Persona 5 Royal Strength Confidant Fusion Solutions guide

The Persona 5 Royal Strength Confidant is unique compared to the others in the game, requiring you to solve Persona Fusion puzzles in order to rank up the confidant cooperation with the Twin Wardens Caroline & Justine, the jailers in Persona 5's unique prison-themed take on the Velvet Room.

Instead of hanging out and chatting casually, you'll instead be fusing or catching Persona with specific abilities to order to rank up. It's important to do this, since as the Strength confidant grows, you'll unlock additional functions of the Velvet Room, which can lead to having better Persona in combat. You'll also, of course, get to know the duo a little bettter.

This guide features all of the fusion puzzle solutions for the Strength confidant - for both versions of the game.

Strength Confidant Fusion Solutions: Fusing Puzzle Answers for the Twin Wardens Caroline & Justine

The manner in which you level up the Strength Confident link with Caroline and Justine is quite different to every other confidant cooperation in the game - you can't even give your jailers gifts. This is the only way to level up, which unless you're a fusion nerd can be a pain.

That's where this guide comes in - no fusion calculator required, as we feature the raw solutions for every rank of the Strength confidant, taking the guesswork out of matters. The solutiomns on this page cover both the original version of the game and Persona 5 Royal, as the two versions have slightly different requirements and solutions. But this here is definitive. 

Caroline and Justine are available any time of the day or night at any time in Persona 5, so long as you can make your way to the Velvet Room. To access them, just head there via one of the magical doors that are available in Shibuya, Shinjuku, Kichijoji, or Akihabara. At certain points in the game you briefly can't access the Velvet Room - and these are pretty much the only points this confidant relationship is unavailable.

If you enjoy this and want help making the right dialogue choices in the other confidant relationships, hit up our Persona 5 Royal confidant choices guide for help with every other relationship in the game. If you just want puzzles solved, we likewise have guides with the School and Exam Answers, and all of the Crossword Puzzle solutions.

Without further ado, here's a full list of fusion solutions, divided by rank. These are by no means exhaustive - but these are the ways we completed the riddles the twins laid out for us to advance their confidant cooperation. 

1. Jack Frost with Mabufu
2. Ame no Uzume with Frei / Shiissa with Frei (P5)
3. Flauros with Tarukaja / Matador with Magaru (P5)
4. Phoenix with Counter / Flauros with Tarukaja (P5)
5. Setanta with Rakukaja / Ame-no-Uzume with Dodge Psy (P5)
6. Neko Shogun with Dekaja
7. Lachesis with Tetraja
8. Hecatoncheires with Masukunda
9. Bugs with Samarecarm
10. Seth with High Counter

Rank 1: Jack Frost with Mabufu

Here's a few ways to get a Jack Frost with Mabufu in order to achieve Rank 1 of the Strength confidant in both games: 

• Unlocked automatically on 5/18.
• For rank 1, the twins want to see a Jack Frost with Mabufu.
  • Jack Frost learns Mabufu at level 12. Jack Frost is a Magician Arcana Persona, and so with the story-driven progression of the Morgana Magician cooperation you'll be able to get enough bonus experience to boost Jack Frost up to level 12 from very early on in the game.
  • In order to fuse Jack Frost, fuse Berith (Hierophant) with Apsaras (Priestess).
  • You can also fuse Mokoi (Death) with Apsaras (Priestess) for the same result. 
  • In Persona 5 Royal, you can also fuse Silky (Priestess) with Berith.
  • These Persona are available in the first palace and in early areas of mementos.
• Unlocks the Group Guillotine, a new fusing method that lets you fuse three Persona at once.

Rank 2: Ame no Uzume with Frei (P5R) or Shiissa with Frei (P5)

The same move is required here on both occasions - Frei. This is an easy enough move to acquire, so you shouldn't need to spend a skill card. You can inherit it from other Persona easily enough.

• Persona 5: For rank 2 in P5 the twins want to see a Shiissa with Frei.
  • To get a Shiissa with Frei you'll need to fuse Jack Frost (Magician) with Makami (Temperance). Makami will have Frei, and so you can choose for the resulting Shiissa to inherit the skill.

• Persona 5 Royal: For rank 2 in P5R they instead want an Ame no Uzume with Frei. 
  • Combine Suzaku (Sun, minimum level 16) with Berith (Hierophant, minimum level 9).
    • Can get Suzaku by fusing Berith and Hua Po
  • Alternatively, fuse Cait Sith (Magician) with Succubus (Moon) and use a Frei Skill Card on the resulting Persona.

Rank 3: Flauros with Tarukaja (P5R) or Matador with Magaru (P5)

Adjusted for Persona 5 Royal, you'll need to fuse a Flauros with a Tarukaja for the Strength Confidant's first rank. Alternatively, in vanilla Persona 5, you'll need to craft a Matador with Magaru. 

• Persona 5: For rank 3 Caroline and Justine demand a Matador with Magaru, another Persona that'll require you to do some fusion in order to get access to it with an inherited skill.
  • The quickest and easiest way to get a Matador with Magaru is to use a treasure Persona, Regent. Once you've found one of these once you can recall them from the compendium, but they're expensive. Combine Mokoi (Death) with a Regent to create a Matador - pick up Magaru as the inherited skill from the skill-loaded Regent.
  • You could also achieve this persona by fusing Nekomata (Magician) with Obariyon (Fool) and inherit Magaru.

• Persona 5 Royal: in the expanded version of the game the Twin Wardens instead want a Flauros with Tarukaja, which requires a three-way fusion.
  • To get Flauros with Tarukaja, fuse a Berith (Hierophant), Orobas (Hierophant) and Eligor (Emperor).
  • You'll need Eligor to be level 16 in order for it to have the Tarukaja skill to carry over. You can get Eligor from the Chemdah area in Mementos.

• Grants the Lockdown ability within the Velvet Room, allowing you to leave a Persona with the twins for training in attribute resistance.

Rank 4: Phoenix with Counter (P5R) or Flauros with Tarukaja (P5)

One of these two fusion missions is undertaken in both games, but the rankings have been shuffled around between P5 and Persona 5 Royal. Ultimately, there's a different mission for each game - Phoenix with Counter, in Royal, is the one most players will face.

• Persona 5: For their 4th rank the twins want a Flauros with Tarukaja.
  • To get this Persona you need to do a group guillotine fusion: Berith (Hierophant), Andras (Devil) & Eligor (Emperor), all obtainable in the first palace or Mementos. To get Tarukaja you'll need a few levels boosted via an Arcana Burst - being Devil, Flauros is boosted by the reporter (Devil, Ohya) confidant cooperation. Alternatively, you can level it a bit through fighting.

• Persona 5 Royal: In P5R, the twins ask you to provide them with a Phoenix with Counter - which will require a couple of fusions to reach.
  • First, fuse Jack O'Lantern (Magician) with Hua Po (Hanged Man). The result is Yaksini.
  • Now fuse Yaksini (Empress) with Kelpie (Strength) - the result will be a shiny new Phoenix with Counter inherited from Yaksini.

Rank 5: Setanta with Rakukaja (P5R) or Ame-no-Uzume with Dodge Psy (P5)

For the fifth rank, you've got two challenges depending on the game. In vanilla Persona 5, you'll need to fuse an Ame-no-Uzume with Dodge Psy. Persona 5 Royal players instead must target a Setanta with the move Rakukaja. 

• Persona 5: For rank 5, Caroline and Justine challenge you to fuse a Ame-no-Uzume with Dodge Psy.
  • The Dodge Psy ability can be a bit elusive, but we found it by fusing Kin-Ki (Chariot) with Sui-Ki (Moon). Kin-Ki learns Dodge Psy at Level 27, so you just need to boost it to that level either through the Chariot confidant cooperation with Ryuji or through some combat and then select dodge psy as an inherited ability.
  • You can also fuse Okuninushi (Emperor) with Sadama (Star) for the same results.
  • Finally, Arsene (Fool) and Norn (Fortune) will also give the provided result. 

• Persona 5 Royal: In the updated version of the game the twins want to see a Setanta with Rakukaja. This is a simpler one.
  • To get this, simply fuse Silky (Priestess) with Lamia (Empress). Done.

• In Persona 5 Royal your reward, as well as a rank up, is Special Treatment - which allows you to pay to fuse personas higher than your current level.
• In Persona 5, you'll instead unlock Guillotine Booster, raising the number of possible fusions in Group Guillotine fusions.

Rank 6: Neko Shogun with Dekaja

Enjoy the simplicity while it lasts, as this is the final fusion solution that is relatively straightforward. Here's what to do:

• Your relationship deepens, and the twin jailers next demand you fuse a Neko Shogun with Dekaja.
  • The quickest way we found to get a Neko Shogun with Dekaja was to start out with an Anzu (Hierophant) - this guy learns Dekaja at level 28. Boost there to get the move.
    • You could boost to Anzu by fusing Flauros (Devil) and Sandman (Magician), Principality (Justice) and Oni (Strength) or Naga (Hermit) and Rakshasa (Strength), then getting a level boost from your rank in the Hierophant confidant cooperation with Sojiro. 
  • Your next step is to use Anzu in an advanced fusion - fuse it in a three-way with Kodama (Star) and Sudama (Hermit). Select Dekaja as your inherited ability and this rank is complete.

Rank 7: Lachesis with Tetraja

Strap in, as getting a Lachesis with Tetraja was a complicated multi-step process for us, involving a few Persona fusions on the way. Here's how we managed it...

• To get to the 7th rank Igor's deputies ask for a Lachesis with Tetraja.
  • Our main recommended way to get this fusion done:
    • Fuse or pull Clotho (Fortune) and raise it to level 28 - at this point, it learns Tetraja. 
    • Next, fuse your Clotho with Regent (Emperor) to get the Lachesis with Tetraja. If that doesn't work, try Clotho with Stone of Scone.
  • Our original method to get here was a multi-stage fusion setup, but this won't work if you have certain DLC:
    • Fuse Lamia (Empress) and Sandman (Magician) to create Principality (Justice) - this Persona has Tetraja naturally.
    • Fuse Principality (Justice) with Yaksini (Empress) in order to make an Ame-no-Uzume (Lovers). Make sure you inherit Tetraja as a skill. Depending on your arcana ranks and registered Personas, you might get Kushinada instead of Ame-no-Uzume, which is OK.
    • Finally, fuse your new Ame-no-Uzume (Lovers) with Isis (Priestess) in order to get your Lachesis. Please don't forget to inherit Tetraja - that'd hurt.
  • Thanks to a commenter for the following alternative:
    • Combine a Principality (he starts with Tetraja) with Succubus to get Lilim. Then fuse Lilim with Take-Minataka to get a Lachesis.

Rank 8: Hecatoncheires with Masukunda

• Close to the end, things get harder - Caroline and Justine want to see a Hecatoncheires with Masukunda.
  • We have one main recommended route to get a Hecatoncheires with Masukunda in Persona 5 Royal:
    • First get a Lilim (Devil) and level her up until she learns Masukunda. 
    • Next, fuse Lilim with Anzu (Hierophant) or Daisoujou (Hierophant) - and there's what you need.
  • There's also some alternative routes:
    • You can also fuse Clotho (Fortune) with Red Rider (Tower).
    • Another way to get this Persona is to fuse Clotho (Fortune) with Belphegor (Tower).
    • For Vanilla Persona 5: Unicorn (Hierophant) and Lilim (Devil) will give you what you need, with Masukunda an available skill to inherit. [Persona 5 only, not Royal, as Unicorn is Faith Arcana in Royal]
    • Royal: You can get a Masukunda Skill Card pretty easily by taking the Velvet Room twins to the Aquarium, available starting 7/26. Have Yusuke duplicate the card if you don't want to use it up permanently.
• In Persona 5, this rank unlocks Isolation, a new Velvet Room facility that improves Lockdown.
• In Persona 5 Royal, this rank unlocks Guillotine Booster, raising the number of possible fusions available in Group Guillotine.

Rank 9: Bugs with Samarecarm

Getting a Bugs with Samarecarm requires you to break out your advanced Persona Fusion tools once again, and you'll have to complete a few Mementos quests along the way, too. 

• For rank 9 the twins want to see a Bugs with Samarecarm.
  • First of all, to unlock the capability to fuse Bugs, you need to complete the Mementos Request - The Lovesick Cyberstalking Girl, which is available from 7/10.
  • Bugs requires an advanced fusion of three persona - combine Pixie (Lovers) with Pisaca (Death) and Hariti (Empress).
  • Hariti learns Samarecarm at level 41, so boost to it there (the Empress confidant cooperation with Haru will help here) then inherit it from this fusion. One avenue to get Hariti is to fuse Principality and Neko Shogun.
  • Pisaca can be gotten in the deeper Akzeriyyuth section of Mementos.

Rank 10: Seth with High Counter

High counter is an amazing move, but getting a Seth with High Counter requires another fairly complicated multi-step fusion process - as is perhaps appropriate for the tenth and final rank of the Strength confidant cooperation. Here's what to do:

• Caroline and Justine present their ultimate challenge - the twin jailers want you to bring them a Seth with High Counter. We've got two suggested routes:
  • Getting Seth will require multiple steps once again:
    • Gain a Skill Card from the mementos request / sidequest The Killer Who Cleans Up Trash. You'll get this request on 10/14. This skill card lets you teach a Persona high counter, and is the quickest route to this move.
    • Combine Hecatoncheir (Hanged) with Kushinada-Hime (Lovers) to get a Horus (Sun).
    • Combine Isis (Priestess), Thoth (Emperor), Anubis (Judgement) and Horus (Sun) to create Seth.
    • Use the ability card you got from the side quest to teach Seth High Counter and you're done! Have Yusuke duplicate the card first if you want.
  • If you want an alternative route without a Skill Card:
    • Fuse Lachesis (Fortune) and Neko Shogun (Star), which makes a Pazuzu (Devil). 
    • Now get a Dakini (Empress), and level it up enough to learn High Counter. 
    • Now fuse Pazuzu and Dakini together, choosing to inherit High Counter on the resultant Horus.
      • If this fusion looks like it's going to give you Ganesha instead of Horus, Make the Ganesha, and then fuse it with Queen's Necklace, again passing on High Counter. This will get you the Horus with High Counter.
    • Finish off with a four-way fusion between your newly fused Horus with High Counter and Isis (Priestess), Thoth (Emperor), and Anubis (Judgement). Voila - there's your Seth with High Counter!
• Royal: Unlocks VIP Treatment, which gives a discount for Special Treatment.

Special Prison Events in Persona 5 Royal

In Persona 5 Royal, there's a new addition of 'Special Prision Events' that allow you to spend time with Caroline and Justine to deepen your relationship outside of the confines of the mysterious prison. This allows the pair to hang out with you at places throughout Tokyo, though only on certain dates.

Hanging out with them doesn't reward you with any boost to your confidant cooperation rank as it is of course controlled by the fusing missions, but it does get you various skill card rewards that can be used to boost and power up your Persona.

In order to do any of these, you must have naturally visited the location of each first on your own. Here are all the special prison opportunities, all of which are time-limited. All hangouts end on 12/19, unless otherwise listed.:

• Big Bang Burger Special Prison Hangout: available 6/6 // Rewards: Maragi & Mabufu
• Movie Theater Special Prison Hangout: available 6/7 // Rewards: Frei & Psy
• Training Gym Special Prison Hangout: available 6/15 // Rewards: Apt Pupil & Counter
• Church Special Prison Hangout: available 6/25 // Reward: Samarecarm
• Aquarium Special Prison Hangout: available 7/26 // Reward: Masakukaja & Masukunda
• Sky Tower Special Prison Hangout: available 7/26 // Reward: Tarukaja, Rakukaja & Sukukaja
• Miura Beach Special Prison Hangout: available 9/2 - 9/29 // Reward: Growth 2
• Maid Cafe Special Prison Hangout: available 9/19 // Rewards: Tetraja, Dekunda & Dekaja
• Destiny Land Special Prison Hangout: available 10/1 // Reward: Tetrakarn
• Museum Special Prison Hangout: available 10/1 - 11/3 // Reward: Regenerate 3
• LeBlanc Cafe Special Prison Hangout: available 11/25 // Reward: High Counter
• Shibuya Underground Mall Special Prison Hangout: available 12/1 - 12/9 // Reward: Heat Riser

Finally, there is one final special event on 1/13 - but it can only take place if you've completed all other special prison events. The reward is Enduring Soul.