Quick Links
After Persona 4 Golden players have saved Yukiko from the TV World, they'll have a little time to build up Social Links, Social Stats, or complete sidequests. Eventually, they'll see Kanji Tatsumi's silhouette on the Midnight Channel, thus kick-starting the investigation to unlock the second dungeon. This dungeon, Steamy Bathhouse, has 11 floors as opposed to Yukiko's Castle's 8 floors. The IT should be around level 25 before they battle Shadow Kanji.
The Steamy Bathhouse in Persona 4 Golden opens up on May 19th, with a deadline set on June 4th. It's a step up from Yukiko's Castle with the Shadows at levels 17 up to level 26. This time, P4G players will have a full team and access to more powerful Fusions and equipment. Unlike Shadow Yukiko, the IT will be up against Shadow Kanji and two additional Shadows for this fight.
Shadow Kanji: Best Skills and Accessories
With Yukiko on the team, players will have a great healer and magical attacker. Yukiko's main Affinity is fire, and she'll learn spells like Media upon leveling up. It's generally recommended to get her to level 21 for her Agilao skill. This does moderate fire damage to one target. If players want to level up even more, they can get her to level 26 to learn Recarm, a skill that revives a fallen ally with half health. A Flame Vow can be equipped to Yukiko for this battle. The Flame Vow can be found in locked chests in Steamy Bathhouse. It will increase Yukiko's fire Skills by 20%.
Chie's Bufu Skill will once again come in handy during this boss battle. Level her up to get Assault Dive and Counter at levels 22 and 24, respectively. Counter has a 10% chance of countering damage taken. Equip her with Falcon Eye (raises chance of avoiding physical attacks), which can be looted from locked chests in Yukiko's Castle or Steamy Bathhouse. She can also use the Cool Beads Accessory (found in locked chests in Yukiko's Castle), as this will reduce her chances of being inflicted with Rage.
As for Yosuke, he can make use of buffing and serving as a backup healer for Yukiko (with Dia). Players will want to equip Yosuke with a Volt Suppressor (raises Evasion to electric attacks), which players can get from a locked chest in Yukiko's Castle or Steamy Bathhouse. Alternatively, he can be equipped with the Disinfectant Accessory to reduce the chance of being Poisoned. This can be obtained from a locked chest in Yukiko's Castle or Steamy Bathhouse. Otherwise, Disinfectant can be crafted at Daidara Metalworks at the cost of x5 Beard Fibers, which can be farmed from Egotistical King Shadows on floors 5-7 in Steamy Bathhouse.
Shadow Kanji: Recommended Personas
For this boss battle, players will want to have Electric-nulling or Physical-resistant Personas. A Persona like Rakshasa is recommended because it has fair Strength and Endurance while also resisting Physical attacks. One of its Fusion Recipes is Obariyon (Steamy Bathhouse, Shuffle Time) and Berith (can be Fused with Sandman and Ghoul, two Personas from Yukiko's Castle). Get Rakshasa to level 25 to learn Gale Slash, which does light physical damage to all enemies with a chance of Critical Hit. Kill Rush is also a good Skill to use against Shadow Kanji.
Another Persona to grab is Andra. This Persona can be gained from Shuffle Time in Steamy Bathhouse. Andra is a good Persona to use against Shadow Kanji because it will block Electricity and learn Blue Wall, which applies Electric Resistance to an ally (or self) for 3 turns. It has an Affinity Weakness to Wind, but thankfully, Shadow Kanji doesn't have any wind-based attacks.
When Fusing, be sure to transfer Support Skills (if possible) such as Rakunda or Tarunda. These will lower the Defense and Attack, respectively, of its target.
If players are looking for a good healer or magic attacker, they can try for Titania. She can be fused with Sarasvati (found in Steamy Bathhouse) and King Frost. Titania will have Diarama and, depending on which Shadows are used in the Fusion, can get Dekaja (erases buffs on enemies) or other Support Skills.
Alternatively, players can just keep King Frost instead of Fusing him. One of his Fusions is Anzu (Steamy Bathhouse) and Lilim (Yukiko's Castle). King Frost is weak to fire and will absorb ice. He has high Magic and good Endurance, and has Bufula and Ice Break. Ice Break will negate the effects of White Wall, which applies Ice Resistance to its target for 3 turns. Bufula is a stronger version of Bufu, meaning the protagonist can deal more damage to Nice Guy.
Finally, there's Xiezhai, who can be Fused by Eligor and Archangel, or Obariyon and Lilim. Xiezhai will Resist Electric and will have the Rakunda Skill. This can be used to lower the Defense of an enemy for 3 turns.
Ultimately, it's up to the player which Personas they'll use against Shadow Kanji. For newcomers, Rakshasa is a must, and King Frost isn't bad to keep on hand, either. Try not to worry too much about having a healer Persona since Yukiko is arguably the best healer at this point in P4G.
Players may want to stock up on Ice Cube and Firecracker items. These will inflict ice and fire damage and can be useful if Chie or Yukiko are starting to run low on SP.
Shadow Kanji Strategy
Before going in, players should know that Shadow Kanji will absorb Electric attacks, so don't try hitting him with Zio. His allies, Tough Guy and Nice Guy, are weak to Fire and Ice and will absorb Ice and Fire, respectively. These two also resist Wind, so using Yosuke's Garu isn't recommended. Tough Guy only has two physical attacks, but Nice Guy has various buffs, Re Patra and Red Wall.
While Shadow Kanji is the main boss, Nice Guy and Tough Guy can be a real pain to deal with if they're not defeated first. Players will want to start by taking out Nice Guy. He can be Downed with Bufu or an Ice Cube. Then, use Yukiko's Agilao to Down Tough Guy, then hit him a second time while he's Downed to inflict him with Dizzy. As long as Nice Guy doesn't cast Re Patra, Tough Guy should remain Down for two turns instead of one.
Nice Guy cannot be inflicted with Dizzy.
Shadow Kanji will use Forbidden Murmur and Roar of Wrath. Forbidden Murmur will poison the protagonist and Yosuke, while Roar of Wrath will enrage Yukiko and Chie. He'll also cast Power Charge to power up his Physical attacks. He can then stack this with Swift Strike, which deals light physical damage to all targets for 1-2x.
The protagonist and Yosuke can bypass Poison by having accessories that resist Poison or (for the protagonist) a Persona with the Resist Poison skill. Dokudami Teas can cure Poison, and they can be bought from Shiroku Store. As for the Enrage status ailment, players will need to rely on the Sedative items or Me Patra. This will need to be on one of the protagonist's Personas since Yukiko won't be able to use any Skills if she's inflicted with Rage. Poison depletes health every turn, while Rage greatly raises attack power but significantly lowers defense. Players also won't be able to control Enraged characters, meaning this will need to be taken care of immediately.
Nice Guy may try and put up Red Wall on Tough Guy, eliminating his Fire Weakness. If this happens, players can get rid of the Red Wall by hitting him with a Fire Skill (or Firecracker), or they can leave Tough Guy alone for 3 turns. Shadow Kanji also has White Wall and Red Wall to cover Nice Guy and Tough Guy's Affinity weaknesses. If players have a Persona with Ice Break, they can negate the effects of White Wall.
Once Nice Guy and Tough Guy are defeated, and Shadow Kanji is at half-health, he'll start using Fanatical Spark. This is an Electric Skill that inflicts medium Electric damage to everyone. Obviously, this is an attack that players will not want Yosuke to get hit with, so make sure he Guards or he's got a Volt Suppressor equipped. This is also why players will want to have a Persona equipped that resists Electricity.
The strategy here is to debuff the enemies while using Chie and Yukiko (or the protagonist) to keep Downing Tough and Nice Guy until they're KO'd. If Shadow Kanji uses Power Charge, then have everyone Guard to avoid his Swift Strike skill. Once Nice Guy is taken care of, Tough Guy won't be a problem, and then players can focus on Shadow Kanji. Use Yukiko's Media spell to heal the party, and have Yosuke use Sukukaja on the protagonist. Shadow Kanji doesn't resist Physical, so he can be taken down with Physical Skills by Chie and the protagonist.
Persona 4 Golden is available on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.