When you go through the Void Quest dungeon as you’re playing Persona 4 Golden, you’re likely expecting a regular boss fight at the end, with a new teammate afterwards to boot. However, the other dungeons didn’t see you trying to deal with Mitsuo Kubo, who’s well and truly lost the plot by the time you try to save him.

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Still, that doesn’t mean there’s not a boss fight on your horizon, and this one is bigger, meaner, and weirder than before. For a little help getting through the fight with Shadow Mitsuo in P4G, follow along with our guide below.

This guide, while remaining focused on the combat behind the fight, will contain spoilers for the story of Persona 4 Golden.

Shadow Mitsuo Stats And Attacks

Below, you'll find a complete table of the skills, attacks, and status ailments that Mitsuo's Shadow can use during your battle, as well as Shadow Mitsuo's affinities and weaknesses.

Persona Affinity Table Key

Shadow Mitsuo Affinity Chart

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Mitsuo The Hero Battle Strategy

One of the earliest and most important things you’ll notice about this fight is that Shadow Mitsuo has two unique forms. Both forms are able to move twice per turn.

The first form you’ll encounter is the 8-Bit Hero form, which is a pixelated video game character capable of using only severely limited attacks.

The thing you’ll need to watch out for here is not so much the damage from the Item (bomb) attack, but the after-effect. It is frustrating that 8-Bit Hero deals almighty damage, but the Item has an added effect: anyone on the receiving end may be afflicted with exhaustion.

This is a huge problem because not only can almighty damage not really be blocked, but exhaustion slowly drains your SP. And in a fight where you’ll all but need to use magic to deal with the boss shadow, you’ll want to prioritize healing exhaustion when it happens!

Eventually, after you’ve beaten down the 8-Bit Hero a bit, the shell will break down, and you’ll finally be able to fight Shadow Mitsuo directly.

Shadow Mitsuo Battle Strategy

Mitsuo’s Shadow himself is a real thorn because he’s capable of outputting so much damage in such varying elements. Not only will he begin using elemental attacks, but he can also use outright status-changing moves as well as Megidola, a hard-to-block almighty move.

Possibly the most irritating thing about the fight with the core of Shadow Mitsuo comes from its colored Wall skills. These moves increase Shadow Mitsuo’s resistance to the element that matches the color.

Not only does this move increase his resistance, but it’s something of a tell for which elemental magic he’s about to use. Once he’s safer from an element, he begins using the same element offensively for a few turns.

This is your cue to have the teammate weak to that element block for their next few turns, as that element is the only element that Shadow Mitsuo will use.

This all but demands that you know your teammates’ weaknesses well, so you’re able to anticipate these Wall attacks as signals and can respond appropriately.

The colored Wall moves last for three turns, so use the time to throw any other elemental attack other than the one he's currently resisting at him while the stat boost from the move is active.

Breaking the wall will cancel his stat boost, but it does not reset his battle tactic – he will continue using that element as if he hadn’t been interrupted, just without his own resistance to it now.

If Shadow Mitsuo downs a teammate by hitting their weakness with his elemental attacks, his free bonus move will almost always be Megidola to inflict nearly un-blockable almighty damage to your entire party as penalty.

One of the biggest things you’ll need to be mindful of in this fight is the number of status ailment moves Shadow Mitsuo knows. He has four moves that can inflict fear, as well as the move Ghastly Wail, which will insta-kill any of your teammates afflicted with fear.

Therefore, curing fear immediately should be a priority.

Shadow Mitsuo Tries To Reassemble The Hero

After you’ve chipped away enough at Mitsuo’s Shadow, it’ll try to reassemble the 8-Bit Hero form. This will require three entire moves to complete, but it’s your cue the fight is almost over.

If you’re able to fully drain Shadow Mitsuo’s HP in the time he’s rebuilding to stop him from rebuilding the shell completely, the baby shadow will be downed, lining your team up for an All-Out Attack that’ll likely finish the battle right then and there.

If he does manage to reassemble 8-Bit Hero, you must break the shell again and then eventually deal the final blow to Mitsuo’s Shadow.

Just beware that the revived Hero is when this form begins using the Spell option from his affinities chart above.

The initial Mitsuo the Hero form only uses Fight or Item.

Recommended Party Setup

The party you bring into this fight is more critical now than it was before, as Shadow Mitsuo can use every element and inflict status ailments, making him a real force to be reckoned with.

Additionally, the outer shell he uses will need to be taken out, meaning you’ll need to anticipate dealing a frustrating amount of damage before you can actually fight Mitsuo’s shadow.

One of the most important things to remember for this fight is that you need a healer now more than ever, with so many different attacks and status afflictions coming your way.

Both Teddie and Yukiko have wonderful healing skills, and each also has a spell to deal with one of Shadow Mitsuo’s two status ailments.

• Teddie can handle the exhaustion inflicted by Mitsuo the Hero’s bombs with Energy Shower.
• Yukiko, on the other hand, can use either Me Patra or Amrita to handle your team’s fear in the second half of the fight.

In addition to their ailment-healing moves, both have good HP-replenishing skills that can keep the party in good shape throughout the battle.

Unfortunately, with Shadow Mitsuo having so many different attacks both magical and physical, it's tough to pick a best party outside making sure your status ailments are covered.

Mitsuo’s Shadow is Lv. 45, so you’ll want to bring party members around that level.

Bring whoever is best with magic and can output the highest amount of damage. With Shadow Mitsuo strong against physical attacks, you’ll want to spend the fight focused on using elemental attacks to deal with him.

It’s crucial that, whoever you bring in with you, you know your party’s weak spots.

If the fight endures past Shadow Mitsuo's first usage of a colored Wall skill, he'll continue to use his Wall skills fairly often, which almost always makes someone in your party an immediate target for him. Don't let him exploit one-mores if you can stop him.

The effects of the colored Wall moves last for three turns, so keep any susceptible teammates guarded until Shadow Mitsuo changes his offensive strategy.

Outside of that, simply do as much damage as you can, and as long as your team doesn't get wiped out by status ailments or their weak-spot elemental moves, the fight should be over in no time.

NEXT: Persona 4 Golden: Combat Tips