You might think that choosing equipment is an easy task in Persona Q2. Just pick the parts with the highest numbers and it’ll take care of itself, right? Well, if the party member descriptions from the original Persona Q have taught us anything, things are never quite as they seem here. Having trudged our way through countless labyrinths with this series, it’s pretty clear that the developers tried their best to allow you to customize your team members as much as possible in Q2. However, for the non min-maxers out there, some of these pieces make little to no sense, so our article today is the first of three parts designed to help you pick out the best pieces of equipment for every single party member in battle. First up? Weapons.
Head over to https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Persona_Q2:_New_Cinema_Labyrinth_Items to find out how to locate or unlock all of the weapons detailed here!
Joker
- (Ultimate) Paradise Lost: Halves HP Cost / +4 Magic / +5 Agility.
- Azoth Dagger: Max SP +10% / +3 Magic.
Our very first choice in this list is for the protagonist of Persona 5, Joker, and we’re already starting to spot problems here. For all intents and purposes, Joker is an ‘all rounder’ character that trends towards physical damage. Aside from his access to Curse spells, both his statistics and his skills trend towards this physical damage role, yet his equipment choices really do not. Any proponent of the late game in a Q title, or indeed any mainline Persona, will know that units fall into specific roles, often becoming very powerful indeed, so to have Joker’s arsenal of weapons feel so confused is a bit disappointing. Should we ever decide to keep him in our team then he almost always ends up in the back row slinging buffs and spells, so we’d prioritise the Azoth Dagger over his Ultimate on most occasions.
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Ryuji
- (Ultimate) Ruyi Jingu Bang: Halves Hp Cost / +5 Strength / +4 Endurance.
- Dragon God Pole: Max HP +15% / +3 Strength.
- Megaton Rod: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Endurance.
If you’re familiar with any of our other Persona Q2 content, you’ll know that we’ve ranked Ryuji pretty damn high in our ‘Tanks’ list. Both his statistics and skills lend him perfectly to the role of party defender, so whilst you’d think that his weapon choices should all trend in this direction, it’s worth making note of one thing first: He really doesn’t need any help doing his job. What we mean here is that his statistics are already incredible for his role; his HP is high, his Endurance is excellent and his Strength is naturally high. That said, you may want to opt for more damage rather than leaning further into the tank role that he’s already fantastic at.
Morgana
- Chromatic Orb: High chance of Paralysis.
- Star Slayer: Medium chance of Confusion.
Poor Morgana. By the majority of players, us included, he’s immediately ousted in Persona 5 once Yusuke joins, and his performance in Persona Q2 really doesn’t do much to help his cause. He’s seemingly designed to act as a heavily supportive character, providing heals, buffs and generally helping the team out as much as possible, and whilst he’s certainly capable in this role, he’s ultimately outperformed by characters possessed of a much more focused skill set. His situation is worsened by his weapon choices, which barely feature any statistical upgrades, and the halving of HP costs on his ultimate is almost useless. Ideally you would want to increase his magical power and turn him into a hybrid mage/healer type, but from a weapon perspective at least, you’re stuck with some ailment options as your best choice.
Ann
- (Ultimate) Golden Whip: Halves HP Cost / +7 Magic.
- Queen’s Whip: High chance of Sleep.
- Nine Tails: Max SP +10%.
Thankfully, unlike Morgana, Ann has retained a great deal of her power in the transition over to Persona Q2. She’s very powerful from a magical perspective, offers a few heals, has plenty of fire spells and she’s pretty frail from a defensive standpoint. This makes her ideal for the back row, which by extension makes her actual weapon power rather moot. That said, you’re mainly looking for anything that accentuates her magical acumen. Her ultimate, the Golden Whip, does offer some nice additional magic, however you may want to keep Nine Tails in reserve for those long dungeon sessions.
Haru
- (Ultimate) Fleurs Du Mal: Halves HP Cost / +3 Strength / +5 Endurance.
- Celtis: Max HP +15% / +2 Luck.
With Haru we arrive at one character that has seen a significant change thanks to their Q2 transition. Where she operated as a Gun and Psy specialist in 5, here she leans closer toward the tanking side of things. She does retain her Psy spells, which is a real boon given that she’s the only party member with innate access to such, but aside from this she’s a fairly cookie cutter tanking unit. Unfortunately her weapons don’t exactly help in this regard, but we’ll make a special mention of the Celtis weapon – her only real statistical weakness, at least for tanking, is her health pool, which this helps greatly.
Yusuke
- (Ultimate) 777 Katana: Halves HP Cost / +2 Strength / +7 Agility.
- Fudo Masamune: Max HP +10% / +3 Endurance.
Thankfully, one of the relatively untouched transfers from Persona 5 is Yusuke, who takes up the reins once again as a prime, powerful physical attacker. He is by far our favourite of the physical damage dealers in Persona Q2, thanks not only to his high Strength, but also his immense speed, which ensures that he’ll likely go first no matter the encounter. HIs only real weakness is his frail defences, which is why we’ve chosen to include the Fudo Masamune in our choices here; should you be struggling versus one particular encounter, it might be an idea to equip this and improve his survivability. Otherwise it’s best to simply strap on the strongest weapon possible until you reach the 777 Katana.
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Akechi
- (Ultimate) Tsar Saber: Halves HP Cost / +3 Strength / +6 Magic.
- Force Saber: Max SP +10% / +3 Agility.
- Cathode Saber: Max SP +15%.
Ah the lovable scamp that is Akechi has transitioned in Q2, and we do love his inclusion, though we’ll admit to having been a little disappointed at the lack of Kasumi. Anyhow, in battle Akechi tends to fall into a similar role as Joker; it’s possible to do almost anything with him, however he gravitates towards a back row support role thanks to his skills and statistics. To augment this we tend to stick with weapons that buff up his magical ability somewhat, and the best options here are the Force Saber and Cathode Saber. He’s unlikely to do a great deal of physical attacking, and in many cases having a great deal more SP is better than the +6 Magic stat, so you may not even want to bother with his ultimate weapon at all.
Makoto
- (Ultimate) Pegasus Fist: Halves HP Cost / +4 Strength / +5 Agility.
- Ominous Fists: Max HP and SP +10%.
- Metal Duster: Max SP +10% / +3 Magic.
Poor Makoto. In many ways she seems to be the black sheep of the Persona 5 party. That’s not to say her character is bad, in fact she’s probably one of our favourites from a personality perspective, but much like her incarnation in that game, she suffers from a lack of any particular mastery here. There are a great deal of better options for your front row here, so that leaves her with a back row slot… Of which there are also much better options. On balance her statistics lend herself to a supportive role of sorts, which always tend to end up putting her in the back row, so you’re much more likely to seek out ways to improve her magic. Throwing Ominous Fists on her and leaving them there is our favourite choice here, but if you’re less of a ‘min-maxer’ then you can probably make her work wherever you want.
Female P3 Protagonist
- (Ultimate) Kanemitsu: Halves HP Cost / +7 Magic.
- Khakkhara: +4 Magic.
We love the inclusion of the FEMC in Persona Q2, but we have to say that, compared to the rest of the cast, her weapon selection is absolutely terrible. As a character she has the opportunity to act like a great all rounder, capable of dealing great damage from the back row thanks to her Naginata, but she’s really lacking in the choice department. Often she’ll end up taking on a supporting role of sorts, because her physical damage pales when compared to others in the late game, and for this type of role she only has the Khakkhara available to boost her Magic stat. Shame really, because the concept has a great deal of potential.
Persona 4 Protagonist
- (Ultimate) Usumidori: Halves HP Cost / +4 Strength / +5 Endurance.
- Mithril Club: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Endurance.
- Galatine: Max HP +10% / +3 Strength.
Permit us to, fittingly, take part in a little side quest here. So far we have discussed Joker, who despite his benefits ultimately gets beaten out by better options, and the female Persona 3 protagonist that does the same, so do things get better for the P4 main character? Well actually, he’s fairly good. His skills make him lean towards a physical DPS role, but with a side helping of tanking to broaden his usefulness. On the whole he can end up a very useful character, and whilst we’re not about to call him quite as good as more focused choices, he’s a good choice that can slot into most teams. Naturally his weapons lean into these two roles, and we’d almost always choose his ultimate weapon, but spare a thought for the Galatine; that extra health can come in handy at times.
Chie
- (Ultimate) Reigan Greaves: Halves HP Cost / +6 Strength / +2 Agility.
- Stellar Greaves: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Agility.
- Vidar’s Boots: Max HP +15%.
If you’re anything like us, the sheer amount of characters on offer in this title tends to present a problem, in that any flaws are starkly noticeable. In the original Q title, Chie was quick but frail and unreliable, however she has received a significant buff in the sequel. Her skills, including the fantastic Ambush Arts+, mean that she’s a very capable unit that’ll adapt to any front row build you might have. Her ultimate weapon then, is absolutely ideal for her, since she’ll be spamming HP costing skills more than anything else.
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Yukiko
- (Ultimate) Primordial Sea: Halves HP Cost / +7 Magic.
- Yume-no-Hashi: Max SP +20%.
Having just spoken about one of the Persona 4 ladies and the buff she received, we unfortunately turn to another in Yukiko, who isn’t quite as fortunate here. It’s not that she’s a terrible character, after all she has an excellent magic stat and a useful blend of healing and fire skills, however it’s let down by a woefully low health total. This is offset by her ultimate skill of course, which allows her to regularly dodge any attack, however this doesn’t account for the times when she actually takes a hit and almost dies. Sadly, the developers seem to have resigned her to this RNG fate by not including any health bonus on her weapons, and gave her an ultimate model that is ultimately rather useless. We’d grab the Yume-no-Hashi and stick with it, should you choose to take the risk of bringing her along.
Kanji
- (Ultimate) Destiny Tablet: Halves HP Cost / +4 Strength / +5 Endurance.
- Christ Mirror: Max HP +20%.
- Golden Plate: Money Obtained +10%.
You would think, given that we consider him the best tank, and indeed the best overall party member in the entire game, that we would be recommending tank weapons right here. Well, you could do that, or you could take advantage of just how good Kanji is at his role and realise that he really doesn’t need a weapon to complete this role with ease. That being the case, you can do pretty much whatever you want; if you want damage from him then the Destiny Tablet is ideal, but you could just throw the Golden Plate on him for the majority of the game, safe in the knowledge that his skills and stats are good enough, and gather up even more money from every battle!
Teddie
- (Ultimate) Claw of Revenge: Halves HP Cost / +6 Endurance / +3 Luck.
- Platinum Claw: Max HP +10% / +3 Endurance.
Unfortunately, not every ‘weak’ character from Persona Q was improved in Q2. Teddie here is one of the worst examples actually. For some reason they thought it best to give him an individual skill that encourages taking hits, along with the excellent Line Guard, but without giving him the statistics to allow him to occupy that position…? He does have heals and Ice spells, but there are much better options available for both of those, and his weapon choices don’t even provide any benefit to either of them. Such a confusingly designed character here in Q2, which is a shame. At best you can attempt to augment his survivability, and if he’s going to be in the back row then the Platinum Claw is by far the best bet.
Yosuke
- (Ultimate) Nandaka: Halves HP Cost / +7 Agility / +2 Luck.
- Kashin Koji: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Agility.
It only takes a few minutes with Yosuke to realise that you’ve got your hands on that most coveted of Etrian roles, the Linker. This means that they’ll follow up attacks made by their row, or team, with some of their own. These are often powerful and their presence does open up opportunities to deal a great deal of damage in a single round. We’re not a huge fan of them here to be honest, especially when so many other huge damage options are available, but it does make equipping him rather easy. Simply find the very best physical damage option as possible, or with a critical modifier such as the Kashin Koji, and let him go hog wild.
Naoto
- (Ultimate) Megido Gun: Halves HP Cost / +7 Magic.
- Black Hole: High chance of Hex.
- Magical Gun: Max SP +15%.
Quite possibly the biggest downgrade in this sequel has to be Naoto. In the original, she was a world beating, random encounter deletion expert. This was thanks to her instant death attacks and her luck, which combined to great effect. Sadly, these have been significantly downgraded in Q2, and what we’re left with is an inexplicably tanky back row mage. Seriously, we’re almost positive that Naoto somehow absorbed Yukiko’s fair share of the health pool. Anyhow, she is now a middling back row mage that has personal skills that just reduce the cost of spells for a few rounds. If you insist on still using her, then your best bet is to lean into the caster thing with your weapon choice. Just don’t blame us if you quickly replace her with someone more worthwhile.
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Persona 3 Protagonist
- (Ultimate) Deus Xiphos: Halves HP Cost / +4 Strength / +5 Magic.
- Excalibur: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Magic.
- Luna Edge: Max SP +15% / +2 Magic.
- Kogarasumaru: Max HP & SP +10%.
Now we’re talking. The Persona 3 protagonist, who was powerful enough in Persona Q, manages to increase in our estimation even further here. Yes, you will have to wade through quite a lot of dungeoneering before you get your hands on him, but he’s powerful enough to jump straight into your team once you do. We’re not about to call him the very best back row mage, but his Fool and Judgement Card skills, which increase damage from all regular elemental spells, do manage to make him very potent. All that being the case, you’ll want to power up his poor magic stat as much as possible. Luna Edge is our favourite here – that increased SP pool is worth more than the few extra Magic stats for us.
Yukari
- (Ultimate) Origin Bow: Halves HP Cost / +7 Magic.
- Pleiades: +3 Magic.
- Artemis Bow: Max SP +10%.
Recent readers of ours will likely be aware that we value Yukari very highly in Persona Q2. This is because her selection of skills make her by far the best healer that the game has to offer. It’s no surprise then, that our choices of weapons are designed to support this fact as much as possible. Unfortunately her ultimate is slightly underwhelming. Don’t get us wrong, +7 Magic is nothing to be sniffed at, but Yukari will do such an immense amount of healing that it’s really not necessary. Artemis Bow would be our choice here, to keep her throwing heals and offensive spells for as long as possible.
Junpei
- (Ultimate) Masakado Sword: Halves HP Cost / +3 Strength / +5 Endurance.
- Mithril Club: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Endurance.
- Galatine: Max HP +10% / +3 Strength.
The best way to describe Junpei would be well… He’s exactly the same as Chie. Alright, so there are differences, like Junpei is designed to deal increased damage to targets suffering from Binds rather than Ailments, but in practice they operate in a similar fashion. You’ll want to maximise physical damage as much as possible, so he’s all about the numbers. Naturally this means that the Masakado Sword wins the day, but you could pull out the Galatine if you’re struggling to keep him alive for some reason. Oh who are we kidding, give him the biggest and best weapon that you can find and let the optimistic lad get swinging.
Aigis
- (Ultimate) Metatronius: Halves HP Cost / +7 Endurance.
- Kiss of Athena: Medium Splash Damage.
Ahh poor Aigis. Yet another of the Q superstars demoted in Q2. Alright, so things aren’t really that bad, rather she is now part of a roster that features plenty of excellent tanking options, so you’re less inclined to take her and her alone. She’s picked up Nuke spells here, and retained some of her original power thanks to Aegis Shield & Shielding, but there’s the definite feeling that she’s had her power tuned down somewhat. This is reflected in her weapon choices, which are dire to say the least. Metatronius is her best option of course, but the +7 Endurance is a bit moot, and outside of Kiss of Athena she really doesn’t have much choice at all. Poor robot girl has dealt with enough already, never mind getting this badly short changed.
Mitsuru
- Damascus Rapier: Max SP +20%.
- Illuminati: Max SP +10% / +3 Magic.
- (Ultimate) Kokuseki Senjin: Halves HP Cost / +5 Magic / +3 Agility.
Thanks to her powerful personal skills, which greatly increase the damage done when a weakness is struck, we’d like to welcome you to the replacement for Naoto as a random battle remover: Mitsuru. Honestly, for the vast majority of the game, at least until buff stacking becomes a thing, you’ll struggle to find a party member capable of dealing more damage in a single round than Mitsuru. Thankfully her weapon choices are useful too, though we’d caution against using her ultimate; she’s unlikely to use HP, and the combination of SP increases on her Damascus Rapier or Illuminati are likely much more useful in the grand scheme of things.
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Koromaru
- (Ultimate) Vajra: Halves HP Cost / +4 Magic / +4 Agility.
- Kashin Koji: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Agility.
Koromaru occupies an unusual position in Persona Q2. He’s a linker, which means he specialises in dealing consecutive damage after ally attacks, however his skills read like a bit of a mixed bag. We’d ditch his focus on Curse attacks and lean into physical damage as much as possible, keeping Quadruple Link and Bestial Roar to ensure that he deals as much as possible. Similarly, his weapons aren’t exactly ideally positioned, after all why would he be so interested in Magic? The Agility is appreciated of course, but Bestial Roar will make him act first anyway…? Regardless, strap the highest damage numbers to him possible and let him dole out repeated physical damage.
Akihiko
- Double Ziggurat: Critical Rate +20% / +2 Strength.
- (Ultimate) Ultimate Fist: Halves HP Cost / +4 Endurance / +4 Agility.
Another character that was thankfully spared the nerf bat from the original Q title is Akihiko, who has managed to remain a powerful front row physical attacker here. We’re not a huge fan of the ‘Combo Arts’ set of skills, after all why would you want to rely on basic attacks in a game featuring so many excellent physical skills, but he makes up for this through his excellent Sonic Rush ultimate skill, which makes attack skills activate twice for three rounds. That being the case, you’ll want to load him up with as much physical damage on his weapon as possible, and certainly take advantage of his ultimate version as soon as possible.
Shinjiro
- (Ultimate) Caduceus: Halves HP Cost / +5 Strength / +4 Endurance.
- Ukonvasara: Max HP +10% / +3 Strength.
Massively high health, Endurance, skills like All Guard and Endure make Shinjiro a fantastic tank in Persona Q2. In fact, if it wasn’t for Kanji’s amazing personal skills he’d probably be the best available overall. Alas, this was not to be, however he’s still fantastic at this role and whilst his weapon selection isn’t exactly fantastic, either his ultimate or the Ukonvasara will do an excellent job in assisting this role. His personal skill, which adds a splash element to his attacking skills, is also excellent, so the Strength available on both will not go to waste either.
Ken
- (Ultimate) Gae Bolg: Halves HP Cost / +7 Strength.
- Tonbokiri: Critical Rate +15%.
Our final entry into this list is Ken, who has pushed his way out of the shadow of Naoto in the sequel to become an excellent Linker. He does so thanks to his personal skills, which increase the damage of Link attacks as more and more take place. Unfortunately his statistics don’t quite match up to some of the more powerful physical attackers in Q2, so he’ll appreciate the additional strength that his ultimate weapon, Gae Bold, gives him. With enough work he can become a very powerful party member, though we will admit that prior to his ultimate choice, the arsenal can feel a little lacking compared to others.
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Categories: Persona Q2