Part 21: This Game Dislikes You Personally Edition
Gameplay Notes: This Game Dislikes You Edition
So you've gotten to Ptolomea. You're feeling good. Antenora was easy, maybe you've finally hit a real stride on this thing. Then the game laughs at you and kicks you in the balls. There's increasing numbers of small Shadows that are single brutal enemies. The entire purpose of these is to waste your time and SP. Your best bet is to avoid them or run from them, they're never worth your time.
The Neo Minotaur is of course a special kind of horrible. Wind/Strike is a really dangerous sort of combination on an enemy because while the Strike attacks are more dangerous than the Wind, most Personas that are strong against Strike in this range are weak against Wind. The big thing this game is teaching you now is that you need to be dropping items when it's appropriate. Obviously Attack Mirrors, but don't be afraid to use things like Precious Eggs or even a Soma. The game is good about giving you more of these and every one you have left at the end is a waste.
Personas in Ptolomea:
Persona MVP: Surt. Surt's the man, straight up. He can do huge Fire damage and is pretty tough to break with Physicals. He gets a Severe damage spell, Ragnarok. What's more, he's got an incredible Heart Item that will make Mitsuru unbreakable. All-around great guy.
Personas To Fuse: Here's where things get serious. If you weren't using really carefully tailored Personas before you'd better be now.
Surt: Pros- Probably the best Fire Persona you'll ever see in The Answer. His Heart Item Nulls Fire on the person who wears it, so if you give it to Mitsuru she's got no weaknesses. Cons- Ice is a common element for Shadows to use sadly.
Thor: Pros- Powerful Electric Persona, and he Nulls Strikes. His Heart Item Nulls Electric on the person who wears it, so it negates Yukari's weakness. Cons- He's weak against Wind and therefore is impotent in the most important fight, the Neo Minotaur.
Quetzlcoatl: Pros- He's resistant to wind and gets Marakukaja. Cons- Sort of low level for this door.
Odin: Pros- Has the best spell in the game, Thunder Reign (more on this in a later update). Cons- High level, so you might not get high enough for him in Ptolomea. Weak to Wind, so you can't use him on the Neo Minotaur.
Jatayu: Pros- Drains wind, making him even better on the Neo Minotaur if you can swing him. His Heart Item gives someone Null Wind, though there's no way you could get it before the Minotaur. Cons- He's pretty high level and that combined with his Sun Arcanum could make it tricky to get him before Neo Minotaur, when he'd be really useful. You still need Attack Mirrors too.
Anything With Tetrakarn: Pros- Destroys the Neo Minotaur as long as it's not weak against Wind. Cons- Probably useless everywhere else.
Personas to Pick Up: Daisoujou is a good one that might start showing up now, he's got Growth 3 if you level him up once and that's awesome. You're getting close to not even needing to Fuse many more Personas now though.
General Persona Strategy: Now is when we start picking up our real money Personas. We want to have Surt and Thor fused by now. Reload if you don't get their Heart Item. It's important to get them Growth skills and it's important to use them whenever possible. If you're using Junpei you should also work on Jatayu for the Null Wind item. Sadly the Null Ice/ Light/ Dark items are a bit higher level, so if we're using Akihiko, Ken, or Koromaru we can't negate their weaknesses yet. We're also starting to get some really good Personas with physicals skills now, which you should take advantage of. They do lots of damage without costing you any SP.
Mythology Fun Facts: Ptolomea is the third region of Lake Cocytus. It's named after a Ptolemy who betrayed his guests, and that's what this layer is meant to punish.