Persona 3 Reload: Heretic Magus and Grievous Table weaknesses

In Persona 3 Reload, the Heretic Magus is the floor 35 Gatekeeper boss in Tartarus. It’s flanked by two Grievous Tables and is the first of two back-to-back boss battles halfway through the Arqa block. The question is: what, if anything, are the weaknesses of these enemies?

The Heretic Magis boss battle is probably the toughest fight you’ll have had up to this point in Persona 3 Reload. Especially if, like me, you rushed through Tartarus as quickly as possible without waiting for Akihiko to join the party. But the Heretic Magus and its Grievous Tables can be beaten, even with a party of three.

What is the weakness of a Grievous Table in Persona 3 Reload?

The Grievous Tables in the Heretic Magus boss battle are both weak to Ice damage. You’ll come to this fight long before Ice magic specialist Mitsuru joins the party. But you should have had the chance to pick up some Personas for your leader that can deal Ice damage. I used Valkyrie, but Apsaras, Silky, and Forneus are all low-level examples of Personas with the Bufu Ice skill you’ve had the chance to collect by now. If you don’t have any Ice magic, then you’ll have to use some other kind of attack. Just don’t bother with Fire damage, as they’re immune to that.

What is the weakness of the Heretic Magus in Persona 3 Reload?

While the Grievous Tables are weak to Ice damage and immune to Fire damage, the Heretic Magus is weak to Electric damage and resistant to Fire damage. So you need to take all four of the elemental affinities into account here. If you did wait until Akihiko joined the party before attempting this boss battle, then his Zio skill should come in very handy here.

But if you don’t have Akihiko yet, you should still be fine so long as you’ve picked up a Persona with an Electric skill (e.g., Pixie, Omoikane, or Devil) somewhere along the way. If you haven’t got any Electric attacks at all, then this battle is probably still winnable, but it’ll be tough going. Junpei is weak against the Heretic Magus’ Wind attacks, so he’s a bit of a liability here. But Yukari is resistant to them, so she can be depended on for healing. Finally, the Heretic Magus can Poison you, so if you have any, then this is the ideal time to use up some Baisudi Gems.

Once you’ve won this fight, then the Disturbing Dice is up next.