Steel Gigas is a Strong shadow you occasionally encounter in Arqa, the second block of Tartarus, in Persona 3 Reload. It can appear anywhere in Arqa, between floors 23 and 69, but you won’t encounter it very often. It’s a large, powerful wrestler, but does have one particular weakness.
What is Steel Gigas’ weakness in Persona 3 Reload?
In Persona 3 Reload, Steel Gigas has one resistance and one weakness. It’s resistant to Strike attacks (the ones with a fist icon), but weak to Electric attacks. And, as you might already know from my Swift Axle guide, it’s JRPG law that all mechanical enemies must be weak to electricity and lightning.
As a Strong shadow, Steel Gigas only appear rarely. There is a way to increase the chances to run into one of the brutes, but you need to buy the Gamble Fortune. Don’t worry about missing it, though. Whenever there’s a Strong shadow nearby, your navigator warns you. The mini-map marker for a Strong shadow is bigger and more animated than for a regular shadow, and they have an intense red glow when you see them in the world.
How to beat Steel Gigas in Persona 3 Reload
If Akihiko Sanada has already joined your party and you’ve brought him with you, defeating a Steel Gigas should be pretty straightforward. Just keep hitting it with Akihiko’s Zio skill, followed by All-Out Attacks.
But even if you don’t have Akihiko with you, it still shouldn’t be too difficult. By this point in the game, you should have found at least one Persona for your leader than can do Electric damage. Pixie, Omoikane, and Devil, for example, are all low-level Personas with the Zio skill, either by default or earned with a little levelling up.
Once you have one of them, you can adopt the aforementioned strategy against a Steel Giga: Zio, All-Out Attack, rinse, repeat. If you don’t have any Electric damage at all, you might want to steer clear of Strong shadows in Arqa until you do, as a Steel Gigas can do a lot of damage if you don’t kill it quickly. It has a selection of powerful physical attacks and can sometimes even counter your own physical attacks.
