Just like in any RPG, leveling up is a vital part of the gameplay in Persona 5 Royal. Players who fail to level up their team will struggle against late-game bosses and need to waste time level grinding in Mementos. As an updated re-release of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal has many quality-of-life changes and 20 hours of new gameplay.

Persona 5 Royal includes a new semester for the Phantom Thieves and adds a few changes to pre-existing boss fights. With so much new content, it's best to keep everyone's levels high and know the quickest ways to get experience.

Updated May 10, 2023 by Renri Seong: Being over-leveled can make Persona 5 Royal too easy for most players, but they're going to want to be at the same level as Palace Rulers - especially on their first playthrough. There are several ways to enhance experience gain in P5R through the Moon Confidant and Jose in Mementos. Joker can also earn EXP for his non-active Persona with the Growth Skill. Normally, Personas with Growth learn it upon leveling up, but for Personas that do not, players will need the Growth Skill Card. The following guide has been updated to include relative information regarding Growth.

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Accessories and The Moon Arcana

In Persona 5 Royal, players can download the free DLC from the Playstation Store to get the accessory Team Glasses. These will add 15% EXP gain from battle. In order for these to work, each character needs to have them equipped as their Accessory.

Since players can only use Joker and three other Phantom Thieves in battle, the Phantom Thieves on the backline will get less experience once a battle has ended.

By ranking up the Moon Confidant (Yuuki Mishima) to Rank 3 and Rank 5, backup team members will gain EXP. If the player chooses to get to Rank 10 of Mishima's Confidant, then backup members will gain the same EXP as those fighting on the front lines.

Increasing Mishima's Confidant is fairly easy as long as players remember to select the dialogue option that appeals to him the most. It's also advised to bring a Persona of the Moon Arcana before hanging out with him.

As of Persona 5 Royal, Mementos Missions assigned by Mishima are now tied in with his Confidant. This means if players are neglecting Mishima's missions, then it won't be possible to Rank Up the Confidant.

Mementos: Increase EXP Gain

Along with Yoshizawa and Maruki, Persona 5 Royal added a new character named Jose. He may not be as plot-important as Kasumi and Maruki, but he can be a great help gameplay-wise.

Scattered around the depths of Mementos are "flowers" and "Stamp Stations." Collect both of these, and they can be exchanged with Jose for items or changing the Cognition of Mementos. In the Cognition menu of Jose's Shop, players have the option of increasing EXP, Money Rewards, or Item Rewards, but only in Mementos. Increasing the EXP from battle to 110% will cost 5 Stamps, while getting the EXP Up to 200% (max) will cost 12 Stamps.

There are a total of 165 Stamps in Persona 5 Royal, but players will need a total of 85 Stamps if they want to max out the Exp Up. Stamp Stations can be found in "dead ends" on a Mementos floor behind breakable walls. When players go to a new floor of Mementos, they have a chance of running into Jose.

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Fight the Reaper

The Reaper is a powerful, recurring enemy of the Persona franchise. He will appear in Mementos if players stay on a floor for too long. The screen will start blinking red and the sound of chains can be heard. Additionally, Morgana (or Futaba) will warn Joker of an ominous presence.

At the very start of the game, defeating the Reaper will be impossible if players aren't on a New Game+ file. The Reaper has -dyne tier spells and Support skills such as Concentrate and elemental Breaks (i.e: Fire, Wind, Ice, Elec Break).

He will be level 85 with extremely high stats. His Agility is his lowest stat (75), but it will be enough to outspeed the Phantom Thieves if they're not strong enough.

However, successfully defeating the Reaper rewards an incredible amount of experience and money. All characters are likely to level once the Reaper is defeated.

It's recommended to fight the Reaper at level 60 or higher. Have Defense-raising Support skills and cast Makarakarn to reflect the Reaper's magic. Alternatively, those who bought the Persona DLC with Izanagi-no-Okami (Picaro) can stack Concentrate, Heat Riser, and then use Myriad Truths to deal heavy Almighty damage 3x.

Defeat Treasure Demons

Treasure Demons are special Shadows that first appear in Madarame's Palace. After the first encounter, they'll start spawning in the Metaverse. Unlike most Shadows, Treasure Demons are harmless and will flee after a few turns.

There are several types of Treasure Demons, and each one has different Affinity Weaknesses and Immunities. However, all Treasure Demons will take regular damage from Almighty attacks. The best way to defeat Treasure Demons before they flee is by downing them with Shinya's Rank 1 Ability, Down Shot. This opens them up to an All-Out Attack.

Alternatively, players can try downing a Treasure Demon with a high-crit attack like Morgana's Miracle Punch, so long as the Treasure Demon doesn't null Physical attacks.

Treasure Demons appear in Palaces when the security is high. Players can also craft the Treasure Trap infiltration tool, which increases Treasure Demons encounters in a Palace. The materials required for the Treasure Trap are the following:

• 2x Silk Yarn
• 3x Plant Balm
• 1x Cork Bark

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Use Persona with EXP Skills

Any Persona that Joker does not equip at the end of battle will usually not earn EXP. However, if they have the Passive Skill Growth, they'll earn a percentage of experience from battle even if they're not used for that fight. There are three types 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 Persona learn Growth when leveling:

Once players unlock the Electric Chair in the Velvet Room, they'll be able to turn Persona into Skill Cards. Unfortunately, the Personas that could turn into Growth 1 and Growth 2 Skill Cards in Persona 5 no longer do in Persona 5 Royal. Izanagi Picaro is the only Persona that will become a Growth Skill Card (Growth 3) when used in the Electric Chair.

Growth 1 Skill Card cannot be obtained in P5R.

To get the Growth 2 Skill Card, players will need to take Caroline and Justine to Miura Beach on September 2nd - September 29th. This can occur after Joker has cleared event 6 (Sky Tower). Joker can spend time with Justine and Caroline during evenings by speaking to them by the Velvet Room Door outside of Mementos.

Persona 5 Royal is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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