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 Persona 5 Royal, leveling up is crucial for conquering the game's challenging bosses and avoiding tedious grinding sessions in Mementos. As an enhanced version of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal introduces numerous quality-of-life improvements and an additional 20 hours of new content, including a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and revamped boss encounters. To tackle this expanded content effectively, keeping your team's levels high is essential. Here are some of the best strategies to maximize your experience gain.

Updated January 13, 2025 by Renri Seong: While being over-leveled can make the game less challenging, it's vital to match the levels of Palace Rulers, especially in a new game. Persona 5 Royal offers several methods to streamline experience farming, from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose's services in Mementos. Additionally, Joker can gain EXP for non-active Personas with the right passive skill. This guide has been updated to include a new section on using the Insta-kill ability to farm experience efficiently.

Accessories and The Moon Arcana

Mishima Yuuki's Confidant

In Persona 5 Royal, players can enhance their experience gain by downloading the free Team Glasses accessory from the PlayStation Store. Equipping these glasses on each character boosts their EXP gain by 15% during battles. However, only four members can fight at once, leaving the backline Phantom Thieves with reduced experience.

To ensure the entire team benefits, players should focus on increasing Mishima Yuuki's Moon Confidant. By reaching Rank 3 and Rank 5, backup members start earning EXP. Maxing out Mishima's Confidant at Rank 10 allows backup members to receive the same amount of EXP as the frontline fighters.

Building a strong bond with Mishima is straightforward; just 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 progress, so completing these missions is crucial for advancing his ranks.

Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

Cognition of Mementos

Persona 5 Royal introduces Jose, a character who, while not central to the plot, significantly enhances gameplay. By collecting "flowers" and "Stamp Stations" scattered throughout Mementos, players can trade them with Jose to alter the Cognition of Mementos. This feature allows players to boost EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards during battles in Mementos.

To maximize EXP gain, players can use Stamps to increase battle EXP to 110% for 5 Stamps, or up to 200% for 12 Stamps. With a total of 165 Stamps available, reaching the maximum EXP boost requires 85 Stamps. Stamp Stations are hidden in dead ends behind breakable walls on Mementos floors, and players may encounter Jose when transitioning to new floors.

Fight the Reaper

What Level is the Reaper?

The Reaper, a formidable foe in the Persona series, appears in Mementos when players linger too long on a floor. Signs of his approach include a red blinking screen, the sound of chains, and warnings from Morgana or Futaba.

Early in the game, defeating the Reaper is nearly impossible without a New Game+ file, as he possesses powerful -dyne tier spells and Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks. At level 85, his high stats, with Agility at a still-impressive 75, make him a challenging opponent. However, defeating the Reaper yields substantial experience and money, often resulting in a level up for all characters.

For a successful battle, it's advisable to engage the Reaper at level 60 or higher. Equip Defense-raising Support skills and use Makarakarn to reflect his magic. Alternatively, utilize the Persona DLC featuring Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro) to stack Concentrate, Heat Riser, and unleash Myriad Truths for heavy Almighty damage.

Defeat Treasure Demons

How to Summon Treasure Demons

Treasure Demons, unique Shadows first encountered in Madarame's Palace, appear throughout the Metaverse. Unlike typical Shadows, they are harmless and tend to flee after a few turns. These demons have varying Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities, but all are susceptible to Almighty attacks.

To capture them before they escape, use Shinya's Rank 1 Ability, Down Shot, to knock them down and follow up with an All-Out Attack. Another option is to use high-crit attacks like Morgana's Miracle Punch, provided the Treasure Demon isn't immune to Physical damage.

Treasure Demons spawn more frequently in Palaces with high security. Players can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool using 2x Silk Yarn, 3x Plant Balm, and 1x Cork Bark to boost encounters with these valuable foes.

Use Persona with EXP Skills

How to Get Growth Passive Skill

In Persona 5 Royal, Personas not equipped by Joker at the end of a battle typically don't earn EXP. However, equipping them with the Growth Passive Skill allows them to gain 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 will gain full EXP when inactive.

Certain Personas naturally learn Growth skills upon leveling up:

• 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 the Velvet Room, players can use the Electric Chair to transform Personas into Skill Cards. However, in Persona 5 Royal, only Izanagi Picaro can be converted into a Growth 3 Skill Card. To obtain 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), and spend time with them during evenings.

Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant

How to Unlock Insta-Kill

Insta-kill is a powerful skill that allows Joker to instantly defeat a Shadow during an ambush, provided his level is at least 10 levels higher than the target. In Persona 5 Royal, a successful Insta-kill not only defeats the Shadow but also yields items, yen, experience, and, if space permits, a Persona.

To identify Shadows vulnerable to Insta-kill, use Joker's Third Eye ability; those with a green outline can be instantly defeated. Unlocking Insta-kill requires reaching Rank 7 of Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant. Fortunately, Ryuji's Confidant has no Social Stat requirements, making it one of the easiest to max out. To quickly unlock Insta-kill, prioritize spending time with Ryuji and selecting dialogue options that maximize your bond points, ideally before engaging with other Confidants.