Update 14.5 reshaped the top of Anime Vanguards around its Persona-themed units, a new familiar crafting system, and a fresh set of memorias. The pieces are all obtainable through normal play, but the lineup only reaches its ceiling when the evolved units are deployed together and each one is carrying the right trait, familiar, and memoria.
Quick answer: Field Apathetic Savior (Door), Phantom Thief (Jester), and Investigation Leader (Truth) at the same time so their passives buff each other, roll Monarch on each of them, and put the Petrified Soul familiar — 100 Rift Shards in the Rift Shop — on your main damage unit.
Core units in the Update 14.5 Persona team
The team is built around three evolved Persona units whose passives feed each other. Apathetic Savior (Door) is the anchor — it sits at the top of the overall, utility, support, and crowd control rankings. Phantom Thief (Jester) and Investigation Leader (Truth) supply the damage that those buffs multiply.
| Unit | What it does for the team |
|---|---|
| Apathetic Savior (Door) | Anchor unit; strongest overall pick and the team’s utility, support, and crowd control base |
| Phantom Thief (Jester) | Persona damage dealer that both gives and receives the crit buffs |
| Investigation Leader (Truth) | Damage dealer with the Rest buff cycle; also contributes support value |
| Yehowach (Almighty) | Damage and crowd control slot; the usual carrier for Petrified Soul and Ultimate Deceiver |
| Star Crusader (Platinum) | Optional flex slot for extra crowd control and support |
The synergy is conditional, not passive-on-placement. When the evolved Persona units are on the field together, their passives raise each other’s critical hit rate, critical damage, and base damage. Split them across separate runs and you lose most of what makes the lineup worth building.
How to get Apathetic Savior
Apathetic Savior drops from the Lunar Bridge dungeon, so expect a grind before the base unit is in your roster. Once you have it, the evolution into Apathetic Savior (Door) is what unlocks its place at the top of the tier list — the unevolved version does not carry the team.
Roll the trait before you evolve. Trait rerolls are applied from the Units screen, and locking Monarch in first saves you from rerolling on a finished unit later.
Monarch trait: stats and the placement limit
Monarch is the trait every unit in this team wants. It is also the rarest one in the reroll pool, sitting at a 0.1% chance per roll, so plan on burning a large stack of rerolls per unit.
| Monarch effect | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage | +300% |
| Attack speed (SPA) | -10% |
| Range | +5% |
| Placement limit | 1 |
The placement limit matters more than people expect. A Monarch unit can only be placed once per run, so you cannot stack duplicates of the same carry. That constraint is exactly why this team spreads its damage across several different units instead of doubling up on one.
Deadeye is the fallback trait if your rerolls dry up. It is far more common and still usable, but it will not reach the same numbers.
Petrified Soul familiar: 100 Rift Shards in the Rift Shop
Petrified Soul is the single biggest jump in damage available to a new account this update, and it is a straight purchase rather than a drop. It costs 100 Rift Shards in the Rift Shop and grants an 800% damage buff to the unit holding it.
Put it on whichever unit does the most raw damage in your lineup. Paired with the Ultimate Deceiver memoria and a Monarch roll, Yehowach (Almighty) is the standard home for it.
Crafting Chosen Savior, the Tier 8 Secret familiar
Update 14.5 added familiar fusion, which lets you combine lower familiars into higher-tier ones at the crafting station in the lobby. Chosen Savior is the Tier 8 Secret at the end of that chain, and it takes two separate Tier 7 fusions before you can make it.
| Result | Tier | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Tempting Devil | Tier 7 Secret | Winged Being + Lost Girl |
| Trenchcoat | Tier 7 Secret | Samurai + Flower |
| Chosen Savior | Tier 8 Secret | Tempting Devil + Trenchcoat |
Note: the two Tier 7 familiars are consumed by the final fusion. If you were planning to use Tempting Devil or Trenchcoat on a unit long-term, decide that before you craft, because you cannot keep them and Chosen Savior from the same materials.
Evolving Phantom Thief and Investigation Leader
Both remaining Persona units follow the same routine. Roll Monarch on the base unit, then take it to the upgrade station to evolve it. Phantom Thief becomes Phantom Thief (Jester), and Investigation Leader becomes Investigation Leader (Truth).
The evolved names are your confirmation. If the unit card still reads Phantom Thief or Investigation Leader without the suffix, the evolution has not gone through and the Persona synergy passives will not fire.
How Investigation Leader (Truth) and the Rest ability work
Investigation Leader (Truth) does not deal steady damage. Its Rest ability deliberately stops the unit from attacking while it builds a damage buff worth up to +100%. When you reactivate it, that buff stays active for 120 seconds.
Because of that dead window, timing decides whether the unit is worth its slot. Trigger Rest during a lull between waves, not while your defense is already under pressure, and aim to have the 120-second window overlapping a boss or a heavy wave.
Testing the build in sandbox mode
Sandbox mode is the fastest way to confirm your setup is actually applying. Set your Yen high enough that money is never the limiting factor, place the full lineup, and watch the damage numbers with the Persona units grouped versus placed apart.
Three checks tell you the build is correct. The trait line on each unit card should read Monarch, the familiar slot should show the familiar you equipped rather than an empty slot, and damage output should visibly climb once the second and third evolved Persona units are placed. If the numbers do not move when you group them, one of the units is still unevolved.
Memorias to pair with the team
Alongside the units, Update 14.5 added a set of Persona memorias — Life Will Change, It’s Going Down Now, and Reach Out to the Truth. Ultimate Deceiver is the one paired with Yehowach (Almighty) in the standard setup.
Tip: finish traits and familiars before you worry about memoria optimization. A Monarch roll plus Petrified Soul moves your damage far more than swapping between memorias on a unit that is still traitless.
Built in full, this lineup is expensive in time rather than luck-free — the Lunar Bridge grind and the 0.1% Monarch rolls are the real gate, not the familiar fusions or the Rift Shop purchase. If you are working toward it gradually, get Apathetic Savior (Door) evolved first and buy Petrified Soul early, since those two pieces carry the most weight before the rest of the Persona units come online.
