Attempting to identify the best tank is a rather odd proposition in a Persona title. Traditionally this is a series that cares little for singular tanks, rather opting for the control of incoming damage through party buffs and enemy debuffs, but it gains in importance here thanks to the Q series’ roots in Etrian Odyssey. Having a great tank here is crucial for reducing party damage, thanks in no small part to the battle system no longer featuring the ‘one more’ system of its namesake. Establishing the need for tanks is only part of the battle however, because Persona Q2 has available to it the entire rosters from Persona 3, 4 and 5, and most of the characters have altered skills and abilities, so who should you consider for this role? If only there were an intrepid and handsome writer available to guide you through this tricky decision…
6. Persona 4 Protagonist
The Persona 4 protagonist is many things in Persona Q2; reasonable magic user, heavy physical attacker and a source of elec damage. What he is not, however, is a tank. He does have some of the tools available that you might want, especially his relatively high Endurance statistic, but it’s nowhere near enough to truly protect an entire party. He does come with the useful Swordbreaker skill, which has a medium chance to halve physical damage done to the row that he occupies, and whilst this does eventually upgrade to a ‘high’ chance, it’s far too late in the game to really matter.
Realistically, the Persona 4 Protagonist is a physical damage dealer. He comes with a good selection of physical attacks, elec skills and has the statistics to ensure that he always deals good damage. Thanks to the Swordbreaker skill, it’s definitely possible to make him perform well in a tanking role, but of all the options available here, it’ll take the most work in order to do so. If you’re intent on doing so, have a look at the skill cards we’ve recommended below.
Tank Skills
- Swordbreaker / Protective Sword (Medium / High chance of halving physical damage versus user’s row).
- Lowest END stat of all tanks listed here, along with a low HP total, though he does have a high STR stat.
- All of this, along with his physical and elec skills, mean he’s much more suited to a front row, physical damage dealing role.
Skill Card Recommendations
- Endure (Slime).
- Line Guard / All Guard (Nata Taishi, Ouyamatsumi).
- Regenerate 1/2/3 (Setanta/Berserker/Satan).
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
- Runic Shield (Thanatos Picaro).
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5. Haru
There are a few things that must be emphasised about Haru before we go into detail around her kit. Firstly, she seems to occupy a rather strange position in the roster, straddling the role of tank/battle mage more so than any other character. This is likely because of the second key piece of information: She is the only roster member that has innate access to Psy spells. Yes, despite the absolutely huge amount of party members on offer, there is only one that learns Psy spells, and that is Haru. This tends to lead us to hold her in high regard, especially when you consider the remainder of her skill kit, but does any of this actually make her a good tank?
Well, she’s essentially very similar to the P4MC above, with only slight differences between them. Where he has access to Swordbreaker, Haru learns Axe Guard / Bulwark. This particular skill gives her a passive chance to completely nullify physical attacks done to her, but her alone. This might sound like a weaker skill overall, however when it’s combined with any form of ‘taunt’ skill, such as All Guard, then she all of a sudden turns into an excellent physical damage tank that often requires little to no healing. Her skills don’t quite allow her to approach others on this list, but with a little work she’ll do just fine, and you’ll also get yourself access to Psy spells and eventually the epic Heat Riser skill.
Tank Skills
- Axe Guard / Bulwark (Chance to nullify physical attacks targeting her).
- Regenerate 1 / 2 (Regenerates HP every round).
- High END and STR, but the lowest HP total of all tank choices here.
- Worth noting that she is the only character in the entire roser with natural access to Psy skills.
Skill Card Recommendations
- Endure (Slime).
- Line Guard / All Guard (Nata Taishi, Ouyamatsumi).
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
- Runic Shield (Thanatos Picaro).
4. Aigis
Should you be familiar with the original Persona Q, then Aigis’ place in this list is likely to feel a little unusual. There she was the de facto tank, one that was capable of defending the entire team whilst taking next to no damage in almost every round. It’s safe to say that she’s been given a bit of a drop here in Q2, along with a certain investigative magic user, but that doesn’t mean that she’s completely useless. In fact, here we find her tilting more towards the Haru end of the spectrum and performing well as a defensive battle mage, but one that deals with incoming damage of a different type.
This is thanks to her passive Aegis Shield / Shielding skill, which has a chance to nullify elemental attacks aimed at her row. This is an excellent skill that often saves the lives of your party members, but whilst this is certainly a welcome addition, the remainder of her kit doesn’t quite stack up from a tanking perspective. She does have Line Guard, but it never upgrades to All Guard, and rather than some form of regeneration or Endure, she prioritises Nuke and Physical skills. She’s still an excellent character, and her high END stat means she can technically tank for days, but her skills fall rather short compared to our top 3.
Tank Skills
- Aegis Shield / Shielding (Medium / high chance to nullify elemental attacks to her row).
- Line Guard (Raises defence and takes attacks in place of her row).
Skill Card Recommendations
- Endure (Slime).
- All Guard (Ouyamatsumi).
- Regenerate 1/2/3 (Setanta/Berserker/Satan)
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
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3. Ryuji
Unfortunately our favourite bro from Persona 5, the character furnished with our favourite soundtrack we might add, doesn’t quite reach the top of our list, but it’s not for the want of trying. We get the feeling that the developers attempted to straddle the role of tank and physical damage a little too much here, because one or two more skills could have pushed him right to the top, albeit at the detriment of his damage output. As it is, we’re left with a character that, more than any other, can perform both to a high level.
He has access to a few great skills, chief among which is the Line / All Guard pairing, and he will eventually gain access to Regenerate 3 and Null S-Bind, the latter of which is tailored more towards his physical skills but still nice to have. You’ll want to bolster his tanking skills if you want him to shine in this regard, with a skill like Endure being essential in our opinion, but with damage buffs like Power Charge at his fingertips, you may want to reconsider. Potential to become a great tank then, but likely better used for generating numbers rather than reducing them.
Tank Skills
- Line Guard / All Guard (Raise defence and take damage in place of a row / all allies).
- Null S-Bind (Immune to Strength bind).
- Regenerate 3 (Restore HP every round).
- Very high END, STR and high HP total.
Skill Card Recommendations
- Endure (Slime).
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
- Runic Shield (Thanatos Picaro).
2. Shinjiro
Before we get into his skills, it’s worth noting that Shinjiro is the best tanking option from a purely statistical perspective. In this regard he has no equal, thanks to his super high END, STR and HP total. That’s not all, because his combination of Regenerate and Return from Yomi skills also mean that he has the most passive health regeneration possible, albeit reliant on RNG to apply. Once you add his remaining skills into the fold, including learning the excellent All Guard at level 42 and having Endure innately from the start, he’s clearly a fantastic tank. In fact, the more we write about Shinjiro the more we consider him to be level with our first choice, and he likely would be were it not for one single skill learned by our final choice. You really can’t go wrong picking Shinjiro as the tank for your team, and you’ll barely need to add any skills to his arsenal, unlike most others.
Tank Skills
- Line Guard / All Guard (Raise defence and take damage in place of a row / all allies).
- Endure (Survive lethal damage with 1 HP).
- Regenerate 2 / 3 (Restore HP every round).
- Return from Yomi (Chance to restore HP when it’s pushed below 30%).
- Very high END, STR and the highest HP total in the game.
Skill Card Recommendations
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
- Runic Shield (Thanatos Picaro).
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1. Kanji
Kanji is, without a doubt, the best tank in Persona Q2. How can we be so sure, you ask? Well it all comes down to his ‘personal’ skill, Machismo Wall / Barrier. At its base level this skill is effectively All Guard, with the small but very significant difference being that Kanji has this available from the start of the game, where others have to wait until the high level 40s to gain access. Were this not enough, he is the only character in the game that gets an upgraded version of this, in the form of Machismo Barrier. This raises his own defence whilst taking greatly reduced damage for the entire team, making it the single best tanking ability in the game, bar none.
Having such an incredible skill means that you only have to build up a few other aspects to round him out. He already has access to Endure, so the simple addition of Dodge Arts+ and Runic Shield will take him to the maximum damage reduction possible in a single character. You can even keep his Null S-Bind and add some passive regeneration if you want to create the ultimate invincible lad, which we certainly recommend that you do.
Tank Skills
- Machismo Wall / Barrier (Raise defence and take attacks in place of all allies with reduced / greatly reduced damage).
- Endure (Survive lethal damage with 1 HP).
- Null S-Bind (Immune to Strength bind).
- Only character to achieve a perfect 99 in both STR and END, along with a very high HP total.
Skill Card Recommendations
- Regenerate 1/2/3 (Setanta/Berserker/Satan)
- Dodge Arts+ (Lakshmi).
- Runic Shield (Thanatos Picaro).
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Categories: Persona Q2