"Haxman" Part 2 (Persona 3 Reload)

[@brahmantyoihsan5938]

Akihiko *is* one of the better party members. He receives 1.3x more bonus from buffs and he has one of the fastest Theurgy charge rate. For example, Tarukaja increases your damage by 40%; but Akihiko unique traits means he get 82% instead. Junpei and Shinjiro still deal more dps, but Akihiko will outdanage everyone else, even Aigis.

[@bothdoorscares3878]

@@brahmantyoihsan5938 ignoring how bad his skill tree progression is, constantly being outshone by members coming in and out. Having a really bad main skill for many levels and when he gets a good single target phys skill, Shinjiro appears. When he leaves, Aigis inherits Shinjiro's Heat Wave and obtains Myriad Arrows (her endgame skill, way better when Sukukaja is active on her) while Junpei gets the same skill Akihiko does (Gigantic Fist) and nearing Deathbound so his critical prowess starts to peak. His theurgia is also not special. Even if he does charge up really quickly, it doesn't really matter all that much because it's not a good theurgia to use. Likely your target's already dead before that was done charging assuming everyone started at 0. Or if it is that everyone's maxed out, the protagonist and Junpei killed them already. Gets even worse over time because just the protag kills by himself over time. Koromaru's existence by giving AoE charge and Revolution is much more valuable than Akihiko will ever be. There's only 3 member slots and if one really wants to use phys to kill things quickly, Junpei/Aigis/Koro is your best bet. Now if there's something he's very much objectively best at, it's being a tanky character because Buff Amp affects the other two buffs too. But considering Reload does not have any hard hitting enemies at all on level, this advantage is moot. The only time Akihiko is remotely better as an option is when he's given all the possible incense to max out and in very particular conditions that are ideal for him. But in regular gameplay while progressing, it could not be further from the truth. Considering a protagonist that is very much likely to have many skills that are only accessible to him, the advantage of Buff Amp for damage does not beat him out. And his low St means Junpei's regular damage outdamages him even in endgame. You only need those two but then Aigis comes in with good support and also hits hard with a good Theurgia skill. There is that one little tiny stretch where he gets strongest single target normal damage on members because he gets the Amp version of his phys type earlier than everyone else. But that's instantly outshone by Aigis having her second theurgia locked and loaded already that month. That is instantly more valuable quite easily. I can count on my one hand how much Akihiko has been the best option for a fight in this game. And I did genuinely try to see what makes him a good member. But he's just underwhelming the entire time. Not unusable since every member is usable in this game but I can't lie, Akihiko is not going to be one of the first member I'd think to pick because of the playthrough I've done actively trying to see what makes him good.