Party/Goro Akechi

This article covers information about Goro Akechi as a party member, including uses and strategies, in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. For strategies on the boss battle against him, see Goro Akechi → Strategy.

Overview[]

Persona 5[]

Akechi first joins the party on October 29th at Level 45 with Robin Hood, during the infiltration of Niijima's Palace. Unlike other party members, Akechi is only active in the party during that Palace and leaves once it is cleared. He specializes in Bless, Curse and Almighty skills and emphasizes variety in offense.

Akechi's stats are almost evenly distributed, only losing Luck in exchange for higher Strength. This helps him deal high amounts of damage, particularly with Megaton Raid. In addition, his passive skill Fortify Spirit helps him balance out his weakness to evading status effects caused by his low luck.

Akechi wields magic attacks of both Curse and Bless type: even though both attack types have no secondary effects, such as inflicting ailments or exploiting Technicals, they have a slightly higher base power than their counterparts. Although unlike other party members, he sports no skills that boost the power of these skills nor are there Bless or Curse Break skills to remove resistances. In spite of that, he can also use Almighty skills, which ignore affinities altogether, albeit it means they cannot exploit any weaknesses, nor land Criticals, meaning it will be a conclusive attack for his turn.

On the other hand, Akechi has access to instant-death skills of both Bless and Curse type and can focus on attempting to instantly kill a target at the risk of dealing nothing that turn, instead of slowly taking down their health. Although effective, it can make him susceptible to opponents lowering his own health with normal attacks. As such, it is recommended to rely on only whenever the enemy has strengthened themselves with buffs or debuffs, or in emergencies where a regular attack likely will not defeat the enemy.

Unlike other party members, Akechi's learnset does not allow him to support other party members: his abilities are more catered towards himself or his opponents, especially since the buffs in his movepool are only directed towards himself. This even applies for his attacks, as most cannot connect via Technicals, and they are rather restricted in letting him receive 1 Mores and begin Baton Passes. The only case he can help them is when they have fainted, directly reviving an ally with maximum HP with Samarecarm, which could help give back up against deaths from instant-kill attacks in particular. However, despite this disconnect, it is still recommended for other members to spend their resources in supporting him so he can make the most out of his abilities.

Because Akechi leaves the party early, he has many higher-level skills that he might not be able to learn before he leaves (unless the player excessively grinds for levels), so it is unlikely those will be of use anyway, especially since high level differences alone make it easier for the party to overwhelm enemies. Some of these skills include Mahamaon, Mudoon, Megidolaon and Debilitate. However, it is possible to level up Akechi slightly above Niijima's level to teach him the aforementioned Samarecarm.

Akechi is resistant to Bless attacks and is weak against Curse. As such, Akechi should take caution in using Curse skills, as he may be Downed by his own attack against enemies that repel it.

Akechi starts off with a Lumina Saber and can acquire the Quasar Saber through Untouchable, his strongest melee weapon. He starts off with Moebius and his strongest ranged weapon is the Golden Beam, which costs 1,200 coins at the High Limit counter in Niijima's Palace. It has a medium chance of inflicting Despair. The protagonist cannot itemize any melee weapons or firearms for him in the Velvet Room.

Pool		Explanation
Megaton Raid	Samarecarm	Variety-based combatant. Skill pool is incomplete due to absence of Evade Curse.
Megidolaon	Debilitate
Mahamaon	Attack Master
Mamudoon	Fortify Spirit
Lumina Saber / Quasar Saber
Moebius (II) / Sirius (SP) / Golden Beam
Formal Shirt / Fluted Guard / Unyielding Vest / Official's Robe / Life Jacket / Moon Man Vest / UFO Vest / Brave Waistcoat / Gambler Shirt / Seedy Gear / Kaiser Vest / Black Wing Robe / Lucky Waistcoat
Any

Persona 5 Royal[]

In Persona 5 Royal, Akechi's original skills with Robin Hood are left untouched, with the exception of the addition of the trait Tactical Spirit, giving his party and himself the chance of having the SP cost of their support skills halved.

However, on January 2nd, Akechi will rejoin the party with Loki. Although he shares the same base stats as Robin Hood, his weaknesses are modified: he is now weak to Bless, and completely blocks Curse. Akechi automatically joins at Level 75, unless his previous level from when he was in the party with Robin Hood exceeded that number, in which case his level will remain the same as before.

In addition, his skillset is completely changed. He cannot learn any skills from leveling up, and all of them are innate upon joining. Akechi no longer uses instant-death skills. Instead, his attacks are largely typeless and often damage-heavy, adding technical variety to his arsenal with emphasis of accuracy over Criticals and combos. Due to his set-up, Akechi acts as an offensive "finisher" that builds off of the support of others rather than the other way around. Akechi's variety comes from the general properties of the affinities of these attacks:

• His weakest attack is Eigaon, a Heavy Curse skill targeting 1 foe, which can be useful for exploiting elemental weaknesses. Though it has the opportunity for weaknesses and One Mores, it is upset by its minimal range and Akechi's reduced Magic stat.
  • The skill can also be interpreted as countermeasure to covering his own weakness by exploiting that of the enemy's. If Knowing the Heart has been read, Akechi is able to exploit Technical damage towards enemies afflicted with Despair, a quality unique to him.
• This is followed by Megidolaon, a severe Almighty attack, targeting all foes. A strong Magical attack that targets all foes. It cannot be blocked, but it cannot exploit weaknesses either.
• Riot Gun is a severe Gun attack that targets all foes. Gun skills have the offensive properties of Magic skills in terms of accuracy over damage, but still preserve the core mechanics of Physical-based attacks in terms that they use the Strength stat and can exploit Critical hits. The skill is backed up by his higher Strength stat. Unlike other Gun skills, this attack has reduced accuracy.

His strongest attack is Laevateinn, a Physical attack that deals Colossal damage to 1 foe. It is comparable to a Physical-based Almighty attack due to several key traits: although its accuracy is exceptionally high compared to other Physical skills, it has the unique property of having a 0% Critical rate, meaning that it is unlikely that the attack will ever actually be able to land a Critical hit and exploit One More.

His attacks are all backed up by Attack Master, which increases Akechi's attack power in the first 3 turns. From one point of view it allows to quickly finish short fights, but it also encourages to act fast when it comes to more complicated strategies.

Akechi now has Debilitate by default, which lets him debuff the enemy's Attack, Defense and Agility for 3 turns. Because of its functions, it can be technically said that Akechi is the only party member that can cast Rakunda, albeit indirectly. In addition, he now has Evade Bless, which makes it easier for him to evade Bless attacks. His vulnerability to status ailments from his low Luck is again covered up by Fortify Spirit, just like with Robin Hood.

Because of Akechi's emphasis on single-target offense, he can be strategically used to break down enemy formation that is explicitly supported by a single entity. It is highly recommended to observe the chemistry between the enemy faction and lock on to a prominent target to debilitate the entire group to the party's advantage.

However, despite having mostly type-less offense that theoretically functions like an Almighty set-up, affinities still apply, and Akechi is still prone to having his Physical or Gun attacks repelled, which usually kills him, especially since they both eat up a significant amount of his own HP just to use them. In this situation, he can only hope to whittle down the enemy's health with his Almighty Skills.

From January 2nd, Akechi will be able to perform a Showtime with the protagonist.

If the protagonist follows the necessary criteria and dialogue options while maxing out his Confidant, on February 2nd, before the final infiltration and battle, Akechi's Persona will evolve into Hereward. He gains resistance to Psy, and can learn Rebellion Blade, an incredibly powerful skill that deals Colossal Almighty damage to one foe and gains a 50% increase in damage against enemies that are knocked down (this is in addition to the already existing damage bonus against knocked down enemies.) Because of Akechi's role as a finisher, it is highly recommended to work off of allies' efforts and exploit Baton Passes.

In addition, his Persona Trait evolves into Ingenious Spirit, which has a chance of halving the SP cost of both support and Almighty skills.

Akechi has an expanded arsenal in Royal, and the protagonist can create his strongest weapons through Electric Chair Executions during a fusion alarm. His strongest melee weapon is Hinokagutsuchi II, which is created using Futsunushi. It a high chance of inflicting Burn. His strongest ranged weapon is Ancient Day, which is created using Vohu Manah. It gives a +6 bonus to all of his stats.

• Loki
• Hereward

Pool		Explanation
Laevateinn	Debilitate	Combatant that focuses directly on taking down his foe via opportunities and exploitation. Attacks are typeless but practical. Though he defaults to clean hits, he might switch to weak, but opportunistic situations.
Megidolaon	Attack Master
Eigaon	Fortify Spirit
Riot Gun	Evade Bless
Saw Saber / Dread Saber / Guillotine Saber / Infini-saber / Hinokagutsuchi (II)
Red Five (F/E/I/etc) / Doomsday (Ancient Day)
Shining Vest / Official's Robe (R) / Divine Guard / Tantric Oath / Lucky Underwear / Starry Wisdom Vest / Death's Black Tights / Tantric Oath (R) / Bodhi Haori / King Frost Cape / Black Wing Robe (R) / Vest of Life / King Frost Cape (EX) / Sirius Armor (EX)
Any

Pool		Explanation
Laevateinn	Rebellion Blade	Combatant that focuses directly on taking down his foe via opportunities and exploitation. Attacks are typeless but practical. Though he defaults to clean hits, he might switch to weak, but opportunistic situations.
Megidolaon	Attack Master
Eigaon	Fortify Spirit
Riot Gun	Evade Bless
Saw Saber / Dread Saber / Guillotine Saber / Infini-saber / Hinokagutsuchi (II)
Red Five (F/E/I/etc) / Doomsday (Ancient Day)
Shining Vest / Official's Robe (R) / Divine Guard / Tantric Oath / Lucky Underwear / Starry Wisdom Vest / Death's Black Tights / Tantric Oath (R) / Bodhi Haori / King Frost Cape / Black Wing Robe (R) / Vest of Life / King Frost Cape (EX) / Sirius Armor (EX)
Any

Strategies[]

With Skill Accessories (P5R)[]

As Akechi is oriented around Strength-based attacks, he can equip Physical skills, or add versatility to his Physical offense with Gun skills, particularly via the Triple Shot Belt (Triple Down) and the Special Shot Belt (One-shot Kill), both received when itemizing Seth.

During Niijima's Palace only, Akechi is also the only party member who can make use of instant-death boosting abilities, such as the Cross-Shaped Charm (Hama Boost) and the Skull Charm (Mudo Boost), increasing his odds of afflicting instant-death.

Although it is not recommended to have Akechi function as a Support combatant and prioritize support over offense, as Akechi very often relies on the efforts of other allies, whenever they are disabled and needs them back up, it is recommended to give him emergency healing skills, such as Samarecarm (Rejuvenate Charm,) Holy Benevolence (Rosary of Purity.)

Because Akechi has reduced odds of being afflicted by ailments, he can equip Amrita Charm (Amrita Drop) or Spiral Amrita Charm (Amrita Shower), received by itemizing Lakshmi.

Via Jazz Jin (P5R)[]

During Niijima's Palace, if Akechi is brought in Jazz Jin on Sundays, he can learn Makarakarn, Matarunda and Marakunda. Although Akechi will not be available for the following Palaces and will return with a brand-new pool of skills in Maruki's Palace, he can make use of these three skills to support his own attacks:

• Makarakarn can cover for his weakness against Curse, including if his Curse attacks get repelled back at him.
• Matarunda adds a defensive edge to the party against powerful enemies.
• Marakunda makes the enemies more vulnerable to damage.

Despite Loki having a different skill set from Robin Hood, Akechi is able to relearn any skill he obtained from Jazz Jin if taken to the confessional in Kanda. Any skills from Robin Hood's primary learnpool cannot be relearned from the confessional.

Stat boosts gained during Niijima's Palace are also passed down later in Maruki's Palace.

During Maruki's Palace, the only skills that can be learned are Ali Dance, Arms Master and Spell Master, the first one of which doubles the user's evasion against attacks, whereas the rest halve the cost of Physical and Magical skills respectively.

Base Stats[]

Note: These are the base stats for Level 99.

Equipment[]

Persona 5 / Royal[]

Melee Weapons[]

Ranged Weapons[]

• ↳ (P5) - Ranged weapons marked with this symbol are a customization of unmarked weapon above.

Armor[]

List does not include dirty/sooty armor.