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, both in the overworld and lurking within chests. These challenging enemies become progressively stronger in each dungeon, consistently proving to be some of the toughest encounters. Despite their difficulty, defeating them yields substantial XP rewards, making the challenge worthwhile. This guide focuses on overcoming Happiness Hands, specifically those found in Yukiko's Castle, early in the game.

Happiness Hand Weaknesses and Strategies

Happiness Hands exhibit significant resistance to all elemental attacks. The key to defeating them lies in exploiting their vulnerability to physical damage. While Almighty attacks are typically effective against Golden Hands, this strategy isn't viable early in the game. Happiness Hands inflict minimal damage and may even skip turns, but they will flee if given the opportunity. A critical hit or exploiting a party member's weakness will trigger their escape. Prioritize focusing on a single Happiness Hand if multiple appear, as defeating even one before they flee is a significant achievement.

Essential Persona and Tactics

The most effective approach involves fusing Orobas. Orobas possesses the invaluable Hysterical Slap skill, a two-hit attack with a chance to inflict the Rage status effect. A Raged Happiness Hand will continuously use its basic attack, preventing its escape. Orobas can be fused using the following Persona combinations:

• Apsaras + Forneus
• Apsaras + Slime

Before engaging Happiness Hands, ensure your party is fully healed. Concentrate solely on physical attacks that consume HP, avoiding any other actions. Utilize Yosuke's Sonic Punch, Chie's Skull Cracker, and the Protagonist's Hysterical Slap repeatedly. Success heavily relies on luck early in the game due to limited options, but defeating even one Happiness Hand provides significant early-game leveling opportunities.

Crucially, avoid using an All-Out Attack unless you're certain of a kill. Otherwise, the Happiness Hand will recover and flee.