Persona 4 Golden: How To Beat Happiness Hands

Conquering Happiness Hands in Persona 4 Golden: A Guide

Happiness Hands are formidable foes in Persona 4 Golden, randomly appearing in dungeons and leaping from chests. Their strength increases with each dungeon, making them consistently challenging encounters. However, the substantial XP reward makes defeating them worthwhile. This guide focuses on tackling Happiness Hands, found in Yukiko's Castle, early in the game.

Happiness Hand Weaknesses and Strategies

Happiness Hands boast significant resistance to elemental attacks. The key to victory lies in exploiting their vulnerability to physical attacks. While Almighty attacks are effective against Golden Hands later in the game, they're unavailable early on. Happiness Hands inflict minimal damage and may even skip turns, but they flee if given the opportunity. A weakness exploit or critical hit will trigger their escape. Prioritize targeting a single Happiness Hand if multiple appear, as defeating even one before they flee is a significant accomplishment at this stage.

Essential Persona: Orobas and the Hysterical Slap

The most crucial element in defeating Happiness Hands early on is fusing Orobas. Orobas possesses the invaluable Hysterical Slap skill, which strikes twice and has a chance to inflict the Rage status effect. A Raged Happiness Hand will continuously use its basic attack, preventing its escape. You can fuse Orobas using these Persona combinations:

• Apsaras + Forneus
• Apsaras + Slime

Battle Strategy

Before engaging, ensure your party is fully healed. Focus solely on physical attacks that consume HP, avoiding any other actions. Utilize these attacks:

• Yosuke: Sonic Punch
• Chie: Skull Cracker
• Protagonist: Hysterical Slap

Repeat this attack cycle until victory. Early-game success heavily relies on luck due to limited options. However, defeating even a single Happiness Hand provides a significant level boost.

Crucial Note: If you down a Happiness Hand, avoid using an All-Out Attack unless you're certain of a kill. Otherwise, it will recover and flee.