Short version: This is the first time ever playing through P4. I've been loosely following the PS2 P4 strategy guide for the game.

I'm in Yukiko's castle, and on the last day before she bites the dust (the 29th). In the guide, it says to go three times to the castle: the first day you can, the 27th, and the 29th because of social links. So I did.

I'm trying to fight Shadow Yukiko. Getting killed. My characters are all level 11. The guide says I should grind, which is somewhat confusing because I only have one day before auto game Over, which means I can't go out and just buy tons of items to help keep my SP and HP up. What should I do? Walk around the lower levels for awhile and keep hoping I get the cards that restore my SP and HP?

The guide also says I need to have all these Personas at much higher levels than I have them so I can fuse into one that makes the boss fight a cake.

I hope I've not screwed myself over. I might just not understand the game fully yet.

Also, I accidentally fused Izunaga. The compendium can help me get him back, right?

Thanks, dooders.

Well, 1 have a persona that is strong to fire. Any fire weakness won't help. 2) the compendium can help get izanagi back, but see 1. 3) Do not wait till the last day. That ends up happening, and then time will rewind a week back. If you finish the dungeon early, then the extra days can just be "boost s link" time.

What level are you?

Stop following the guide. It sounds pretty fucked.

You can get all of your fused personas out of the compendium if you registered them before you fused them. I'm pretty sure Izanagi is in the compendium automatically, though. Also, shouldn't you have moved on from him by now?

If he is really that desperate, maybe it would be better to get rewound a week?

Well, you are in kind of a rough spot on this one. Shadow Yukiko is a real pain of a boss fight, but you can probably take her down if you're smart about it. Mostly, you're going to want a persona that can resist (or block) fire attacks, or physical attacks. As long as you can make sure that you're alive and doing damage, you'll be pretty well off. Keep Chie guarding so Shadow Yukiko can't get two turns in a row, and Yosuke healing when needed, and don't be afraid to use a few physical attack skills as long as you have the health to spare. When the Prince comes out you'll need to keep him incapacitated, which can be an issue, but if you can keep knocking him down and hopefully avoid Chie getting hit with a fire attack, you oughta do pretty well.

Edit: For the record, the Persona I took her down with on my first run is just level 12, Eligor. Resisting physical attacks can be a lifesaver.

This is what I remember of playing the PS2 version on hard, if you reached the top and need help you are basically done. There isn't much u can do unless you saved up 20-30 Tap Soda's to grind out some more persona to fuse.

You can try this at least:

-At the very least you need Media (easiest source is Valkyrie I think)

-Pattern for "Burn to Ashes" which knocks Chie over and gives her an extra turn only happens every other turn at best so have Chie defend then in the second half and only take action after that attack.

Ok, so guard with Chie when Burn to Ashes is coming up. Re-summon Izunaga from the Compendium so you can use him to fuse and get Archangel.

To get Archangel, I think I'm going to grind around on the bottom levels to get my personas up to where they need to be. Sure it will take a bit, but I really don't want to redo 5 hours of gameplay. Does this make sense? Or is it a fruitless endeavor?

Also keep in mind that my last save is outside of the TV, so I have my last day to go buy items if I need to. I don't have a lot of money, but it's not like I'm forever lost in Yukiko's Castle.

Slime gets null-fire right? Get it, fusion it into something stronger, something with fire-resistence and then use null-fire on Chie to prevent the boss from exploiting her weakness. Though if you're on your last day it seems like things are pretty screwed =P

@the_laughing_man: All his characters are level 11. He wrote as much.

That sounds like a bad guide. You can do a dungeon in 1 day easily. Focus on physical personas so you don't drain SP too much and can make it through.

Explore all of every floor and fight every shadow you run in to. Doing this means you will never have to grind, you'll be at the right level. Stick with one party so they are the highest level they can be.

For this fight in particular, make a Senri. Also in golden they gave Yukkiko an ice weakness so exploit it.

Don't use a guide duder, just figure it out. Just let it all go and you'll have a week to retackle things. It's not a big deal to hit the last day, it just rewinds you for a week.

I got Jackfrost before I got to her. And OP your level seems a bit low. Try to get to at least level 15.