Arcana Chance is a special event in Persona 4 occurring after successful battles and Shuffle Times. It appears when the player draws either a Persona or a blank card. The Arcana Chance will cause certain changes to occur, depending on the alignment of the Arcana card.
Effects
| Arcana | Upright | Reverse |
|---|---|---|
| Fool | Random arcana effect | Random arcana reverse effect. |
| Magician | Improves certain Magic and Physical skills of a random Persona. (Fails if selected Persona has no modifiable skill) | Downgrades certain Magic and Physical skills of a random Persona. (Fails if selected Persona has no modifiable skill) |
| Priestess | Allows enemies' affinities to be fully analyzed. (effective against bosses as well) | Temporarily conceals analysis data. |
| Empress | Restore all characters' HP to maximum. | Reduces all characters' HP to 1. |
| Emperor | Temporarily grants consistent Player Advantage. | Temporarily grants consistent Enemy Advantage. |
| Hierophant | Temporarily blocks the effects of a subsequent reverse Arcana Chance. | Temporarily increases the probability of next Arcana Chance to reverse. |
| Lovers | Powerful Shadows have disappeared from the area! (dungeon-wide) | Powerful Shadows have appeared in the area! (dungeon-wide) |
| Chariot | Permanently increases one random Persona's Agility. (1~3 Points) | Permanently decreases one random Persona's Agility. (1 Point) |
| Justice | Permanently increases one random Persona's Strength. (1~3 Points) | Permanently decreases one random Persona's Strength. (1 Point) |
| Hermit | Temporarily displays unexplored areas in mini-map. | Temporarily conceals the whole mini-map. |
| Fortune | Permanently increases one random Persona's Luck. (1~3 Points) | Permanently decreases one random Persona's Luck. (1 Point) |
| Strength | Permanently increases one random Persona's Magic. (1~3 Points) | Permanently decreases one random Persona's Magic. (1 Point) |
| Hanged Man | Permanently increases one random Persona's Endurance. (1~3 Points) | Permanently decreases one random Persona's Endurance. (1 Point) |
| Death | Fully restores all allies' SP, but HP is reduced to 1; resets the whole dungeon and party is forcefully ejected out. | Fully restores all allies' HP, but SP is reduced to 1; resets the whole dungeon and party is forcefully ejected out. |
| Temperance | Doubles amount of yen obtained after battle. | Reduces amount of yen obtained to 1 after battle. |
| Devil | Transforms one Persona into another Persona with a higher level and different arcana. (Inherited skills do not carry over) | Transforms one Persona into another Persona with a lower level and different arcana. (Inherited skills do not carry over) |
| Tower | You will receive an extra treasure from treasure chests for a while! (Chests grant extra yen) | All treasure chests contain Shadows. Items can still be gained, but will sometimes break. |
| Star | "One more chance!" will occur more frequently during shuffles for a while. | "One more chance!" will occur less frequently during shuffles for a while. |
| Moon | Doubles EXP obtained after battle. | Reduces EXP obtained to 1 after battle. |
| Sun | Turns Blank Cards into Persona cards during Shuffle Time. | Turns Blank Cards into Penalty cards during Shuffle Time. |
| Judgment | Fully restore all characters' SP. | Halves all characters' current SP. |
Effect Explanations
- Magician
The Magician Arcana Chance will permanently upgrade or downgrade one random Skill from one of the protagonists' random Personas. Skill upgrades will most often affect a single-target Skill, upgrading it to a multi-target Skill (or vice-versa in case of Reverse). Most skills can only be upgraded once, with the exception of the following:
- Cleave -> Fatal End -> Blade of Fury -> Deathbound -> Tempest Slash
- Bash -> Assault Dive -> Kill Rush -> Gigantic Fist -> Heat Wave -> God's Hand
- Torrent Shot -> Arrow Rain -> Myriad Arrows
- Megido -> Megidola -> Megidolaon
Below is a list of Skills that can be upgraded:
- Cleave -> Fatal End -> Blade of Fury -> Deathbound -> Tempest Slash
- Bash -> Assault Dive -> Kill Rush -> Gigantic Fist -> Heat Wave -> God's Hand
- Torrent Shot -> Arrow Rain -> Myriad Arrows
- Agi -> Maragi
- Agilao -> Maragion
- Agidyne -> Maragidyne
- Bufu -> Mabufu
- Bufula -> Mabufula
- Bufudyne -> Mabufudyne
- Zio -> Mazio
- Zionga -> Mazionga
- Ziodyne -> Maziodyne
- Garu -> Magaru
- Garula -> Magarula
- Garudyne -> Magarudyne
- Hama -> Mahama
- Hamaon -> Mahamaon
- Mudo -> Mamudo
- Mudoon -> Mamudoon
- Megido -> Megidola -> Megidolaon
- Dia -> Media
- Diarama -> Mediarama
- Diarahan -> Mediarahan
- Patra -> Me Patra
- Tarukaja -> Matarukaja
- Rakukaja -> Marakukaja
- Sukukaja -> Masukukaja
- Tarunda -> Matarunda
- Rakunda -> Marakunda
- Sukunda -> Masukunda
- Hierophant
The upright Hierophant's effect lasts only until the next arcana card drawn upright. This means that the effect of the newly drawn arcana will replace the effect of the Hierophant as normal. Unless this new card is another Hierophant, the player will be at risk to reversed arcana effects once again.
The upright Hierophant will not guarantee the next arcana card to be upright. If the next arcana card is reversed, it will simply have no effect, and the Hierophant's protection will continue.