Fusion Mechanic Basics
X and O, multiple times.
To start with, we are going to outline how fusion inheritance works. Starting with basics, it is best to remember that in P3, Bi-fusion are limited to only 4 skills to inherit at max. While Tri-fusions are limited to only 5 skills. Any fusions higher than that can inherit up to 8. The amount of skills to inherit is one thing but what kind of skills to inherit is another. With this, we have to talk about the concept of "Noise", "Skill Affinity", and "Skill Rank."
"Noise" are undesirable skills in ingredients that can be inherited by the resulting persona. And how "noisy" they are depends on two things. These are "Skill Affinity" and "Skill Rank". "Skill Affinity" refers to what the resulting persona's preferred type of skill to inherit. As an example within P3, Thanatos highly prefers dark spells so if the ingredients have any sort of dark spells, random inheritance will be inclined to give this to him. This system can be taken advantage to some extent, however. Within the same example, Thanatos does not prefer any sort of light or healing spells, so if his ingredients are filled with these kinds of skills, random inheritance will not use these skills at all (This is a very important mechanic). As for "Skill Rank", this refers to the innate rank of skills that determines a multitude of things such as what a skill morphs into when it mutates (The skill levels up one rank) but most importantly, the likelihood of skills within the same skill type to be inherited (The rule is that a skill with a lower rank will be inherited more often). With Thanatos as an example once again, even if all kinds of dark spells in the game is in the ingredients, Mudo will be the most likely skill that he will inherit while Mamudoon being the least likely. The information about Skill Affinity and Skill Rank can be found in any sort of fusion calculator.
With these random fusion mechanics in mind, it is imperative that one reduces Noise by utilizing Skill Affinity and Skill Rank. The general idea is to load the ingredients with (Usually the same) desirable skills as much as possible without introducing any noise (Or if there is noise, having a high skill rank for those). Since it is dependent on the persona which is their preferred skill types, how useful Skill Affinity is varies case by case. As an example, almost any Fool persona inherits any types of skill so utilizing Skill Rank is much more needed. On the other hand, a persona like Helel do not prefer any sort of elemental magic spells, insta-kills, and ailments. So it is very easy to utilize Skill Affinity with the ingredients by loading these with the aftermentioned skill types. As a general rule, Skill Affinity is preferable during fusions if applicable.
Last, but not the least. Exclusive skills. P3 is decently lax on exclusivity of skills (Handful of cases where they're non-inheritable but exists as skill cards) but it is important to know which ones are non-inheritable for they help in niche cases when using the persona with these skills in fusion.
And these skills are:
Maralagidyne
Die for Me!
Black Viper
Heaven's Blade
Weapons Master
Magic Skill Up
Little tidbit to add, levels affect fusion results for Tri-fusion. So if one were to use a fusion calculator, it is best if it is one that can change the levels of the personas for its calculations.
These are the general mechanics that determines inheritance. Utilizing these is imperative in order to be efficient in randomized fusion in the original P3 and P4. But what makes P3P unique is the existence of skills card. Which brings us to the next part.
Skill Card Utilization
Skill cards in P3P play multiple roles. Someone who has played more later entries know that skill cards are utilized for one thing only. And that is to patch up undesirable skills in a persona build. But in P3P's case, it can be utilized for general fusions as well. Notably, Skill Affinity. And it can be taken to such an extent that you can guarantee what the resulting persona will inherit. Using Thanatos as an example, I mostly loaded the ingredients with healing and support spells, which Thanatos cannot learn. All with skill cards and the result speaks for itself.
These being the ingredients:
As such, skill cards are pivotal in utilization during fusion as much as it is after fusion in P3P.
Important Skill Cards
With the understanding of how important skill cards are, it is important to elaborate on what skill cards are important to use and what their purpose are. As a start, I'll simply list notable skill cards that's good for persona building and where to get them (If it's a persona, it will include levels).
Vorpal Blade (Heavy Slash Damage to all foes, 2x damage bonus when in great condition), Susano-O (85)
Akasha Arts (Heavy Strike Damage to all foes, hits 1-2x), Sandalphon (82)
God's hand (Severe Strike Damage to one foe), Metatron (95)
Pralaya (Severe Pierce Damage to all foes, chance to instill fear to enemies), Shiva (89)
Maralagidyne (Severe Fire Damage to all foes), Mara (86)
Samarecarm (Revives one ally with full HP), Kohryu (74)
Salvation (Heals all allies to full HP, cures ailments), Vishnu (87) and January rescue reward
Power Charge (Next physical skill will deal 1.9x damage), Setanta (34) and Narasimha (50)
Mind Charge (Next magical skill will deal 1.9x damage), Atropos (59)
Revolution (Greatly increases critical rate), Kali (60)
Fire Boost (Increases Fire damage by 25%), Hua Po (25) and Antique store (1 turquoise/garnet)
Ice Boost (Increases Ice damage by 25%), Jack Frost (14) and Antique store (1 turquoise/opal)
Elec Boost (Increases Elec damage by 25%), Take-Mikazuchi (31) and Antique store (1 turquoise/topaz)
Wind Boost (Increases Wind damage by 25%), Kushi Mitama (35) and Antique store (1 turquoise/emerald)
Fire Amp (Increases Fire damage by 50%), Kumbhanda (63)
Ice Amp (Increases Ice damage by 50%), Titania (55)
Elec Amp (Increases Elec damage by 50%), Odin (66)
Wind Amp (Increases Wind damage by 50%), Ganesha (65)
Apt Pupil (Increases critical rate), Oukuninushi (50)
High Counter (20% chance to reflect Physical attacks), Siegfried (67)
Auto-Mataru (Automatic Matarukaja effect at the start of battle), Melchizedek (68)
Auto-Maraku (Automatic Marakukaja effect at the start of battle), Raphael (68)
Auto-Masuku (Automatic Masukukaja effect at the start of battle), Horus (68)
Endure (Survive with 1 HP after mortal blow once per battle), Hell Biker (66)
Enduring Soul (Survive with full HP after mortal blow once per battle), Attis (76)
Unshaken Will (Protects user from fear, charm, rage, panic, and distress), Asura (93)
Null Poison (Protects user from poison), Barong (56) and Antique store (1 turquoise)
Null Charm (Protects user from charm), Antique store (1 turquoise)
Absorb Slash (Absorbs damage from Slash attacks), Helel (96) and Vision Quest reward (Priestess door)
Absorb Strike (Absorbs damage from Strike attacks), Abaddon (75) and Vision Quest reward (Emperor/Empress door)
Absorb Pierce (Absorbs damage from Pierce Attacks), Nidhoggr (76) and Vision Quest reward (Hierophant door)
Absorb Fire (Absorbs damage from Fire attacks), Skadi (88) and Vision Quest reward (Lovers door)
Absorb Ice (Absorbs damage from Ice attacks), Saturnus (85) and Vision Quest reward (Chariot/Justice door)
Absorb Elec (Absorbs damage from Elec attacks), Kartikeya (77) and Vision Quest reward (Hermit door)
Absorb Wind (Absorbs damage from Wind attacks), Ananta (83) and Vision Quest reward (Strength/Fortune door)
Repel Light (Reflects Light Insta-kills) Satan (87)
Repel Dark (Reflects Dark Insta-kills), Gabriel (76)
Arms Master (Halves HP costs of Phys skills), Chi You (94) and Antique store (10 pearl)
Spell Master (Halves SP costs of Magic skills), Lucifer (97) and Antique store (10 diamond)
Regenerate 3 (Passively regain 6% HP per turn), Norn (70) and Antique store (7 Aquamarine)
Invigorate 3 (Passively regain 7 SP per turn), Antique store (7 Amethyst)
And the best skill card for grinding purposes, Growth 3 (Persona with this skill will gain 100% exp when inactive), Jatayu (59) and Antique store (7 opal). This skill (and its card) is one of the most used when you are farming other skill cards. It will reduce the amount of grinding required significantly. When farming skill cards and the persona does not give away its skill card even with rank 10 exp bonus, put this card in the persona and grind until just before it levels up to get its card. Go back to the entrance, register this persona and save. Now you have made this persona a skill card fodder.
A special mention to two skill cards
Weapons Master (Phys attacks using weapons' damage increases by 25%), rescue request only (January)
Divine Grace (Doubles potency of healing spells), rescue request only (November)
These skills are not grindable since they only appear in a playthrough once due to how rescue requests work. But P3P reworked the Shrine in Naganaki Shrine to duplicate skill cards for you after 5 days (Side note, a funny fact is it implies that the fox of the shrine speaks). Thanks to this, these cards can be used multiple times, albeit not as much as the other cards on the list.
If you find this list unsatisfactory, there are multiple sources in where to find various other skill cards that's grindable
Fundamental Fusion Result Mechanic
This section will be focusing on how fusion results are determined. How resulting personas are generally calculated in Bi/Tri-fusions. I believe that this would be a great help for people utilizing Tri-fusions since current levels of the ingredients will determine the result.
To start with, I will be explaining how results are determined in the first place. There are two factors needed to determine this. That being the arcana of the ingredients and their levels. The combination of arcanas of the ingredients will determine the arcana of the result while the levels of the ingredients will determine the specific persona result within the resulting arcana being fused. The calculation of the level and arcana will depend on the type of fusion being done. And these are:
[Bi fusion] x arcana + y arcana = resulting arcana, (average level of ingredients then rounded down if not a whole number) + 1 for the calculated level. The resulting persona will be in the resulting arcana that is near to the calculated level (Only less than or equal to the level of a particular persona).
[Tri-fusion] arcana of the highest leveled ingredient + (x arcana + y arcana of the lower leveled ingredients) = resulting arcana, (average level of ingredients then rounded down if not a whole number) + 5 for the calculated level. The resulting persona will be in the resulting arcana that is near to the calculated level (Only less than or equal to the level of a particular persona).
As an example, let us use Naga Raja from the Emperor Arcana (36) for both types. I will be explaining how to read a fusion chart first. Generally, the idea is the charts shows what combination of arcanas create the resulting arcana. The way to read these charts depends on the type of fusion is being done. What kind of level to use on the calculation depends on the type of fusion as well. For Bi-fusions, we must use base level of the ingredients (The level these personas had without any level ups). While Tri-fusion must use the current level of the ingredients.
For Bi-fusions, it is straightforward. Refer to the first row and column for the ingredients and see where they intersect. The intersection is the resulting arcana. If the intersection contains no arcana, this means that this combination is impossible. For our example, we need to look for combinations that results to Emperor. Looking at the chart below and picking 3 examples that's encircled, the combination of Fool + Chariot, Lovers + Magician, and Fortune + Magician creates Emperor.
As for the levels, we must get a calculated level that is higher than 30 but less than 37. So that it will result to Naga Raja. Using one of the given resulting arcana examples (Fool + Chariot), we can use Black Frost (34) + Oumitsunu (30). Using the formula: [(34+30)/2] + 1 = 33. Since 33 is less than Naga Raja's level while being above the lower leveled Emperor persona (King Frost), he appears as the result.
For Tri-fusions, it is a tad more complicated but is still manageable. For simplicity's sake, refer to the column for the arcana of the ingredient with the highest level while the row is the sum of the two lower leveled ingredient (Use Bi-fusion rules and chart for this). See where these two intersect to find the resulting arcana. For our example, we need to look for a combination of the highest leveled ingredient's arcana and the sum of the lower leveled ingredient's arcanas that will result to Emperor. Let's use only one example this time. Firstly, we need to assess the lower leveled ingredients and assess what these two's arcanas sum into. Let's aim for Magician for the sum (Using a Bi-fusion chart) as a demonstration.
With this, we can use Chariot + Justice = Magician. Now that is settled, use a Tri-fusion chart and search the row of Magician and search for the resulting arcana we want (Emperor). Luckily, for this example, the needed arcana of the highest leveled ingredient is Fool.
As for the levels, we must get a calculated level with the same parameters as the previous example but with the Tri-fusion equation instead. With our given resulting arcanas [Fool + (Chariot+Justice) = Emperor] and needed calculated level (More than 30 but less than 37), let's use Black Frost (37) + Ares (19) + Power (25) for our example. With this, we can use the formula: [(37+19+25)/3] + 5 = 32. Since 32 is within the needed parameters for our calculated level, Naga Raja appears as the result.
Now there are multiple exceptions to this. Special fusion recipes that only requires 2 or 3 personas to create. There's only a handful of these and these are:
Messiah = Orpheus + Thanatos
Shiva = Rangda + Barong
Norn = Clotho + Lachesis + Atropos
There is also some other quirks that occurs due to the fact that multiple personas requires key items in order to fuse them in the first place. In these instances, it will go towards the persona higher than the one that should be fused normally that requires a key item (Exceptions to this are the rank 10 personas, it will go to the persona lower than them). Anyways, as an example of what I am referring to, let's use Nebiros (Needs a Marionette key item from an Elizabeth request). If you were to get a formula that results to a Hermit with a calculated level between 45 and 50, you will obtain him. However, if you do not possess the Marionette, all of his fusions will instead result to Kumbhanda (56).
And that is all for how fusions are calculated generally. Here is the two tables once again.
Bi-fusion table:
Tri-fusion table:
Stats And Stats Inheritance
There are 4 methods to increase persona stats in this game (Leveling up, Arcades, Wand card from shuffle time, and Stat cards). The most reliable method to get stat increases are, unsurprisingly, stat cards. Although I would highly suggest leveling personas to level 99 as well for reasons that will become apparent.
Stat cards are items obtainable from the Antique store, requiring 2 onyx and 1 other gem for the best ones. These being:
Amethyst for King of Swords (St +4 and Lu +2)
Garnet for King of Wands (Ma +4 and Lu +2)
Turquoise for King of Cups (En +4 and Lu +2)
Aquamarine for King of Coins (Ag +4 and Lu +2)
Grinding onyx and the other gem is pretty straightforward. Especially in NG+ where the Vision Quest doors are available from the start. For onyx, one only needs to start in the 25th floor and ascend up until 36th. Fighting shadows all the while. Do that enough and you will obtain 99 Onyx in around....a couple of hours.
The other gems depend on the block you fight on but the most reliable method for some is using Vision Quest doors
Amethyst is luckily also in the same floors as the onyx
Garnet is from Emperor/Empress door
Turquoise is from Chariot/Justice door
Aquamarine is in the floors higher than 36 of Arqa
Now for the bad news....
If one were to make around 6 personas with max stats relying on stat cards alone, it would require more than 4 trips of these grinding sessions, give or take. Why I recommend to take the stat boosts from just getting to level 99. Now that's not pleasant to hear but there are ways to mitigate this. And this is thanks to "Stats Inheritance"
"Stats Inheritance" does as it implies, the boosted stat of a persona could be transferred to another via fusion. Although you have to keep in mind that only stat boosts from stat cards will work for this (leveling, arcade and wand card gains do not apply). Now how this works is simple. In the first fusion, all of the stat boost will be passed into the result. Second fusion using that result, the gains will be reduced by half. Go on more steps and the stats boosted will disappear. In other words, after the first fusion, the gains retained from Stat Inheritance will be halved. Now this helps quite a bit since great personas chain up along the line and so, you require less stat cards to boost your builds. An example would be Orpheus Telos comprising of 6 personas that are great by themselves. With this in mind, one could save up multiple stat cards if they are inclined to study fusion paths to make things possible. There's always onyx grinding as a fallback.
An example of Stats Inheritance in action:
Orpheus with 9 St gets given 60 St stat cards (Nice)
Fusing with Neko Shogun makes a Uriel with 44 innate St (Will inherit 60 St from Orpheus even though this exceeds the 99 limit, has 99 St)
Fusing Uriel with Orpheus (Without any stat boosts) to make Samael (Has 27 St base, inherited 30 St from Uriel to make 57).
Fusing Samael to Black Frost to create Hanuman (Has 26 St innate, inherited 15 St from Samael)
Important Personas
This section will simply explain some personas that stand out in terms of fusion. This might give insight to people planning fusion paths as well. First up is Orpheus Telos.
He's unique in a lot of ways. P2 reference (To kai/custom/prime personas), the only persona that both have a special recipe (Hexagonal) and a multitude of Tri-fuse recipes, and no innate skill apart from Victory Cry (Making him the persona with the most possibilities in terms of skill set). Seeing as to how fusion in P3P is quite a workload even with these tips. And the fact he inherits anything, I suggest people to use Tri-fuse recipes for him instead instead of his Hexagonal fusion because it reduces the amount of personas needed to be conditioned before fusion. you only have 5 skill slots to work around with but skill cards can easily patch this issue.
Next is Thanatos.
In terms of gameplay, this persona's a joke. Except for one thing, that being a fodder to multiple other personas. Due to the recipes of the game, Thanatos will always be decent in bringing skills like 4th tier elemental spells to Messiah, Orpheus Telos, and more. So I suggest to not make a build out of him, at least not the first one to build. Use his unique position in fusion to create greater personas first before him.
Next are the multiple Fool personas in the game except Orpheus, Black Frost, and Susano-O.
As you can see, I loaded these guys with decently good skills to inherit and that's for a reason. Fool personas only need one fusion step or two to get to every other arcana. Loading these Fool personas with decent skills ensures easy transfer of skills across the board.
Next is Metatron.
Definitely not apparent since I built him already but he's a necessity for magic repel inheritance. He learns three out of the four magic repels in one. Hence, me fusing it down to the Fool personas showed beforehand. If you want repels, he'll be a fodder for you (Garuda contains repel wind which Metatron lacks)
Next is Alilat.
Now this is the complete opposite of Metatron. She learns all phys repels in one sitting, making her very interesting for support roles. Alternatively, you can fuse these repels down to others that have innate repels to some phys elements such as Girimekhala and Rangda. Could be support or could be fodder.
Last is Anubis.
A very versatile persona if fused properly. Could take on any roles given the proper preparations and utilization of P3P fusion but just lacking phys resist for the most part (Assuming Armor of Light is used).
Word Of Caution With Money
This is simply reminding that fusion in P3 in general's a very expensive endeavor.
If one were to have a fusion spree, please keep in mind. Making very strong personas costs a lot of money. It is quite a money pit with multiple hours of grinding for gems and yen. So it is best to know the most efficient way to grind money in P3P as well. Simply put, it is just letting party members roam around Adamah and looting chests for you. After more than a handful of floors, you will reach max money in no time (Or perhaps one can do it to Monad to look for the Myohou Muramasa sword at the same time. Or for grinding exp for party members and whatnot). If this is being done way before Adamah just for regular fusions, simply doing it at the latest block and not making the protagonist move an inch while the members collect loot is what you should do.
Although admittedly, max money is quite low for how much personas that are already built costs. If one were to play on Hard or Maniac, it is expected to see these prices.
It is around 700K for lower difficulties. Still not much better. The reason why it's so high is because of the stats they possess. Higher stats increases the prices of personas significantly. Even more so in Hard or Maniac. And that's the warning.
That is all there is to know about general P3P fusions.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2920304564
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