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You’re about to finish your first dungeon in Persona 4 Golden, and all that stands between you and the end is the fight against the boss: Shadow Yukiko. The princess can be found on the top floor of Yukiko’s Castle, babbling about how excited she is to find a prince.

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But in order to help Yukiko Amagi confront her truest feelings and accept her Other Self, you’ll first need to take down her shadow, and it won’t be an easy fight. For tips and tricks to help you take down Yukiko’s Shadow in P4G, you’ve come to the right place.

We'll focus on the combat, but this guide may still contain spoilers for the plot of Persona 4 Golden.

Updated February 9, 2023: We've updated this article to include a video guide that shows you how best to defeat Shadow Yukiko in Persona 4 Golden.

Shadow Yukiko Battle Strategy

shadow yukiko on her throne at the end of yukiko's castle in persona 4 golden

You’ll find Yukiko’s Shadow on Floor 8 of Yukiko’s Castle, so make sure your party is in tip-top shape before going up.

Before you go fight her, you should train the team to be between Lv. 12-15 for the fight, as Shadow Yukiko is Lv. 15. The easiest way to do this is to continue running around the lower floors of the dungeon, chasing shadows and defeating them to grind for EXP.

When the fight begins, your entire team will have a chance to make a move, and then Shadow Yukiko will use Burn to Ashes.

yukiko's shadow casting burn to ashes, her heavy fire attack in persona 4 golden

With Chie weak to fire, it’s wise to have Chie guard on the first turn.

Burn to Ashes hits everyone, and it hits hard, so it's not a bad idea to have everyone guard to minimize damage taken early on in the fight.

After that, though, Shadow Yukiko is weak to ice attacks, so Chie will most likely be your champion in this fight, meaning you’ll need to keep her in good health.

If you can get Chie to Level 14 before taking on Shadow Yukiko, she can learn Mabufu, which will attack all enemies on the field.

Shadow Yukiko will begin as a single shadow, but she’ll soon summon backup.

Outside the first turn, have Chie use her ice magic to down Shadow Yukiko.

chie using bufu on shadow yukiko in persona 4 golden to exploit its weakness

When this happens, you’ll be able to use an All-Out Attack to have Yu, Yosuke, and Chie attack her all at once to deal some pretty heavy damage.

The first time you knock her down like this, Shadow Yukiko will cast White Wall to dampen the damage she takes from ice magic for the next three turns.

At this time, she’ll be pretty relentless with her fire magic, so it’s a good idea to have a Persona in Yu’s party that resists fire to keep him safe in the fight.

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Charming Prince Battle Strategy

charming prince appearing in the shadow yukiko boss fight in persona 4 golden

After you’ve gotten Yukiko’s Shadow down to roughly half her health, she’ll then summon another Persona to come and protect her from the onslaught – Charming Prince.

Not only is this yet another enemy to deal with during the battle, but Charming Prince will spend a lot of time focused on healing Shadow Yukiko. This makes him an excellent candidate to be taken out first.

Charming Prince is weak to electricity, so an easy way to deal with him is to bring Izanagi back out to hit it with Zio.

He’s also strong against wind skills, so leave Yosuke out of dealing with Charming Prince.

However, Charming Prince can cast Makajam, which will inflict Silence, which disables the Persona of whichever party member the attack is used on.

shadow yukiko when the charming prince won't aid her in battle in persona 4 golde3n

This means they cannot use Skills until they’ve healed from the Silence that Makajam inflicts.

After you’ve beaten Charming Prince enough, he’ll run away from the battle.

Shadow Yukiko will spend her next turn trying to summon him again (unsuccessfully), so use this as the time to deal some damage to her as well.

How To Deal With Fear In Persona 4 Golden

shadow yukiko inflicting yosuke with fear in persona 4 golden

After Charming Prince has gone away again, you’re in the home stretch of the fight with Yukiko’s Shadow.

This is when Shadow Yukiko will begin using Terror Voice, which can inflict one of your party members with Fear if it hits. Fear means anyone afflicted cannot attack the enemy until the Fear wears off.

You may even catch these afflicted party members running away from the battle entirely while afflicted with Fear.

If someone in your party is afflicted with Fear and you have a Sedative in your Items bag, it’s wise to use it now.

shadow yukiko about to unleash her big fire attack, the trigger to guard chie in persona 4 golden

That’s because Shadow Yukiko’s next big attack is Shivering Rondo, which does massive damage to anyone who’s present in battle and afflicted with Fear.

However, if they survive Shivering Rondo, the attack also removes Fear status automatically.

This means that they'll only need to endure the attack to be cured if you don't have any items to do so before.

From here, it’s a simple matter of doing damage to Shadow Yukiko in any way you can to finish draining her HP. Bring her down to zero to defeat Yukiko’s Shadow in P4G!

NEXT: Persona 4 Golden: Every Dungeon, Ranked