Persona 3 Portablesees your protagonist and their ragtag group of friends ascending through the floors of Tartarus, the tower that springs from your school every night, trying to reach the top. Along the way, however, you’ll be stopped by strong guardian shadows every now and again, and it’s in these battles where you find the Golden Beetles.

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But with very few weaknesses to exploit and a resistance to brute force, you’ll need to rely on your magic to take out these bothersome bugs. For some help taking out the Golden Beetle guardian in Persona 3 Portable, read on ahead.

While we focus on battles in our guardian guides, this guide may still contain spoilers for elements of Persona 3 Portable.

akihiko and the female protagonist looking at the three golden beetle shadows before battle in persona 3 portable-1

Golden Beetle Battle Setup

You’ll find the Golden Beetle guardian shadows on47Fof Tartarus, inthe Arqa blockof Tartarus.

With the Golden Beetles weak to electricity,Akihikois an obvious choice for the party.

And while the Beetles don’t have an outright weakness,they take a little extra damage from fire and windattacks.

mitsuru, akihiko, junpei, and the female protagonist in an all-out attack screen in persona 3 portable

Because of this, we recommend finishing the party withMitsurufor her healing skills, andJunpeiwith his Agi skills.

Yukariis also a great healer whose wind skills would normally be helpful here, buther electric weaknessmakes her a poor choice for this battle.

one of the golden beetle guardian shadows casting tarukaja to raise its own attack in persona 3 portable

The Beetles are allLv. 19, so we’d recommend you and the party be aroundLv. 20before attempting this fight.

For your own Persona roster, you’ll want to focus onPersonas that know electric magic. Additionally, with the Beetles continuously lobbing physical attacks if you let them up during battle, attempt to find one that’sstrong against physical attacksas well.

akihiko using the electric move zio in the arqa block of tartarus in persona 3 portable

Between your protagonist and Akihiko,hitting their electric weaknessis the key to winning here, so focus on electric magic where possible.

Golden Beetle’s Stats And Attacks

Below, you’ll find an affinity table for the Golden Beetle mini-boss in P3P. It hasseveral strengths and nullificationsyou’ll need to keep in mind when choosing your attacks.

Explanation

Str

This shadow is strong against this element, and attacks of this element dealless damage.

Wk

This shadow is weak against this element, and attacks of this element dealmore damage.

Rep

This shadow will repel attacks of this element,reversing the damageonto you.

Nul

This shadow will nullify attacks of this element, and as such, they dealno damage.

Drn

This shadow will gain health from attacks of this element, so attacks of thisheal the shadow.

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Affinities and Weaknesses

Skills And Attacks

Standard attack dealing pierce damage

Light strike damage to one foe that hits 1–3 times

Light pierce damage to one foe that hits 2–4 times

Increases one ally’s attack

Increases one ally’s hit and evasion rates

Decreases all foes' hit and evasion rates

How To Take Down Golden Beetle

Irritatingly enough, the Beetlesalways get one free turn eachwhen the battle begins, which they’ll use to castTarukajaon themselves to prepare for the fight.

Despite their long list of affinities,the Beetles don’t use elemental moves. This is helpful to you, as it’s one less thing to worry about with your own party members.

The real problem in this battle isthe Beetles’ high defense, which will require a good amount of chipping away at to grind them down.

Additionally, the only element to which they’re weak iselectric. If you can continue touse Zio moves between Akihiko and your protagonistto knock them down and make them dizzy or shocked, they’ll need towaste a turn getting up.

On that turn, they will not attack you, so it may be wise toforce them to use the turn to get back into the battle, just to knock them down again. Because of this, you might want toavoid using All-Out Attacks.

The Beetles will be back up after that, but if youmake them waste a turn getting upbyspamming them with Zio movesbetween your protagonist and Akihiko, they might not have many chances to swing back before you’ve taken them out.