Each formation has its own advantages and disadvantages. No one formation is the best; choose and adapt to different situations.
Pre-defend and post-defend allows a character to take a defensive stance and halve incoming damage before and after her action, respectively. This is not the same thing as the defend command.
For an indepth look at bonuses:
- Formation Bonuses
Five Person Formations
| No. | Name | Formation Type | Grant Effect | How to Aquire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front Row | Number | Middle Row | Number | Back Row | Number | ||||
| 1 | Freefight | Speed | - | - | Speed Up | 5 | - | - | Start with it |
| 2 | Hakurei Type | Baiting | Attack Up | 2 | Pre-Defend | 1 | Magic Up | 2 | Start with it |
| 3 | Master Star | Magical Offense | Defense Up, Attack Down | 2 | Magic Up, Speed Down | 2 | Magic Up, Speed Down | 1 | Start with it |
| 4 | Moriya Wall | Defense | Defense Up | 1 | Defense Up | 2 | - | 2 | Start with it |
| 5 | Gensokyo's Fastest | Speed | Speed Up, Defense Down | 1 | Speed Up, Defense Down | 2 | Speed Up, Defense Down | 2 | Start with it |
| 6 | Luna Dial | Physical Offense | Attack/Defense Up, Magic Down | 3 | - | - | Speed/Magic Down | 2 | When Sakuya joins |
| 7 | Power Library | Magic | Defense Down | 2 | Magic Up | 1 | Magic Up | 2 | When Patchouli joins |
| 8 | Kappa Camouflage | Evasion | Evasion Up | 2 | Evasion Up | 1 | Evasion Up | 2 | When Nitori joins |
| 9 | Dolls Division | Iron Wall | Pre-Defend | 3 | - | - | N/A | 2 | When Alice joins |
| 10 | Hypnotic Ballet | Induction | Induction Up | 2 | Induction Up | 2 | Induction Up | 1 | When Satori joins |
| 11 | Konpaku-Style Stance | Attack + Speed | Attack/Speed Up, Defense Down | 3 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | When Youmu joins |
| 12 | Hinotori Skydance | Super-Baiting | Attack Up, Defense Down | 2 | Defense Up, Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 1 | Magic Up, Defense Down | 2 | When Mokou joins |
| 13 | Magician's Circle | Magic | Magic Up | 2 | Magic Up | 1 | Magic Up | 2 | When Byakuren joins |
| 14 | Neo-Hakurei Type | Resistance | Resistance Up | 2 | Resistance/Speed Up, Post-Defend | 1 | Resistance Up | 2 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine when Reimu is over base level 34 |
| 15 | Final Burst | Magic-Specialized | Magic Up, Defense Down | 2 | Magic Up, Defense Down | 2 | Magic Up, Defense Down | 1 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine after exterminating 300 Youkai with Marisa and clearing Hakugyokurou |
| 16 | Last Moriya | Iron Wall | Defense Up, Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 2 | Defense Up, Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 1 | N/A | 2 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine when Sanae is over P level 40 |
| 17 | Sonic Stream | Speed | Speed Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 1 | Speed Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 2 | Speed Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 2 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine after filling in 11 bestiary entries and clearing Hakugyokurou |
| 18 | Soultrapper | Physical Offense | Attack/Speed Up, Defense Down | 3 | - | - | Attack Up, Defense Down | 2 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine after clearing Eientei and obtaining Scarlet Moon |
| 19 | Hyper Library | Magic | Defense Down | 2 | Magic Up | 1 | Magic Up | 2 | Healing circle at Hakurei Shrine after clearing Eientei and Patchouli has died over 100 times |
| 20 | Fence of Defense | Defense | Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 2 | Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 1 | Speed Down, Pre-Defend | 2 | Hakurei Shrine after clearing Eientei |
| 21 | Circle Nine Form | Appropriate | ? | 1 | ? | 2 | ? | 2 | Defeat Cirno and Momiji |
| 22 | Scarlet Moon | All-Out Charge | Attack/Speed Up, Defense Down | 5 | - | - | - | - | Talk to Remilia after clearing Eientei |
| 23 | Ripple | Attack | Attack Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 1 | Attack Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 3 | Attack Up, Defense/Evasion Down | 1 | After clearing subquest "Play with Flan!" |
| 24 | Hachimon Gold Chain | Counter | Speed Down, Counter Physical | 2 | Speed Down, Counter All | 1 | Speed Down, Counter Magic | 2 | Talk to Ran |
| 25 | Gensokyo Barrier | Defense | Defense Up, Speed Down | 2 | Defense Up, Speed Down, Post-Defend | 1 | Defense Up, Speed Down | 2 | Be in the Heida Household when playtime passes over xxx:00:00 and talk to Akyuu |
| 26 | Red Eyes | Induction + Mind | Induction Up, Resist Mind-Control | 1 | Induction Up, Resist Mind-Control | 3 | Induction Up, Resist Mind-Control | 1 | After defeating Reisen and Tewi |
| 27 | Apollo Break | Physical Rearguard | Defense Up | 4 | - | - | Attack Up | 1 | After defeating Kayuga and Eirin |
| 28 | Sunshine Lunch | Defense | - | - | - | - | Defense/Evade Up, Speed Down, Post-Defend | 5 | After defeating Medicine and Yuuka |
| 29 | Poison Shield | Defense | Defense/Speed/Resistance Up, Post-Defend, Resist Poison | 1 | - | - | Resist Poison | 4 | Healing circle before boss in the Garden of the Sun after killing an enemy with Toxic (lethal poison) (Alice as leader) |
| 30 | Shinigami Formation | Resist Instant Death | Resist Instant Death | 1 | Resist Instant Death | 3 | Resist Instant Death | 1 | Talk to Komachi after 25 battle annihilations |
| 31 | Wall of Faith | Magic Defense | Magic Barrier | 2 | Attack/Defense/Speed/Magic Up, Magic Barrier | 1 | Magic Barrier | 2 | Talk to Kanako when Sanae is over base level 50, P level 70 |
| 32 | Moriya Destruction | One-Woman Show | Attack/Defense/Speed/Magic Up, Post-Defend | 1 | N/A | 2 | N/A | 2 | Talk to Suwako when Sanae is over base level 50, P level 70 |
| 33 | Inferno | Fire-Element | Attack Up, Defense Down, Fire Boost, Fire Resist | 1 | Attack Up, Defense Down, Fire Boost, Fire Resist | 2 | Attack Up, Defense Down, Fire Boost, Fire Resist | 2 | Talk to Rin after using Satori's Last Word 10 times |
| 34 | Metal Busters! | Anti-Yukkuri | Attack/Defense Up | 2 | - | - | Speed/Magic Up | 3 | After clearing subquest "Myouren Temple Excavation Project" |
| 35 | Thunder Line | Thunder-Element | - | - | Speed Up, Defense Down, Electric Boost, Electric Resist | 5 | - | - | Talk to Iku after defeating 50 Giant Oarfish |
| 36 | Master of All | Physical Offense/Defense | Attack/Defense Up, Speed Down | 1 | Attack/Defense Up, Speed Down | 4 | - | - | Talk to Tenshi after 101 battle annihilations |
Four Person Formations
| No. | Name | Formation Type | Grant Effect | How to Aquire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front Row | Number | Middle Row | Number | Back Row | Number | ||||
| 37 | Freefight | Speed | - | - | Speed Up | 4 | - | - | Start with it |
| 38 | Square Barrier | Balanced | Attack Up | 2 | - | - | Defense/Speed Up | 2 | Start with it |
| 39 | Trickster | Attack | Attack/Defense Up | 1 | Attack Up | 2 | Magic Up | 1 | Start with it |
| 40 | Shadow Gardener | Evasion | Evasion Up | 1 | Speed Up | 2 | Speed up | 1 | After defeating Rumia |
| 41 | Scarlet Shoot | Speed | Speed Up | 2 | Speed Up | 1 | Speed Up | 1 | Talk to Remilia after reaching the Lakebed Temple |
| 42 | Falling Cherry Blossoms | Balanced | Attack/Defense Up | 2 | - | - | Magic Up | 2 | Talk to Yuyuko after Youmu kills 30 enemies with instant death |
| 43 | Locker Phenomenon | Induction | Induction up | 1 | Induction up | 2 | Induction up | 1 | After defeating Wriggle and Mystia |
| 44 | Mysterious Fortune | Experience get! | Experience Bonus | 1 | Experience Bonus | 2 | Experience Bonus | 1 | After defeating Wriggle and Mystia |
| 45 | Hourai Forest | One-Woman Show | Attack/Defense/Speed/Magic Down | 1 | Center: Attack/Defense/Speed/Magic Up,
Everyone else: Attack/Defense/Speed/Magic Down |
3 | - | - | Talk to Kaguya |
| 46 | Shikigami Assault | Attack | Attack/Speed Up | 3 | - | - | Defense Up, Speed Down | 1 | Talk to Chen |
Three Person Formations
| No. | Name | Formation Type | Grant Effect | How to Aquire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front Row | Number | Middle Row | Number | Back Row | Number | ||||
| 47 | Freefight | Speed | - | - | Speed Up | 3 | - | - | Start with it |
| 48 | Momiji Strike | Attack | Attack/Defense Up | 1 | - | - | Speed Up | 2 | Start with it |
| 49 | Momiji Splash | Attack | Attack/Speed/Magic Up, Defense Down | 1 | Attack/Speed/Magic Up, Defense Down | 1 | Attack/Speed/Magic Up, Defense Down | 1 | Defeat Momiji |
| 50 | Atomic Defense | Defense | Defense Up | 2 | - | - | Magic Up | - | Talk to Utsuho after using Satori's Last Word 25 times |
Two Person Formations
| No. | Name | Formation Type | Grant Effect | How to Aquire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front Row | Number | Middle Row | Number | Back Row | Number | ||||
| 51 | Freefight | Speed | - | - | Speed Up | 2 | - | - | Start with it |
| 52 | Moriya Defender | Defense | Pre-Defend | 1 | - | - | N/A | 1 | Start with it |
| 53 | Devil Circle | Attack | Attack/Speed Up | 2 | - | - | - | - | Hit Meiling awake 256 times (must have Sakuya in your party) |
One Person Formations
| No. | Name | Formation Type | Grant Effect | How to Aquire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | Freefight | Can't have a formation with one person! | - | Start with it |