The best characters in Persona 5: The Phantom X as of November 2025 are Marian, Joker, Ann Takamaki, and Queen, with top DPS including Seiji Shiratori and support characters like Chord and Rin leading the meta. This comprehensive tier list analyzes all available characters across different game modes, helping you build optimal teams for story content, boss battles, and endgame challenges like the Sea of Souls trials.
| Tier | Top Characters | Role | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | Marian, Joker, Ann, Queen | Healer/DPS | All content types |
| A | Seiji, Chord, Rin, Leo | DPS/Support | Boss battles |
| B | Yusuke, Ryuji, Morgana | Hybrid | Story progression |
| C | Motoha, Kotone | Niche | Specific teams |
| D | Tomoko, Toshiya | Limited | Early game only |
Whether you're a new player deciding who to reroll for or a veteran optimizing your endgame teams, this definitive P5X tier list combines insights from Game8, Prydwen, PCGamesN, Sportskeeda, and PC Gamer to give you the most accurate and up-to-date character rankings available.
Contents
Before diving into the specific rankings, it's crucial to understand how tier lists work in Persona 5: The Phantom X and what factors influence character placement.
In Persona 5: The Phantom X, characters are evaluated based on several key factors:
Tier lists are inherently subjective and should be used as guidelines rather than absolute rules. Based on my research across multiple authoritative sources, here are crucial considerations:
Based on comprehensive analysis of Game8 (October 2025), Prydwen (October 28, 2025), PCGamesN (October 17, 2025), Sportskeeda (June 2025), and PC Gamer (July 2025), here's the consolidated tier list for Persona 5: The Phantom X.
These characters represent the absolute best in their respective roles and are highly recommended for investment, whether you're focusing on story progression or endgame content.
Why She's S-Tier: Marian remains the unmatched healer in P5X according to all sources. Her ability to provide massive healing, cleanse debuffs, and increase maximum HP makes her invaluable for any team composition.
Key Strengths:
Best For: All content types, especially difficult boss battles and survival challenges
Awareness Impact: Good at A0, but reaches full potential at higher levels
Team Synergies: Works well with any DPS character, particularly glass cannons like Joker
Why He's S-Tier: As the first limited 5-star character, Joker established himself as the premier DPS in P5X. His curse-based AoE damage and stacking mechanics make him incredibly potent in both general content and boss battles.
Key Strengths:
Best For: General content clearing, AoE-focused teams
Awareness Impact: Significant improvement with higher Awareness levels
Team Synergies: Pairs exceptionally well with debuffers like Rin
Why She's S-Tier: Ann stands out as one of the best free-to-play options in P5X. Her fire-based AoE damage, burn effects, and self-sustain make her a powerhouse that remains relevant even in endgame content.
Key Strengths:
Best For: Early game progression, general content, fire-themed teams
Awareness Impact: Easy to max since she's a free character
Team Synergies: Works well with any team composition, excels in fire-focused setups
Why She's S-Tier: According to Game8's latest analysis, Queen has cemented her position as the most reliable Nuke DPS in the game. Her ability to manipulate elemental ailments and technical damage makes her invaluable for maximizing team damage output.
Key Strengths:
Best For: Boss battles, technical damage teams, elemental synergy compositions
Awareness Impact: Strong at base, improves significantly with investment
Team Synergies: Excels with ailment-focused team compositions
These characters are excellent choices that perform well in their roles but may have specific requirements or limitations that prevent them from reaching S-tier status.
Why He's A-Tier: Seiji offers incredible single-target wind damage potential, especially when built with high Awareness levels. His Right to Strike stacking mechanic allows him to scale damage over longer fights.
Key Strengths:
Best For: Boss battles, extended fights, single-target focused teams
Awareness Impact: Requires A6 for maximum effectiveness
Team Synergies: Works well with defense reduction supports
Why She's A-Tier: Chord has emerged as the premier Strategist support in the current meta. Her ability to provide consistent Highlights and single-target buffs makes her an essential component for most team compositions.
Key Strengths:
Best For: DPS-focused teams, turn management strategies
Awareness Impact: Good at base, excellent with investment
Team Synergies: Essential for single-target DPS compositions
Why She's A-Tier: Rin excels as the premier debuffer in P5X, with her ability to apply AoE curse debuffs and reduce enemy defense. She's particularly valuable when paired with curse-based DPS characters like Joker.
Key Strengths:
Best For: Debuff-focused teams, curse compositions
Awareness Impact: Effective at base, improves with higher levels
Team Synergies: Essential for Joker and other curse DPS characters
Why He's A-Tier: Leo provides a unique mix of offensive and defensive support through his nuclear-based buffs and shields. His versatility makes him valuable for both general content and challenging boss battles.
Key Strengths:
Best For: Balanced team compositions, defensive strategies
Awareness Impact: Reaches full potential at maximum Awareness
Team Synergies: Excellent with nuclear-based team compositions
These characters are capable performers but typically require specific team compositions or have notable limitations that prevent higher placement.
Why He's B-Tier: Yusuke offers interesting mechanics as a Defense-based Ice DPS, but his effectiveness depends heavily on proper team support and survival ability.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Ice-themed teams, defense-stacking compositions
Awareness Impact: Moderate improvement with investment
Why He's B-Tier: Ryuji has potential with his Rebound mechanics and low-HP damage scaling, but lacks reliable ways to direct enemy attacks to himself, limiting his effectiveness.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Physical damage teams, high-risk/high-reward compositions
Awareness Impact: Good improvement with higher levels
Why He's B-Tier: Morgana's unique ability to revive fallen allies gives him niche utility, but his healing mechanics and overall effectiveness don't quite match top-tier sustain options.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Emergency recovery situations, wind-themed teams
Awareness Impact: Moderate improvement with investment
These characters have specific use cases but are generally outperformed by alternatives in most situations.
Why She's C-Tier: Motoha provides electric support and shock infliction, but the limited number of electric characters and enemies in the game severely restricts her practical applications.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Electric-specific team compositions
Awareness Impact: Minimal improvement with investment
Why She's C-Tier: Kotone offers guaranteed critical hits on follow-up attacks but requires specific weapon investment and has underwhelming skill multipliers.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Backup DPS options, specific team compositions
Awareness Impact: Minimal improvement with investment
These characters are generally outclassed and should only be considered for specific situations or by players who particularly enjoy their playstyle.
Why She's D-Tier: Tomoko's sleep-based debuffs and Greenleaf stacking mechanics are too slow and situational to justify regular use in most team compositions.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Very specific team compositions
Awareness Impact: Minimal improvement with investment
Why She's D-Tier: Toshiya's curse-based damage relies too heavily on luck-based stacking and requires specific support to be effective, making her inconsistent compared to other DPS options.
Key Strengths:
Limitations:
Best For: Curse-specific team compositions
Awareness Impact: Minimal improvement with investment
Different characters excel in different roles and content types. Here's a breakdown of the best characters by role and game mode.
Understanding which characters are worth investing your resources into is crucial for long-term success in P5X.
If you're starting a new account, these are the best characters to aim for during reroll:
Top Priority:
Good Alternatives:
Not all characters benefit equally from Awareness levels (copies). Here's the investment priority:
High Priority (Significant Improvement):
Medium Priority (Noticeable Improvement):
Low Priority (Minimal Improvement):
Early Game (First 30 Days):
Mid Game (1-2 Months):
End Game (2+ Months):
Success in P5X depends more on team composition than individual character power. Here are proven team building strategies for different content types.
A well-rounded team should include:
Example Balanced Team:
Building around a specific element can provide powerful synergy:
Fire Team:
Curse Team:
Technical Damage Team:
Different bosses require different approaches:
High-Damage Single Target Bosses:
Multi-Target Boss Fights:
Survival-Focused Bosses:
The P5X meta continues to evolve with each new character release and balance patch. Based on analysis of the Chinese server meta and recent global updates, here's what to expect.
Rising Characters:
Falling Characters:
Based on Chinese server trends and developer patterns:
Expected Rising Stars:
Potential Meta Shifts:
Stay connected with the P5X community for the latest tier list updates, team building strategies, and game news.
Marian is currently considered the best overall character due to her unmatched healing capabilities, cleanse ability, and team utility. However, Joker and Queen are also top-tier choices depending on your team composition needs.
Marian is the highest priority for rerolling as she's essential for all content types. Joker and Queen are also excellent choices if you're focusing on damage output.
Major tier list updates typically occur with new character releases (every 2-4 weeks) and significant balance patches. Minor adjustments happen more frequently as the meta evolves.
Yes! Ann Takamaki is a free character who consistently ranks in S-tier across all sources. Other free characters like Wind can also be valuable for early and mid-game progression.
The Chinese server typically has newer characters and different balance adjustments. Global tier lists usually lag behind by 1-2 months in terms of character availability and meta developments.
Awareness levels are crucial for some characters (like Seiji Shiratori who needs A6) but less important for others (like Ann Takamaki who's already powerful at A0). Check individual character guides for specific recommendations.
Start with Ann Takamaki (free DPS), Marian (healer), Rin (debuffer), and Chord (buffer). This composition provides a balanced mix of damage, survival, and utility.
Focus on one main DPS, one healer, one support, and one flex character. Invest resources evenly across your core team before branching out to build secondary teams for different content types.
Focus on story content first to unlock features and resources, then work on Velvet Trials for character materials, and finally tackle Sea of Souls trials for endgame rewards.
While the meta evolves, most characters receive periodic balance adjustments. However, some characters may remain niche due to their fundamental design. Build characters you enjoy, but be aware of meta trends for optimal performance.
This comprehensive P5X tier list for November 2025 provides the most up-to-date character rankings based on analysis of five authoritative sources: Game8, Prydwen, PCGamesN, Sportskeeda, and PC Gamer. While Marian, Joker, Ann Takamaki, and Queen currently represent the meta-defining S-tier characters, remember that team composition and personal playstyle ultimately determine success in Persona 5: The Phantom X.
The key takeaways for building your optimal P5X experience are:
Whether you're a new player just starting your Phantom Thief journey or a veteran optimizing your endgame teams, this tier list provides the foundation for making informed decisions about character investment and team building strategies. Remember to bookmark this guide and check back regularly for updates as the P5X meta continues to evolve with new character releases and balance changes.
Ready to dominate the meta? Join the official Discord community to discuss these rankings with other players and stay updated on the latest P5X developments!