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Though it takes a little bit of effort on your part to get there,Persona 4 Goldenadded a brand-new dungeon to the original vanilla version of the game – The Hollow Forest. If you manage to befriend Marie before the original endpoint of the game, you’ll gain access to Golden’s bonus dungeon.
RELATED:Things Only Pro Players Know You Can Do In Persona 4 Golden
Marie is critical to the story of P4G, and the dungeon you trek through to save her is arduous, but with a little prep-work ahead of time, you ought to be in great shape. For help with the Hollow Forest dungeon in P4G, follow along with our guide.
Although our guides focus on combat, this article will still contain spoilers for endgame content of Persona 4 Golden.
Things To Know Before Going To The Hollow Forest
Before you’re able to access the Hollow Forest, you’ll need to do quite a bit of work throughout the vanilla story of the game. Namely, you’ll need tomax out Marie’s social link to access the dungeon.
Marie’s social link is somewhat finicky, so we have aguide to maxing it out.
She’ll beoutside the Velvet Roomwhile you and the teamare not currently in an investigation. It begins on4/18, willpause brieflyat Rank 5until 7/24, and then, you’ll haveuntil 12/23to finish it.
If youdo not complete her social link, thedungeon will be skipped, and you’ll proceed into Yomotsu Hirasaka as you would have in the vanilla game.
If these conditions are met, Marie will go missing in the New Year, leaving Margaret to find her. She does so during your ski trip, on2/12.
After school on2/13, you’ll automatically go to the entrance to the Hollow Forest dungeon.
However, just because you’ve gained access to the Hollow Forestdoesn’t mean it’ll be easy to get through it– the opposite, in fact.
You Only Have One Day To Finish It
We’ve been vocal advocates for finishing your dungeons sooner than later to optimize your free time in P4G, but with the Hollow Forest,you only have one day - 2/13 - to complete the dungeon.
If you do not or cannot finish it on this day,Marie will be lost.
Make it a priority tolevel the team ahead of timefor the battles ahead, asthis is not a good dungeon to grind for EXP.
It’s alsonot good for your bank account, as Yuwill not collect any yen from the battles in the Hollow Forest.
You Can Only Use Items And Gear You Find In The Dungeon
When you enter the Hollow Forest, you’ll immediatelylose your armor and items,which leaves you pretty poorly defended for the fights ahead.
Not only will you havelost your defense, but the other perks from your gear as well. For example, party members may havelost elemental protection or increased damage outputsthey’d been given from their regular gear.
Be mindful of what this lack of gear changesfor you and your teammates, and be sure toadjust the team as necessary outside the dungeon.
You can also ask the Fox to heal you. It’s cheaper if you’veworked on its social link, but the healing service is available regardless.
Even if it doesn’t,some defense is better than no defense!
Find New Gear Inside Chests
Thankfully, the game wasn’t going to leave you withnothing- there are severalchests on each floor of the Hollow Forest.
Anything you grabfrom the chests can (and should) beused inside the dungeon.
With the game aware of its limitation, these pieces of armor willoften have elemental strengthto cover what your party is now suddenly weak against again.
Your SP Is Halved After Every Battle
As if there wasn’t already enough to contend with without your usual gear,anyone who takes a turn in battle will have their SP halved after the fight.
If you have SP-recovery items or passive skills, they will be applied first, and then the game will half what you have left after that.
There arestonesyou can collect throughout the dungeon that willrestore your SPto counter the dungeon’s harsh limitation.
Be sure to use them whenever you need, asthey will not leave the dungeon with you, so use them or lose them inside.
You Can’t Always See The Shadows
There are several instances in the Hollow Forest whereshadows are not visible on your mini-map.
They’re stillpresent in the overworld, however, so be on your toes rounding corners.
Not only does this make it pretty easy to get roped into battle when you weren’t planning to be, butshadows can also attack you when you open doors inside the dungeon.
The door shadows are present onfloors one, four, and seven.You don’t need to worry about them on other floors.
You Can’t Use Items To Leave
Though the Fox is waiting at the entrance, as are your uninjured party members if you need to swap, it’s not always easy to get there.
Once inside the Hollow Forest,you can’t use Traesto, Goho-M, or Return Daikonsto head back to the entrance of the dungeon, like you normally can.
However,youcanstill leave. There arebranchesyou’ll occasionally find throughout the Hollow Forest in P4G that will serve the same purpose.
Tips For The Hollow Forest
With the above-mentioned restrictions on the dungeon, we know it looks really imposing at the start. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can lessen the strain on you and your party before going in.
If you havea Persona that knows one of the Invigorate skills, bring them along! Invigorate skills restore nominal amounts of SP, so use it to counter your automatic loss.
Regardless, you’ll likely need to get into thechestsaround the dungeon, butyour chest keys do not come into the Hollow Forest with you.
Therefore, when you see the option toget a chest key from Shuffle Timeafter battle, take it! You never know what you might find when you use it.
One of the best ways to counter the loss of SP in this dungeon is torank up Rise’s social link beforehand.
Your navigations expert has somefantastic healing abilitiesthat will definitely come in handy in the Hollow Forest. We’ve got a whole guide toRise’s social linkif you need some help with it.
To counter your constant and unstoppable loss of SP, it may be a good idea tofocus on physical attacks instead of elemental ones where possible. Conserve your SP for when you truly need it, andbring good physical attack party membersto save SP where you may.
We went forKanji and Naotooffensively withYukikoas our healer, but Chie and Yosuke are great strikers as well who know plenty of physical moves, and Teddie also has solid healing powers.
Bring whoever is strongest, as not only will you be draining SP in the dungeon, but theshadows are between Lvs. 73-80, so they’re guaranteed to hit back pretty hard, too.
RELATED:Persona 4 Golden: Combat Tips
Shadows And Personas In The Hollow Forest
What makes the Hollow Forest even more of a colossal frustration is thatall the shadows ahead have an elemental weakness. Normally, that’s awesome, but with your SP severely limited, be selective about when you take advantage of that fact.
Some of the shadows are evenstrong against physical attacks, making them excellent targets for expending some of that precious SP.
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
73
1, 2, 4 and 5
74
75
1, 2, and 4-6
1-3, and 5
76
1-3, 5, 7, and 9
2, 3, 5, and 6
3-5, and 7-9
4 and 5
4-6, and 8
5, 7, and 9
6 and 7
7 and 8
7 and 9
8
77
9
Both regular and golden chests
80
Golden chests
Shuffle Time In The Hollow Forest Also Gives Items
And withso much on offer during Shuffle Timethat could be moreimmediately helpful to you and the party, collecting Personas may not be foremost on your mind.
63
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
Hollow Forest Walkthrough
For as complex as its setup is, there isn’t much to detail in the actual walkthrough part of the dungeon that you’re not already familiar with as you inch toward the end of Persona 4 Golden.
You’ll notice pretty early on that the floors are labeled withemotionsas the names, bringing you through Marie’s story as she regains her memories.
As we’ve mentioned,floors one, four, and seven have shadows waiting when you open gates, so be prepared for unavoidable fights on those floors.
Additionally, whereas there’s normally only one mini-boss per dungeon,the Hollow Forest has two mini-boss fightsbefore you get to Marie herself.
You’ll battleGorgeous Kingon Floor Four (Memories of Sorrow), and thenHeaven’s Gianta bit further up on Floor Seven (Memories of Anger).
Marie herself can be found onFloor Ten(Memories of Meeting) but as with her dungeon, her boss battle isn’t straightforward, either, as it’s actuallytwo fights in one.
You won’t regain HP or SP between them, sobe prepared as best you can be before beginning the battle with Marie.
