Rise and Teddie are the sixth and seventh characters to join Persona 4 Golden's IT. Like their predecessors, recruiting them involves facing their Shadow. Marukyu Striptease is the third dungeon. It unlocks on June 25th and has a deadline of July 9th.
Persona 4 Golden players will want to make sure their team is around level 35-36 before fighting Shadow Rise. It's possible to clear the dungeon at a lower level, but considering Shadow Rise and Shadow Teddie are fought back-to-back, the higher levels are recommended. By now, P4G players should be more than familiar with dungeon and boss preparations. However, some Personas may have more worth than others.
Shadow Rise & Teddie: Best Skills and Personas
Players will want to bring a Persona that can absorb or resist Ice to the fourth dungeon bosses. One Persona that players may have gotten from Steamy Bathhouse is King Frost, who is weak to Fire but absorbs Ice. If King Frost is too weak, the protagonist can always fuse a stronger one in the Velvet Room. Another Ice-absorbing Persona is Ganga, which players can get from Shuffle Time in Marukyu Striptease. Like King Frost, it is also weak to Fire Skills.
Next, they'll want to get a Persona that can resist Physical. Players should Fuse the Oni Persona of the Strength Arcana. Oni will also null Fire. To fuse Oni, players will need the following:
- Hua Po (Magician)
- Mithra (Temperance)
Hua Po can, fortunately, be gained from Shuffle Time in Marukyu Striptease, but Mithra will require some work. One way to Fuse Mithra is to fuse Hua Po and Legion. Again, these Personas can be obtained through Shuffle Time in Marukyu Striptease.
As for the team lineup, players may want to have Kanji or Chie, Yukiko, and Yosuke. Chie is preferred for those who want a character who is strong against Ice Skills. Kanji is weak to Wind, but he's damaged normally by Fire (Chie's weakness) and Ice Skills. In terms of stats, Chie gets better Skills and is a better Physical Attacker. However, Kanji is a better tank thanks to his higher HP and Defense. Ultimately, it's up to the player who they should bench for the boss fights.
Players should equip Accessories that raise the party's evasion against their Affinity weaknesses. Check Daidaro Metalworks for new weapons and armor. Materials, which are farmed from Shadows in the Midnight Channel dungeons, can be used to unlock stronger gear. Be careful not to spend too much money since funds are better spent on the Persona Compendium in the Velvet Room for Fusions.
Shadow Rise Strategy
After sitting through various cutscenes, the IT will face off against Shadow Rise. Fortunately, she's easier to defeat than the last two. In fact, players will only need to get her down to a quarter health. Players will still want to be cautious when battling her.
Shadow Rise has access to all elemental spells from tier-1 to tier-2 (ex: Agi and Agilao). She also has Skills that can hit multiple targets (ie: Maragi and Maragion). On top of this, Shadow Rise can negate Affinity Weaknesses with Fire, Ice, Wind, and Elec Break. Her one physical attack is Mind Slice, which deals medium damage to all foes with a chance of inflicting Confuse. Finally, there's her unique Skill, Supreme Insight.
The battle will start with Shadow Rise using weaker tier Skills that counter Affinity Weaknesses. For those that may not remember, here are the IT's Affinity Weaknesses:
- Protagonist: Depends on his Equipped Persona
- Yosuke: Weak to Electricity
- Chie: Weak to Fire
- Yukiko: Weak to Ice
- Kanji: Weak to Wind
Players can cast the Wall Skills on their fellow IT members to negate Affinity weakness, but there's a chance Shadow Rise will just counter with Break Skills. Thus, equipping the IT with Affinity-evasion Accessories (ex: Volt Suppressor) is recommended instead.
Players can equip the Protagonist with a Persona that resists Physical (ex: Oni) to protect themselves from Shadow Rise's Mind Slice. She'll use stronger Skills when she reaches half-health, and once she's at quarter-health, Shadow Rise will use Supreme Insight.
Supreme Insight stays active for three turns. This Skill also means Shadow Rise can't take any damage, so don't bother trying to attack. The only thing left to do is to Guard. Shadow Rise will attack with every Affinity Skill (ex: Maragion) to hit all party members at once. If the characters aren't guarding, they're going to get Downed. If players wish, they can buff and heal up, but their HP and SP will be restored once Supreme Insight has run its course.
Shadow Teddie Strategy
After Rise awakens to Himiko, the IT will be launched into another battle. Players will use the same team they brought to the Shadow Rise fight. Unlike Shadow Rise, Shadow Teddie's main Skills are Physical and Ice Affinity-aligned. He also has Support Skills such as Marakunda, Dekaja, and Dekunda, meaning he can easily clear away any buffs applied to the party or rid himself of inflicted debuffs.
Marakunda will lower the Defense of all party members for three turns. Shadow Teddie doesn't have Power Charge (doubles the damage of Physical Skills), but he will cast Marakunda to lower the party's defense before attacking with Heat Wave. The only way to negate Marakunda is by having a party member cast Marakukaja (or Rakukaja). Shadow Teddie will use Mind Charge before using Mabufula or Bufula. Mind Charge is a Skill that will double the damage of the next Magic Attack. Charge Skills can't be negated by Dekaja.
Shadow Teddie is the reason why Chie may be preferred over Kanji in this boss battle since she'll shrug off Shadow Teddie's Bufu Skills... As long as she isn't hit with Ice Break. Players should also switch to an Ice-Absorbing Persona (ex: King Frost) when Shadow Teddie uses Mind Charge. Alternatively, they can Guard.
Eventually, Shadow Teddie will use Ultra Charge. This will last for two turns before Shadow Teddie unleashes Nihil Hand. Nihil Hand will inflict heavy Almighty damage to the entire party and also inflict Dizzy. When a target is Dizzy, Shadow Teddie can 1HKO them with a second Nihil Hand, so it's best to Guard before Nihil Hand hits.
During the first turn of Ultra Charge, heal or buff up the party. On the second turn of Ultra Charge, everyone needs to Guard.
In case someone is hit with Nullity Guidance (medium Almighty damage + inflicts Dizzy), cast Patra or Me Patra. Yukiko should still have Me Patra, as long as players didn't erase the Skill for something else. Alternatively, the Stimulant Item can get rid of the Dizzy ailment. Players can buy this from Shiroku Store for 450 yen.
Persona 4 Golden is available on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.