Best Joker Builds in Persona 5 The Phantom X

Persona 5 The Phantom X‘s first limited banner offers players the chance to unlock Ren Amamiya, also known as Joker, the Protagonist of the original Persona 5 and most of its spinoffs. Despite being restricted to Arsène alone, he is easily one of the best characters in the game, and probably the strongest Sweeper currently available.

Making the most of Joker in Persona 5 The Phantom X requires very little setup, since he fits well into almost any team that can inflict at least one ailment, but in a team built around him, his damage will spike tremendously. This guide will discuss the best way to build Joker, and build a party for Joker, including information on his skills and weapons.

Related

What Are the Best Banners to Pull in Persona 5: The Phantom X?

Players can use the Persona 5: The Phantom X in-game Gacha system to summon characters to add to their roster. Here are the best banners to pull from.

How does Joker Work in Persona 5 The Phantom X?

Ren Amamiya/Joker is a Curse Element Sweeper who wields knives and pistols. Joker’s unique gimmick in Persona 5 The Phantom X stems from the unique buff “Will of Rebellion,” which stacks up to five times and gives him an extra action whenever he has three or more stacks (though it expends three stacks after he takes an extra action). After unlocking his hidden ability “Resistance,” he will also gain an attack buff per stack of Will of Rebellion, allowing him to unleash huge amounts of damage.

His three attack skills are Trickster’s Plunder, Phantom Oath, and Arsène’s Chains. His Highlight is a multi-target Curse attack. His Hidden Abilities are Resistance and Adverse Resolve.

Joker’s Awareness Skills are as follows:

In most combat encounters, Joker should start his first turn by using either Trickster’s Plunder (when there are multiple foes) or Phantom Omen (if there is only one foe). This allows him to start building up Will of Rebellion Stacks, which will build up even faster if he manages to knock a target below 60% HP. Once Joker triggers an Extra Action, you should always use Arsène’s Chains, since it does a ton of extra damage when used on an Extra Action and can cleave through enemy health bars very easily. By using his Highlight at the right time, you can top up his Will of Rebellion stacks and set him up to dish out even more damage.

What Skills Should Joker Level Up First in Persona 5 The Phantom X?

When it comes to making the most of your resources, it’s important to prioritize Trickster’s Plunder and Arsène’s Chains first, since these are Joker’s Bread and Butter in most fights. The next most important is Thief’s Tactics, to improve his Highlight, One More, and Basic Attacks. When you’re short on resources, you can afford to wait a while on Phantom Omen, as the majority of fights outside of bosses will feature multiple enemies, so you won’t need it as often.

Best Weapons for Joker in Persona 5 The Phantom X

Joker’s best-in-slot Weapon is definitely the Phoenix Dagger, due to its high stats and a very potent effect. When wielding the Phoenix Dagger, Joker’s Attack is raised by 30%, and his curse damage is raised by 10% for 2 turns whenever he gains a stack of Will of Rebellion (this effect can stack up to 3 times). When Joker has 3 or More Will of Rebellion Stacks, the Phoenix Dagger will increase the next instance of damage he deals by 23%.

Since the Phoenix Dagger is a 5-Star Weapon, however, it might not be something you have access to. In that case, your next best options (in order of rarest to most common) are the Machete, Athame, and Rebel Knife. The Machette has the second-best stats of Joker’s Weapon options and raises his attack by 12%. It also raises his attack by a further 19.1% when attacking a foe afflicted with any ailment. It can also be purchased from Iwai using Gecko Coins.

The Athame adds a 35.4% chance for any curse damage Joker deals to also inflict the Curse ailment, making it a fantastic choice for setting up the damage buff from Arsène’s Chains, and it can be purchased from Iwai at the Airsoft Shop, making it readily available regardless of your luck with the weapon banner or your current amount of Gecko Coins, and making it easy to forge it with extra copies of itself to raise that chance even higher. Joker starts with the Rebel Knife, and it offers a simple but effective 11.3% attack buff.

Best Team Compositions for Joker in Persona 5 The Phantom X

Since Joker dishes out tons of damage with Extra Actions, especially when his targets have ailments, he pairs incredibly well with anyone who can buff his attacks or easily apply ailments to enemies. One great example would be fellow 5-Star Yaoling/Rin, whose moveset is built around AOE Curse application and inflicting “Red Spider Lily”, which increases damage taken by an amount determined by Rin’s speed. Since she’s so fast, she’ll also act before Joker and set up her debuffs right in time for him to blow the enemy away.

By adding in Tomoko/Moko, who excels at raising attack, and also boosting ailment accuracy, you can dish out a ton of damage. Moko can also use Spirit’s Lullaby, or her Highlight, to increase the next damage a target takes considerably, which also pairs well with this setup. As an Elucidator (The Navigator Character) you should pick Tomiyama/Okyann. She passively raises the entire party’s stats by 15% of her own, and her skills allow her to increase the damage and ailment accuracy of the entire party. When she gains four Beat Stacks, she’ll raise the Attack, Defense, and Ailment Accuracy of the whole party by applying Pulsating Rhythm, which can stack three times if you manage to build it up.

If you don’t have Rin, other good choices for enabling Joker in combat include Kurotani/Key (Who is another ailment specialist with a particular knack for applying burn), Ann/Panther (who can inflict burn and does a lot of AOE damage), or Motoha/Closer (who can inflict Shock on multiple targets and does a lot of AOE damage). If you need to protect Joker and ensure he doesn’t get knocked down, Miyu/Puppet is an excellent alternative Elucidator, since she can apply shields to the whole party and add Down Points to a single ally, ensuring they aren’t downed as easily. She can also increase the attack of any allies that accumulate 4 seashell stacks, via her third skill.

Morgana, fittingly enough, is also an excellent ally for Joker, providing reliable healing and inflicting Windswept on targets.