The Persona series is all about heading into some sort of alternate universe to fight monsters, but behind that it's also all about people and relationships. Persona 5and Persona 5 Royal is no different, and here the bonds you form with others are known as Cooperations, with the individuals known as yourConfidants. On this confidant guide, we have everything you need to breeze through every relationship efficiently.
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Each Confidant has their own uniquepersonality, and eachgives you a newinsight into Persona 5's Tokyo. In order to deepen your friendship with each Confidant you'll need to know how to act around them, what to say to them, what gifts to give them if you choose to do so - and some of them can even be romanced, if that sort of relationship is your deal.
Each confidant hasunique abilities that unlock as you progress through their story. This might be discounts in shops, bonus EXP in battlesor something else entirely - it depends on the person. Raising your cooperation rank with a confidant also grants bonus EXP when creating Persona of the same arcana as the one they represent. On top of all that,a couple of the confidants are a gateway to more content and the true ending in Persona 5 Royal.In short, confidants and cooperations are a big deal - they're important to your phantom thievery quest.
The Confidants are slightly different between vanilla Persona 5 and the upgraded Persona 5 Royal - some have slightly different options to choose with different dialogue, while others are entirely exclusive to Royal. Have no fear, for this guide is definitive: it covers all confidant cooperations in both Persona 5 and P5 Royal forms.
This page contains minor spoilers in the form of confidant identities, so scroll on at your own peril!
Persona 5 & Persona 5 Royal Confidant Cooperations - Conversation Choices & Ranking Up
One major factor in Persona 5 that carries over from other games in the Persona series is the emphasis on the importance of time. You've only got a limited number of days to complete your objectives, and each day only holds time for a few actions - so you need to think very carefully about how you approach things and how you spend your time.
A significant part of that time-sink are the cooperations, as they take quite some time to rank up and there's 21 of them. There are ways you can minimize the time spent in cooperations in order to free up more time, however, and that's the purpose of this comprehensive Persona 5 Royal confidant guide.
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By saying the right thing to confidants during your cooperation hang-outs, you'll advance your relationship more quickly and save in-game days and actions to do other things. If you don't want to guess your conversation choices, we've got you covered.
If you want some advice on which confidants to prioritize and the best confidant abilities to unlock, beyond the confidant list we have advice on which confidants to level up first, and the . For gifts, we list some suggestions on each relevant confidant page but also have a separate Persona 5 Royal gift guide.
Ann (Lovers)Confidant guide
This page details everything you need to know to successfully max out Ann's Confidant cooperation ranking as early as possible - plus it contains instructions for romancing her if she's the character you want to target romantically.
Ryuji (Chariot)Confidant guide
Ryuji is your sort of right-hand man for much of Persona 5 - but the better you know him, the more skills and options you'll have while he's in your party, including some useful abilities for a tankier character such as this brawler. Here's how to boost your relationship with the right conversation answers.
See AlsoEvertale tier list to help you pick the best charactersPersona 5 Royal Confidants guide: How to unlock all Confidants and what they get youEvertale Tier List (2024 Update): A Complete Ranking of All 130 SSR Heroes - Level WinnerPersona 5 Royal Akechi confidant guide: Justice choices & unlocks
Makoto (Priestess)Confidant guide
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On the above linked page you can find everything you need to know to impress (or date) Makoto, plus the skills and upgrades you unlock by getting to know her better over the course of the game.
Yusuke(Emperor)Confidant guide
Yusuke is a refined gentleman sort of type - an artist - but that doesn't stop him being handy with a samurai sword when the time comes to don the mask and become a master thief. Once you unlock him, use this guide to work through your relationship with him in an efficient manner.
Futaba (Hermit)Confidant guide
Futaba is a perfectly fitting character for the Hermit arcana, as she'd generally rather be on her computer rather than out in the world, but she'll still hit the town with you if you get to know her well enough - and she can eventually become a romance option. Find out all the best things to say to her to make that happen on the page linked above.
Haru(Empress)Confidant guide
Haru is a celebrity, but that doesn't mean she can't find herself involved as an anonymous member of the Phantom Thieves. Once you meet her you'll be able to advance a relationship with her, or turn it into something more if you'd like to pursue something romantic. Here's all the best things to say to make that happen.
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Kasumi (Faith) Confidant guide - Persona 5 Royal only
The biggest new addition in Persona 5 Royal is an all-new party member, Kasumi. Kasumi has a full confidant relationship of her own, is a romanceable character, and importantly has some time limits you need to keep in mind to woo her. All of this and more can be found in this confidant guide.
Goro Akechi (Justice) Confidant guide - Persona 5 Royal focused
In the standard edition of Persona 5, Akechi has a confidant cooperation relationship that levels up in line with the main story. In Persona 5 Royal he has a full relationship complete with the usual pitfalls and player choice - and even more important, his relationship is tied to seeing the true ending. This guide will help you through.
The Twin Wardens Caroline and Justine are your jailers in The Velvet Room, but that doesn't mean that you can't be friends. However, you don't simply hang out with this pair - in order to raise your confidant cooperation ranking, you'll need to 'solve' puzzles by fusing and bringing them persona that match certain criteria. Here's all the answers we discovered to those puzzles.
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Sadayo Kawakami(Temperance)Confidant guide
When you're a professional thief pulling off dating heists, lesser taboos seem a lot less bad... like having an inappropriate relationship with your teacher. Here's how to advance your cooperation confidant relationship with Sadayo Kawakami, and also how to have her as a romance interest if you're hot for teacher. Elements of this cooperation have a time limit, so it's well worth checking this guide to be aware of that.
Tae Takemi(Death)Confidant guide
If doctors are more your think, here's Tae Takemi - another cooperation confidant, this time in the local clinic. Tae's cooperation unlocks some useful things including access to better medicines - so you'll probably want to level her up as quickly as you can, and you can find help to do that in our guide to her, linked above.
Ichiko Ohya(Devil)Confidant guide
Ichiko Ohya is a journalist and a drunk - and we're not really sure what that says about what the developers at the Persona Studio think of the media. Or at least, we don't want to think about it. Get to know Ohya quickly with our full confidant cooperation guide for her and level up the devil arcana fast.
Shinya Oda (Tower) Confidant guide
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Shinya Oda is the youngest of your potential cooperation friends in Persona 5, and he can be most frequently found at the arcade. There's more to this kid than being good at light gun games and a cool hat, however, and you can learn what exactly and unlock some sweet upgrades by advancing your confidant cooperation - which we explain how to do quickly here.
Sojiro Sakura (Hierophant) Confidant guide
Sojiro Sakura might seem like a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but get to know your temporary guardian and you'll learn that he's not so harsh after all. On this guide we give you all the correct choices to advance his confidant cooperation quickly, and also explain how it's sometimes linked to Futaba's confidant cooperation plot.
Hifumi Togo (Star) Confidant guide
Here's a fun fact: at one point, Hifumi Togo was going to be a member of the Phantom Thieves and a playable member of Persona 5's cast, but the developers decided against it. She's still a classmate you can get to know much better through a confidant cooperation, however, and if you choose to pursue it, she can be a romantic love interest too. Our guide has all the right things to say to press this chess-lover's buttons.
Toranosuke Yoshida (Sun) Confidant guide
Joker and his gang of friends might technically be a group of criminals, but they've got hearts of gold - so it's not so bad that they're able to hang out with politicians. Yoshida is that rare breed - a good-guy politician - and you can help him through his confidant cooperation plot and get rewards in return. This confidant has a strict date cut-off, so beware.
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Chihaya Mifune (Fortune) Confidant guide
Chihaya Mifune is a fortune teller, but you can help inject a little bit of unpredictability in her life by getting to know her through her confidant cooperation story. You'll need a whopping 100,000 Yen to get this cooperation started, but you'll be rewarded with useful bonuses and eventually, if you follow it through to the end, your money back. Oh, and you can romance her. All that and more on her guide, linked above.
Iwai Munehisa (Hanged Man) Confidant guide
Iwai is already pretty useful to you, as his back-street airsoft weapons store already provides you with weapons useful to use in Mementos, no questions asked. But he can also become a good friend, and that friendship comes with some sweet, gun-customizing benefits. Here's how to level up his confidant relationship quickly.
Yuuki Mishima (Moon) Confidant guide
Mishima's confidant progression works a little differently to any other and is actually linked to your completion of side quests in Mementos - but this guide goes over the key principles, his upgrades and some other key moments in the progression of his storyline.
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Takuto Maruki Confidant guide - Persona 5 Royal only
Another new addition to Persona 5 Royal, and vital for the new endings, is the new Counselor confidant, a cooperation that takes place between you and a new school counselor character. This relationship has time limits and choices to worry about - and this page will help you through all that without a hitch.
Several of the cooperation relationships between you and your confidants in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royallevel up automatically based on the progression of Persona 5's main storyline. We've grouped the four that do this together on one page, so you can review the dates on which each upgrades and the unlocks you get when they do.
Confidant Relationships to Prioritize
While you can tackle Confidant Relationships in any order you want and your choice of who to focus on will be in large part down to personal preference, such as your choice of romance option, there are some we recommend doing sooner rather than later. They're as follows:
- Sun:Sun has a tight deadline, as it must be finished by mid-November, at which point it is rendered unavailable. It makes Shadow Negotiaton easier, which can make your life a lot easier in Dungeons.
- Temperance:This confidant will give you extra time to read, create tools and study, all of which can boost your stats. The confidant also has a great final bonus, the special massage. This one also has to be finished by mid-November.
- Moon:For a brief time in November this confidant will be rendered unavailable for a while. On top of this, this confidant awards very useful bonuses to EXP gained in battle.
- Fortune:This is a strategic one - Fortune is always available on her set nights, but by maxing her out early, she can help to improve your standing with other confidants more quickly.
The Best Confidants & Confidant Abilities in Persona 5
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As noted above, each confidant holds access to a few abilities that relate to theircharacter and their own skill set within the world of Persona. Some of these are more useful than others - and so here we're going to quickly run down our top five confidants you should try to meet and advance cooperations with as soon as possible in order to get access to their abilities.
Death (XIII) - Tae
Back alley Doctor Tae Takemi provides one of the most useful ability sets in the game - as her confidant cooperation goes on she'll gradually unlock greater stores of healing items for you at her clinic shop, and around the halfway point of your relationship she'll give you a dramatic discount. Her items can make dungeons much easier.
Our dedicated arcana choices guide can tell you where to find Tae and how to advance the Death cooperation with her.
Moon (XVIII) Confidant - Mishima
It's impossible to miss the confidant link for Yuuki Mishima, but his skills unlocked as you progress his story are still some of the best in the game. These skills will allow inactive members of your squad to gain EXP even when they're not fighting, plus boost the amount of EXP you gain in battle in general.
Our detailed arcana choices page will fill you in on how to rank Mishima's cooperation up quickly and what to say to him to make him happy.
Sun (XIX) Confidant - Yoshida
Politician Yoshida unlocks abilities that will significantly increase your gains from dungeons. As his cooperation progresses his abilities will allow you to get more loot from demon negotiations, make it easier for Persona to join you, and give you a chance at rarer loot from enemies.
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Head to our dedicated arcana choices guide for more information on where to find and how to advance the Sun cooperation with Yoshida.
Star (XVII) Confidant - Hifumi
Hifumi Togo is a Shogi genius, and that makes her ideal to provide the know how to up your tactical choices in combat. Advancing the Star cooperation will unlock a few great combat abilities for you, culminating in the ability to swap party members when in danger and later still on the fly - massively useful.
Hifumi can't be met until a few months into the game, but our arcana choices guide has detials on how to meet her and what conversation choices to make to rank her up fast.
Temperance (XIV) - Kawakami
Temperance is a solid cooperation to advance thanks to its ability to let you slack off in school and perform other tasks in class, a valuable time-saver, but better still is the ability to get menial tasks such as laundry or coffee-brewing done for you, freeing you up to do something else with your after-school time.
The story will prod you towards but not initiate Kawakami's cooperation. If you want to know how to get the Temperance cooperation started and how to level it quickly, we can help.
