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Though all Shadows offer some EXP and loot for defeating them in battle, inPersona 3 Reload, you’ll also periodically encounter a slew of rare golden Shadow hands, all of which will be pretty tough to beat. Each rare Shadow drops progressively better rewards for defeating them, but they’ll usually only have one element able to do damage.
Since the rare golden Shadows are different in each block of Tartarus, though, you’ve got your work cut out for you if you hope to capture, fight, and defeat one of them – you’ll only have a turn or two to do it.
Updated on July 25, 2025:With the launch of the third wave of the Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass, Episode Aigis brings SEES into combat yet again, and there are plenty of rare Shadows in the Abyss of Time. We’ve updated our Rare Shadow Persona 3 Reload guide to include them now as well.
What Are Rare Shadows And Invaluable Hands?
Occasionally as you arrive at new floors onyour Tartarus expeditions, you’ll see a briefcutaway to a golden handcrawling around before being informed byyour navigational teammatethat they sense arare Shadow on your current floor.
You’ll finddifferent Rare Shadows in every block of Tartarus, each withits own affinities and stats. As you begin to discover the map of the current floor, while all Shadows are represented as red dots, these Shadows are marked on your map as ared circle with a yellow outlineto help you track them down.
Be wary when you approach them, though, as they’llflee when they see you, which requires you to chase them down and hit them to begin the battle. Theyvanish after a moment of running, so you’ll need to be both cautiousandquick.
Not only will you need to be quick in catching them when you see them, but you need toact fast in battleas well, since you’ve only got a turn or two to KO the rare Shadow beforeit runs away on the second or third turn. This means that after you’vefigured out its affinities(which we have listed below), you’ll need toquickly inflict as much damage as possible.
The caveat is that, occasionally,rare Shadows may begin the battle with support Shadowson the field with them. They’re often not the toughest battles you’ll fight, but they are prone todebuffing your teamso you inflict less damage on the rare Shadow.
When this happens, your best bet is tofocus on the rare Shadowwhile assigning a teammate who can exploit the support Shadows' weakness to keep them down and prevent them from stalling for time.
A good way to reliable KO the rare Shadows in Persona 3 Reload is toexploit their weaknessas soon as you can to knock them down, and thenfollow up with an All-Out Attack.
Plenty of them will also fall fairly easily tothe team’s Theurgy skills, so use them to speed the battle along.
And after putting up with such a timed, tricky challenge, your rewards for the fight will always be agood amount of EXPfor the team to share and arare item. These items can either beshown to Elizabethaspart of her requests, orsold at the Police Stationto earn some cash.
Increase The Spawn Rate Of Rare Shadows Through The Fortune Teller
As soon as you’ve worked up the requisite Level Two Courage and can head intoClub Escapadeat Paulownia Mall, you’ll find afortune tellerwho’s set up shop directly to the right when you first walk into the nightclub.
If you haven’t found the fortune teller yet on your own, Elizabeth will send you there as one of her requests.
When you speak to her, she’ll offer to aprogressively expanding list of fortunesthat she can read for you, all of which are capable of changing something about Tartarus. TheRarity Fortunewill run you only¥3,000and willincrease the spawn rate of rare Shadows, but only for that night.
Greedy Shadows
Appearing asoversized Golden Hand Shadowswhen you encounter them beginning in the Tziah block of Tartarus,Greedy Shadowsare sporadic spawns in Tartarus thatsteal all the loot on the floor you find them on- but don’t worry, since you may try tochase the Shadow downto get it all back.
After telling Fuuka you’d like to give chase, you’ll see a briefcutscene of the Greedy Shadow running away, and you’ll need to choose if you’d like togo left or right. There’s no real way to tell where the Shadow has gone unless one of your teammates pipes up to say they saw it, leaving the majority of your decisionsup to chance.
If Fuuka has unlocked Tartarus Search, she can use it to map the floor and lead you directly to the Greedy Shadow, provided she has enough SP to perform it.
Should yousucceedin tracking down the Greedy Shadow, you’ll enter a battle as normal and need todefeat the Greedy Shadowin order toobtain multiple treasuresthat were stolen. If youdon’t catch it, though, the Shadow makes off with most of the loot and leaves very few pieces behind for you.
Either way, Fuuka will havemapped the whole flooras you give chase, and she canlead you right to the stairsonce the ordeal is over.
All Rare Shadows And How To Beat Them
Below is information on all the Rare Shadows in Persona 3 Reload, includingwhere they spawnin Tartarus andany notable affinitiesthey may have. We’ve also included information on the Rare Shadows in the Episode Aigis DLC.
Drains Magic and Physical
Weakness:None
Repels Magic and Physical
When you encounter Shadows who resist, block, or drain all regular types of damage, use Almighty damage to take them down, as Almighty damage cannot be blocked.
