Persona 5 is the much-celebrated sixth installment of the Persona series. It was in development for a whopping eight years while the development team worked on a specially-created game engine to run Persona 5. The end result is a highly polished, visually stunning game with hundreds of hours of gameplay potential. The game follows the main character, codename: Joker, as he bands together with his peers to take on rotten adults who only care about their own gain.
Confidants are Joker's partners-in-crime - people with whom he forges a bond for mutual gain. Confidant abilities are a key mechanic to the game and Joker can unlock useful skills and effects depending on which Confidant he chooses to spend time with.
10 BEST: Endure Prevents One-Hit Kills (Phantom Thieves)
This Confidant ability is available for all of Joker's Phantom Thief teammates and it's a great ability to have in a pinch. Endure is unlocked at rank 8 of the Confidant skill trees for Joker's comrades-in-arms and it prevents them from dying from a one-hit kill. More specifically, if a Shadow or boss deals a killing blow to one of his teammates on the field, they'll hold on with 1 HP. This gives players a chance to either heal or switch out that character. The downside is that it works only once per encounter.
9 WORST: All Of Ohya's Scoops Are Underwhelming (Ichiko Ohya, Devil Arcana)
Ohya's skill tree in the original Persona 5 consists of "scoops," alluding to her role as a journalist. Ohya's skill tree affects the alert level in Palaces and specifically helps them reduce faster while not in the Palace or fill more slowly while there. This skill tree is largely pointless since most players should be trying to complete Palaces in one day, unless the game prevents them from doing so, such as the interruption during Madarame's Palace. Moreover, an attentive player should avoid raising the security level by sneaking around and ambushing enemies.
8 BEST: Protect Ensures Joker Will Survive Killing Hits (Phantom Thieves)
Protect is unlocked at rank 9 for all of Joker's teammates and it's a great skill to have in battle. If enemy Shadows were to deal a killing blow to Joker, the team falls apart and players get a game over. But if there's a teammate with Protect unlocked battling alongside Joker, they will take a killing blow for him.
This happens only once per character per battle, but when all three of Joker's allies have Protect unlocked, that's a guaranteed three brushes with death that can be avoided.
7 WORST: Cultivation Is Too Slow & Unlocks Too Late (Haru Okumura, Empress Arcana)
Okumura's Palace is unlocked past the halfway point in the game and Haru is locked until it's completed. Since Joker can't hang out with new teammates until their respective story arcs are done, Haru's skill tree unlocks way too late in the game to be truly useful. Cultivation allows Joker to ask Haru to grow vegetables for him that will restore HP or SP depending on the type, but players should have been utilizing Sojiro's Curry and Coffee Mastery abilities to stock up on healing items. Moreover, it takes a few days for Haru's vegetables to grow, and Joker needs to remember to pick them up.
6 BEST: Second Awakening Powers Up Joker's Allies (Phantom Thieves)
This skill is unlocked at rank 10 of each teammate's respective Confidant skill trees, making it the ultimate ability to unlock. This ability evolves each team member's Persona into a stronger version with increased stats. It also allows them to learn an additional skill that's usually a stronger version of an existing skill, or a strong support skill. Furthermore, having rank 10 in a Confidant skill tree also unlocks the ultimate Persona of that arcana for fusion in the Velvet Room, which is an added benefit.
5 WORST: Insta-Kill Isn't Really Useful (Ryuji Sakamoto, Chariot Arcana)
Insta-Kill grants the chance for an enemy Shadow that's significantly weaker than Joker to be instantly defeated upon a successful ambush. Joker will get a mask of the defeated Shadow if there's room in his Persona roster, but he won't get any items or experience points. Most players won't be significantly higher leveled than Shadows in a current Palace, meaning this skill is most useful when playing through Mementos... but weak Shadows in Mementos will run from Joker anyway, making Insta-Kill kind of useless.
4 BEST: Special Massage Gives Joker A Much-Needed Energy Boost (Sadayo Kawakami, Temperance Arcana)
Time management is crucial in any Persona game, so players need to be careful with how they spend their time. After losing the afternoon to a day exploring Mementos or clearing a Palace, Joker is stuck recuperating at home for the evening.
But that changes when he unlocks rank 10 of Kawakami's Confidant skill tree. Kawakami can be called over for a massage after a hard day in the Metaverse. Once she's done, Joker is good to go for a night on the town.
3 WORST: Kakoi Kuzushii Isn't Necessary For Skilled Players (Hifumi Togo, Star Arcana)
Most of Hifumi's skill tree is good, but this is one that's a bit lackluster. Kakoi Kuzushii allows Joker to escape a battle after being surrounded and ambushed by an enemy Shadow. Attentive players won't often find themselves getting ambushed by Shadows, so this isn't something that happens too often. It's nice to have if it happens, but it's too situational to be considered a useful skill. It's also possible for Joker to choose to fight his way out of the ambush instead of running away.
2 BEST: Caroline & Justine Will Allow Joker To Fuse Four Or More Personas (The Twin Wardens, Strength Arcana)
The Twin Wardens' rank 5 ability, Guillotine Booster, allows Joker to fuse four or more Personas in the Velvet Room. This ability is crucial for players who are looking to fill out the entire Persona compendium. The best Personas for each arcana need to be fused with several strong Personas and can't be obtained any other way, so having access to this fusion method is necessary if Joker's going to get his hands on high-level Personas.
1 WORST: Fate Reading Is Easily Bypassed By Google (Chihaya Mifune, Fortune Arcana)
Chihaya's Fate Reading ability allows Joker to preview Confidant abilities that are yet to be unlocked. It's not a stretch to assume that a majority of people in the position to enjoy a high-quality game like Persona 5 probably have access to the Internet. It's natural, then, that anyone curious about Confidant skill trees could easily get on Google and look up the abilities of the Confidant they're curious about. It's hard to understand why Atlus decided to make this a skill when the internet is likely a ubiquitous resource for their target audience. This ability is easily one of the worst in the game by virtue of how useless it is.