| This article is about the Shadow. For the Arcana, see Priestess Arcana. |
"What the hell!? ...Is this the friggin' boss?"
The Arcana Priestess (プリーステス) is the first boss fight in Persona 3. It is fought on the second Full Moon Operation on May 9th.
Appearances[]
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload: Full Moon Operation boss, May 9th
- Persona 3 The Movie
Details[]
As all Full Moon Operation bosses, its appearance and behavior are based on Tarot cards from the Major Arcana in the reverse position. The Priestess means someone with knowledge and wisdom, yet the reversed version of it means someone unable to use that knowledge or someone not able to make decisions. Thus instead of confidently standing like the priestess does in the upright position, it instead lays on the ground sloppily.
The B and J on her breasts are taken directly from the Tarot card. They represent Boaz and Jachin, two copper pillars, which stood in the porch of Solomon's Temple.
The Arcana Priestess takes over the train and attempts to cause a collision with another train. This is based around the conflict of intellect and instinct the card represents, which is shown with the Black and White coloration of the Shadow.
Profile[]
Persona 3[]
Persona 3 - Full Moon 1 Boss Priestess
Priestess boss.
During the second full moon (May 9th) after the arrival of the protagonist, Mitsuru Kirijo detects a powerful shadow outside of Tartarus and quickly dispatches the protagonist, Yukari Takeba and Junpei Iori to the monorail in Iwatodai Station.
The entity has the appearance of a young woman wearing only the bottom half of a dress, her whole body is covered in either white or black, with the letters B and J on her breasts. Her hair looks like scrolls with text written on it, which are stuck to the wall not allowing anyone to pass. She wears a red, butterfly-like eyemask on her face, indicating her Priestess arcana. She herself sits inside the train on the floor with her legs spread out. She also seems to be abnormally tall at full height, even when compared to other Shadows
After reaching the monorail's end they find a huge Shadow that has taken over the monorail, but after defeating it the monorail won't stop, leaving the protagonist to use the brakes manually, saving both Yukari and Junpei.
Strategy[]
Persona 3/FES/Portable[]
There is a time limit of 8 real-life minutes for the team to both reach the boss encounter from the 3rd to last cabin and defeat it at the front cabin of the monorail. Therefore, it is not advised for the player to take too much time at the Shadows in front of it or stay idle in the cabins, or they might not have enough time to defeat the boss (which will result in a Game Over).
The Priestess specializes in Ice attacks, so a Persona that is resistant or immune to its Ice attacks such as Apsaras or Jack Frost is vital. At lower health, it will summon two Muttering Tiaras.
Persona 3 Reload[]
The Full Moon Operation in Reload is a little different from the previous versions of Persona 3 in that there is no timer until the player reaches the boss, reducing the amount of urgency in fighting through the Shadows through the monorail cars.
Once the player engages the Full Moon Shadow, the 30-minute timer begins (seven seconds will pass before the player gets any agency), and it will continue ticking down even through mid-battle cutscenes and menus. Quick decisions by the player are encouraged to get through the timer quickly. Even though 30 minutes seems very generous, as the battle progresses, the boss will use Invitation to Chaos at 50% and about 30% HP, which forces the train to speed up and cuts the remaining time in half, so the player is generally expected to still finish the fight quickly.
At half health, the Priestess will call forth a Despairing and Loathsome Tiara which are weak to Junpei's and Yukari's primary forms of attack respectively - make use of area attacks (if any) and the Shift system to maximize your actions and damage output. At low health it calls forth a Skeptical Tiara that's weak to Ice and Elec attacks.
The Priestess specializes in Ice attacks, so a Persona that nullifies Ice skills like Jack Frost is a good choice to bring to the fight - just remember to have some diversity in its attacking elements to get around the Priestess's ice immunity. The general level recommendation to tackle this boss is about level 11, when Yukari learns Media which can help the party recover from damage from Ice Storm.
Stats[]
Persona 3[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Unlike the original Full Moon Operation, there is no time limit during this encounter.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reload[]
- The battle has a time limit of 30 minutes. If the boss's HP drops to 50% and 30%, it will use Invitation to Chaos to cut the remaining time by half.
- On the first turn after its HP is reduced by half, the boss will summon a Despairing Tiara to the left and a Loathsome Tiara on the right. In subsequent summons, it summons a Skeptical Tiara.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery[]
