Tier list Last checked September 28, 2026 30 picks ranked

Persona 5: The Phantom X Character Tier List (October 2026)

By the Claude Gaming team

This Persona 5: The Phantom X character tier list ranks 30 Phantom Thieves for September 2026, on version 4.10, with Justine and Caroline, Tempest Riko, Makoto Yuki and Hatsune Miku at the top.

We compared the Game8 board updated on September 24 with two mid 2026 rankings and kept the picks they agree on. Where the older lists still rate a launch character highly and the newest board has dropped them, we followed the newest board and said so in the note.

Seasonal variants count as separate characters: Beachflower Minami, Frostgale Kotone and Firecracker Yaoling all outrank their base versions, which is why a few familiar faces sit lower than you might expect.

S
Justine and Caroline Justine and Caroline
Tempest Riko Tempest Riko
Makoto Yuki Makoto Yuki
Hatsune Miku Hatsune Miku
Manaka Nagao Manaka Nagao
Beachflower Minami Beachflower Minami
A
Ayaka Sakai Ayaka Sakai
Futaba Sakura Futaba Sakura
Haru Okumura Haru Okumura
Frostgale Kotone Frostgale Kotone
Firecracker Yaoling Firecracker Yaoling
Kasumi Yoshizawa Kasumi Yoshizawa
Yukari Takeba Yukari Takeba
B
Ren Amamiya Ren Amamiya
Seiji Shiratori Seiji Shiratori
Minami Miyashita Minami Miyashita
Tropical Motoha Tropical Motoha
Goro Akechi Goro Akechi
Runa Dogenzaka Runa Dogenzaka
C
Ann Takamaki Ann Takamaki
Yusuke Kitagawa Yusuke Kitagawa
Makoto Niijima Makoto Niijima
Ryuji Sakamoto Ryuji Sakamoto
Leo Kamiyama
Morgana Morgana
D
Kotone Montagne Kotone Montagne
Tomoko Noge Tomoko Noge
Yukimi Fujikawa Yukimi Fujikawa
Kiyoshi Kurotani
Toshiya Sumi
Download this tier list as an image

Character badges from the Megami Tensei community wiki

How we rank

We weigh single target and wave clear damage in the current endgame content, how much a support or healer speeds up a whole team, and how badly a character has been power crept since launch. S is the crown tier that Game8 calls Tier 0, A is the second row that carries any team, B is a strong pick that now needs the right partners, C is a launch era character kept alive by a specific role, and D is the units every source we read agrees you can skip. We did not rate characters by rarity or by how hard they are to pull.

Tier by tier

S Tier, the meta

  • Justine and Caroline: Dual Persona unit that fills any role a team is missing
  • Tempest Riko: Attack, crit and damage buffs plus SP restore in one kit
  • Makoto Yuki: Fire Assassin with multi turn damage and self buffs
  • Hatsune Miku: Anniversary unit, Showstopper hands allies two free actions
  • Manaka Nagao: Ange grants extra actions while buffing and healing
  • Beachflower Minami: Summer healer whose buffs outclass the base version

A Tier, excellent

  • Ayaka Sakai: Chord, the Strategist that triggers Highlights instantly
  • Futaba Sakura: Debuffs foes and rewrites weaknesses for the team
  • Haru Okumura: Psy sweeper with a field wide gun attack
  • Frostgale Kotone: Swaps Ice and Wind modes, freezes on demand
  • Firecracker Yaoling: Fire sweeper that pushed Panther out of the top spot
  • Kasumi Yoshizawa: Bless Assassin with stances and independent Highlights
  • Yukari Takeba: Healer that also deals Wind damage and debuffs

B Tier, solid

  • Ren Amamiya: Still the best Curse DPS, but power crept
  • Seiji Shiratori: Wind swordsman built around multi hit combos
  • Minami Miyashita: Base Marian, dependable healer with max HP boosts
  • Tropical Motoha: Bless sweeper with self sustain, competes with Violet
  • Goro Akechi: Almighty damage for the fights that resist everything
  • Runa Dogenzaka: Turbo, reliable buffer with a dual turn advantage

C Tier, situational

  • Ann Takamaki: Fire sweeper with Burn, outclassed by Firecracker Yaoling
  • Yusuke Kitagawa: Ice counters and Taunt, needs a dedicated team
  • Makoto Niijima: Nuclear burst, older lists rated her S
  • Ryuji Sakamoto: Low HP physical damage, risky and outclassed
  • Leo Kamiyama: Best four star buffer, shields and healing included
  • Morgana: Cheap healer with a revive, unreliable otherwise

D Tier, skip

  • Kotone Montagne: Tutorial Ice fighter with the lowest damage ceiling
  • Tomoko Noge: Sleep that breaks on the first hit
  • Yukimi Fujikawa: Defense scaling shields without a standout role
  • Kiyoshi Kurotani: Fire unit outclassed in every role
  • Toshiya Sumi: Curse stacks too slow to matter now

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Persona 5: The Phantom X tier list FAQ

Who is the best character in Persona 5: The Phantom X right now?

Justine and Caroline hold the top spot on every September 2026 board we checked because one pull covers several roles. For pure damage, Makoto Yuki and Tempest Riko teams clear the hardest content fastest.

Is Joker still worth building?

Yes, but as a B tier pick. Ren Amamiya remains the best Curse damage dealer and he is free, so he carries the story. He falls behind the newer limited sweepers in endgame challenge modes.

Are the summer and seasonal variants better than the base characters?

In every case we found, yes. Beachflower Minami, Frostgale Kotone, Firecracker Yaoling and Tropical Motoha all sit at least one tier above their base versions, so a variant banner is usually the better pull.

How often does this tier list change?

Each patch adds one or two limited characters and shifts the top row. We re-check the sources after every version update and move characters only when at least two of them agree.