Shadows are the main enemies players start to encounter during the narrative of Persona 4 Golden as they engage in tactical, turn-based combat scenarios while using strategies derived from their party's specific Persona skills. A multi-faceted system with a vast amount of complexity, players just getting into their journey may struggle to organize their thoughts as fights can become difficult early on. Thankfully, with a plethora of options comes plenty of depth that players may explore fully to give a feeling of complete tactical control to not only the main protagonist Yu, but also an entire party of interesting characters.

When exploring different castles, players will consistently run into two types of Shadows, mostly as bulbous black masses that float through sections of the area. Shadows that are slightly red are a rare secondary type of enemy that randomly spawns, usually having more health, damage, or specific resistances that make it a difficult fight. To engage in battle, the player has the option to strike first against the Shadow, swinging their sword from behind to deal preemptive damage before the battle even begins. However, although this is a great way to level up in Persona 4 Golden through weakened foes, shadows are capable of sneaking up and striking first too if players are unaware.

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Explore Options Through the Combat Menu

As players continue through Persona 4 Golden, battles will always have eight options in total during the turn-based interactions with Shadows. The first of these choices is called Analysis, which identifies the stats of Shadows players have not encountered yet. Entering a new castle relies on this option toward the beginning, as it helps players prepare for new enemy types with never before seen weaknesses or resistances. Another two of the simple decisions from this menu come from the Escape and Item prompts, which allow the player to flee battle with some exception or use an item from their inventory respectfully.

For the harder bosses in Persona 4 Golden and other Shadow fights, players will want to pay attention to the Persona, Attack, Skill, and Guard options. Using the Persona menu, players can switch out what Persona Yu wields, but this may only be done once a turn. Selecting Attack sees the protagonist strike forward with their sword, dealing physical damage without consuming any HP or SP resources. Both of these are instead associated with the Skill choice, tying directly into the moves available and assigned to a Persona. Players could also use Guard to defend themselves against critical damage or an exploited weakness, sacrificing offense if a Shadow is winding up a large strike.

The final option seen on the combat menu ties directly into the rest of the party, called Tactics. When players are progressing through castles toward Persona 4 Golden's ending on any difficulty above Easy, this choice becomes heavily recommended as a way to have complete control over other characters' actions. Players are able to set particular courses for individuals, whether it be to guard, take up an attacking role, or even heal allies as battles continue. The strategy that takes form after players begin to apply Tactics for particularly tough fights prevents the AI of other party from making mistakes in important situations.

Learn Elemental Weaknesses and What Hit Indicators Mean

There are seven elements that define Persona, each with a spread of strengths and weaknesses against one another in a definite relationship. When pulling up the Persona Information Screen on any collected manifestations, players are able to check for an associated elemental affinity. Although some areas in Persona 4 Golden have Persona that defy expectation with certain resistances unique to them that overcome these innate disadvantages, these are far rarer than what players will encounter most of the time. Analyzing Persona during fights or experimenting with different elemental attacks helps players to find weaknesses that may be exploited in similar battles.

Every Element:

• Fire
• Physical (used during the Attack option on the combat menu)
• Ice
• Electricity
• Air
• Darkness
• Light

Hit Indicators pop up in relation to elemental effects, showcasing factors that would add to the damage inflicted. While every element has one of five effects that may be applied an enemy Persona, a fact also indicated in their Information Screen through abbreviated , Hit Indicators are shown during fights in Persona 4 Golden as a result of those effects being exploited or discovered.

Take Advantage of Extra Damage with All-Out Attacks, Follow-Ups, and 1-More Chances

Once players take every opportunity to find a Shadow's weaknesses, they may be granted an option called "1-More" as their enemy struggles to recover from additional damage. A "1-More" essentially acts as an extra turn, giving control to the player once again for another attack, the use of an item, or whichever option they feel is best given their circumstances.

In the same vein, "All-Out Attacks" are large Physical attacks that every member of the party jumps into when a Shadow has been Dazed or brought Down. Usually a tool for finishing a fight with massive damage, players should consider if an enemy has resistance to Physical before defaulting to this choice.

"Follow-ups" work slightly differently than All-Out Attacks or 1-More, as they rely on the player's Social Link in Persona 4 Golden with certain party . Functioning as distinct attacks that trigger once an enemy becomes knocked down, Follow-Ups are able to eject Shadows from battle or inflict yet another knockdown to set up for an All-Out Attack. The strongest Follow-Ups are performed should a Shadow happen to survive an All-Out Attack, incentivizing players to form connections with their party in order to tackle Persona 4 Golden's combat from the start with a solid strategy for taking out enemies of all kinds.

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