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Arcanist Decapitator is not only one of the harder Gateekeepers in the Yabbashah Block of Tartarus inPersona 3 Reload; it’s also - surely - got one of the most memorable names. But that’s rather beside the point; no doubt, you’re either here for help with how to defeat it, or you just want to see how somebody else did so.
We’ve done our best to demonstrate the latter, and it’s all about using divide-and-conquer to your best ability while dealing with the repercussions of being forced to choose two party members with weaknesses to the enemy’s arsenal. Don’t worry - you’ve got this.
Affinities and Weaknesses (Arcanist Decapitator)
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Affinities and Weaknesses (Heat Overseer)
Affinities and Weaknesses (Sky Overseer)
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Arcanist Decapitator is one of the trickiest fights you will have encountered up to this point, asit is flanked by two other foes, and all three enemies have separate strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, you cannot simply choose a terrific teammate or two to do most of the dirty work for you.
Instead,this fight will rely upon Makoto’s wellspring of different Personaseven more than usual. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some decent picks:Arcanist Decapitator casts Bufula/Mabufula; Garula; and Agilao.
Thus, ideally, you would want to avoid bringing party members who areweak to Ice, Wind, or Fire. This makesJunpei, Mitsuru, and Akihiko are all liabilities.Unfortunately, since you probably only have Makoto, Yukari otherwise,you’ll need to choose two of themto bite the bullet.
SinceHeat Overseer is weak to Fire and Ice, and Sky Overseer is weak to Electric and Wind, it might seem like there’s no wrong choice; butArcanist Decapitator resists Ice attacks,sothe best party member to leave behind is Mitsuru, who casts Ice spells.
Arcanist Decapitator Battle Strategy
If you can see the above screenshot, you will notice that we had Mitsuru in our party despite our tip. Look, we didn’t know yet!
Arcanist Decapitator has no resistance to physical attacksof any kind, so you should probably haveMakoto, Junpei, and Akihiko hit it with Slash, Strike, and Pierceskills on a routine basis. As is often the case, we would love to tell you to let Yukari join in on the Pierce with her bow, butYukari will be on healing duty.
That said,eliminate Heat Overseer and Sky Overseer first. They serve as subordinates to the Arcanist Decapitator, in that they will castFire Break and Wind Breakon party members who are resistant to such spells,especially Makoto if you switch to a Persona with those resistances(which you should).
Arcanist Decapitator also usesTarukaja, whichraises its Attack,making its already quite-threatening magic skills all the more painful. If it hits a weakness and gains a ‘One More’, it can two-shot teammates in a single turn.
Based on our experience with the battle, Arcanist Decapitator seems tocast Tarukaja only once the Overseers are beaten, so if you think it’s safer to keep them around for a while, don’t let us stop you. We felt it was better to get rid of them right off the bat, as it limits the enemy turns in general.
Hit the Overseers withwhichever elements they’re weak against,but avoid multi-target casts,since they will be healed by their specific strengths. Damaging one but healing the other for roughly equal amounts is akin to doing nothing unless you’retargeting one of them exclusively, in which case it’s fine!
