Taking on the intimidating tower that is Tartarus is not an easy proposition, never mind doing it in a single day. Regulars of the series will no doubt be aware of this fact, but it’s not exactly well signposted for new players that the time you spend doing one event is detrimental to others. Spending day after day pushing through Tartarus for example, means you have less time to improve your personal statistics and social links, some of which are crucial in unlocking further options down the line. One day being used then, is the optimal way to progress, but how should you go about tackling such a challenge? Join us as we detail the steps that we take to ensure a smooth ascension.
Step 1: Preparation
There is an unwritten yet universal rule in RPG games, which is that you never really understand the importance of certain items until it’s too late. In Persona 3 Portable terms, this would be failing to understand that you will, eventually and without a single doubt, be inflicted with a status ailment that you cannot remove with skills alone. Be it through early game status, party member or indeed fusion choices, there will eventually be something you cannot account for.
Thus, our first step is to ensure proper preparation. Our first paragraph there should highlight the need for items, and a good selection of them too, but we’re also talking about equipment too. If you follow our advice then you’ll gather a large amount of money during your upcoming climb, so spend you current bank and get the very best that the shops have to offer.
Tartarus Advice
- A good selection of items, healing and status recovery, is essential for a safe journey through Tartarus. Resurrection items are equally useful, though with the ‘tired’ status looming, you’ll want to avoid deaths more than ever here.
- Whilst you do want to grab the best equipment possible, put a little more thought in first. Do you really want that Bow for Yukari that deals more damage, or the armour that prevents more, especially on a member that’s more likely to cast than attack.
- Where possible, bring party members that have the ‘Great’ status. This will give them increased attack, defence, accuracy and critical chance. Conversely, Tired will make them both deal less damage and take more.
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Step 2: Reach The Barrier
Don’t worry, we understand just how simple that title sounds, and how it diminishes what is quite a difficult task. Still, if you’re looking to complete everything in one singular day, then you really should reach the barrier to the next block in one trip. The perfect route through Persona 3 Portable is technically malleable enough to allow more than one visit, but you’ll find yourself with plenty of time to get those links up if you take it all on at once.
Generally speaking we prefer to take things quite slowly, taking on a few floors at a time, doing requests and heading back for healing fairly frequently, however it’s entirely possible to simply sprint to the barrier if you so desire. Just be ready to take on those pesky sub-bosses en route!
Tartarus Advice
- Whilst it’s not strictly necessary, getting to the barrier basically ‘completes’ Tartarus until the story is ready to move on, meaning you can focus on building your social links and stats for the remainder of the month.
- You may want to stick around on some levels and grind up, however we’d recommend that you get to the barrier first. Don’t rush it, but once you reach the barrier and it’s teleporter, you’re free to do as you wish with less risk.
- The only real caveat to the above advice, is to complete requests on the way up if you can. Some enemies are more likely to be present on certain levels, so taking some time to complete this is more efficient.
Step 3: Fuse, Grind & Farm
For some players, ourselves included, this is the best bit of Tartarus. When you’ve conquered one particular block, pushed through its sub bosses and learned everything it’s enemies have to offer, it’s time to settle into the warm and comfortable grind. Time to throw on your favourite podcast or LoFi music, sink down into the sofa and begin the process of accumulation. The final word there is key, because this step is all about gathering as much as you possibly can, be it money, levels or persona.
The best advice here is essentially the opposite of the first step: Use up all of your resources in pursuit of greater gains. This is the time to fuse everything you could possibly want in your persona stock, especially those recently picked up during the ascent. Following this, start aiming for the weapons in Shuffle Time, and once this is exhausted then grab all of the money that you possibly can. In short, this is the time to stock up! You’re preparing for the next single day journey, so do as much as you possibly can here, then do a little more!
Tartarus Advice
- Key to this step is that you’re actually preparing for your next journey into Tartarus. Continuing to do these journeys in one day will necessitate that you have your team, persona and money in a good position to get through the next one.
- You may have encountered all of the possible Weapon or Persona Shuffle Time cards on the way up to the barrier, so switch these for the money option as much as possible.
- Building on the above, levels are of little importance here. You’ll gain more than enough experience points by way of doing this grinding, so we’d recommend prioritising money.
- The above is especially true for those of you that want to complete the Compendium. Such players are somewhat unusual, but given that they’re exactly like us, they’re also unequivocally the best.
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One Day Tartarus Tips
- Shuffle time should be altered depending on your current step. Progression can be aided by getting healing options, but it’s worth opting for equipment, gold or persona when you’re in the grinding stage of your trip, to maximise your gains.
- You may at some point think you’ve reached a reasonable amount of money, but this is very unlikely to be true. Outfits, equipment, items and compendium purchases will soon eat into your budget, so make the most of Tartarus whilst you’re there.
- Despite the fact that they can be resurrected by an item or spell, a teammate dying is very likely to influence their status, often dropping them from ‘Good’ to ‘Tired’. This makes avoiding deaths crucial, much more so than in other games.
- It’s often best to save doing requests until you’ve reached step 3 above. Being able to freely teleport back and forth for healing and fusing is ideal.
- It’s possible to refresh your teammates’ status (tired, good, great etc) by going to the toilet. Sometimes this will boost them up a level, though the method is not wholly reliable.
- Our above tip actually has some influence on battle, since those with a ‘Great’ status will deal more damage, take less, be more accurate and even critical strike more.
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