Persona 5 offers plenty of opportunities to sink hours into exploring Palaces as the leader of the Phantom Thieves and building relationships with your confidants. But you’d be wise not to neglect more mundane daily life activities like studying, reading and part-time jobs. These activities raise your five social stats: Guts, Charm, Knowledge, Kindness and Proficiency.
As the game progresses, you’ll find entire Confidant links that cannot be started without having attained a certain skill level, or that you cannot progress existing relationships until you raise one of your traits. Each of the five stats has five ranks, and while some players will max them all in one playthrough, the rest of us mere mortals might have to settle for doing it on New Game +. Here’s the activities you can do to raise each of these stats.
How To Increase Guts
- Clinical trial in Yongen-Jaya medical clinic / Death Confidant
- Take the Big Bang Burger challenge in Shibuya
- Spend too long in the bathhouse (you’ll get an on-screen prompt)
- Study in the school library (haters gonna hate)
How To Increase Charm
- Visit the bathhouse in Yongen-Jaya (Mondays and Thursdays give three points instead of two)
- Spend time with Sun Confidant in Station Square - Shibuya (from May 6)
- Hang out with Devil Confidant at the Crossroads bar in Shinjuku (accessible from June 25)
- Order Frui-Tea in Shibuya Diner (available from August)
- Eat at the Maid Cafe in Shinjuku
How To Increase Knowledge
- Answer quiz and exam questions correctly ( we’ve got all the answers for the first few months of the game)
- Listening in class (automatic)
- Study in the library
- Study in the Shibuya diner (rainy day bonus)
- Spend time with Star Confidant at Kanda Church (available from June 26; requires Level 3 Charm to start)
How To Increase Kindness
- Work at the Raffelsia Flower Shop (Underground Mall - Shibuya Station; requires Level 2 Charm to start)
- Buy plant foods for the tree in your room
- Spend time with Sojiro / Hierophant Confidant (from April 24)
- Spent time with Tower Confidant (available Sept. 6)
How To Increase Proficiency
- Work at the Beef Bowl Shop in Central Street - Shibuya (must have Level 2 Proficiency to start)
- Craft tools (lockpicks, etc) at the desk in your bedroom
- Use the batting cages in Yongen-Jaya
- Spend time with the Hanged Man Confidant (available from May 6, but requires Level 4 Guts to begin)
- Sleeping in class (must have started Temperance Confidant, available May 27)
Random / Variable Skill Boosts
- Working part-time at Crossroads Bar in Shinjuku will increase Charm, Guts or Kindness, depending on who you speak to. You must have Level 3 Kindness and Level 3 Proficiency to take this job, which is first available from late June (this may be tough to access so early in a first playthrough).
- Drink juice in the Underground Walkway - Shibuya (Sundays only, stat bonuses cycle)
- Watching movies and reading books -- relevant stat bonuses are typically listed in the descriptions
- Watch DVDs in your room (must purchase second-hand TV in Yongen-Jaya)
- Play retro games in your room (must purchase both TV and retro console from second-hand store in Yongen-Jaya)
Any activities that we left out? Which social stat did you have the hardest time ranking up? Feel free to talk all things Persona 5 in the comments!
Be sure to check out some of our other Persona 5 guides while you’re here!
- First Look: The Phantom Thieves Will Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Life
- Combat Guide: How To Exploit Enemy Weaknesses, Trigger All-Out Attacks And More
- Fusion Guide: Tips For Mastering The Velvet Room
- Confidant Guide: Essential Arcana Info And Tips To Rank Up
- Palace Guide: Tips And Strategies For Dungeon Crawls And Stealing Treasure
- Quiz And Exam Answers For April, May And June
- Kamoshida Boss Fight Guide: Take Down The Demon Pervert And Escape The Castle
- Madarame Guide: Solve The Feet Puzzle And Defeat Shadow Madarame
- Kaneshiro Vault PIN And Boss Fight Guide
- 4th Boss Fight: Help Futaba Defeat Aerial Cognitive Wakaba
- Gripping, twisty-turny story
- Collect all the waifus!
- Rapid-fire turn-based combat
- Infectious soundtrack
- Literally everything
- A cat making you go to bed when you're not tired
- Say goodbye to your actual life
