Money matters in Persona, and it matters even more in Persona 5 and its expansion, Persona 5 Royal. If you’ve played P5 already, then you’ve doubtless come across the standard method of money farming. We did too.
It’s effective, but you need money in Persona 5 for more than just fusing high-level Personas. The standard method is also hit-and miss, depending on your luck stat and your own level. If you’re doing your first playthrough, it’s just not the most efficient way of making money. It leaves a lot to chance and takes grinding with the Gallows in the Velvet Room.
Fortunately, we’ve got another method of money farming in Persona 5, and since the fundamentals between games are basically the same, it’s the best method for making money in Persona 5 Royal too.
It’s all about milking the negotiation system in Mementos. If you do it the right way, with the right augmentations, you can easily get 100,000 Yen in 30 minutes or less.
The Sun Confidant
The first thing you’ll need to do is establish the Sun Confidant. That’s the reforming politician Toranosuke Yoshida, but starting the Sun Confidant takes time.
He gives speeches in Shibuya’s Station Square at night, which means you can’t even speak to him until May 6 (the first time you’re allowed outside Yongen at night). Speak with him then, and trigger a scene to get an idea of what his goals are.
Problem is, you can’t do anything with him yet. Instead, he says he’s going to the Beef Bowl Shop.
That’s your clue to do the same, but not as a customer. Leg it to the Shibuya Underground, and go to one of the part-time job magazines. Choose the Beef Bowl job, and go through the motions to get the job. Fortunately, because this is Persona, you don’t actually have to do anything to get the job other than say you want it.
On your next night out (preferably soon-ish), go back to Station Square. Talk to Yoshida again. Again, you still can’t make a deal with him. He’ll go to the Beef Bowl Shop again, and you should work there again.
This time, you’ll have to memorize the order of customer orders. Once you’re done, Yoshida commends you for your hard work.
The next night, go back to Station Square again, and you’ll start the Sun Confidant after speaking with Yoshida one more time.
After that, he’s only available on Sunday nights, so make sure to keep that slot open for a bit. Fuse Suzaku too — Level 16 if you’re playing Royal, Level 19 in base Persona 5 — to get extra bond points during the Confidant scenes.
The next time he’s available, you’ll rank up to Rank 2 (assuming you don’t screw up the answers. Just tell him what he wants to hear). If all goes well, you’ll spend time again the next Sunday and rank up to 3.
This grants you the Fundraising ability, where you can repeatedly ask for large money sums from Shadows during a Hold Up.
Into Mementos
Now, head into Mementos, whether you have any pending requests or not. The money farming method seems to work best if you’re at or slightly over the level of the Shadows in that area. A rainy day is best, since the Shadows are stronger (which means more money), and the items you can collect to sell later are better quality too.
Start engaging in fights. There are two ways to go about this effectively.
The first is straightforward. Target the enemies’ weaknesses, and knock them down. Ideally, you’ll dispatch a couple of enemies in the process, which earns you extra money at the end of the battle.
Either way, choose to speak to the Shadow during the Hold Up. Demand money. After they shell some out, say “You can do better than that.”
Usually, you can get them to give you money two or three times per Hold Up. Depending on the enemy, that could be an extra 6,000 to 10,000 Yen just from the Hold Up.
Your chances of success are higher if it’s a Persona you’ve already acquired before. If you’ve had it before, make sure to decline their offer to join you again, or you can’t ask for money.
If it goes sour, that’s not a bad thing. They’ll often summon reinforcements, which is a great way to take out more enemies, earn more money, and still get a chance for another Hold Up with the new Shadows.
Intentionally messing up so you make them summon reinforcements is the second way of farming money in Mementos. It’s a bit riskier but potentially nets you a much bigger payout all at once.
Change Mementos
If you’re playing Persona 5 Royal, there’s one other thing you can do to make money farming easier. Collect stamps for Jose during your Mementos travels. Most of the stamp podiums are at the end of each floor, but some are hidden about.
Find Jose again, and choose to invest your stamp points under “Cognition: Change Mementos.” Put all your points into the selection that lets you increase money earned in Mementos, and there you go. The money you get from every fight automatically increases.
Persona 5/Royal Fortune Confidant
You can use the money for better gear and such, obviously. But the real reason you need at least 100,000 Yen is to start the Fortune Confidant. You can do this once you’ve visited Shinjuku and spoken with the fortune teller there, Chihaya Mifune.
She requires 100,000 Yen to start the link, but the benefits make forking it over completely worth it.
Ranks 1 and 7 of the Fortune Confidant let you deepen the bond with a Confidant of your choice — for a price, of course. More importantly, it doesn’t cause time to pass, which means no more wasting time on Confidant events that don’t go anywhere.
Storing up money for the Fortune Confidant should be top priority.
Persona 5 Royal Special Handling
Persona 5 Royal gives you access to Special Handling through the Strength Confidant much earlier than base Persona 5. This means you can pay a huge sum of money to fuse a Persona at a higher level than your own. It’s very, very expensive, but this method is an excellent way to keep your cash reserves high.
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That’s all you need to know about how to farm money in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal before New Game+. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Persona 5 Royal guides once the game launches.
