By the July Full Moon Operation inPersona 3 Portable, you’re definitely familiar with the ins and outs of battle, so the game shakes things up on you by making you fight two shadows again – but this time, they’ll come at you one at a time, back to back.

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The first of the pair is the Hierophant, and between its multi-target electric moves and insistence on canceling your status-buffing moves, this fight can be a bit of a pain. For some help getting through the battle with the Hierophant arcana in Persona 3 Portable, follow along with our guide below.

Though we’ve focused on the battle itself, this guide will still contain spoilers for the third Full Moon Operation in Persona 3 Portable.

yukari demanding to be part of the hierophant fight in persona 3 portable

Hierophant Arcana Battle Setup

The Hierophant arcana is encountered on7/7, during your third Full Moon Operation.

For this Operation, we recommend bringingYukari, Akihiko, and Junpei.

Yukari doesn’t actually give you a choice here– she demands to join the party, and you cannot swap her out for this fight by speaking to someone else like you’re able to at the start of other battles.

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

Yukariis pivotal for her healing and support skills, especially given that she learnsDiaramaatLv. 25.This skill willmoderately restore HPtoone party member, and is essentially a more powerful version of Dia.

Additionally, with Hierophant capable ofafflicting fearto your party, keep Yukari with you for easy access toPatratodispel fearquickly.

take-mikazuchi learning the move getsu-ei in persona 3 portable

Party members who areafraidmayopt out of attackingon their turn, which you can’t afford to let them do during a boss battle.

You will, however, need tobe mindful of Yukari’s electric weakness.Be sure tolevel Yukari up a bit before the fightto try to reduce the damage as much as you can.

the hierophant full moon boss casting zionga in persona 3 portable

Junpeiis great for bothphysical offenseand additionalsupportskills. He’ll definitely knowRakukajaby the time you begin this fight, so one use for Junpei is simply as supportfor this battle.

If you have time to let him get off some of hisphysical-damage moves, definitely take them! Hierophant is one of the few bosses you’ll find who doesn’t have a physical resistance, so take advantage.

the location of the hierophant shadow right before sees fights it on the full moon in persona 3 portable

Akihikois your real ace in the hole here, though. Not only does heresist electric magic, making Hierophant’s Zio skills effectively useless against him, but he also hasfantastic physical damage output.

A boxing champion is sure to hit hard, but you can alsoboost Akihiko’s strength statby visiting the police station and giving himarmor or accessories to boost his strength.

the female protagonist blocking an electric attack while yukari is weak to it during the hierophant fight in persona 3 portable

The Hierophant is aLv. 24shadow, followed immediately by Lovers, who’sLv. 25.

We’d recommend being at the very leastaround these levels, if not higher. You’ll be okay combating the damage around these levels, butyour teammates all learn some helpful movesfor the fight just past the levels at which you encounter the shadows.

junpei casting rakukaja during the hierophant battle in persona 3 portable 2

By this point in the game, you’ll likely have access to aPersona that knows Getsu-ei, which is a single-target move that inflicts medium slash damage.

However, the real power comes inusing Getsu-ei during Full Moon Fights, as itspower is boosted on the Full Moon.

You probably have eitherAres, Tam Lin, Taraka, or Take-Mikazuchiin your Compendium, all of whom innately know or will learn Getsu-ei.

Be sure to use it not just for this boss battle, but foranyFull Moon operation where you fight a shadow without strength against slash damage!

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Hierophant’s Stats And Attacks

Below, you’ll find a full affinity table for the Hierophant Full Moon boss, including its weaknesses and affinities.

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

Mazio

Light electric damage to all foes, with an 8% chance to inflict shock

Zionga

Medium electric damage to one foe, with a 10% chance to inflict shock

Mazionga

Medium electric damage to all foes, with an 8% chance to inflict shock

Standard attack dealing strike damage

Swift Strike

Light strike damage to all foes that hits each foe 1–3 times

Afflicts fear to all foes

Decreases one foe’s hit and evasion rates

Cancels stat boosts given to one foe

How To Take Down Hierophant

How To Find Hierophant

Unlike most boss battles, you’ll need tofind the Hierophant shadowbefore you may fight it.

It’s located on thethird floor of the hotel, in the furthest room from the stairs - the one with an ornate curtain hanging above it.

Beware of theshadows that will try to fight youas you navigate the hotel - they’re not hard, but you’ll want all the HP and SP you can have for the fight ahead.

How To Fight Hierophant

Outside the obvious irritation of Hierophant having not one but two multi-target electric moves and Yukari forcing her electric weakness into the battle, you definitely need tobe mindful of your team’s HP.

That usually goes without saying, butYukari will likely take some pretty heavy damage, so be prepared to have her heal herself with Diarama as needed.

If Hierophant manages to afflict fear onto the team, use thePatra skillor agemwith the same effect. You don’t have time to waste with your party members too scared to fight, so heal this ailment as soon as you can.

Yukari will not have a good damage output for this fight, somake Yukari focus on supportwhile you and the remainder of the team lay into the shadow.

This is another battle where youdo not want to use All-Out Attacks. Critical damage is definitely encouraged, butgetting the boss on the ground may force it to waste a move getting back up.

Even if it does stay down, you’ll just have that many more chances to lay into it, which are erased when you opt for an All-Out Attack.

And while it’s a bit of a cheesy strategy, one option you have is touse Junpei to spam Rakukaja on the party, as the more people who have stat boosts applied in your party, the more likely Hierophant is to useDekaja.

Though that is definitely frustrating to lose your stat boost,Dekaja would be its only move on that turn.

Essentially, if you canmake it waste a turn canceling your stat buffs, it has that much less time to attack you. The more stat boosts you can apply in that time, the better.

On the chance that it doesn’t use Dekaja and does attack the group outright, you’llstill have that defensive boostapplied on anyone on whom Junpei has used the move before the attack, dampening the damage taken.

Outside these strategies, the battle is pretty much anoutright exchange of damage. Choose your heaviest attacks from your hardest hitters to whittle down Hierophant’s HP to finish the battle.

However, be prepared, asHierophant is not the only shadow you’ll take onduring the July Full Moon Operation – the Lovers boss shadow is waiting to take on the SEES Team at the very same hotel as well.