Party/Junpei Iori

This article covers information on Junpei Iori as a party member, uses and strategies in Persona 3.
==Overview==
Junpei is one of the protagonist's first allies in battle, together with Yukari Takeba. After joining, he is available for the entire game excluding the Full Moon bosses on September 5th and November 22nd.
Junpei has the second highest Strength stat out of the group, only behind Shinjiro Aragaki in The Journey. His high physical damage in a variety of affinities has the potential to out damage the protagonist if given strength boosting gear, and will regularly deal more than Aigis outside of Orgia mode. Unlike the two party members just mentioned, he also has access to Fire skills and Fire Break, ensuring he is able to damage any enemy in the game even if physical damage is impossible. The high damage output of his weapons also means that his regular attacks can suffice for sheer damage output, and any All-Out Attacks he participates in hit significantly harder.
One of Junpei's defining assets is his sustainability, with a high Endurance stat, Defense buffs and Re Patra to assist Downed allies. Junpei also learns Counterstrike followed by High Counter to deflect the occasional physical attack that threatens him. When his Persona evolves late in the game, he'll learn Spring of Life, a regenerating skill in the game exclusive to him, as well as the strongest regenerating skill in the game, recovering 8% per turn.
With that said, he has drawbacks. His Magic stat is the lowest of the party, and as such deals the least amount of damage with a -Dyne skill, and lacks any sort of Boost or Amp skill. His low agility and inaccurate weapon of choice, the two-handed sword, makes him susceptible to missing (and stumbling if melee) and ultimately will deal less damage than Akihiko or Ken's more accurate weapons with their respective weapon mastery skills. He also doesn't have any group-hitting skills until he learns Blade of Fury at level 50.
Despite the definite benefit of Spring of Life, Junpei's physical skills themselves pale in comparison to other physical users, lessening its benefit somewhat. For example, Junpei's Brave Blade, although has stronger accuracy, costs 6% more HP than God's Hand, which also has higher attack power and Critical rate. Junpei's Brave Blade is also less efficient in succession with Spring of Life's regenerating ability. This difference is only worsened in the Portable version, in which Aigis lacks any skill cost while in Orgia mode.
Junpei resists Fire skills, and is weak against Wind. Junpei's evolution takes place on November 22nd, where his Persona evolves into Trismegistus, gaining an immunity to Fire attacks and inheriting the Spring of Life passive, which overwrites the slot where he learned Re Patra. He'll also pick up the strongest versions of his skills, including Agidyne, Vorpal Blade and High Counter.
{|class="table p3" style="text-align:center; margin:auto"
!width=35% colspan="2"|Pool (Persona 3)
!Explanation
|-
|style="font-weight:normal; background-color:#222"|Deathbound
|Agidyne
|rowspan="4"|All-purpose Physical combatant that specializes in freedom of affinity and Critical hits. Unique on-the-go defensive utilities, such as using Marakukaja to negate the need for protection, and Regenerate & Counter-based skills to support him in combat.
|-
|style="font-weight:normal; background-color:#222"|Vorpal Blade
|Marakukaja
|-
|style="font-weight:normal; background-color:#222"|Torrent Shot
|Spring of Life
|-
|style="font-weight:normal; background-color:#222"|Gigantic Fist
|High Counter
|-
Pool (Persona 3 FES/Portable)	Pool (Persona 3 FES/Portable)	Explanation
Brave Blade 	Marakukaja 	All-purpose Physical combatant that specializes in freedom of affinity and Critical hits. Unique on-the-go defensive utilities, such as using Marakukaja to negate the need for protection, nullify enemies resistance to Fire with Fire Break, and Regenerate & Counter-based skills to support him in combat.
Vorpal Blade 	Fire Break 	All-purpose Physical combatant that specializes in freedom of affinity and Critical hits. Unique on-the-go defensive utilities, such as using Marakukaja to negate the need for protection, nullify enemies resistance to Fire with Fire Break, and Regenerate & Counter-based skills to support him in combat.
Gigantic Fist 	Spring of Life 	All-purpose Physical combatant that specializes in freedom of affinity and Critical hits. Unique on-the-go defensive utilities, such as using Marakukaja to negate the need for protection, nullify enemies resistance to Fire with Fire Break, and Regenerate & Counter-based skills to support him in combat.
Agidyne 	High Counter 	All-purpose Physical combatant that specializes in freedom of affinity and Critical hits. Unique on-the-go defensive utilities, such as using Marakukaja to negate the need for protection, nullify enemies resistance to Fire with Fire Break, and Regenerate & Counter-based skills to support him in combat.
==Differences between versions==
===FES/Portable (The Journey)===
In the FES and Portable versions of The Journey, Junpei's skills are learnt at a slightly different pace, such as accessing Rakukaja earlier and Marakukaja later. The level differences are as follows:
* Agi from level 4 to level 5 (+1)
* Re Patra from level 5 to level 7 (+2)
* Rakukaja from level 16 to level 9 (-7)
* Marakukaja from level 38 to level 44 (+6)
The following skills were added in these versions as well:
* Counter at level 35, replaced by Counterstrike at level 45
* Fire Break at level 60. This is one of his final skills, as Vorpal Blade now replaces Torrent Shot at level 75
* Brave Blade in place of Deathbound, at level 65
Finally, Spring of Life's effectiveness was reduced similar to other Regenerate skills. This change is compensated by generally reduced physical move costs, such as Vorpal Blade costing 15% less HP.
===The Answer (FES)===
In The Answer, Junpei (along with Mitsuru and Koromaru) have an additional 40 total stat points added to their base (+7 strength, +9 luck, +8 to all others). As such, he now has the highest Strength, Endurance, and Luck in the playable party, along with above average Agility and the second lowest Magic.
As he begins with Trismegistus, Junpei has Spring of Life for the entirety of The Answer. This is approximately 20 levels earlier than he would have received it in The Journey, and much earlier than Aigis is able to obtain Regenerate 3, giving him unparalleled early game sustainability.
Additionally, he has some skill alterations (changes compared to FES The Journey):
* Agilao from level 32 to innate at level 31
* Counter from level 35 to innate at level 31
* Marakukaja from level 44 to level 34
* Deathbound, instead of Brave Blade (like the original version of Persona 3), at level 65
Overall, Junpei is significantly stronger in The Answer as a result of his higher stats and increased skill availability.
==Stats==
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The Journey (FES/Portable)=
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Category:Persona 3 Party Members