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 introduces numerous quality-of-life improvements and adds 20 hours of fresh content, including a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and tweaks to existing boss fights. To tackle this expanded gameplay effectively, keeping your team's levels high is essential. Here's how you can efficiently gain experience in Persona 5 Royal.
Updated on January 13, 2025, by Renri Seong: While being over-leveled can make the game too easy, matching the level of Palace Rulers is crucial, especially on a new file. Persona 5 Royal offers various methods to streamline experience farming, from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose in Mementos. Additionally, Joker can earn EXP for non-active Personas with a specific passive skill. This guide has been updated to include a new section on quickly farming experience 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 equipping the Team Glasses accessory, available as a free DLC from the PlayStation Store. These glasses boost EXP gain by 15% when equipped on each character. However, only Joker and three other Phantom Thieves can participate in battle at once, leaving the backline members to receive less experience.
To address this, players can rank up 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. Progressing through Mishima's Confidant is straightforward; just choose dialogue options that resonate with him and bring a Persona of the Moon Arcana when spending time with him. Additionally, completing Mementos Missions assigned by Mishima is crucial for advancing 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 in gameplay. Throughout Mementos, players can find "flowers" and "Stamp Stations." Collecting these allows you to trade with Jose for items or to alter the Cognition of Mementos. In Jose's Shop, under the Cognition menu, you can choose to increase EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards, but these boosts are exclusive to Mementos. Upgrading EXP gain to 110% costs 5 Stamps, while reaching the maximum of 200% requires 12 Stamps. With 165 Stamps available in the game, you'll need 85 to max out the EXP Up. Stamp Stations are hidden in "dead ends" behind breakable walls on Mementos floors, and you might encounter Jose when moving to a new floor.
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 approach include a blinking red screen, the sound of chains, and warnings from Morgana or Futaba. Early in the game, defeating the Reaper is nearly impossible unless you're on a New Game+ file. He wields -dyne tier spells and Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks, and at level 85, his stats are exceptionally high, with Agility being his lowest at 75. 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 challenge him at level 60 or above, equipped with Defense-raising Support skills and Makarakarn to reflect his magic. Alternatively, using the Persona DLC with Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro) and stacking Concentrate, Heat Riser, and Myriad Truths can deal significant Almighty damage.
Defeat Treasure Demons
How to Summon Treasure Demons
Treasure Demons, unique Shadows introduced in Madarame's Palace, start appearing in the Metaverse after your first encounter. These non-aggressive Shadows will flee after a few turns, but defeating them before they escape is highly beneficial. Each type of Treasure Demon has different Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities, though all are susceptible to Almighty attacks. The most effective way to down them is with Shinya's Rank 1 Ability, Down Shot, setting them up for an All-Out Attack. Alternatively, using a high-crit attack like Morgana's Miracle Punch can work, provided the Treasure Demon doesn't nullify Physical attacks. Treasure Demons appear more frequently in Palaces with high security, and crafting the Treasure Trap infiltration tool (requiring 2x Silk Yarn, 3x Plant Balm, and 1x Cork Bark) can increase their spawn rate.
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.
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)
With the Electric Chair in the Velvet Room, players can convert Personas into Skill Cards. However, in Persona 5 Royal, only Izanagi Picaro can be transformed into a Growth 3 Skill Card. Growth 1 Skill Cards are unavailable, and to obtain a 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 by the Velvet Room Door outside 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, 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 rewards items, yen, experience, and potentially a new Persona. To identify Shadows susceptible to Insta-kill, use Joker's Third Eye ability; those with a green outline are vulnerable.
To unlock Insta-kill, you must 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 select the best dialogue options to maximize points, ideally before unlocking other Confidants.
