"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. If you don't keep your team's levels up to par, you'll find yourself struggling against the game's formidable late-game bosses and spending unnecessary 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 modifies some existing boss battles. With all this fresh content, it's essential to keep your team's levels high and know the most efficient ways to gain experience.

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 when starting a new file. There are several strategies to ease experience farming in P5R, ranging from leveraging Confidant Skills to utilizing Jose in Mementos. Joker can also earn EXP for his non-active Persona with a specific passive skill. This guide has been updated to include a new section on 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 download the free Team Glasses accessory from the PlayStation Store. Equipping these glasses will boost EXP gain by 15% during battles, but each character must have them equipped to benefit.

Since only Joker and three other Phantom Thieves can participate in battles at once, those on the backline receive less experience. 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's Confidant ensures that backup members receive the same amount of EXP as those fighting on the front lines.

Advancing Mishima's Confidant is straightforward as long as you choose dialogue options that resonate with him. It's also beneficial to bring a Persona of the Moon Arcana when spending time with him.

In Persona 5 Royal, Mementos Missions assigned by Mishima are now linked to his Confidant progression. Neglecting these missions will hinder your ability to rank up his Confidant.

Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

Cognition of Mementos

Persona 5 Royal introduces a character named Jose, who, while not central to the plot like Kasumi and Maruki, significantly enhances gameplay.

Throughout Mementos, players can find "flowers" and "Stamp Stations." Collecting these allows you to trade them with Jose for items or to modify the Cognition of Mementos. In Jose's Shop, under the Cognition menu, you can increase EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards specifically within Mementos. Upgrading EXP from battles to 110% costs 5 Stamps, while reaching the maximum of 200% EXP requires 12 Stamps.

There are 165 Stamps available in Persona 5 Royal, but you'll need 85 to max out the EXP boost. Stamp Stations are hidden in "dead ends" behind breakable walls on Mementos floors. You might encounter Jose 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 on a floor too long. Signs of his approach include a red blinking screen, the sound of chains, and warnings from Morgana or Futaba about an ominous presence.

At the game's start, defeating the Reaper is nearly impossible unless you're on a New Game+ file. The Reaper wields -dyne tier spells and Support skills like Concentrate and elemental Breaks (e.g., Fire, Wind, Ice, Elec Break).

He's level 85 with exceptionally high stats. His lowest stat, Agility, is still at 75, which can easily outpace the Phantom Thieves if they're under-leveled.

However, defeating the Reaper yields a massive amount of experience and money, often resulting in level-ups for all characters.

It's advisable to challenge the Reaper at level 60 or above. Equip Defense-raising Support skills and use Makarakarn to reflect his magic. Alternatively, if you have the Persona DLC featuring Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro), you can stack Concentrate, Heat Riser, and then use Myriad Truths to deal heavy Almighty damage three times.

Defeat Treasure Demons

How to Summon Treasure Demons

Treasure Demons are unique Shadows that first appear in Madarame's Palace and subsequently spawn throughout the Metaverse. Unlike typical Shadows, Treasure Demons are harmless and will flee after a few turns.

Different types of Treasure Demons have varying 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, which knocks them down for an All-Out Attack.

Another option is to down a Treasure Demon with a high-crit attack like Morgana's Miracle Punch, provided the demon doesn't nullify Physical attacks.

Treasure Demons appear more frequently in Palaces with high security. You can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool to increase encounters with Treasure Demons. The materials required 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, any Persona not equipped by Joker at the end of a battle won't earn EXP. However, if they possess the Growth Passive Skill, they'll still gain a percentage of experience even if not used in that fight. 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 Persona learn Growth when leveling: