Max all Confidants in Persona 5 / P5 Royal Without a Walkthrough and Work Towards 100%ing the Game Without Spoilers

Persona 5 / Persona 5 Royal (the updated “golden” version of P5) is an amazingly fun game and unlike Persona 3/4, it’s so much more forgiving in a lot of areas. If you want to play without a walkthrough, which makes the game boring and tedious to get through each day checking and if you mess up anywhere you’re off the boat, then this guide is for you.

The problem is that it’s hard to play the game without a walkthrough, because the game is so large and there is so much to do. Here’s the deal – to be time efficient you should spoil the trophies / achievements to know how to get them, but that’s on your second playthrough. You have to have two playthroughs to 100% the game. Therefore you can play your first playthrough however you want to and if you don’t get everything that’s fine.

Quick Advice

Here’s some quick advice on what to do if you’re just wanting the quick and fast way to play without a walkthrough.

• You are given a lenient amount of time in Persona 5 and in Persona 5 Royal for everything. You don’t need to worry about it as long as you save extra activities (such as fishing, making every tool and video games) to save scrubbing.
• You will spend the last quarter of the game with your social stats maxed even if you don’t try. Boosting social stats early on is only good for leveling up specific confidants.
• Don’t be afraid of looking at confidant guides to answer their questions. The ones online don’t have many spoilers for the storylines and even then, there isn’t much in the way of surprises.
• Finish Palaces in as few days as possible. If you get a game over and are looking to 100% the game, consider switching to “Safe Mode” or restarting your save to recover the day. Safe Mode also helps give you tons of cash, making the game trivial, but easy to do whatever you please.
• Always check your phone. You can snag free rides to confidants and get requests that will eventually be unobtainable if you don’t accept via the phone.
• Make a note of who shows up during the day, the night and both. Focus on confidants that show up rarely and show up only at certain times during the day. That will leave the easier and more available confidants for when you can’t access anyone else.

Persona 5 Confidant Walkthrough

You do want to make the most of your first playthrough, so let’s go over the basic game mechanics and how to mix them together in Persona 5 to make sure you get most of your achievements in your first run and how to use your save files smartly.

First, we have to understand the core of how the game works. The visual novel aspect of the game occurs when you’re not inside of a dungeon, with free movement allowed in the afternoon and eventually in the evening. Activities, like meeting with confidants or making tools move time to the next phase.

Dungeons consume an entire day, outside of a confidant who has a skill to give you your evenings back later in the game. Palaces require a minimum of two days (some require more) and mementos is optional, but you should complete all requests and use it to level up so that when you approach the palace you can finish it in one run.

Time Management

The game will have scripted events that also consume time. You have a calendar that will warn you of some, others are surprises. It’s in your best interest to finish the palace at the start of a “mission” and mementos right before your time runs out (to level up for the next palace and finish any requests you got from here to there).

Confidants have lives and take time to meet with. You will have to meet with each confidant a minimum of ten days and some (like temperance and moon) have deadlines to max them out. Fortune and Temperance are two confidants that can give you more time to do other things in the game.

There are achievements related to fishing, reading and video games and other activities as well that take time and provide very little benefit to you for that time consumed. Using a save file to get the achievement (start at the beginning of a mission) will allow you to get the achievement and not waste time on your walkthrough for talking with confidants.

Saving Often

So with the above knowledge, save often and keep multiple saves (if you’re not on safety and lose in a dungeon, no biggie, just reload your save). Constantly work on leveling up confidants. If no confidants are available, work on leveling up social stats. Complete palaces in as few days as possible and use mementos to level up to help you do that. Don’t be afraid of “safety” mode to play through the game, if the combat becomes fatiguing to you.

Once you’ve played through the game and you’ve completed it, you can go through in New Game + mode for missables, either with a walkthrough or just to clean up the achievements you haven’t gotten or couldn’t get. Again some achievements require new game +.

Keep a book on you at all times. Fertilizer gives you free kindness via the plant (always buy the best one). Sundays you get a free social stat increase at the drink shop in the subway. Don’t read location books until toward the end of the game, confidants will unlock most of them. Not every available confidant will text you when they’re free, you have to use the map and the square button.

Certain locations give better bonuses at certain times, like the diner during rain.

Always bring the matching persona to the confidant.

Persona 5 is very forgiving with time, there is a lot of extra time. This is a minor spoiler, so stop reading if you don’t want it but the Fortune confidant can grant you social links with confidants, meaning that you don’t have to do the extra day between level ups if visit every single day (she’s only not available in the rain).

Persona 5 Royal

All of the above and below advice is absolutely valid, but PS5 royal is even more forgiving. Morgana/Mona doesn’t tell you to sleep so much at night, opening up way more evenings to get things done. There is one more palace that gives you more time as well at the end. Not only that, but palaces and mementos are easier. Palaces have special SP restoring items and a grappling hook to surprise shadows. Mementos has Jose who sells new items and it’s expanded making it a better place to level up.

PS5 Royal can’t use save data from Persona 5 original. It’s a new game. The trophies are a lot easier in PS5 Royal and you can get most, if not all in one playthrough. With the additional time, it should be easier than ever to get them, especially with some save scrubbing.

Spoiler Tips (Confidant Skills)

• The maid (Temperance) is important to 100% as fast as possible. She lets you use your night even when you go to the dungeon via massage, she will make tools and do laundry for you without consuming time.
• The fortune teller (Fortune) can increase your social links with confidants without consuming time (just money).
• Confidants that go into the palaces with you don’t have the most interesting skills and are the easiest to unlock.
• The last confidant is the hardest to max before the end of the game.
• Confidants in your party between finding the treasure and sending the calling card won’t be around to do things with.
• You have until near the end of December to finish the game. (Dec 22nd)
• To get the rare fish you need max proficiency. On the last fish (Mona will tell you that you’re tired and you can get one more in), use the bespoke lure and then “lure it” over to you by throwing it and pulling it up before it bites. When it’s close, just try your hardest. Like I said, use a save that you’re not playing your main game on.