, and dark. However, it drains fire spells, which is absolutely out of the question. Thankfully, it is weak to pierce attacks, though, so these can be crucial in taking it out. It is also possible to cause distress or rage ailments on it. There are three of them.

Dancing Hand

Persona 3 Boss_Dancing Hand
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On floor 10, you will meet the iconic Dancing Hand. It resists fire, ice, electric, and wind, meaning that these will do minor damage to it. However, it is weak to strike attacks. When you first face this boss, it will be a group of three of them that you must take on at once. Focus on the group one member at a time.

Rampage Drive

Persona 3 Boss_Rampage Drive 1
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On floor 14 of Tartarus, you will encounter the first boss in the dungeon that is by itself. However, this Rampage Drive is stronger than the ones you will encounter elsewhere. In addition to the usual boss immunities, it is immune to pierce and slash attacks.

Fire attacks will do minor damage to it, while strike attacks will reflect back to the player. Because of this, do not waste your time on any physical attacks. Ice, electric, and wind are all you have going here since you will not likely have access to almighty yet. Panic is the only ailment you can use on it, and I highly recommend you do since it is quite a powerful boss at this point in the game.

Crying Table

Persona 3 Boss_Crying Table
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The 25th floor of Tartarus sees players take on the infamous Crying Table in a trio. Rage is the only status ailment that you can inflict on it. It is strong against slash and pierce attacks while draining fire and being immune to strike. The most valuable skills you can use are the Bufu ones, due to his weakness in ice. Please make sure not to have any party members with a weakness to fire, or else Crying Table will likely make you cry with its extra turns.

Change Relic

Persona 3 Boss_Change Relic
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On the 36th floor of Tartarus, players will face off against a single boss enemy: Change Relic. There are no notable resistances, weaknesses, or immunities. In fact, you cannot use any status ailments on this particular boss. In general, use your best skills while avoiding party members that are weak to wind. It is also best to have some items to heal poison as well.

Golden Beetle

Persona 3 Boss_Golden Beetle
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On the 47th floor of the dungeon, players will face off against three Golden Beetles. You can infect them with distress, panic, and rage. They are all strong to physical attacks and immune to ice. Notably, they are weak to electric, making Akihiko a great party member to have here.

What is hidden about the Golden Beetles, though, is that they take additional damage from fire and wind attacks, despite not being weak to them. You can take advantage of this extra damage, but it will not provide extra turns, unlike in the case of electric skills.

Intrepid Knight

Persona 3 Boss_Intrepid Knight
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The singular Intrepid Knight is faced on the 59th floor of the dungeon. It is level 26 and is strong against all physical attack types while draining wind. It has no other notable elements, so use whoever you want as long as they are not weak to or use wind attacks. While you can use charm and distress on it, it resists them, so there are low chances of it hitting. Rage is standard, though.

Furious Gigas

Persona 3 Boss_Furious Gigas
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On the 72nd floor of the dungeon, you will take on three Furious Gigas enemies. Charm, panic, and rage are the status ailments you can use on these enemies usually. They are each level 29 and strong against electric attacks while fully resistant to fire. However, they are weak to wind, so Junpei Iori and specific Personas will be especially helpful here.

Fanatic Tower

Persona 3 Boss_Fanatic Tower
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On the 85th floor of Tartarus, you will encounter a single Fanatic Tower enemy. This is an incredibly annoying enemy because of its resistance. It is strong against slash and pierce while repelling fire, ice, and electric. Unfortunately, it has high evasion, so it dodges strike often, which is annoying.

This leaves wind as the only main element that you can use. The problem with this is that Yukari, who uses wind attacks, is not helpful in this fight since Fanatic Tower likes electric attacks unless you have the Thunder Charm accessory, which is highly recommended. Otherwise, use Personas that are strong against electric and/or can use wind attacks.

Magical Magus

Persona 3 Boss_Magical Magus
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On the 98th floor of the dungeon, players will face three Magical Magus enemies. Distress is capable against them, but panic is especially significant as they are weak to this ailment. They are strong against all physical attacks and drain ice.

Thankfully, they have a weakness to fire that makes them somewhat easy to beat. Unfortunately, they have powerful ice attacks you need to watch out for and the rare ability to reflect magic, so watch out for that.

Natural Dancer

Persona 3 Boss_Natural Dancer
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You will fight the single Natural Dancer boss on the 110th floor. Distress is the only status ailment that you can inflict on it. At level 40, it is strong against fire and electric attacks and immune to wind. Anything else will do fine so long as it does not cast a reflective barrier against physical attacks. Watch out for party members and Personas that are weak to wind.

Arcane Turret

Persona 3 Boss_Arcane Turret
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On the 122nd floor, players will encounter three Arcane Turrets. Quite a few status ailments work against them, including distress, panic, and rage. They are immune to strike and pierce and weak to only electric attacks. This is pretty straightforward as long as you avoid the very powerful pierce attacks that the Arcane Turrets do.

Sleeping Table

Persona 3 Boss_Sleeping Table
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When players arrive on the 135th floor of Tartarus, they will encounter a single Sleeping Table enemy. It is one of the more annoying enemies since there are few valuable skills against it. It is strong against fire, pierce, and slash while being utterly immune to the strike skills.

It deals heavy damage with fire and almighty while also having a 40% chance of instantly killing enemies with its light attack. To make matters worse, it can give fear, which then, in turn, lets it use a skill that instantly kills fearing enemies. The key here is to try to block the light and fear skills as much as possible with the right Personas and accessories.

Hell Knight

Persona 3 Boss_Hell Knight
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Three Hell Knights are waiting for you when you arrive on the 146th floor. Charm and poison are your only options for status ailments, but both are quite effective if you can land any of them. They are your best options for taking control of the battle since the Hell Knights are level 48 and strong against wind, fire, and ice. They also drain electric, which they use in battle. Watch out for their poison and instantly killing dark attacks.

Mythical Gigas

Persona 3 Boss_Mythical Gigas
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In Tartarus, on the 160th floor, players will encounter the Mythical Gigas boss. Distress and rage are the only helpful status ailments here. It is a problematic foe whose only skills that are useful against it are ice, electric, and wind. All do standard damage. Watch out for its insanely powerful physical attacks, which can even counter your moves.

Judgment Sword

Persona 3 Boss_Judgment Sword
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On the 171st floor of the dungeon, there are three Judgement Swords that players will battle. Panic is the only status ailment helpful here, and it is almost a must at times. This is because it is strong or draining of every skill type except for ice and wind, which only do typical damage to it.

There are some insane slash and electric attacks that it can do, so having resistance to those will go a long way in this battle.

Stasis Giant

Persona 3 Boss_Stasis Giant
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Three Stasis Giants are on the 180th floor of Tartarus for you to fight. You can use several status ailments, but the best ones are poison (if they do not heal this) and especially panic. At level 58, these behemoths have strong resistances, making ice and electric the only real viable options. You need to watch out for their prevalent physical attacks that can damage the entire party at once.

Phantom King

Persona 3 Boss_Phantom King
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There is a single Phantom King that players must fight on floor 190. Panic is the only ailment that will be useful here. A fascinating part is that you can use any elements you want against it since it has no notable weaknesses or resistances outside of the standard light and dark.

However, the catch is that it has high chances of instantly destroying party members with one hit or putting the king’s fear into your team. Blocking light and fear will differ between this being an excruciating boss or an absolute breeze.

Royal Dancer

Persona 3 Boss_Royal Dancer
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Floor 201 sees three Royal Dancers take on the player and their party members from the SEES organization. At level 61, they have no resistances or weaknesses whatsoever. That said, you can inflict any status ailment on them besides fear and rage, but they can heal them simultaneously.

Status ailments are the name of the game here, as the Royal Dancers have access to a plethora of status skills that they will use on your team. Avoid what ailments you can while using your most powerful skills to blast through their 1500-point health bars.

Reckoning Dice

Persona 3 Boss_Reckoning Dice
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On floor 211, players will encounter a Reckoning Dice boss. This can be a particularly annoying enemy since it is immune to all magical elements. Though you can use all physical attacks against it, the problem is that it is capable of putting up a barrier every so often to reflect physical damage. Almighty can be helpful and common at this point in the game, especially since Reckoning Dice will often use almighty attacks.

Noble Seeker

Persona 3 Boss_Noble Seeker
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There are three Noble Seekers waiting for you when you arrive on the 220th floor of Tartarus. While not as resistant as the last foe, they are strong against all elements, so you might as well count them out. The Noble Seekers are incredibly versatile, with attacks that include the four main magical elements and slash attacks. You will need to carefully select your party members, equipment, and Personas to avoid giving the Noble Seekers too many turns.

Carnal Snake

Persona 3 Boss_Carnal Snake
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You will fight three Carnal Snakes when you get to the 228th floor. They are only strong to fire, electric, and wind. They use many fire skills and darkness insta-kill attacks, though, and can occasionally reflect physical hits. They can also drain your SP, so a mix of physical attacks when you can and healing skills otherwise can help you defeat them.

World Balance

Persona 3 Boss_World Balance
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World Balance is the second-to-last main Tartarus floor boss that you will fight that is solo, and that is on floor 236. At level 72, World Balance is one of the most formidable foes to date if you do not use a particular strategy. It resists all physical attacks and has a versatile suite of elemental skills that specifically target the weaknesses in your party.

Almighty can be useful here, but so can the other elements as long as you brace for its almighty attacks. They are compelling and will require at least one dedicated healer. It is also great to have some magic-reflecting skills as it will make World Balance focus on almighty attacks and ignore the standard insta-kill light and dark abilities. It is a demanding boss, but it only has 3100 health.

Fierce Cyclops

Persona 3 Boss_Fierce Cyclops
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The final trio in Tartarus is found on the 244th floor. Target each cyclops one enemy at a time before switching targets. They are strong against slash, strike, fire, and immune to electric. Their physical attacks are the most concerning part, with some okay electric skills here and there. Use the best available skills to take each cyclops out one at a time. Thankfully, this is more straightforward than recent bosses.

Jotun of Grief

Persona 3 Boss_Jotun of Grief
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The final Tartarus enemy you will face is the Jotun of Grief on floor 252. At level 73, this insane enemy’s only possible exploits are piercing and almighty, which are just normal for it. Bring along three pierce party members and have the protagonist be a fourth pierce user or dedicated healer. Jotun of Grief is insanely strong, especially since it debuffs. Being able to counter these debuffs is crucial to not getting pummeled.

Optional Bosses

There are a few genuinely optional bosses that you can face in Persona 4. They are among the most challenging fights in the entirety of the game.

Reaper

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The Reaper is the most infamous enemy ever in Persona for a reason. At level 99, it is strong against everything. The only viable skills are almighty. You should at least be level 75 before you take this beast on, and, even then, it can wipe you in one hit. That said, the spell Armageddon can decimate even the Reaper quickly.

Elizabeth or Theodore

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Depending on which protagonist you are, you will get Elizabeth or Theodore. Both are level 99 and are pretty annoying with no weaknesses. Watch out for their fire attacks and use your best skills to whittle their insane 20,000 health points.

Margaret

Optional_Persona 3 Boss_Margaret
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In Persona 3 Portable, you can face the true ultimate enemy in Margaret. Almighty and physical attacks are your only option, but she will switch between absorbing specific physical attacks, depending on what you use. She has insanely high health of 25,000.

Story Mission Bosses

These are the story mission bosses that you must fight to progress the plot.

Priestess

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In this first story, the boss is level 10 and reflects ice. Watch out for ice, panic, charm attacks, and the time limit you have for this fight.

Emperor and Empress

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Emperor and Empress
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This is a dual boss fight. The Emperor is level 16 and weak in the four basic magical abilities, but it randomly changes them. In contrast, the Empress is the opposite, only weak to physical attacks that she cycles through. Be swift and flexible in changing gears to win this one.

Hierophant

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At level 24, the Hierophant’s only primary resistance is repelling electric attacks. It is a strong electric fighter, so have resistance to that and fear. Otherwise, this is pretty straightforward.

Lovers

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The Lovers have no weaknesses or resistances. Focus on having accessories that heal or block panic and charm. Watch out for its SP drain skill, and use your best attacks to defeat its 1500 health at level 25.

Chariot and Justice

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Chariot and Justice
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This is another two-boss fight. Chariot is level 31 with 1500 health and no resistances or weaknesses. Justice has the same stats and resistances. They both have a lot of status ailments they use. The trick here is that they will fuse and cannot be defeated. You need to switch between two, whittling down their health to beat them at almost the same time, or they will resurrect their partner.

Hermit

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The Hermit is level 39 with 3500 health. All it does is drain electric skills. Watch out for its strong electric skills and poison attacks.

Fortune and Strength

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Fortune and Strength
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Another dual fight here. Fortune is level 46 with 3000 health. It has strong wind and pierce damage. Strength, on the other hand, is 46 with 4000 health. It has distress, charm, and physical abilities. I recommend picking one and committing to taking it out first.

Jin Shirato and Takaya Sakaki

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Jin Shirato and Takaya Sakaki
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These two are strong and versatile. Takaya Sakaki is level 53 with 1500 health and access to most elemental skills. Jin has similar stats plus repels for fire and insta-kill dark attacks. I recommend picking which one is the most troublesome for you and taking them out first.

Hanged Man

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Hanged Man
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The Hanged Man is level 54 with 5500 health and no notable weaknesses or resistances. It has heavy strike damage and insanely high almighty attacks if it sacrifices its statues. Take out the statues, attack as much as you can on the Hanged Man, heal, and then rinse and repeat.

Chidori Yoshino

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Chidori Yoshino
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Chidori is level 56 with 1200 health and is able to drain fire. She has a wide set of skills that are fire, insta-kills with dark, status ailments, and debuffs. Elemental skills and resistances for poison and charm are your best bets here.

Jin Shirato

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Jin Shirato
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This final fight with Jin Shirato sees him at level 74 with 5000 health, the returning fire repels, and a much more useful set of skills. I recommend being ready for anything with heals and using your best attacks to take him out.

Takaya Sakaki

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Takaya Sakaki
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Takaya Sakaki is level 75 with 7000 health in his final fight. He is extremely flexible and capable of anything but not really status ailments. Block the instant-killing dark and light attacks, and then just focus on using your best elemental and physical skills to take him out. He has no weaknesses or resistances besides light and dark.

Nyx

Persona 3_Story Mission Bosses_Nyx
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Finally, there is the last boss of the main story of Persona 3: Nyx. Atop Tartarus is this enemy who seeks the destruction of the world. There are 14 phases to this boss, each of which allows the boss to attack twice every turn. In total, the boss has 25,500 health. The first phase is a freebie where it will not attack at all, so do not waste your precious SP or items here; just attack.

All phases are generally the same in that it has around 1500 HP and no weaknesses or general resistances at the same time. That is, except for, no surprise, being immune to light and dark attacks. Critical hits will not grant an extra turn, either, so this is an all-out battle.

The final phase is the most notable since it has 6000 HP and uses Moonless Gown for three turns. During this time, heal up since all attacks are nulled. Charm is the only status ailment you need to worry about in this fight. Other than that, just use your best skills and stock up on items as much as you can.

FAQs

Question: What is the hardest boss in Persona 3?

Answer: When it comes to the hardest boss in Persona 3, there are a couple of candidates. While Nyx is definitely a tough boss, she is more of a grind than an actual competitor, though, since it takes so long. In terms of the actual hardest boss, I think it is Reaper without a doubt. The Persona 3 version of Reaper is insanely difficult, requiring near max level to defeat. Margaret in Persona 3 Portable is a nice runner-up but Reaper is just on a whole other level.

Question: What level should I be for the first boss in Persona 3?

Answer: The very first boss that you fight in Persona 3 is level 10, which is pretty standard for the series. However, you do not necessarily need to be level 10 to win this fight. In my opinion, you should be roughly around level 7-8 at the very least if you do not want to struggle too much with the first boss.

Question: What level is Thanatos in Persona 3?

Answer: Thanatos is one of the best Personas that you can get in Persona 3. In order to do this ultimate fusion of the Death Arcana, you need to be at least level 64. This is because Thanatos himself is a base level 64 Persona.

Conclusion

The Persona 3 bosses guide, hopefully, gave you an idea of what to expect when tackling the dozens of major enemies that you come across in the lengthy storyline. If you’re opting for the true ending of the game, you will need to take out almost all of these enemies, so we hope that you are ready for that grind.

If you’re not, though, be sure to take a look at one of our other guides to the game, like our general Persona overview guide. In this post, you will find out more information about the game outside of just the bosses, including the characters in the game, social links, and other gameplay elements that are outside of the combat scenarios.

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