Getting new Personas and fusing them to make even strong ones is the easiest way to increase the protagonist’s power in Persona 4 Golden. The protagonist receives their stats and abilities only from the Persona they have equipped, with only the HP and SP increasing with each level.
While it is possible to level up an equipped Persona and increase its stats, it’s much easier to get new Personas and fuse them to get a much higher-level Persona and bring together the best skills from the previous two Personas. As you max out each social link, you’ll be able to fuse some of the best Personas in the game.
10/10 Ongyo-Ki
Ongyo-Ki uses powerful Electric abilities and even learns Elec Amp to further the total damage possible. This Persona also comes with a very high magic stat and a few support and status effect abilities making it a very useful support-type Persona. Along with the ability to strengthen stats effect abilities, adding more status abilities to this Persona’s loadout makes it even more dangerous.
Ongyo-Ki also eventually learns the ability Firm Stance, which halves all damage received but makes it unable for you to dodge. Building off this ability will allow you to focus on defense-heavy armor with little to no dodge chance, making you very difficult to take down.
9/10 Alice
Alice is a recurring character in the Shin Megami series and is an incredibly powerful Persona in each game. Alice focuses on great status effects while also having one of the best chances of utilizing her Dark-based insta-kill ability that affects all foes. Endure Light will also ensure you survive one insta-kill Light ability per battle, which usually results in an instant game over.
Alice also learns Mind Charge, which significantly increases the magic damage of the following ability used, which pairs very well with Megidola, which usually deals heavy Almighty damage. Dekunda will also cure the party of any status elements, which is an excellent supportive bonus to such a heavily offensive Persona.
8/10 Mada
Mada is a very powerful Fire-type Persona. Mada learns both Fire Boost and Fire Amp, which increases its Fire abilities by close to 75%. Learning Ice Evade will also ensure you rarely get hit by one element that can knock you down.
Mada also learns Ailment Boost, increasing the effect of status aliments on your enemies. Mada only learns a Silence ability on its own, but when fusing it together, you can bring more status abilities to take advantage of this skill further. Built in its normal way, Mada is a one-trick pony with its Fire attacks, but sometimes this is all it needs to easily wipe out waves of enemies.
7/10 Zaou-Gongeon
For the most part, Zaou-Gongeon is a powerful physical damage Persona. It has a very high strength with severe physical attacks and a high endurance to help you take much less damage than usual. It learns God’s Hand, which is one of the best physical damage attacks in the game.
Zaou-Gongeon learns Power Charge, further multiplying the damage of the following physical attacks, allowing you to deal incredible damage when paired with God’s Hand. Zaou-Gongeon also learns Enduring Soul to pick you up if you go down, and Evade Physical; all around, these moves make you difficult to take down when using this Persona.
6/10 Sandalphon
Sandalphon is an excellent Persona for keeping your team and yourself up. Sandalphon innately learns Samarecarm, which fully heals and picks up a downed ally. This Persona also knows Endure Dark, which protects you from a possible one-shot from Dark-type abilities.
Angelic Grace also doubles to usual evasion rate of all attacks except Dark and Light. Also, learning a Light insta-kill ability itself allows players to focus on support in boss fights while also making short work of weaker waves of enemies in the TV World.
5/10 Beelzebub
Beelzebub is a powerful magic-type Persona that has access to multiple elements, not including what is carried over with fusion. Beelzebub innately learns Ice, Electric, and Darkness magic, and with the right fusion, can easily cover the last few elements and have a counter to any enemy.
Beelzebub also learns multiple status ailment abilities and Stagnent Air, which increases the susceptibility to Dark or Light-based insta-kill abilities. Beelzebub is great for bullying stronger enemies by knocking them down with status effects, and it’s great for outright killing weaker enemies in a single turn.
4/10 Surt
Surt is another recurring powerful Persona in the series, and much like his Norse origins, learns an ability appropriately named Raganrok. After learning this ability, there aren’t any other abilities you’ll ever need to consider using. This is the best Fire-based ability in the game, and with his magic stats deals incredible damage to all enemies.
Surt later learns the ability Null Ice, which makes him immune to the one element that can knock you down with him equipped. Fire Amp also dramatically increases the damage of Fire-based spells, which only further scales the damage he can do with Ragnarok. Aiming to give him a Fire Boost ability through fusion would make him one of the highest damage dealers you can find.
3/10 Trumpeter
Trumpeter has some heavy-hitting abilities, but this Persona stands above the rest because of its buffs and debuffs. Heat Riser increases one ally’s Attack, Defense, and Hit/Evasion rate and is the best buff in the game. Trumpeter also learns Debilitate, which debuffs the selected enemies’ Attack, Defense, and Hit/Evasion rates.
Focusing on these two abilities in battle will see your party at a great advantage, dealing incredible amounts of damage while taking none themselves. Trumpeter also learns very powerful almighty abilities should you want to participate in battle yourself, but constant buffs and debuffs of this caliber greatly turn the tide of any battle.
2/10 Helel
While Helel may be challenging to obtain, this Persona is more than worth the effort. This Persona can deal severe Fire, Almighty, and physical damage while also learning an ability that halves the cost of the physical-based attacks. Helel also learns Salvation, the best healing spell in the game that fully heals your party’s HP and any status ailments.
This Persona will eventually learn the best Almighty ability and arguably the best ability in the game, Morning Star. This ability does cost a mountain of SP, but unless you’re fighting one of the final secret bosses, it will end just about any battle in a single attack. While equipped, this Persona will also see you recovering from any status ailment in a single turn.
1/10 Yoshitsune
Yoshitsune does learn multiple Electric abilities and passive skills to make them more effective. Elemental attacks are always beneficial as they can hit weaknesses that lead to an all-out attack. While Yoshitsune only deals moderate magical damage, what truly makes it stand out is its physical damage capabilities.
This Persona can use Heat Riser, which increases your Attack, Defense, and Hit/Evasion rate. It can also use Power Charge, significantly increasing the damage of the following physical attack. After preparing those two abilities on the previous turns, you can then unleash the strongest physical damage move in the game, Hassou Tobi. This attack deal light damage eight times to all enemies, with the eight light attacks significantly adding up and being multiplied by the previously mentioned buffs for the highest possible damage output in the game.
