Raising the academics, charm, and courage social stats is critical for getting the most out of Persona 3 Reload and players will need to max all of them to unlock every social link.
The social stats component of the Persona games originated in Persona 3 and it’s back in Reload. While Persona 4 and 5 had players balancing the progression of five different stats, Persona 3 only had players managing three. Though Persona 3 Reload incorporates many elements from P4 and P5, it didn’t incorporate new social stats.
That means that players don’t have quite as much to juggle as they advance through the game, but there’s still little margin for error when it comes to time management. With that in mind, here are the best ways max out charm, courage, and academics in Persona 3 Reload, which social stats unlock new social links, and which to focus on in the early goings of the game.
The best ways to raise social stats in Persona 3 Reload
Players can raise their social stats the fastest by eating at restaurants, playing games at the arcade, and taking on jobs.
While Persona 3 is a fantastical story with monsters and eldritch horrors, it’s very realistic in one way; money makes things a lot easier. Generally speaking, the stat boosts that require money offer greater gains than those that are free, such as studying in the dorms.
Working part-time jobs offers stat boosts that are comparable to some paid activities, with the drawback that it gives multiple small boosts to multiple social stats rather than a larger boost to just one. This works well in the early game when players just need to get better stats, but isn’t ideal in the late game or when sprinting to level up a specific stat.
The arcade is the best reliable option for leveling up social stats in Persona 3 Reload. There are three different arcade games available on different days of the week, and each session costs a sizable chunk of money. The time and money requirements make it unwieldy, but the rewards make it worth the trouble.
Players should also hang out with party members who invite them to certain events. These events don’t happen frequently but can offer both a social stat boost and a boost to the social link progression which combine to make them worthwhile. Not all of them offer a stat boost though, so players might want to put the rewind feature to work.
How to increase academics in Persona 3 Reload
Increasing the academics stat in Persona 3 Reload can be done by studying in school, staying awake in class, and working certain jobs. The academics stat in Persona 3 Reload is the most straightforward social stat to raise in terms of its methodology, but the hardest to max out.
Here are the best options for raising academics:
- Study
- Stay awake in class
- Eat sushi at Wakatsu Restaurant
- Play The Answer Is You at the arcade
- Working at Be Blue V and Screen Shot
- Watch movies on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
In almost any block of free time, the player will have the opportunity to study. It’s worth noting that not all options for studying are equal, as location, weather, and RNG come into the equation. Studying in your room and studying at the library offer a small boost, but players can also join study groups in the dorms before midterms in order to get a larger boost at no cost. The fastest way to raise academics in Persona 3 Reload is playing The Answer is You at the arcade, followed by eating sushi at Wakatsu Restaurant.
On top of this, raising the academics stat offers the occasional benefit of a boost to charm when performing well on exams. Placing top of the class on exams offers a free boost to charm that doesn’t take time, offsetting some of the opportunity cost of focusing on academics.
Raising the academics stat might be the most obvious in terms of how to approach it but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest to grind. Maxing out academics takes much longer than the other stats, but also has the broadest variety of rewards.
How to increase charm in Persona 3 Reload
Raising charm in Persona 3 Reload is best done by answering questions correctly in class and visiting certain restaurants.
Here are all the best and most reliable ways to raise the charm social stat:
- Play High School of Youth at the arcade
- Drink coffee at Chagall Cafe
- Eat at Hagakure
- Answer questions in class
- Placing well on exams
- Work a shift at Be Blue V or Chagall Cafe
Charm is possibly the easiest social stat to raise in Persona 3 Reload. This stems from the fact that players can get multiple free boosts to the stat by answering questions correctly during class. Alongside this, acing exams gives a free boost to both social links and the charm stat.
Players who want a regular option for raising the charm stat can choose to eat at Hagakure or drink at Chagall cafe. Working at Be Blue V and Chagall Cafe also offers a small boost to the charm stat, as well as a bit of cash.
How to raise courage in Persona 3 Reload?
Courage has the lowest requirements for progression of any social stat in Persona 3 Reload, but that doesn’t mean that players can neglect it. Unlike charm, courage doesn’t have regular opportunities for a free stat boost, so players will have to put more effort into maxing it out.
Here are the go-to methods for raising courage in Persona 3 Reload:
- Play House of the Deceased at the arcade
- Eat a Mystery Burger at Wild Duck Burger
- Do karaoke
- Work at Chagall Cafe or Screen Shot
- Sleep during class
Charm became slightly easier to max in Persona 3 Reload. While Persona 3’s previous versions forcibly removed players from Tartarus with an exhaustion mechanic, that’s gone in Reload. While sleeping during class used to let players recover from this more quickly in previous versions, now it offers a boost to the courage stat.
What social stat should I focus on?
In Persona 3 Reload, players should prioritize raising academics. The stat should be raised to level three by the time of the first exam, to give players the chance to score top of their class. It should then be maxed ahead of the second exam.
Performing well during exams gives players a boost to all their social links at school and a boost to charm. Players cannot place highly during exams without raising their academics stat. Even if players answer all the questions correctly, they will not place well during their exams without raising the stat. That boost to social links is invaluable as it allows players to avoid burning time to get a social link to level up.
After this, Persona 3 players can take a more balanced approach to raising social stats. Players need to make sure to raise the academics stats to the maximum rank before the third exam, however. Mitsuru’s social link is missable in Persona 3 Reload and requires max academics to unlock.
Which social links require social stats to unlock in Persona 3 Reload?
Players unlock the ability to begin new social links and open up new dialog options by raising their social stats. Eight different social links have a social stat requirement to start. All three social stats must be maxed out in order to unlock all social links.
Here’s the full list of social links that have a social stat requirement in Persona 3 Reload:
- Fuuka (Priestess)- Courage rank 6
- Mitsuru (Empress)- Academics rank 6
- Yukari (Priestess)- Charm rank 6
- Tanaka (Devil)- Charm rank 4
- Bebe (Temperance)- Academics rank 2
- Mamoru (Star)- Courage rank 4
- Nozomi (Moon)- Charm rank 2
- Akinari (Sun)- Academics rank 4
While social stats don’t confer a direct benefit in battle, they let players start social links that offer access to more and stronger Personas. Unlocking social links with Mitsuru, Fuuka, and Yukari all require Persona 3 Reload players to max out one of the social stats. Players wanting to start some inter-party romance will need to hit the books, get to work, play at the arcade, or eat up to do so.
