"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

In the world of RPGs, leveling up is crucial, and Persona 5 Royal is no exception. Failing to level up your team can make late-game bosses a daunting challenge, forcing you to spend extra time grinding in Mementos. As an enhanced version of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal offers numerous quality-of-life improvements and an additional 20 hours of gameplay.

The game introduces a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and tweaks some pre-existing boss fights. With all this new content, maintaining high levels for your team and knowing the fastest ways to gain experience is essential.

Updated January 13, 2025 by Renri Seong: While being over-leveled can make Persona 5 Royal too easy, it's crucial to match the levels of Palace Rulers, especially on a new file. There are several strategies to make experience farming easier in P5R, from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose in Mementos. Joker can also earn EXP for non-active Personas with a specific passive skill. This guide has been updated to include a new section on how to farm experience quickly using the Insta-kill ability.

Accessories and The Moon Arcana

Mishima Yuuki's Confidant

In Persona 5 Royal, players can enhance their EXP gain by downloading the free Team Glasses accessory from the PlayStation Store. Equipping these glasses on each character will boost their EXP gain by 15% during battles. However, only Joker and three other Phantom Thieves can participate in battle at once, meaning those on the backline receive less experience.

To address this, players can increase the Moon Confidant (Yuuki Mishima) to Rank 3 and Rank 5, allowing backup team members to gain EXP. Reaching Rank 10 with Mishima ensures that backup members receive the same amount of EXP as those on the front lines.

Advancing Mishima's Confidant is straightforward; players should choose dialogue options that resonate with him and bring a Persona of the Moon Arcana when spending time with him. In Persona 5 Royal, Mishima's Mementos Missions are now linked to his Confidant, so neglecting these missions will hinder progress in ranking up his Confidant.

Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

Cognition of Mementos

Persona 5 Royal introduces Jose, a character who, while not central to the plot, significantly aids gameplay. Throughout Mementos, players can find "flowers" and "Stamp Stations." Collecting these allows players to trade with Jose for items or to alter the Cognition of Mementos. In Jose's Shop, under the Cognition menu, players can choose to increase EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards, but this applies only within Mementos. Boosting EXP from battles to 110% costs 5 Stamps, while reaching the maximum 200% EXP increase requires 12 Stamps.

There are 165 Stamps in total in Persona 5 Royal, but players need 85 to max out the EXP Up. Stamp Stations are located in "dead ends" on Mementos floors, often behind breakable walls. Players may encounter Jose when transitioning to a new floor of Mementos.

Fight the Reaper

What Level is the Reaper?

The Reaper, a formidable foe 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 about an ominous presence.

Early in the game, defeating the Reaper is nearly impossible unless playing on a New Game+ file. The Reaper wields -dyne tier spells and Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks. At level 85, with exceptionally high stats, his Agility, though the lowest at 75, is still enough to outpace the Phantom Thieves if they're not adequately prepared.

However, defeating the Reaper yields a massive amount of experience and money, often resulting in a level up for all characters. It's advisable to engage the Reaper at level 60 or higher, equipped with Defense-raising Support skills and Makarakarn to reflect his magic. Alternatively, those with the Persona DLC featuring Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro) can stack Concentrate, Heat Riser, and use Myriad Truths to deal heavy Almighty damage three times.

Defeat Treasure Demons

How to Summon Treasure Demons

Treasure Demons, unique Shadows introduced in Madarame's Palace, start appearing in the Metaverse after the initial encounter. Unlike typical Shadows, they are harmless and will flee after a few turns.

Each type of Treasure Demon has different Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities, but all are susceptible to 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 follow up with an All-Out Attack. Alternatively, players can use high-crit attacks like Morgana's Miracle Punch, provided the Treasure Demon doesn't nullify Physical attacks.

Treasure Demons appear in Palaces when security is high. Players can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool to increase encounters with Treasure Demons in a Palace. 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

Typically, Personas not equipped by Joker at the end of a battle do not earn EXP. However, those with the Growth Passive Skill can still gain a percentage of the battle's experience even when not used. 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 will gain full EXP when inactive.

The following Personas learn Growth upon leveling:

Once players unlock the Electric Chair in the Velvet Room, they can turn Personas into Skill Cards. However, in Persona 5 Royal, Personas that previously turned into Growth 1 and Growth 2 Skill Cards no longer do so. Izanagi Picaro is the only Persona that will become a Growth 3 Skill Card when used in the Electric Chair.

Growth 1 Skill Card cannot be obtained in P5R. To acquire the Growth 2 Skill Card, players must take Caroline and Justine to Miura Beach between September 2nd and September 29th, after clearing event 6 (Sky Tower). Joker can spend time with them during evenings by speaking to them by the Velvet Room Door outside of Mementos.

Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant

How to Unlock Insta-Kill

Insta-kill is a powerful skill that allows Joker to instantly defeat a Shadow without engaging in battle. To use Insta-kill, players must ambush the enemy, and if Joker's level (not his Persona level) is 10 levels higher than the Shadow, it will be instantly defeated. In Persona 5 Royal, a successful Insta-kill not only defeats the Shadow but also grants items, yen, experience, and, if there's room, a Persona.

Players can identify Shadows susceptible to Insta-kill using Joker's Third Eye ability; those with a green outline are vulnerable.

To unlock Insta-kill, players need to reach Rank 7 with Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant. Fortunately, advancing Ryuji's Confidant doesn't require any Social Stat prerequisites, making it one of the easiest to max out. For immediate access to Insta-kill, spend time with Ryuji and choose the best dialogue options to maximize points. It's advisable to do this before unlocking other Confidants.