"Maximize EXP in Persona 5 Royal: Top Strategies"

Quick Links

• Accessories and The Moon Arcana

  • Mishima Yuuki's Confidant

• Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

  • Cognition of Mementos

• Fight the Reaper

  • What Level is the Reaper?

• Defeat Treasure Demons

  • How to Summon Treasure Demons

• Use Persona with EXP Skills

  • How to Get Growth Passive Skill

• Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant

  • How to Unlock Insta-Kill

Leveling up is a crucial aspect of Persona 5 Royal, an RPG that demands strategic growth to conquer its challenging late-game bosses. As an enhanced version of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal introduces quality-of-life improvements and an additional 20 hours of gameplay. This updated re-release features a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and revamped boss encounters, necessitating high levels and efficient experience farming to fully enjoy the expanded content.

Updated on January 13, 2025, by Renri Seong: While being over-leveled might simplify the game too much, maintaining the same level as Palace Rulers is crucial, especially on a fresh start. Persona 5 Royal offers various methods to streamline experience farming, from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose in Mementos. Joker can also earn EXP for his non-active Personas through a passive skill. This guide has been enhanced with a new section detailing how to quickly farm experience using the Insta-kill ability.

Accessories and The Moon Arcana

Mishima Yuuki's Confidant

In Persona 5 Royal, players can boost their EXP gain by equipping the Team Glasses accessory, available as a free DLC from the PlayStation Store. This accessory increases EXP by 15% but must be equipped on each character individually. Since only Joker and three other Phantom Thieves can participate in battle at once, those on the backline receive less experience.

To address this, players can increase Mishima Yuuki's Moon Confidant. Reaching Rank 3 and Rank 5 allows backup team members to gain EXP, and achieving Rank 10 ensures they earn the same amount as those in the frontline. Progressing through Mishima's Confidant is straightforward; choose dialogue options that resonate with him and bring a Persona of the Moon Arcana when spending time with him. Mishima's Mementos Missions are now integral to his Confidant, so completing these missions is essential for advancing his rank.

Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

Cognition of Mementos

Persona 5 Royal introduces Jose, a character who, while not central to the plot, significantly enhances gameplay. Within Mementos, players can find "flowers" and "Stamp Stations." Collecting these allows exchanges with Jose, who can alter the Cognition of Mementos. In Jose's shop, players can opt to increase EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards exclusively in Mementos. Boosting EXP to 110% requires 5 Stamps, while maxing it out at 200% costs 12 Stamps. With a total of 165 Stamps available, players need 85 to fully maximize EXP gain. Stamp Stations are located in "dead ends" on Mementos floors behind breakable walls, and Jose may appear when transitioning to a new floor.

Fight the Reaper

What Level is the Reaper?

The Reaper, a formidable recurring enemy in the Persona series, appears in Mementos if players linger too long on a floor. Warning signs include a blinking red screen, the sound of chains, and alerts from Morgana or Futaba. Early in the game, defeating the Reaper is nearly impossible unless on a New Game+ file due to his powerful -dyne tier spells and Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks.

The Reaper is level 85 with exceptionally high stats, though his Agility is relatively lower at 75. Despite this, he can still outpace the Phantom Thieves if they're not adequately leveled. Successfully defeating the Reaper yields substantial experience and money, often resulting in immediate level-ups for all characters. It's advisable to confront the Reaper at level 60 or above, equipped with Defense-raising Support skills and Makarakarn to reflect his magic. Alternatively, utilizing the Persona DLC with Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro) and stacking Concentrate, Heat Riser, and Myriad Truths can deliver heavy Almighty damage three times over.

Defeat Treasure Demons

How to Summon Treasure Demons

Treasure Demons, unique Shadows introduced in Madarame's Palace, appear throughout the Metaverse. Unlike regular Shadows, they are harmless and will attempt to flee after a few turns. Each type of Treasure Demon has different Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities, though they all take regular damage from Almighty attacks. The most effective way to defeat them before they escape is by using Shinya's Rank 1 Ability, Down Shot, to down them and trigger an All-Out Attack. Alternatively, a high-crit attack like Morgana's Miracle Punch can work, provided the Treasure Demon does not nullify Physical attacks.

Treasure Demons appear more frequently in Palaces when security is high. Players can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool, which boosts the chance of encountering Treasure Demons. The materials needed for the Treasure Trap are:

• 2x Silk Yarn
• 3x Plant Balm
• 1x Cork Bark

Use Persona with EXP Skills

How to Get Growth Passive Skill

Joker's non-equipped Personas typically do not gain EXP at the end of battles. However, the Passive Skill Growth allows these Personas to earn a percentage of experience even when inactive. There are three levels of Growth Skills:

• Growth 1: Persona gains a quarter EXP when inactive.
• Growth 2: Persona gains half EXP when inactive.
• Growth 3: Persona gains full EXP when inactive.

The following Personas learn Growth upon leveling:

• Growth 1: Saki Mitama (level 7), Koppa Tengu (level 12)
• Growth 2: Lachesis (Innate), Kurama Tengu (level 36), Thoth (level 42), Ananta (level 47)
• Growth 3: Izanagi (level 25), Izanagi Picaro (level 28), Narcissus (level 50), Raphael (level 81)

In Persona 5 Royal, the Electric Chair in the Velvet Room allows players to convert Personas into Skill Cards. However, unlike in the original Persona 5, only Izanagi Picaro can be transformed into a Growth Skill Card (Growth 3) in P5R. Growth 1 Skill Cards are unobtainable, and to acquire the Growth 2 Skill Card, players must visit Miura Beach with Caroline and Justine between September 2nd and September 29th, after completing event 6 (Sky Tower), and interact with them by the Velvet Room Door outside Mementos during evenings.

Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant

How to Unlock Insta-Kill

Insta-kill, a skill that instantly defeats a Shadow upon ambush, becomes available when Joker's level (not his Persona level) is 10 levels higher than the targeted Shadow. In Persona 5 Royal, a successful Insta-kill not only defeats the Shadow but also rewards items, yen, experience, and potentially a new Persona. Shadows susceptible to Insta-kill appear with a green outline when viewed through Joker's Third Eye ability.

To unlock Insta-kill, players must advance Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant to Rank 7. Ryuji's Confidant is one of the easiest to max out, requiring no specific Social Stat prerequisites. To expedite this process, spend time with Ryuji and select dialogue options that maximize points, ideally before pursuing other Confidants.