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.
RELATED: 15 Best Games To Play If You Love Persona 5 Royal
More specifically called confidants to Persona 5, these characters not only provide the player with engaging dialogue but if you spend enough time with them and strengthen their bond, they will prove useful to the protagonist in combat as well. As such, we'll be listing the best Persona 5 confidants for both their likability and usefulness.
Updated on March 6, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman: In addition to the more straightforward benefits, players that max out their Social Links with desired Confidants will unlock the most powerful persona from the associated Major Arcana that said Confidant represents. These personas are the highest-leveled as well as the strongest in the game and can be immensely helpful against the tougher bosses and areas of Persona 5.
10 Sojiro Sakura (Hierophant Arcana)
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
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 as even when not fighting. Which 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
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.
RELATED: Persona 5 Royal: Every Playable Character, Ranked
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
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
Yoshida is a seasoned politician that 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.
RELATED: Persona 5: 10 Easter Eggs That Fans May Have Missed
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 you'll have a bunch of higher leveled personas at your 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
As the teacher to the protagonist, the two have an interesting relationship, to say the least. And as and 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
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.
RELATED: Persona 5: 5 Video Game Villains Joker Can Beat (& 5 He Can't)
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.
3 Hifumi Togo
Hifumi is a professional Shogi player and 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 highest-level, and most renowned, 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
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
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 restores 6% HP every turn.