Persona 3 Reload is not only a good turn-based RPG, but also a great daily life sim and life would be way better if we could increase our Social Stats as easily as we can in-game. But which Social Stat should we focus on first in P3R?
Persona 3 Reload Social Stats Explained
Since the original Persona 3, modern Persona games have included the Social Stat mechanic, where you must increase the protagonist’s Social Stats by partaking in various daily activities such as eating in new restaurants or watching movies. Like in the original game, in Persona 3 Reload, we have the Charm, Courage, and Academics Social Stats. These are all required for unlocking new features, such as certain Social Links or even new daily activities.
Courage unlocks the Tower, Star, and High Priestess Social Links and gives you new dialogue options you couldn’t previously pick. Charm unlocks the Moon, Devil, and Lovers Social Links while giving some new dialogue options. Academics unlocks the Temperance, Sun, and Empress Social Links and makes you do better in tests.
All Social Stats cap out at level 6, and each differs in the number of points you’ll need to max them out. Academics requires the most points, making it the most difficult Social Stat to fully level, whereas Courage only requires a third of what Academics requires to max out.
Social Stats are also occasionally required for other activities, such as completing requests from Elizabeth. You can increase all your Social Stats in various ways, but it’s up to you which one will be your main focus.
Which Social Stat Should You Level First in Persona 3 Reload?
Academics is the hardest Social Stat to increase in P3R, and I believe it should be the main focus for most players. While you absolutely cannot sleep on activities that increase Charm or Courage, Academics is the stat that pays off slightly better if you’re looking for those bonuses from scoring the highest in your grade at exams.
Furthermore, if you’re trying to max all your Social Links (a difficult feat in a single playthrough), you’ll want to focus on increasing your Academics to at least the second rank to start the Temperance Social Link with Bebe before it disappears. This is one of the few Social Links that has a deadline to start (but not finish), and if you don’t unlock it before the third Full Moon Operation, it will become unavailable for the rest of the game.
However, finding a balance between leveling Social Stats is the ideal strategy. Once you’re done with Academics Lvl 2, start working on your Courage, for example. You’ll need Courage rank 2 to access Club Escapade at Pawlonia Mall, which will give you access to the URL seller, the Fortune Teller, and the Tower Social Link.
It’s easy to balance out all of P3R’s Social Stats in the long run with so many activities to increase them. Most activities requiring a maximum level Social Stat are usually near the end of the game when you should already have a few of them maxed out.
But you’re free to fully prioritize the Courage stat if you want to start Fuuka’s Social Link as soon as possible, for example. Maximum Academics will allow you to see Mitsuru, but her Social Link won’t be available before November, regardless of that. But the Academics Social Stat is still useful for the tests, as mentioned, and you’ll have a couple of those throughout the game.
