Persona 5: The Phantom X – Best Chord/Ayaka build, team comp, and Revelation Cards

Chord is one of the most powerful characters in P5X, not because of what she can do directly, but because of what she does for the rest of the party. She is a must-pull character, even if you’re free-to-play, as she’s able to dish out big buffs to Attack and repeatedly allow her allies to use their Highlight attacks without needing to fill the gauge.

She’s extremely powerful, so we’ll break down everything you need to know to get the most out of her, including how best to use her skills, and what weapons and Revelations Cards you should equip.

Also, make sure to check out our Wind P5X build guide for the other major character added in this update.

All Chord skills and abilities in P5X

Calliope Skills

• Distortion – Deal Electric damage to all foes equal to 85.4% of Attack. 80% chance to inflict Shock on the main target for 2 turns. If an ally has Costar, deal bonus Electric damage to the main target equal to 83.3% of that ally’s Attack.
• Unison Notes – Grant Costar to 1 ally, and increase their Attack by 24% of Ayaka’s Attack (up to 1220) for 3 turns. Only 1 ally can be a Costar at a time.
• Catchy Hook – Immediately activate an ally’s Highlight, and increase its damage by 78.1%. This skill does not affect the target’s Highlight cooldown time, even if it activates a Highlight. When using Catchy Hook, increase Ayaka’s Attack by 20% for that battle. Catchy Hook has a cooldown time of 1 turn before it can be used. Increase the cooldown each time Catchy Hook is used.
• Thief Tactics – Highlight: For 4 ally actions, increase party’s damage by 45.5%. While active, fill Highlight gauge by 10% after each ally action.

Hidden Abilities

• Backing Track – When an ally uses a Highlight, increase target’s Attack by 24% for 1 turn. When the target has Costar, increase effect by 1.5 times.
• Chorus Effect – After an ally uses a Highlight, the ally with the lowest HP recovers HP equal to 15% of Ayaka’s attack + 1350.

Awareness levels and abilities

• A1: Hard Rock – At the start of battle, grant Costar to the ally with the highest Attack for 3 turns (prioritizing Assassins and Sweepers). Increase that ally’s Critical Rate by 15%.
• A2: Crescendo Shout – When using Catchy Hook, increase targeted ally’s damage by 30% for 2 turns.
• A3: Amplifier – Increase the skill levels of Distortion and Catchy Hook by 3.
• A4: Spotlight – Highlight Enchanced: Increase effect duration by 6 ally actions. Fill the Highlight gauge to 60%, and decrease Highlight activation cooldown for all other allies by 1 turn.
• A5: Shredding – Increase the skill levels of Unison Notes and Thief Tactics by 3.
• A6: Spirit of Rock – At the start of battle, Catchy Hook can be used immediately. Cooldown time is permanently decreased to 1 turn and won’t increase. Every time Catchy Hook is used, increase the party’s damage by 20% (up to 2 stacks).

What does Costar do?

Costar is a status that Chord can grant to one ally at a time. While an ally has a Costar stack, they’ll have their Attack increased based on Chord’s Attack for three turns. And as seen above, they can also be further powered up by Chord’s other skills if they are currently a Costar.

How to use Chord in P5X

Use Unison Notes Turn 1

While it may be tempting to go for the strong Highlight stuff straight away, you’ll benefit more from taking the time to set up Costar on an ally first. Admittedly, if you get Chord to A1, then this is done automatically, so it can be skipped, but if you’re still on A0, set up the character you intend to unleash their highlight with Costar first to buff their Attack.

Use Catchy Hook whenever available

The tip above, generally speaking, if you can use Catchy Hook, you should. There will be niche scenarios where you’re better off exploiting an Electric weakness, but 90% of the time, you’ll get far more damage out of getting a powerful ally like Queen or Panther to unleash their Highlight attack, especially if you followed our earlier advice and buffed them up with Unison Notes first.

Best team composition for Chord in P5X

Chord works best when paired with your strongest attackers. Obviously, who that is will depend on the situation, but that’s what’s so great about Chord – she works with everyone. While pairing her with other Electric units is helpful, any DPS unit will get so much stronger when paired with Chord, so you really have free rein to go nuts. Pretty much no matter what the situation is, it’s worth giving Chord a slot in your party.

Best weapon for Chord in P5X

The progression for weapons in this game is pretty simple: the more stars a weapon has, the better it is both in terms of stats and its abilities, so you should always try and pull the best weapon possible when building a character. Here are the stats and effects of all of Chord’s weapons:

• Guitar Axe (2-stars) – HP 92; ATK 28; DEF 15 – Increase Attack by 11.3%.
• Amped-Up Guitar Axe (3-stars) – HP 110; ATK 34; DEF 18 – After an ally uses a skill, increase own Attack by 15% for 2 turns.
• Rock ‘n’ Roller (4-stars) – HP 147; ATK 46; DEF 25 – Increase Attack by 12%. After using Catchy Hook, increase Attack by 28% for 2 turns.
• Superstar (5-star) – HP 184; ATK 57; DEF 31 – Increase Attack by 30%. At the start of battle, fill the Highlight Gauge 40%. Increase Costar’s Attack by 15%. Each time an ally uses a Highlight, increase Costar’s Attack by 5%.

Best Revelation Cards for Chord in P5X

While you might think to go straight to Renewal due to the Electric damage buff, you have to remember that Chord’s greatest potential is in what she can give to her allies, which is why Prosperity & Trust are Chord’s best combo. Prosperity is a good base, it starts the team out with an increased Highlight gauge, and will decrease Chord’s damage taken to keep her safer. However, combining it with Trust is where it really shines, as that lets Chord increase the entire party’s damage by 8% whenever she uses a skill on an ally, which is what she should be doing almost every turn.