Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis – How To Beat The Source Of The Abyss

The final boss to beat in the Episode Aigis expansion to Persona 3 Reload is the Source of the Abyss, a familiar face that has haunted the characters of the story. This Shadow of regrets made manifest summons Personas of their own to combat your team. The only way to beat this foe is to recognize your group’s weaknesses and exploit them to move forward.

From this point on, expect heavy spoilers regarding the identity of the final boss of Episode Aigis and the conclusion of the game’s story.

Just like in The Answer expansion for the original Persona 3, the final boss of Episode Aigis is the protagonist – the character you played throughout the main game. Met at the bottom of the Abyss of Time, this shadow must be defeated to destroy the dark realm. Unlike other shadows encountered in Episode Aigis, the Source of the Abyss is a very different boss fight than what you might expect.

How To Prepare For The Source Of The Abyss

Get Ready To Combat Every Element

The shadow of the former protagonist summons multiple Personas to fight Aigis and your team during this boss fight. With Aigis awakened to the Wild Card during the DLC, you have the same wide arsenal of Persona to rely on as you did in the base game. The weaknesses of the Source of the Abyss depend on what they summon, but the Persona they call upon are ones you’ve seen before.

The Source of the Abyss relies on the Persona of each party member, giving itself a collection of seven different Persona it can call on. Every three turns, the Source of the Abyss will switch Persona, changing what it is weak to. Doing this also changes the resistances of the boss, making it hard to predict what attacks will work and which ones won’t as the battle continues.

As you may know, the Persona in Persona 3 Reload wielded by your party are extremely strong. The boss can utilize every attack from the Personas it summons, making every move it makes dangerous. The Persona the Source of the Abyss can switch between are:

Athena (Aigis)
Artemisia (Mitsuru)
Caesar (Akihiko)
Cerberus (Koromaru)
Isis (Yukari)
Kala-Nemi (Ken)
Trismegistus (Junpei)

The Source of the Abyss always starts the boss fight with Athena, but the next Persona that it switches to is random. You have to be ready for elemental attacks of all types, as the order in which Persona the boss summons cannot be anticipated. A strong Persona used by Aigis that has no elemental weaknesses is the best to bring for this fight, as it will allow you to adapt to whatever is thrown at you.

Best Team For Fighting The Source Of The Abyss

Get An Unconventional Group Together

Ordinarily, most boss fights in Persona 3 Reload could be solved with a team dedicated to different roles. For example, a team with a DPS, healer, support, and balanced character could usually handle whatever was thrown at them. However, due to the random nature of the Source of the Abyss, you may have to change tactics a bit to achieve victory.

The best team for the Source of the Abyss is whoever is at the highest level with their Persona. Being at a high level is the bare minimum requirement for this fight, as the shifting nature of the Source’s Persona means you have to use party members who can survive attacks targeting their weaknesses. In reality, it doesn’t matter what characters you use as long as they are strong.

You will want to bring someone whose Persona can raise Guard, just in case the Source changes Persona to something that can target a weakness in your group. Try to also have a wide spread of elemental attacks of your own to target as many vulnerabilities as you can. Whenever the Source switches Persona, there’s a chance it will expose a weakness you can exploit.

How To Defeat The Source Of The Abyss

Recognize Weaknesses As Personas Change

As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Faz, you can analyze the Source of the Abyss to see what it’s weak to. This depends on what Persona it has used most recently, which can be hard to tell at times. However, those who recognize the weaknesses of their party members may know exactly what each of their Personas are vulnerable to, which include:

You have to stay aggressive if you know the Source’s current weakness while keeping track of how many turns have gone by. Remember that the Persona switch from the boss takes place every three turns, giving you enough time to prepare for the next Persona it wields. Take the turn where the boss switches to buff your team and raise their attack or defense for the next incoming strike.

Charged Theurgy attacks are incredibly helpful for this boss fight, as they can deal a ton of damage to the Source of the Abyss quickly. When you have pressured the boss enough, you may be able to get an All-Out Attack as well, allowing your team to deal even more damage at once. Similar to the bosses of Tartarus in Persona 3 Reload, you don’t want to save any attack, so use everything you can until the fight is finished.

Don’t forget to heal and support your allies with the right spells. Have at least one team member dealing damage, but keep one person in your party to make sure no one stays down for long. Eventually, these tactics will help you beat the Source of the Abyss in Persona 3 ReloadEpisode Aigis and move on to the story’s final moments.

Source: Faz/YouTube