Locating and defeating rare enemies, otherwise known as golden shadows, can be the cause of consternation in Persona 3 Portable. Not only are these rare opponents difficult to defeat, mainly owing to their tremendous dodge rate, but they’re also tricky to simply engage, because they’re likely to sprint away if you approach their line of sight. Presumably their rarity somehow gives them almost 360 degree peripheral vision, or something. Either way, nailing the little blighters down can be a bit of a pain, so today we’re outlining a few methods that should help you on your way.
Method #1: Persona Gear Solid

To catch a rare enemy, you must learn the art of sneaking up on them. Such things call to mind a certain Solid Snake, and require that you be a little stealthy in your approach. We’ve found that taking the following steps will result in reasonable amounts of success:
- Keep the golden shadow positioned at the edge of your screen.
- Wait for the shadow to turn away from your protagonist.
- Sprint into it’s back and give it what for.
- Profit, when you manage to defeat it in battle, or…
- Curse it, when it escapes before you even get a chance to attack.
- (Optional) Look longingly at your request log, vowing to one day see it completed before redoubling your efforts.
Important note: If you load up your game and the floor that you warp to is immediately showing rare enemies, then they will always appear on this save. This persists through a quit and save, but only works if it’s the floor that you warp into without traversing up any further. You can use this to practice, or just to ensure that you get every single one prior to moving on. Be careful however, because these floors often contain the Reaper; pay attention to Fuuka, and if she’s repeating the word ‘Death’ then you might want to avoid it.
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Method #2: Party Split

Alternatively, it is possible to use your party members to sneak up on said flighty, rare opponent. By utilising the party commands available in Tartarus, you can command your party members to go and battle shadows. By doing this when a golden shadow is nearby, your teammates will immediately spread out, often tagging the enemy in question. There are reports of this being more successful than the sneaking option, however when you’ve tried for hours to get a floor full of the damned things, you may want to take every chance you can. Following are the steps used to complete this:
- Much like Method #1, the first step is to get the golden shadow positioned at the edge of your screen. Try to keep this distance if it turns towards you.
- Command your party members to prioritise ‘Fight Shadows’, and they’ll head off to battle some alone.
- With any luck, the golden shadow will not react to your party member moving towards them, and they’ll engage them in battle.
- Run your protagonist over to the battle and join your teammate!
- It should be noted that this is not a consistent method. Some players report that this is pretty reliable, whilst others claim that the shadows run away regardless. In our experience they actually seem to react exactly like Method #1, however you may find better luck following this alternative.
