While Social Links are a major game mechanic in Persona 3 Reload, they aren't the only way you can pass the time while hanging out with your friends, particularly at night.
These other ways of spending time start appearing in July after Mitsuru takes the SEEES second years through a belated introduction of the Iwatodai Dorm facilities. You can get several small bonuses by taking advantage of these hangout opportunities, but you can also unlock powerful, permanent bonuses that come in handy during Persona 3 Reload combat.
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Hangout Basics
- You can initiate a dorm hangout by speaking to a SEES member who has a unique smiley face icon over their head.
- Every SEES member in Persona 3 Reload has two dorm locations where they want to hang out with the protagonist.
- If you hang out with a SEES member three times at one location, they gain a Characteristic. If you hang out three times at both of the member's locations, their Characteristic will upgrade.
- You can complete the hangout events in any order.
- After gaining a Characteristic, you can still spend time with the SEES member in the dorm. Doing so will give you the minor benefit from hanging out, and if you have an active Social Link with the P3R character, you'll also get a relationship point. However, they won't upgrade their Characteristic any further.
- Hangout availability is much less predictable than Social Link availability, and the plot often determines who (if anyone) is available for a hangout on any given night. You should prioritize hangouts once they become available because you'll still have plenty of time for Social Stat boosts and the two evening Social Links after you get everyone's Characteristics. If you do, you should be able to complete them all before the end of September.
The benefits you get from a hangout event depend on which location you use and which SEES member you spend time with.
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Where To Find Every SEES Member
Location (Where They Appear) | SEES Member | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
TV Lounge (Next to the TV) | Akihiko Sanada | Courage |
Charm | ||
Koromaru | Academics | |
Ken Amada | Courage | |
Reading Lounge (Second floor, by the bookshelf) | Academics | |
Junpei Iori | Courage | |
Fuuka Yamagishi | Academics | |
Aigis | Charm | |
Kitchen (At the end of the bar in front of the kitchen) | Mitsuru Kirijo | |
Akihiko Sanada | Buff Consumables | |
Shinjiro Aragaki | HP Consumables | |
Yukari Takeba | HP Consumables | |
Ken Amada | SP Consumables | |
Rooftop Planters (Under the stairs past the first-floor lounge) | Shinjiro Aragaki | Meaty Produce |
Junpei Iori | Small Produce | |
Fuuka Yamagishi | Big Produce | |
Aigis | EX Produce | |
Brushing on the Couch (Under the stairs past the first-floor lounge) | Koromaru | Random consumables and gifts |
Something to note is that the produce you get from spending time with a SEES member is what you get in addition to the normal harvest. Junpei's "Small" consumables are less impressive than the normal variety, but you get plenty of them and each one is more than you would have harvested without his help.
One other way to spend time in the dorm is to take Koromaru out for a walk. These walks don't provide Characteristics, but you can get one of two benefits from taking him out. First, if another SEES member comes with you, you'll get a random item from Koromaru's stash. Second, if you and Koromaru go out alone, you can meet a random Social Link character and gain three relationship points with them.
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How to Gain and Improve Characteristics
After you spend time with a SEES member three times at a specific location, they'll get a new Characteristic. After three hangout events at their second location (for a total of six evenings), their Characteristic will upgrade into a better version.
The protagonist also has a Characteristic, and you can also upgrade it. However, you don't get it by hanging out in your room alone. Instead, you must fill in 30 percent of the Persona Compendium to get the first version, and then reach 60 percent to get the second version. Since the Compendium stays filled in during a New Game Plus, this means you'll get the protagonist's boosted Characteristic as soon as it becomes available.
SEES Member | Characteristic | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
Protagonist | Weakness Boost | Extra damage when hitting a Weakness |
Weakness Amp | Almost double normal damage when hitting a Weakness | |
Yukari Takeba | Healing Master | |
Healing Apex | The SP cost of her Healing spells goes down to 25 percent | |
Junpei Iori | Critical Boost | Critical chance and damage improve |
Critical Amp | Critical chance and damage greatly improve | |
Akihiko Sanada | Buff Boost | Buff effects are more effective for Akihiko |
Buff Amp | Buff effects are even more effective for Akihiko | |
Mitsuru Kirijo | Ailment Burst | Mitsuru has a better chance to land a Critical on an enemy with an ailment |
Ailment Surge | A much greater chance to land a Critical on an enemy with an ailment | |
Fuuka Yamagishi | Weakness Buffer | Allies take less damage from a Weakness hit |
Weakness Mitigator | Much less damage from a Weakness hit | |
Aigis | Phys Boost | Physical skills deal more damage |
Phys Amp | Physical skills deal much more damage | |
Koromaru | Auto Sukunda | Each combat, a random enemy starts with an Agility debuff |
Each combat, every enemy starts with an Agility debuff | ||
Ken Amada | Spirit Refresh | Ken regains 5 SP at the start of each of his turns (this stacks with items) |
Spirit Restore | Ken regains 10 SP at the start of each of his turns (still stacks) | |
Shinjiro Aragaki | Auto Bolster | Shinjiro starts each battle with an Attack and Defense buff |
Auto Heat Riser | Shinjiro starts each battle with every buff |
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Male SEES Member Hangouts
There's one other way to pass time with your friends in Persona 3 Reload outside of Social Links. You can also spend quality time with Persona 3 Reload's male SEES members like Junpei and Koromaru. Just like the dorm hangouts, each event comes with a small reward, and you get a much bigger reward if you spend as much time with each character as you can.
These events work like a hybrid between Social Link scenes and dorm hangouts. Like dorm hangouts, these events can seem to appear at random, and you can say whatever you want without worrying about relationship points. Like Social Link events, these events give each character an important story arc, and they end with you getting an item that unlocks a powerful Persona.
For instance, if you hang out with Koromaru every chance you get, you'll eventually get the key item called Koromaru's Collar. This unlocks Byakko, a Temperance Persona you need to fuse the powerful Kohryu. Persona 3 Reload also rewards the Hell Biker for spending time with Shinjiro, but his hangout events are only available in September.
When Should You Start These Events?
While some of these events have make-up days, you should start these events as soon as they appear. Some of them are very time-sensitive, and if you break the sequence you might not be able to see them all the way to the end. You should have enough time to complete every normal Social Link on top of these events, so don't let that stop you from spending a few days with Junpei or Shinjiro. Some characters (such as Ken and Akihiko) have events at night, making them more convenient.
You can tell when one of these events is ready to start in two ways. First, the character will send a message to your phone. Their messages are a different color than normal, making them easy to spot. Second, exclamation points will appear above the character and above their location on the map. This icon overrides the usual Social Link card or hangout smiley face when they would normally appear.
Persona 3 is unusual in the franchise for not giving you Social Links with every party member. Persona 3 Reload hasn't changed this fact, but it makes up for it by letting you spend time with them in other ways. And if you spend enough time with them, you'll get some very useful mechanical benefits.
Persona 3 Reload
- Platform(s)
- PC , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One , PS4 , PS5
- Released
- February 2, 2024
- Developer(s)
- P-Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Atlus
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
