- Accessory: Bravery Sash (Arms Master, P4 Protagonist fight DLC)
- Other Accessories: Divine Pillar (Firm Stance), Orichalcum R (Evade Phys, +7 All Stats), Crystal Skull R (Angelic Grace, +6 All Stats), SP Adhesive 3
Ryuji?s probably the character that needs the least amount of work to be good, he?s very much unchanged from Vanilla P5: he hits hard, is tanky and is solid pretty much from beginning to end. Ryuji gets Elec Boost from his weapon Imprisoned Mjolnir, so that?s why it?s not on here. Besides the Arms Master accessory, a good one to equip could be the Orichalcum R, providing +7 All Stats.
Ann
- Accessory: SP Adhesive 3
- Other Accessories: Ring of Envy (Auto-Concentrate)
Ann is very much similar to Ryuji, she is solid throughout most of the game, specializing in Magic instead of Physical skills. Although I didn?t keep her sleep skills of Dormina/Lullaby on the final build, I?d recommend keeping them on her for most of your playthrough, as Sleep allows for any type of attack to become a technical. Otherwise, I put Spell Master on her so she could use party-wide Concentrate as much as possible.
Yusuke
- Accessory: Black Moon R ? Apt Pupil, Str +8 (Tsukiyomi, Alarm)
- Other Accessories: Orichalcum R, Crystal Skull R
Yusuke?s the character I most wanted to upgrade using the new skills from the Jazz Club. In Vanilla P5, it was often difficult to justify using Yusuke over Ryuji, because Ryuji got Matarukaja and Charge, meaning Yusuke?s damage output was considerably lower at the endgame. Another problem was, Yusuke is best as a Physical attacker, but his lower HP and Endurance stat made it so if he didn?t dodge an attack, you might have had to spend multiple turns reviving him.
Luckily in Royal, he can learn Charge, which mitigates his prior damage problems, and Arms Master, which makes the HP loss from his Phys skills much more manageable. And now, due to Ryuji?s trait having a chance to raise all ally Phys attacks, Yusuke and Ryuji no longer really compete with one another, but are best used on the same team.
Makoto
- Accessory: Magic Masangi (Spell Master, P3 Protagonist fight DLC)
- Other Accessories: Salvation Crown (Tanaka?s Shady Commodities), SP Adhesive 3
Makoto?s great because she can heal, play support and isn?t lacking in damage output. Once she learns Mediarama and Marakukaja, I tend to use her as the healer instead of Morgana. Her original trait Gaia Pact increases the chances of Burn/Freeze/Shock, so she synergizes with any combination of Ann/Yusuke/Ryuji, and can hit Nuke technicals off those statused enemies. Not to mention, her Ultimate gun gives her +11 all stats, making her overall endgame stats quite a bit higher than other party members. I had her learn Debilitate from the Jazz Club on 12/11.
Haru
- Accessory: Magic Masangi (Spell Master)
- Other Accessories: Black Moon R (Apt Pupil), Ring of Pride (Charge), Ring of Greed (Concentrate), Ring of Envy (Auto-Concentrate), SP Adhesive 3
Haru is definitely a tough character to build for. Given she learns so many skills, you probably have to decide between Gun or Psy for her at some point. In Vanilla P5, I went with the Gun skills, because of their good damage and high crit-rates. A gun Haru build is still good in P5R, but I think the Psy one might actually be better this time around. The reason for this being two things: the new Technical Damage ranks and the Chans Hook ability you get from the Faith Confidant Rank 4.
Firstly, by going to the Billiards club in Kichijoji, you can increase your party?s Technical Damage rank. As you raise your rank, you increase the damage boost and chance of knockdown when landing a tech, all the way up to Rank 4, where tech attacks have a guaranteed chance of knockdown. This is relevant for Haru, because Psy skills are what allow you to land technicals on almost all ailment types, including Sleep, Dizzy, Rage, Fear, Forget, Confuse, Despair and Brainwash. Given the benefits from Tech Rank 4, Haru can deal a fair bit of damage and get lots of knockdowns during a Palace run, if you are consistently applying ailments.
Secondly, the Chans Hook ability allows you to ambush enemies using your grappling hook. When these enemies are ambushed, there is a high chance of at least one enemy having the status ailment of Dizzy, Confuse or Fear. Given that you can use this all the time in Palaces instead of the normal ambush, it makes using Haru?s Psy skills even easier throughout the course of the game.
Otherwise, I gave her Concentrate to keep her damage output respectable during boss fights, and kept One-Shot Kill just to use it with the Apt Pupil accessory at times. Makarakarn/Tetrakarn are useful to keep on Haru, but can be replicated by items you buy from Takemi. Amrita Shower can come in clutch, but it?s not as relevant late-game because you likely have access to Salvation.
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Akechi
- Accessory: Orichalcum R (Evade Phys, +7 All Stats)
- Other Accessories: Bravery Sash, Crystal Skull R, Bless Boost (Underground Mall shop), SP Adhesive 3
The skills Kasumi learns are very focused and she works well because of that. She learns Sword Dance and Vorpal Blade, the highest crit-rate single target and multi-target Phys moves. Apt Pupil doubles the chance of landing a critical, while Ali Dance halves the foes accuracy, making up for her lower Endurance stat. Brave Step boosts the critical rate of the whole party, making her super useful in any situation where the enemy is susceptible to crits.
Kasumi isn?t super customizable considering when she joins the party in-game, but she functions just fine despite that. I gave her the Orichalcum R, to boost her stats higher as she doesn?t use that much SP. Her tier 3 skill Masquerade can replace Sword Dance.
Best accessories in general:
- SP Adhesive 3 (Takemi?s clinic at Rank 5, 50% discount at Rank 7)
- Shiny Belt R: Invigorate 3/All Stats +3 (Itemize Izanagi-no-Okami during an alarm, DLC)
- Ring of Envy: Auto-Concentrate/Masukukaja (Palace 6 Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Greed: Attack Master/Concentrate (Palace 5 Will Seed accessory)
- Ring of Pride: Defense Master/Charge (Palace 7 Will Seed accessory)
- Pick-Me-Up Tie: Insta-Heal (1/15 Home Shopping Channel)
- Divine Pillar: Firm Stance (Beat the Reaper)
- Crystal Skull R: +6 All Stats & Angelic Grace (Itemize Crystal Skull during an alarm)
- Orichalcum R: +7 All Stats & Evade Phys (Orichalcum, Alarm)
- Bravery Sash: Arms Master (High score on P4 protagonist fight)
- Magic Masangi: Spell Master (High score on P3 protagonist fight)
For the best armor:
- Men: Tantric Oath R (Satan, Alarm)
- Women: Sirius Armor EX (Messiah, Alarm) or Lovely Witches Robe (Wash the sooty armor you can get from Scathach during the final Palace)
- Morgana: Dragon Scale Scarf (Clean sooty armor you get from Fafnir during the final Palace)
Character?s ultimate weapons (and their secondary effects):
Joker
- Melee: Punish Dagger (Airsoft Shop) or Paradise Lost R, Reduce Curse dmg (high), (Satanael, Alarm)
- Ranged: Tyrant Pistol EX, +15 Magic (Lucifer, Alarm) or Nataraja EX, +6 All Stats (Metatron, Alarm)
Morgana
- Melee: Claiomh Solais R, +50 SP (Mother Harlot, Alarm)
- Ranged: Sudarshana EX, High dizzy (Vishnu, Alarm)
Ryuji
- Melee: Imprisoned Mjolnir, +Elec attacks (Thor, Alarm)
- Ranged: Megido Buster, High burn (Shiva, Alarm)
Ann
- Melee: Dainaraka Whip, High freeze (Black Frost, Alarm)
- Ranged: Gungnir, Medium despair (Odin, Alarm)
Yusuke
- Melee: Usumidori R, High fear (Yoshitsune, Alarm) or Senryou Takusha R, +6 Strength (Ame-no-Uzume, Alarm)
- Ranged: Providence, +13 Agility (Uriel, Alarm)
Makoto
- Melee: Gordios, +Critical Rate up (high), (Cybele, Alarm)
- Ranged: Judge End, All stats +11 (Michael, Alarm)
Haru
- Melee: Fleurs du Mal R, Ma+6/High Dizzy (Beelzebub, Alarm)
- Ranged: Yagrush EX, High shock (Baal, Alarm)
Akechi
- Melee: Hinokagutsuchi II, High burn (Futsunushi, Alarm)
- Ranged: Ancient Day, All stats +6 (Vohu Manah, Alarm)
Kasumi
- Melee: Sword of Sinai II, High dizzy (Sandalphon, Alarm)
- Ranged: Sahasrara EX, All stats +6 (Ardha, Alarm)