The Phantom X tier list – Every character ranked from worst to best

When a game has as big a character roster as P5X, it’s only natural that newer players are going to look for an easy ranking of which characters are top-tier and which ones are hot trash, especially if you’re a free-to-play player who needs to know which special banners to spend their limited resources on.

As with all games like this, it’s often not that simple, as just about every character will have at least one or two very specific circumstances where they are fantastic. With that in mind, we’ve put together this tier list ranking what the best P5X characters are to invest in long-term, considering how reliable they are in a variety of situations.

With the global version of P5X, we also have the advantage of knowing what characters are coming in the months ahead of us, so we’re going to take that into account too. We’ll be ranking these units based not just on how useful they are in the current version of the game, but also how they’ll stand up to the upcoming power creep of future character additions.

Here is an overview of our tier list. Continue below for more detailed explanations on why we’ve ranked characters like so:

Joker

As the poster boy for Persona 5 brand, it’s no surprise that Joker is far and away one of the best characters in the game and will continue to be as P5X adds many characters in future. His damage output is second to none, with powerful multi-target attacks that are easily buffed by other characters. Plus, his Will of Rebellion ability can consistently grant him two actions per turn, effectively doubling the amount of damage he can do. When it comes to limited-time characters, Joker is a must-pull.

Check out our Joker build guide for P5X to learn more about how best to use him.

Panther

Panther is the only character in the current version of the game who can give Joker a run for his money in terms of pure damage output. Fire is a brilliant offensive element thanks to the ability to inflict Burn, and Panther’s hidden abilities and awareness levels only push her offensive capabilities further. She deals huge damage to all enemies at once, and when her La Vie En Rose ability activates, it can end fights in an instant.

Mirian

Mirian may drop a little as more healers are added to the game, but as of right now, she is untouchable. Her base healing ability grants a big heal and Blessing to two allies at once, letting the entire party start regenerating HP in just two turns, and once you’ve built up Diagnosis stacks, she can pull the entire party from being on death’s door to completely healthy with a snap of her fingers.

Rin

When it comes to inflicting debuffs, no one’s better than Rin. She can tear down the defenses of even the sturdiest opponents while stacking damage-taken increases on them while she’s at it. Pairing her with Joker makes for a damn-near unstoppable combo, and that’s why she will always be a must-pull character.

Puppet

While Puppet will start to drop these rankings as more Navigator characters are added, in the current version of the game, she is a very powerful ally. One thing the current roster lacks is a variety of defensive options, which is what makes Puppet so valuable. She can restore a little bit of SP to your party while buffing them up with shields that will keep you in the fight for longer.

Fox

The fact that Fox is simultaneously a Tank and a Sweeper makes him such a powerful character. His ability to buff his own defenses while taunting enemies in preparation to launch powerful counterattacks not only keeps the rest of your team safe, but it will whittle down enemies quickly, too. What knocks him down from S-tier is the fact that he can’t do anything against multi-target attacks, and if the enemy has any kind of resistance to Ice, all of his abilities are completely useless.

Check out our Fox build guide for P5X to learn more about how best to use him.

Flueret

Flueret earns a lot of points thanks to currently being the only Wind-based attacker, as Wind is one of the most useful offensive elements, thanks to the Windswept status condition it can inflict, which weakens enemies. On top of that, Flueret’s Right to Strike system will mean that the longer the fight goes on, the more powerful he’ll get, letting you deal more damage than most 4-star units can dish out.

Mona

Mona is currently the only character with the ability to revive KOed allies during battle, and that alone is enough to earn him this high a ranking, even if it is only possible when using a Highlight attack. On top of that, he is a solid party-wide healer and his Morgana’s Favour ability can be a life-saver, plus, he has a decent bit of offensive power if you need that.

Leon

Leon is a slightly more difficult character to use, but once you understand him, he can be very powerful. His Power of Friendship ability grants his allies an attack boost when their HP drops below 75% – something that is bound to happen in tough boss battles – something he can compound with his Persona skills, as well as moving HP around to grant shields to allies. Just in case that wasn’t enough, he’s also not bad on the offensive, able to deal out big Technical Nuke damage when needed.

Soy

Soy is a surprisingly strong single-target attacker for a 4-star character, but that’s just one part of what makes him so good, as it’s really his Tank abilities that make him shine. He has a higher chance than normal to be targeted by enemies, and can inflict Taunt if that’s not enough, and every time he does, he activates Desperado, which will restore his HP after he acts. Combine that with his abilities that buff the entire party’s max HP and he’ll easily keep everyone safe.

Closer

Closer is a solid character right now, but she is unfortunately going to be one of the biggest victims of power creep as more characters get added. She is a reliable Electric-element sweeper, capable of inflicting Shock on enemies while striking the whole field at once. It’s just that it won’t be long before other characters come along and do her job better. That said, if you can build her up to Awareness Level 6, she can still hang against foes that are weak to Electric.

Okyann

Okyann’s attack-buffing abilities are really useful, the thing is, there are already a bunch of ways to get those effects without needing her. While Puppet gets to S-Tier because there aren’t many defensive options, Okyann falls to B-Tier because there are already too many offensive options. There are ways to make good use of her right now, but if you’re struggling with a fight, a defensive Navigator is almost always the better option.

Bui

While Bui has been buffed from the Chinese version of P5X, she’s still not the most spectacular unit. Her main ability is performing follow-up attacks to all her allies, but with only a 45% chance to trigger, it just isn’t reliable enough, and having to use her action to boost that chance to 100% for just one character isn’t worth it. That said, if it’s a long fight where you can set her up, the extra damage she does can come in clutch, so she’s far from useless.

Skull

There’s very little bad to say about Skull as a unit; there are just other units that do his job better. His Rebound skill is cool, as it deals damage back to anyone who hits him, with it getting more powerful as his HP gets lower. The problem is that, with no Taunt ability, it can’t be used reliably, and it essentially makes him act a lot like Fox or Soy but worse.

Cattle

Cattle is one of those early-game units that quickly falls out of use. His healing and attack-buffing abilities are good and can be useful if you’re going for a Fire-based team. However, you won’t have to do much pulling before you’ve got a characters that do those jobs better, as Cattle isn’t focused enough to maximize his potential.

Mont

As you might expect from the character you get during the tutorial pull, Mont is a solid attacker who can be relied on for consistent damage, but she isn’t anything special. Her ability to strike with follow-up attacks might get you out of a pinch here and there, but the amount of setup it requires, thanks to her Ice Crystal system, means you can’t rely on it.

Riddle

Riddle is a polarizing character, as some will hail her as one of the best supports in the game, but we think she’s just spread too thin for her to be reliable. Her Childish Hearts system can be good in longer battles, but it takes a fair bit of setup for the damage boosts to be worth it. Meanwhile, her Ready for Adventure ability focuses on buffing healing and shield gains instead – something she can’t do without giving away another valuable party slot to a non-damaging healer. Her abilities are good, but there are characters that can fill her role better, and it’s rarely worth giving a slot to her on your party.

Yuki

Yuki is a character with so much potential that just doesn’t quite come together. The fact that she can grant shields and defense buffs to her allies is very useful, as that’s something there isn’t much of on the roster right now. However, she fails to stand out as her Oath ability is granted at random, meaning you can’t direct these powerful buffs to the allies who need them most. She can be useful when paired with a character like Fox, who gains buffs from having shields and higher defenses, but her use cases are pretty niche.

Key

To put it bluntly, Key’s problem is that Panther exists and absolutely outclasses him in almost every category. If you’re building a Fire-based team, then he can be a great ally to Panther, as he’s much better at inflicting Burn than she is, but aside from that, there is no scenario in which you should pick Key over Panther.

Moko

If there’s one character I desperately wish was better, it’s Moko, as Tomoko is easily one of the best Synergy partners you can find in P5X. Unfortunately, she’s rarely worth the effort. Her Cheering You On Persona skill is strong, but the fact that it requires Greenleaf stacks to use is annoying, and her focus on inflicting Sleep may come in clutch once in a blue moon, but it’s most likely not going to be enough to turn a losing battle around.

Sepia

Sepia is simply outclassed by just about every other attacker in the game. Even if you’re desperate for Curse damage and don’t have either Joker or Rin on your roster, you’d probably be better off getting a Curse-based Persona for Wonder and using that instead. Sepia just takes too long to reach his full potential, needing over 14 stacks of his Verse system to deal big damage; meanwhile, Joker could have probably destroyed the enemy four times over in that time.