Highlights

• Persona 5 is a top-tier JRPG with engaging characters and compelling gameplay.
• Building strong bonds with Confidants unlocks powerful benefits in and out of combat.
• Maxing out Social Links with key characters leads to access to high-level, game-changing Personas.

Persona 5 is both one of the best games made by developer Atlus, and also one of the best JRPGs made this generation; packed with hours and hours of gameplay for players to enjoy and a slew of activities. Be it regular combat or just its charming life sim elements, players will find themselves quickly falling in love with this game. What stands out above the other elements of the game, however, are the characters.

More specifically called confidants to Persona 5, these characters not only provide the player with engaging dialogue but if players spend enough time with them and strengthen their bond, they will prove useful to the protagonist in combat as well. The best Persona 5 confidants are notable for both their likability and usefulness. While some people may argue that every Confidant in Persona 5 is worth interacting with, there's no denying that prioritizing some will make for an objectively better experience with the game, especially if players unlock their benefits early on to make the most of the useful advantages they provide.

Updated on March 7, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: While the Social Link moniker is changed into Confidants in Persona 5, this doesn't change the dynamics of this relationship in the slightest. Ever since Persona 3, players have the ability to form unbreakable bonds with other characters, slowly getting to know them before cementing their friendship and maxing out their relationship to the max. The higher a Confidant's level, the stronger a Persona of the same Arcana will be, but that's not the only reason to work on these relationships in Persona 5 anymore. There are various bonuses Joker can enjoy both inside and out of combat, making some Confidants objectively better than others for people who are seeking out something more than just quality writing.

15 Igor

Fool Arcana

• A fake version of an iconic character who fools the character for the majority of the game

Terrifying to look upon, this prison warden of one's cognitive gaol is the Confidant for the Fool Arcana, which often represents the protagonist in both Persona games and in lore related to Tarot cards. His intense visage, deep voice, and vast knowledge make interactions with him unique, though, in doing so the player will also eventually be able to summon the most powerful Persona from the Fool Arana (in New Game+ and with the required components).

Satanael is usually first seen as the final form of Arsène that emerges when the protagonist shatters the chains binding them. However, this is the only time they can be used in a first playthrough. This angel from Abrahamic mythology, usually associated with rebellion and fallen angels, is a level 95 Persona that possesses severely damaging offensive skills that deal Almighty, Gun, and Nuclear damage as well as a plethora of awesome passive ones.

14 Morgana

Magician Arcana

• A mysterious being who takes on the form of a cat in the real world

Morgana is a character that many fans are really split down the middle about. This cat has the ability to interact with other users of the Metaverse's power and plays a pivotal role in the story by shaping his bond with Joker.

The best thing about his Arcana is that it naturally develops over the course of the story as well, which is something fans would definitely appreciate. This, coupled with some memorable story beats that place Morgana front and center, leads to this lovable cat having a fairly memorable arc of his own.

Maxing out his Arcana lets players form Futsunushi, the God of Swords. Suffice it to say, Joker will gain access to a wide array of helpful melee abilities after fusing this Persona.

13 Ryuji Sakamoto

Chariot Arcana

• Joker's best friend and a track-running specialist who has it out for Kamoshida and his abusive ways

Ryuji fills the role of the protagonist's clumsy yet good-hearted friend who sticks by his side from the very start of the game. It's a cliche that has remained in the Persona games since the third game and has consistently delivered.

Ryuji's side story explores his relationship with the track team, which was halted after Kamoshida's vile actions. It's a great story that sees him reconcile his bonds with his fellow track mates and become closer to Joker as well. Maxing out the Chariot Arcana gives players access to Chi You, a powerful Psy-based Persona with some of the best attacks of this element in the game.

12 Makoto Niijima

Priestess Arcana

• The student council president of Shujin Academy, who stops being the principal's pawn after a point

This scholarly student and cognitive world biker badass is the Confidant for the Priestess Arcana and a valuable member of the player's party. She also has a huge part in the story and in supporting Joker throughout the game. Spending time with her will eventually max out the Social Link and grant access to the mighty Greco-Roman goddess Cybele, who was said to be a protector of many cities.

In Persona 5, this deity manifests as an excellent 'White Mage' archetype that has great healing and support skills as well as an attack that unleashes heavy Bless damage to all foes. At level 73, they sit atop this Arcana's summon-tier list.

It helps that Makoto herself is a very fun character to interact with. Her concern for her friends makes the misunderstood student council president one of the most interesting characters in the game that many people consider to be the best waifu by a country mile.

11 Sae Niijima

Judgement Arcana

• A prosecutor and Makoto's sister who is too invested in her work to give her sibling the attention she needs

The older sister of Makoto and also an interrogator attempting to gain information from Joker, Sae Niijima is the Confidant for the Judgement Arcana as well as the possessor of a Palace. Throughout the course of the game, the player will be faced with her questions, and if one answers correctly, they will be able to max out their Social Link with her and unlock the ability to summon the dreaded fallen angel themself, Satan.

In addition to straight-up broken passive skills, such as automatic regeneration of some SP after each turn, Satan is a level 92 Persona that is equipped with multiple severely damaging Ice skills and a unique one that can unleash colossal Almighty damage to a single target aptly named Black Viper.

10 Sojiro Sakura

Hierophant Arcana

• The owner of Cafe Leblanc and Joker's guardian when he's forced to move to Tokyo

Sojiro Sakura is not only the First Confidant introduced in the game but also one of the first characters the protagonist will meet at the beginning of his journey. Sojiro might seem like a jerk at the beginning of the game, but he quickly takes a liking to the protagonist and turns out to be quite a cool guy.

As the only parental figure the protagonist has during his journey, he teaches him to make coffee and even cook curry. If the player manages to max out this Confidant, they can then make exquisite coffee that can then be used to restore the entire party's SP, which is especially helpful for a lot of the later palaces.

When one's Social Link with Sojiro has been maxed out, players will gain access to the most powerful persona in the Hierophant Arcana that the coffee-maker represents. This persona is the level 76 golden dragon Kohryu that boasts immensely powerful offensive Psychic skills as well as quite a few excellent automatic ones. They also have the devastating Concentrate skill, which boosts the damage dealt by the next magical attack used by a colossal 250%.

9 Yuuki Mishima

Moon Arcana

• Joker's classmate who runs the Phantom Thieves website, getting drunk on its power before finally seeing the light after his presence in Mementos is vanquished

This is the number one fan of the Phantom Thieves. Although he's introduced to players as a lame character at first, Yuuki Mishima proves himself a useful confidant to have and provides the Phantom Thieves helpful information and even creates the titular Phansite.

And as a fan of the Phantom Thieves, it's no wonder that his Confidant skill when maxed out affects the whole party, letting all party members earn the same amount of XP even when not fighting. This greatly helps players looking to do some grinding.

Yuuki is the Confidant for the Moon Arcana, and as such, maxing the social link with him will grant access to the most powerful persona in this group: the angel Sandalphon. This level 75 heavenly figure has polarizing traits, though both kinds are tremendously useful to players. On one hand, Sandalphon has some of the best support skills in the game such as Amrita Shower, which cures the entire party of status ailments. On the other, they have an instant death skill that targets all foes simultaneously, a colossally damaging physical skill, as well as a severely damaging Almighty one.

8 Munehisa Iwai

Hanged Man Arcana

• A mysterious weapons dealer who slowly opens up to Joker as the Confidant progresses

At first, Iwai seems like a shady character who deals in all sorts of weaponry and seemingly gets Joker into some questionable circumstances. While that doesn't change much, his shop still offers a lot of useful weapons, especially customizable guns for Joker and the entire party to use.

When his Confidant rank is maxed, Players will be able to create unique firearms to use in dungeons, cause it's always good to pack a little extra punch in battle.

As the Confidant representing the Hanged Man Arcana, Iwai's maxed-out Social Link will result in players being able to summon the level 82 Attis. In addition to having a couple of great offensive Fire skills, Attis has many great support ones, such as Salvation, which fully heals the party's HP as well as cures all status ailments from all party members. This high-level persona from Greek mythology can also revive a single ally with full HP with their Samarecarm skill.

7 Caroline & Justine

Strength Arcana

• The twins in the Velvet Room, who help the protagonist unlock more means of fusing Personas if he completes their requests

Caroline and Justine are the twins that the protagonist will meet at the start of the game. These characters are quite important too as they help the player gain powerful personas through fusion and other methods.

And if the player happens to max out this Strength Arcana Confidant, they'll be able to fuse a persona of a higher level than the player, which cannot be stressed enough how useful this is as it'll enable them to create stronger personas.

Maxing out the Social Link with this duo will also allow players to summon the mighty level 80 Zaou-Gongen of Eastern mythology. This persona comes with deadly Fire skills to scorch foes with, though also possesses a colossally damaging physical one as well as great automatic skills that benefit one's survivability in addition to boosting Gun-type damage by 50%.

6 Toranosuke Yoshida

Sun Arcana

• One of the few politicians who strives for justice and fairness after being caught in a corruption scandal that served as a major setback for his career

Yoshida is a seasoned politician whom the protagonist will meet quite early on in the game. He teaches him a bunch of real-life lessons as well as allows him to gain a bunch of skills, such as demanding more money from cornered enemies in combat.

Once this Confidant has been maxed out, players will be able to convince personas to join their ranks even if they are at a higher level. Which again, is useful as players will have a bunch of higher leveled personas at their disposal.

This Confidant represents the Sun Arcana and grants players the ability to fuse forth the impressive level 76 Asura. This powerful persona has some of the best Nuclear skills in the game with one that deals severe damage to a single and another that unleashes heavy damage to all enemies simultaneously. On top of this, they have an automatic skill that grants a 20% chance to reflect all physical attacks.

5 Sadayo Kawakami

Temperance Arcana

• A homeroom teacher who masquerades as a maid at night to pay off her sick sister's bills

As the teacher to the protagonist, the two have an interesting relationship, to say the least. As one of the earlier confidants, she is definitely the most useful to new players; as she helps Joker in a variety of ways, such as doing laundry, making coffee, and even helping with crafting infiltration tools.

Max her rank, however, and players will be able to partake in more activities during the night, which makes carrying out tasks a lot more efficient in the game.

Kawakami will also give players another stellar high-level persona to summon, this time from the Temperance Arcana, as maxing one's Social Link with her lets one fuse Ardha from Hindu mythology. This level 84 duel-identity deity possesses great physical and Nuclear skills in addition to also having Salvation, which is one of the best support skills for its excellent healing and curative effects.

4 Chihaya Mifune

Fortune Arcana

• A fortune teller with a heart of gold who decides to make up for unwittingly duping people into spending money for what is essentially a scam

Mifune is the Quirky fortune teller the player will meet about halfway into the game. As odd as she may seem in the beginning, her fortune-telling prowess is nothing to scoff at.

Her confidant skill allows the player to better their relationship with other confidants and even lets them see all the current Confidant's abilities in advance, once the player maxes her rank. This is especially handy when a player wants to max out only the necessary confidants.

This Confidant for the Fortune Arcana also yields a great ally in Lakshmi, the level 69 apex of this group's personas. This figure from the Hindu pantheon offers excellent healing skills as well as an automatic one called Life Aid, which returns 8% of one's total HP and SP after a victorious battle. She can also assail all adversaries with a heavy Ice skill and even put many of them to sleep with another ability of the same element.

3 Hifumi Togo

Star Arcana

• A professional Shogi player whose reputation as a prodigy is more of a curse than a boon

Hifumi is a professional Shogi player and a potential love interest to the protagonist. Hifumi is really smart, and when progressing her Confidant rank, it’s no wonder the strategies learned from her teachings will be useful in real combat situations in the game.

Once players max out this Confidant, they can then swap out team members in the dungeons for ones by the sideline. This is especially useful when a character has low Health or SP.

As the Confidant for the Star Arcana, Togo lets players attain one of the best Personas in the entire franchise: Lucifer. At level 93, this fallen angel accordingly has tremendously potent skills that, frankly, make him straight-up broken. His Gigantomachia skill unleashes colossal physical damage against all enemies at once for a devastating move that can wipe out entire opposing parties in a single turn. He also has Morning Star, which does the same as Gigantomachia, though with magical Almighty damage. Furthermore, Lucifer has automatic skills that make magical attacks cost 50% less SP and another that lets him absorb all incoming physical attacks.

2 Tae Takemi

Death Arcana

• A doctor who strives to regain her soiled reputation by performing suspect clinical trials on Joker

Perhaps one of the most useful and generally loved characters in the game. Tae is quite beneficial as she provides the protagonist with numerous types of healing items that prove helpful in clearing out palaces. Keep increasing her confidant rank, and players will be able to gain more advanced healing items from her shop.

Once players finally reach the max rank, they'll have access to the strongest healing items in the game, which is especially useful for end-game bosses and enemies.

Another great boon Tae offers when one's Social Link with her is maxed out is access to the Death Arcana's top persona, Alice. This creepy child-like spirit is a level-79 monster in disguise that possesses a few skills that make her feared by all foes. Firstly is her Concentrate buff, which can line up a devastating attack for the next turn. Secondly is her Megidolaon skill, which unleashes severe Almighty damage to all enemies. Finally, and most deadly, is her aptly named Die For Me! skill, which has a high chance of instantly killing all foes.

1 Futaba Sakura

Hermit Arcana

• A shut-in who's befriended and encouraged to come out of her shell by the Phantom Thieves

Futaba is another one of the community's fan favorites and a very lovable character. Although Futaba is a central character and part of the Phantom Thieves, unlike the others on this list, it's safe to say she's still a very important confidant as well.

Players won't be able to unlock Futaba till right near the final palaces, which makes her one of the later confidants in the game. Once players manage to rank her up, though, she'll prove useful in palaces in many ways from providing moral support, which recovers SP, to shielding allies from a fatal blow.

For those seeking one of the most efficient, physical skill-oriented personas, be sure to max out one's Social Link with this Confidant for the Hermit Arcana, for doing so unlocks the original ninja from Japanese mythology: Ongyo-Ki. This level 75 ninjutsu-knowing oni has a couple of skills that land multiple hits per turn as well as automatic ones that reduce the cost of all physical skills and even restore 6% HP every turn.