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Leveling up is a crucial aspect of gameplay in Persona 5 Royal. Failing to keep your team adequately leveled can make late-game bosses a daunting challenge, requiring tedious grinding sessions in Mementos. As an enhanced version of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal introduces numerous quality-of-life improvements and adds 20 hours of fresh content.
The game features a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and revamps some of the existing boss battles. With all this additional content, maintaining high levels for your team and understanding the most efficient methods for gaining experience is essential.
Updated January 13, 2025 by Renri Seong: Being over-leveled can trivialize Persona 5 Royal, but matching the Palace Rulers' levels is crucial, especially when starting a new game. Several strategies can streamline experience farming, from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose's services in Mementos. Joker can also earn EXP for non-active Personas with the right passive skill. This guide has been updated to include a new section on rapidly farming experience using the Insta-kill ability.
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 boosts EXP gain by 15% in battle, but each character must wear them to benefit.
Only Joker and three other Phantom Thieves can participate in battle at a time, leaving the backline members to receive less EXP. However, by advancing the Moon Confidant (Yuuki Mishima) to Rank 3 and Rank 5, backup team members will also gain EXP. Reaching Rank 10 with Mishima ensures that backline members receive the same amount of EXP as those on the front lines.
To increase Mishima's Confidant rank, 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 integrated with his Confidant progression, so neglecting these missions will hinder your ability to rank up.
Mementos: Increase EXP Gain
Cognition of Mementos
Persona 5 Royal introduces a new character, Jose, who, despite not being central to the plot, significantly enhances gameplay. In Mementos, players can collect "flowers" and visit "Stamp Stations," which can be exchanged with Jose for various rewards or to alter the Cognition of Mementos.
In Jose's Shop, under the Cognition menu, players can choose to increase EXP, Money, or Item rewards, but this applies only within Mementos. Enhancing EXP gain to 110% costs 5 Stamps, while maxing it out at 200% requires 12 Stamps. With 165 Stamps available in the game, players need 85 to fully maximize EXP gain. Stamp Stations are hidden in "dead ends" behind breakable walls on each Mementos floor, and encountering Jose becomes possible when transitioning between floors.
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. Signs of his arrival include a flashing red 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. He wields -dyne tier spells and powerful Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks. The Reaper's level is 85, boasting high stats across the board, with Agility being his lowest at 75, yet still sufficient to outpace the Phantom Thieves if they're under-leveled.
Defeating the Reaper grants substantial experience and money, often resulting in a level up for all characters. It's advisable to confront 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 buffs like Concentrate and Heat Riser before unleashing Myriad Truths for heavy Almighty damage three times.
Defeat Treasure Demons
How to Summon Treasure Demons
Treasure Demons are unique Shadows first encountered in Madarame's Palace, and they continue to appear throughout the Metaverse. Unlike typical Shadows, they are harmless and attempt to flee after a few turns.
Each type of Treasure Demon has distinct Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities, but all are vulnerable to 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 set up an All-Out Attack. Another option is to use a high-crit attack like Morgana's Miracle Punch, provided the Treasure Demon isn't immune to Physical attacks.
Treasure Demons appear more frequently in Palaces with high security. Players can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool to boost encounters, which requires:
- 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 won't earn EXP. However, the Growth Passive Skill allows inactive Personas to gain a percentage of battle EXP. There are three tiers 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 naturally learn Growth at specific levels:
- 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 turn Personas into Skill Cards. However, only Izanagi Picaro can be transformed into a Growth 3 Skill Card. Growth 1 Skill Cards are unavailable in P5R, and to obtain a Growth 2 Skill Card, players must take Caroline and Justine to Miura Beach between September 2nd and September 29th, after completing event 6 (Sky Tower). Spend time with them in the evenings near the Velvet Room door outside Mementos.
Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant
How to Unlock Insta-Kill
Insta-kill is a powerful ability that allows Joker to instantly defeat a Shadow without engaging in battle, provided he ambushes it and his level is 10 levels higher than the Shadow's. In Persona 5 Royal, a successful Insta-kill not only defeats the Shadow but also grants items, yen, experience, and a Persona if inventory space allows.
To identify Shadows susceptible to Insta-kill, use Joker's Third Eye ability; those with a green outline can be instantly killed. To unlock Insta-kill, advance Ryuji Sakamoto's Confidant to Rank 7. Ryuji's Confidant is one of the easiest to max out, requiring no specific Social Stats. To quickly reach Rank 7, spend time with Ryuji and select dialogue options that maximize points, ideally before focusing on other Confidants.
