Elite enemies known as FOE inhabit the depths of every Persona Q dungeon. Actually, these terrifying beasts originate from the Etrian Odyssey series, where they have terrified players since the days of the original Nintendo DS. Their function as a very difficult opponent is rather obvious from the off, but your first introduction to such things is likely to inspire avoidance over anything else, and for a while you’ll be poked and prompted to avoid them at all costs. This is all well and good of course, after all every game in both series’ uses them to great effect in environmental puzzles, but at some point you’re going to want to take them on, be it through sheer curiosity or side quest prompting. With nothing but a colouration marker to determine their difficulty, players are often left asking the same questions about these mysterious beasts; when should I take them on? And if I do manage to do it, is it worth my time?
When To Fight An FOE
In short, the best time to take on the first FOE that you find is towards the end of the first dungeon or the start of the next. In Persona Q, this means heading to the first floor of Wonderland and taking on the giant card enemies, either when you’re close to completing the dungeon or you have unlocked the Group Date Cafe. As you might imagine, by the time you reach the end of the first dungeon you are likely to have gained quite a lot of levels and picked up some new and powerful Persona, so you’ll stand more of a chance against one in battle. The reason that we recommend that you wait for the second dungeon to come along is mainly down to the equipment; unlocking it will allow you to take on some of the enemies there and unlock new and more powerful pieces of equipment, which could make all the difference.
Regardless of your choice here the challenge level will still be high – even on lower difficulty levels these elite opponents will hit hard and have a very large amount of health. In many cases they’re more difficult than the bosses you will face too, so be careful. At the bottom of this article we’ve put together a few tips on how to defeat them, but even if you follow all of these it’s worth being aware that you’re signing up for a marathon, not a sprint.
Timing Tips
- Towards the end of a dungeon, or indeed the start of the next, is the ideal time to take on the FOE found on the first floor.
- It’s often worth getting the loot from the subsequent dungeon before returning to take them on – the new equipment will make a big difference.
- These are marathon battles, so don’t go wasting all of your SP on small encounters on the way. Flee from these if necessary to keep your resources high.
- If your team build is reliant on items, try to take them on when you’re high on money and have plenty spare to spend on consumables.
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Why You Should Fight An FOE
Being an avid Persona fan, enough of one to pursue tertiary titles at least, you’re likely to want to take on challenges such as these FOE. Seeing an elite or rare enemy is like catnip to fans of any SMT spin off, or indeed any RPG title. If you need more convincing however, it’s worth noting that defeating the FOE in Persona Q will garner you two main benefits; novel loot and high level Personas. The former is of course an excellent addition – players should certainly be rewarded for taking on such a challenge, and here you’ll find that they each drop a key item which will unlock new equipment when sold, or at the very least pave the way for one. The latter, being the higher level Persona, has the obvious benefit of powering up a single character with both higher levels of statistics and potentially earlier access to powerful skills.
The best example of this is the Card FOEs in the Wonderland dungeon. There are two types; the Card Soldier, which roams the halls of the early levels, and the Painting Soldier, which can be found in the later levels, often guarding the flowers that you must interact with. The former will drop a Ripped Card which, once combined with a piece of loot from the next dungeon, can be used to craft the powerful Gravity Sword, and the Painted Card dropped by the Painting Soldier can be used to immediately craft the Panic Suit. If anything, the Personas gained are even more stark in their contrast, with the possibilities ranging from the mid 20 levels from the Card Soldier, up to level 30+ versions from the Painting type!
Summary Of Benefits
- Unique loot opportunities that cannot be found from any other enemy type in the game!
- High level Persona will be obtained, often 10 – 20 levels higher than the average dungeon types.
- It’s a compelling challenge to take them down.
- At times it is required for side quests, so it’s worth getting used to the ‘feel’ of an FOE battle.
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FOE Battling Tips
- A lot of resources will be required for these marathon battles, so make sure your HP and SP are topped up before you go. Flee pointless encounters on the way if you have to.
- These beasts are often practically immune to instant death, however they are not fully immune to Binds, so take advantage of this to nullify their attacks. A byproduct of this is that Naoto, a character otherwise incredible at taking down opponents, will not perform well against FOEs.
- Most FOE will have access to either group, or at least entire row attacks, so don’t restrict yourself to spells and items that only heal one member.
- Poison, if you can get it to land, will help tremendously here since it deals percentage health based damage – and these beasts have a lot of HP to lose. Skills like Impure Reach, which improves ailment rate success, will help in getting this to land.
- ‘Tank’ characters like Aigis work well, since she’ll often take the hits and reduce the damage taken, however even she can be taken down in a single hit if you’re not careful.
- Whilst he’s an unpopular character thanks to the lack of Sub Persona, Zen’s Bane Slice is actually quite useful against some early FOE, acting like a weaker version of Poison.
- It’s worth investing in a round of just defending at first to learn their abilities.
- If you’re struggling then don’t worry, you’re not alone. These beasts are often harder than the boss battles in their respective dungeons.
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