With Golden releasing in 2012, we’ve had a whole decade to get to know Yu Narukami and the members of the Investigation Team throughout our playthroughs of Persona 4. Our protagonist is on a mission to save a small town from a serial killer, traversing through television sets in an effort to save his friends.
Like any good JRPG, the Persona series folds a lot of elements into its battle system. Yu and teammates crawl through dungeons seeking to free the person being held there using physical hits, careful healing, stat boosts, and elemental magic to fight off the Shadows within.
Each member of the Investigation Team has their own role to play in this spread, and Golden even gave you extra chances to build your teammates’ move sets to exactly your play style. Without an EXP share system, switching parties between dungeons requires extra leveling between story missions. But if you’re willing to keep your whole team in tip-top shape, here’s the best configuration of teammates for each dungeon.
9 Yukiko's Castle: Teddie, Yosuke, and Chie
Saying this is the best option feels generous, since these three are literally your only options at this point. And Chie doesn’t even get her Persona until midway through the dungeon, either.
Yu and pals are on a mission to rescue Yukiko from the Midnight Channel, where her hesitation in inheriting her family’s legacy hot springs and inn has manifested as an elaborate castle. Not only is this your first real dungeon, but you’re also still getting the hang of what kind Personas you’ll want to keep on you. With the main character left to fill gaps in type advantage left by the team (who’s using Wind, Ice, and Physical attacks at this point), careful use of the Velvet Room will be your ticket to success.
8 Kanji's Steamy Bathhouse: Teddie, Yosuke, and Yukiko
Although the internet largely regards Chie as Persona 4’s best girl, her and Teddie both use Ice moves. However, Teddie’s will continue to improve far past where Chie stops learning magic attacks in favor of physical ones; she’s great at them, but with Yosuke able to use strong Physical moves too, and Teddie using Ice magic and serving as a healer, Chie waited outside in our playthrough.
With Teddie covering Ice, Yosuke using Wind and Physical, and Yukiko having Fire and beginning to hone her healing skills, Yu only needs Personas with Electric, Light Magic, and Dark Magic. You’ll have gone through Yukiko’s Castle at least once by now, so be sure to hit the Velvet Room before you head into the Steamy Bathhouse.
7 Rise's Marukyu Striptease: Kanji, Teddie, and Yukiko
While we do adore Yosuke (who the internet lovingly refers to as “Brosuke”), Kanji overall has better Physical attack moves, and now that he’s an option, he’ll be our main striker. He’s also got Electric moves we can make use of, too. With Teddie bringing Ice magic to the table, Yukiko armed with Fire moves, and both of them knowing a few healing buffs, you ought to be in good shape.
With their type advantages, you’ll need Wind, Light Magic, and Dark Magic. But, with the majority of foes weak to your teammate’s elements, you’ll only need to contend with a couple Shadows yourself. The Rainy Brothers and Killing Hands will be all yours, but every other Shadow can be dealt with using a teammate’s elemental attacks.
6 Mitsuo's Void Quest: Kanji, Yukiko, and Yosuke
We’ll admit it – we ended up using this configuration of teammates fairly often. Kanji has his powerful Physical attacks with Electric to back them up. Yosuke is a jack of all trades with Wind, Physical, and moves that can nullify stat changes for both your team and enemies. Yukiko comes in hot with Fire moves and her expanding repertoire of healing moves.
This leaves Yu to cover Ice, Dark, and Light Magic. There are 14 weak Shadows weak to your friends’ main elements, while five Shadows have no weakness at all. There’s a fairly decent spread of enemy types in here, so plan ahead and exploit weaknesses when possible.
5 Naoto's Secret Laboratory: Kanji, Yukiko, and Yosuke (Again)
Once again, we’ve got our triple-threat to cover Physical, Electric, Wind, Fire, healing, and stat-resetting powers, meaning that Yu will be responsible, once again, for Ice, Dark, and Light Magic. Not only are they a solid build, but after going through Void Quest together, on top of any leveling you may have done between story segments, your team should be in pretty good shape by now.
There’s a much larger variety of enemies in here. Yu will need to deal with ten of them with his Persona advantage, 18 have weaknesses to your party’s typing, and only six have no weaknesses at all. Just like before, fill the gaps left by your friends to clear this dungeon with no problems.
4 Heaven: Kanji, Yukiko, and Naoto (Then Yosuke)
We’ve finally got a new friend in the party, but Naoto is a bit of an odd duck in that regard. She has powerful Light and Dark Magic moves, but she'll only learn multi-target attacks by default. This means that Naoto is an ace in the hole for going through dungeons, but she’s effectively useless in boss battles.
No matter – simply return to the start of the dungeon to swap her out for someone else you’ve been leveling before you take on the final challenge. Yosuke is a safe bet, given his wide range of abilities. This configuration leaves you to pick up Ice and Wind moves, and there are only eight Shadows here with those weaknesses.
3 Magatsu Inaba: Kanji, Yukiko, and Naoto (Then Yosuke) (Again)
We were far too into the configuration of this party to let it go so soon, especially with the strange, intense, hellish dungeon we have ahead. The Shadows here are tough if you’re not leveled appropriately, so if you're using anyone but this party, make sure you’ve leveled them accordingly.
Once again, Yu is picking up Ice and Wind attacks, with Physical, Electric, Fire, Light, and Dark covered. Naoto is really helpful here not only because of how many Shadows have Light and/or Dark weaknesses, but because of how many swarms you’ll face. Besides, the Glorious Hands are strong but can be insta-killed with her magic attacks. Swap her out again before the boss fight, and you’ll be good to go.
2 Hollow Forest: Kanji, Yukiko, and Yosuke (A Third Time)
We’ve once again gone back to our faithful lineup for the bonus dungeon from Golden, because the Hollow Forest has some extremely rigid rules. Your SP is halved after each battle, so Physical moves will be your bread and butter here. Bring Yukiko along for her healing abilities, and focus your SP-replenishing items on her while you and the boys kick some butt.
Unfortunately, some Shadows you’ll see are resistant to Physical damage, and it’s a tease because almost all of them have elemental weaknesses, too. If you can replenish your SP regularly, have at it, but it’s best to save it where you can and rely on Physical when possible.
1 Yomotsu Hirasaka: Yosuke, Yukiko, and Naoto (And Then Kanji)
The real final dungeon is only available if you’ve gone down the True Ending path. There’s a bigger spread of Shadows in Yomotsu Hirasaka than anywhere else, so careful party planning here is a must.
The grouping of Yosuke, Yukiko, and Naoto for the bulk of it means you’ll be covering Ice and Electric, but there are only six Shadows weak to those elements, where 17 can be dispatched by this party. Just remember to swap Naoto out at the end before the boss – not only does the boss nullify Light attacks entire, but she’s only one target. Keep your head above water and beat the big fight with this all-star team to finish the game with a touching farewell after this final dungeon.