Persona 3 Portable Achievement Guide & Road Map

Persona 3 Portable
Persona 3 Portable Achievement Guide

Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 8/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 35 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000

: 130-150 hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2
- Missable achievements: Refer to the guide below
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None

Introduction:
After the longest wait in the history of the world, Persona 3 Portable is now available on the Xbox platform, thanks to this remastered version of sorts. Players familiar with recent iterations of Persona, whether it’s Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 (which recently hit Game Pass), will finally get a chance to see the proper roots of the franchise, the game where it truly went from Shin Megami Tensei spin-off, to a series in its own right.

Persona 3 Portable was the first Persona game with Social Links, and while this game might be debated to be the inferior version of Persona 3 compared to P3 FES, it’s still a heck of a ride. Story-wise, it’s fantastic, like the other Persona games have been, and the minute-to-minute turn-based gameplay is still solid. If you like building relationships, getting knee deep in some heavy RPG mechanics, and being thoroughly entertained by a great story, then look no further.

Walkthrough:
Let’s get this out of the way first: if you want the full 1000

, you’re in for a hell of a time investment. If all goes according to plan, you’re looking at around 130 hours. If things go badly, like they did for me, then you’re looking at more like 150-160 hours. Let’s talk first about why it takes so long to complete.

You’ll need to complete 2 playthroughs - one as the male character, the other as the female character.
You’ll need to level up not just the main character to 99, but also 3 other squad members too.
You need to get all Social Links in 1 run.
You need to get 100% completion in the Persona Compendium.
You’ll need to prepare for, and defeat the two incredibly hard optional bosses.

And when I say incredibly hard bosses, I’m talking about real strategy, luck and preparation is needed to defeat them. The two optional bosses are the reason why I’m giving the game a 8/10 in terms of difficulty, because even with tens of hours of preparation, you’re still not guaranteed success. However, we’ve written two of the most in-depth guides for those two fights, meaning you should be able to complete them with relative ease. They do require specific armour pieces, special and rare accessories, a ton of the highest level Personas (all levelled up with 99 magic), as well as a load of Homunculus, and even all the ultimate weapons too. There’s a lot of preparation needed!

And now some advice, before I push on with how you should structure your playthroughs:

The first runthrough will be focused on one thing, and one thing alone: maxing out your ‘social qualities’ - AKA Academics, Charm and Courage.
Okay, maybe not one thing… you’ll need to get to the true ending as well and fight the two main bosses.
You’ll also want to enter into a “Special Relationship” with someone (for the “That Special Someone” achievement, in case you get the responses wrong in the female character playthrough.
The second runthrough is ALL about the Social Links, and getting all the rewards you can, that will help with the two hard optional bosses at the end of the game.
Whatever happens in your first runthrough, do NOT do the Vision Quests on the other side of the Paradigm Door in January. The rewards you get count only per save file. So, if you get them in playthrough 1, and then go into New Game Plus, they won’t be available. And some of the items, like Infinity, Armageddon and the Homunculus, will be essential for the two secret super bosses.

Playthrough 1 - Male Main Character:
Now, there is a reason we’ve gone for the male main character first, and that’s because his Social Links are structured like the original game, and they were tough, leaving no wiggle room whatsoever. The female main character’s links have been reworked, meaning there’s now more than 2 Social Links at night, and you’re under less pressure to stick to the rigid structure.

So, as I said, the first playthrough will be all about maxing out the three social qualities:

Academics
Charm
Courage

It is actually possible to max out all social qualities and get all S-Links in one playthrough, but you literally will have to follow a day-by-day guide for an entire in-game year, which will kind of suck the fun out of it.

Playthrough 1 will be fresh to most people as well, so if you’re wondering whether you’re the right level to fight the full moon boss for that month, the general rule of thumb for Persona 3 in general is that if you’re strong enough to beat the Tartarus sub bosses in that month for the new block, you’re more than strong enough to beat the full moon boss. Use that as a guide for where you need to be level wise.

So, outside of Tartarus, on your first playthrough, just focus on the S-Links you want to focus on, and getting to grips with the mechanics, while levelling up your three social qualities.

A few things about what carries over to New Game Plus:

Your player level.
Your social qualities.
Your weapons and armour (and even that of your teammates).
Your money.
Your key items (for example, if you maxed out Mamoru’s Social Link in playthrough 1 you’ll get his Car Key, which will allow you to fuse Helel, meaning you can fuse Helel in day 1 on New Game Plus if you like)

What you will lose in New Game Plus:

Your squad mates will all start at level 1 in New Game Plus.
All your consumable items.
Your skill cards.
In fact, all your Expendable items, including any spells too.
Your enemy scanning data.
Your Social Link progress.

So, based on that, before you head to the final boss on January 31st in your first playthrough, use all your items up. And by that, I mean, head to the Shinshoudo Antiques in Paulownia Mall and spend all your Onyx and Garnet on “Page Of” cards, which allow you to level up a Persona’s stats. Just make sure you register them in the compendium before you complete the game though.

The only other thing I’d suggest for the first playthrough is to create a multi-elemental Persona. I opted to make what is called a “Four Elemental Lillim,” and by the end of the first playthrough she had 4 different elements and all 99 stats across the board. I did this by fusing together the following:

Fuse a Nekomata with a Pixie to get a Forneus with Agi
And then, fuse an Angel with Garu with the Forneus you just created, and you’ll get a Lilim with the four elemental spells.

If you can only get her with 3, you can buy a Garu and Zio card from Tanaka (the TV in your bedroom) on Sunday, May 10th. This will make it easier to fly through dungeons when you know what everyone’s weaknesses are. At the end of the playthrough you can also upgrade her cards if you like, and keep running her for the second playthrough, by replacing the Zio with the Ziodyne if you have it. By the midpoint of the second playthrough, my Lilim had all 4 of the heavy elemental spells at her disposal. Throw in a Spell Master skill card from a level 97 Lucifer Persona and you’ll barely need to change Personas in the dungeon. Her only weakness is against light, which you can also counteract with the Repel Light skill card from a level 87 Satan.

And finally, when it gets to December 31st, you need to be a pacifist and not kill anyone. Doing so will unlock January, and give you a pathway to fight the two bosses at the top of Tartarus.

Playthrough 2 - Female Main Character:
The second playthrough is all about 3 things:

Getting all 22 Social Links in one playthrough for the Social Butterfly achievement (that also unlocks Orpheus Telos, who you need for Thorough Bookkeeper (80G), and also for A Cut Above (80G)).
100%ing the Persona Compendium.
Prepare your squad and your characters for the secret boss fight for One Who Has Proven Their Power (80G).

All of the preparation for both One Who Has Proven Their Power (80G) and A Cut Above (80G) can be found in their specific guides, as linked to in the achievements themselves.

Before we crack on with everything, let me issue a warning of sorts (to save you some time). I’m a bit of a Persona veteran, completed Persona 3 Portable years ago, got the Platinum on Persona 4 Golden on Vita, and smashed Persona 5. Having already done a 100% Social Link run on Persona 4 Golden, without a guide, I tried that with Persona 3 Portable this time around… and failed dismally. While Persona 4 Golden offered you a healthy amount of wiggle room, Persona 3 Portable only offers a small amount. In the Social Butterfly (35G) description, we’ll run you through the dos and don’ts if you want to try it without a guide, based on what we learned, but we’ll also link to an incredibly helpful step-by-step guide if you want to play it safe as well.

Most of the other stuff you’ll get naturally. But perhaps one you might have to force is The Nose Doesn't Always Know (10G), which requires a fusion accident, and is completely luck-based.

Conclusion:
So yeah, that pretty much sums up the journey you’re going to take. We’ve prepared in-depth guides for everything you will need along the way, or linked to some of the best from yesteryear to assist. In no time you’ll have maxed out Persona 3 Portable… and by no time, I mean, like 100 or so hour’s time. It’s actually a really enjoyable 1000

if you like structure and delving deep into some RPG mechanics. I loved all 167 hours of my time invested in the game. It’s not easy, it’s not short, it can be incredibly frustrating if you’re not prepared, but this guide is to prepare you for everything along the way. Good luck!

[XBA would like to thank Webb for this Roadmap]

Fusion Expert

10
Perform 50 Persona fusions.
In order to perform a Persona fusion, simply head to the Velvet Room, select Fuse Personas, and then choose one of the options (Normal Spread, Triangle, etc.). Once in there, select your Personas and fuse away. Do this 50 times and the achievement is yours.

The truth is, you’ll definitely get this if you’re going for all the Personas and looking to get Thorough Bookkeeper (80G), as that’s how most of them are created.
Persona Memory Bank

10
Summon a Persona from the Compendium.
Another simple one, this. Head to the Velvet Room and if you’ve fused or discarded any Personas, they’ll show up in your Compendium - once you’ve picked up a Persona, it’ll automatically be added.

Once in the Velvet Room, click on “Check requests/compendium” and then go to the Compendium and pay to retrieve a Persona of yours. Again, you’ll get this one naturally.

Quick note, the Persona Compendium doesn’t unlock until May 10th, the day after you fight the Priestess on the monorail.
A Cut Above

80
Defeat Elizabeth or Theodore.
Folks, prepare yourself. This is one of Persona 3 Portable’s hardest fights by far. It requires a lot of preparation, a lot of luck, and also, a lot of equipment… and even a specific Persona. This is definitely very, very tricky. So tricky that we couldn’t do it justice with a few words here, so we have prepared an incredibly in-depth guide on how to beat Elizabeth/Theodore, AKA the “Ultimate Opponent.”

There is pretty much every single bit of information you need in that separate guide, that will guarantee you beat one of the hardest bosses in the game.

Just as an FYI as well. If you’re the male character, it’s Elizabeth. If you’re the female character, you’ll get to choose early on when Igor asks what you imagine his assistant to be. The two are the same, whether you picked Elizabeth or Theodore, when it comes to this boss fight.

Oh, and this should be one of the last achievements you get, in New Game Plus. Head here for the Elizabeth/Theodore boss fight tips guide.
The Reaper Becomes the Reaped

35
Defeat The Reaper.
Over the years of playing Persona games, I’ve fought many a Reaper. I can categorically say that Persona 3 Portable’s Reaper is genuinely the hardest. It’s even harder than Persona 3 FES’, because you could effectively stunlock him there.

Like the Elizabeth boss fight guide and the Margaret boss fight guide, we’ve also prepared a Reaper boss fight guide for you too, covering the perfect strategy to beat this staple Persona character.

Our only advice outside of the Reaper boss fight guide above, is to stock up on Homunculus - we’ve also got a guide on where to find Homunculus in Persona 3 Portable too!
That Special Someone

10
Enter a special relationship with someone.
This is kind of missable, especially if you’re focusing on relationships in the female route and not the male route, as a lot of them for the female character require specific things to be said at specific moments to make a “special relationship” happen.

However, with a male character, special relationships happen naturally as you rank up the Social Links of 7 of the female characters. The female characters you can enter into a relationship are as follows:
- Yukari
- Fuuka
- Yuko
- Chihiro
- Isako Toriumi (Maya)
- Mitsuru
- Aigis
Just make sure you reach one of these before the end of your first playthrough, if not, the female character can romance the following (some require specific response to initiate a romance):
- Akihiko
- Shinjiro
- Ken
- Aigis
- Ryoji
You can kind of romance both Elizabeth and Theodore as well, but we’re fairly sure that doesn’t count for this achievement. The ones where it says “you’re about to enter into a relationship” (or something to that effect) are likely to be the ones that count here.
Flawless

35
Max out all social qualities.
As the first playthrough is all about maxing your social qualities, you’re going to want to go hard on this from day 1. It’s likely you’ll be able to max this out well before the end of the year, leaving you plenty of time to do a load of Social Links as well. And the good news is, because most of this happens at night, when the male main character only has 2 Social Links to concentrate on, you can literally do Social Links in the day, with some odd social qualities level building, and then just focus on them at night.

You’ll likely do Charm and Courage fairly quickly (as they only need 100 and 80 points respectively), but Academics will take a while (as it needs 230 points!).

The three social qualities and the best way to level them up is as follows:
- Academics
  - Quiz Show game in Paulownia Mall’s Game Parade arcades on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Charm
  - Print Club game in Paulownia Mall’s Game Parade arcades on Monday and Thursday.
- Courage
  - Horror House game in Paulownia Mall’s Game Parade arcades on Tuesday and Friday.
The arcades can be accessed day and night for massive boosts as well. There are other ways to boost everything as well, but those three are the best. That said, it costs a bit of yen, which you might not have in the early days. So, if you need money and want to up for stats, try the following:
- Be Blue V - Working here in the day on Monday - Friday will earn you 4,500 yen and boost Academics and Charm.
- Chagall Cafe - Working here at night on Monday - Weds will earn you 3,500 yen and boost Charm and Courage.
- Screen Shot - Working here in the day will earn you 5,000 yen and boost Academics and Courage.
There are also other ways to raise your social stats, for instance:
- You can take medicine at the Nurse’s Office at school when you’re sick or tired to raise Courage.
- You can raise Academics by studying in the library in the day, or studying at your desk in your room at night. You’ll also increase Academics if you “Stay awake” in class and get answers correct. Helping Junpei answer questions right, and getting high scores on your tests will boost your Charm.
- You can donate money at the Offertory Box in the Naganaki Shrine to increase your Academics. If you’re in a “Great” mood, you’ll get a bigger boost.
- You can watch a movie at Screen Shot at Port Island Station and boost social stats (Monday & Tuesday will boost Courage, Wednesday and Thursday will boost Charm, and Friday to Sunday boosts Academics).
- Eating the Mystery Burger at Wild-duck Burger in the Iwatodai Strip Mall in the daytime will boost Courage.
- Eating the Prodigy Platter at the Wakatsu Restaurant in the Iwatodai Strip Mall (2F) in the daytime will boost Academics.
- Eating the Pork ramen at Hagakure Ramen in the Iwatodai Strip Mall (2F) in the daytime will boost Charm.
- Singing karaoke at night at Mandragora in the Paulownia Mall boosts Courage.
- Drinking coffee at night at the Chagall Cafe boosts your Charm.
As we said though: focus on the Game Parade arcade games first if you have the money, they’re a bigger boost than all the other acts. The other activities are helpful if a.) you need money; b.) don’t need the specific social stat boost from the arcade that day.
The Other Self

10
Awaken as a Persona-user.
Story-related, cannot miss.

On April 9th, in-game, an event will kick off in the middle of the night that will see the main character and Yukari head to the rooftop. While up there, you’ll awaken as a Persona-user and this achievement will be yours.
Thorough Bookkeeper

80
Complete the Persona Compendium.
Completing the Persona Compendium and netting yourself the Thorough Bookkeeper achievement is likely to be one of the last achievements you get in the game - mainly because you need to fuse all Social Links in one playthrough to get Orpheus Telos.

There are 173 Personas in all (174 if it counts both the female and male version of Orpheus - the starting Persona), and while a lot can be fused, some do have roundabout ways of unlocking. Here’s how to unlock all 174 Personas:
- Fusion - The first big one is fusing. Basically, pick two Personas you have in your hand and go to the Velvet Room, and see if they create a Persona you haven’t already registered.
- Card Shuffle - If you win a fight with an All-Out Attack or with the main character dealing the finishing blow, you’ll enter into a Card Shuffle. Every so often, you’ll be offered the chance to pick a Persona. If you don’t have it already, you can choose it in this phase. This is a good way to build a hand of Personas that you can then fuse together in loads of different ways.
- Elizabeth’s Requests - On May 10th, Elizabeth will start requesting to see a certain Persona (AKA a Jack Frost with Dia) as part of her list of requests. For each request you complete, Elizabeth will grant you access to a new previously un-fusable Persona. There are 12 requests in all, with 12 Personas linked to them - the final fuse Elizabeth wants to see is to create a level 63 Loki, and for doing so you’ll be able to fuse Masakado.
- Completing Social Links - Each Social Link Arcana has an ultimate Persona that you’ll be able to fuse by completing said Social Link. For instance, max out the Aeon Social Link and you’ll be able to fuse Metratron. There are 22 of these ultimate Personas to fuse.
- Completing All Social Links - As we’ve already stated, you’ll need to complete all 22 Social Links in one playthrough to lock the ability to fuse the ultimate Persona, Orpheus Telos.
If you’re missing a few and need to check against a full list, then check out our full list of Persona 3 Portable Arcanas and their Personas. If you want to know how to fuse any given Persona, then check out this Persona 3 Portable calculator tool here.
True Supporter

10
Max out a Social Link.
Refer to Social Butterfly (35G) for more information.
Social Butterfly

35
Max out all social links.
Ahhh, the infamous “max out all Social Links” achievement. Another staple in the Persona franchise in years gone by. Firstly, let’s run through a few quick tips and questions that might arise from this achievement.
- Firstly, yes, it is all in one run. I know this because I failed in another run, and had to do another New Game Plus.
- Secondly, this doesn’t mean all the different Social Links in the game (male and female), it just means what’s accessible to the player on that current run.
- And lastly, before we talk about strategy, this is incredibly tight. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room, and you absolutely must do it on your second and female runthrough for two reasons: 1. You’lll have maxed out social stats; 2. The female playthrough has kinder Social Links, thanks to the fact that more than 2, which the male character has, actually take place at night.
Right, so now that’s out the way, let’s talk about absolute essentials if you want to try and get this without having to consult a day-by-day guide.
- Absolutely always have a Persona with you that corresponds to the Social Link you’re trying to advance. If you’re trying to advance Yukari, for instance, have an Alp or a Pixie with you (anything from the Lovers Arcana).
- Do not accept phone calls on a Sunday. I foolishly did this and wasted so much time in my failed Social Link run.
- Social Link points do not stack. If a character is ready to level up their Social Link, any points earned towards them at that point are wasted.
- If a school friend comes to visit you at lunchtime, asking whether you’ll see them after school, that means their Social Link is ready to level up.
- Don’t waste free time on a school day on characters that don’t go to your school (i.e. the old couple, Akinari, Maiko etc.). Because of exams, and holidays, it’s imperative that you use all the school time for them.
- Use days off, time before exams, or when there’s no-one else around, to advance the aforementioned none school member Social Links.
- Some characters don’t need a corresponding Persona for them to level up: namely the Devil and Sun.
- Some Social Links are unlocked within other Social Links. They are as follows:
  - The Devil, for instance, is one of those, in that you need to get to Hermit level 4 and speak to Saori in the corridor outside your classroom.
  - You’ll unlock Sun by getting to level 3 of the Hanged Man Social Link. And then getting the fountain pen from Koromaru when he joins the team on August 15th.
  - To start Temperance, you need to meet Bebe in the Hierophant Social Link (the old couple) at level 3.
    Quick note: Start Bebe’s Social Link before the third full moon or he disappears for good.
  - After getting Chariot Social Link level 3, speak to Rio in the hallway outside the classroom and she’ll mention the monk, who is the Tower Social Link.
- To get access to Mitsuru’s Social Link on November 22nd, you’ll have to have been 1st in your class in an exam.
- To start Koromaru’s Social Link, you need to get the “dog food” from Fuuka’s Social Link.
- To start the Hanged Man Social Link, you need to buy Mad Bull from the vending machine on the 2F in the Dorms, and Weird Takoyaki from the stand in the Iwatodai Strip Mall.
- Sundays at a certain point are for visiting the Fortune Box at the Shrine to advance relationships with school friends (and SEES members).
- Lastly, but by far the most important note is: there are a couple of Social Links that are incredibly time sensitive. Ryoji, for instance, if you miss one event, you won’t reach rank 10. And Shinjiro is only around for 1 calendar month.
- Further to the above, December and January should be mostly about maxing out Mitsuru and Aigis.
Those are the main tips. Let’s talk about availability. Below is a general calendar of when you’ll be able to speak to people, broken up into day and night. All the names are mentioned, but a lot of them need to be met in the story first, like Fuuka, Mitsuru and Aigis. We’ve also separated out key dates for when you can start some of Social Links that aren’t readily obvious, and also got 2 key categories on the two majorly missable Social Links (Ryoji and Shinjiro).

Day Schedule:
M - Rio (Gym), Student Council, Maiko, Akihiko, Fuuka
T - Junpei, Yukari, Bebe, Saori, Ryoji
W - Rio, Student Council, Bebe, Maiko
T - Junpei, Saori, Ryoji, Fuuka
F - Rio, Student Council, Bebe, Akihiko, Yukari
S - Old Couple (every day except Monday), Maiko, Fuuka
S - Old Couple, Dying Man (Akinari)

Night Schedule:
M - Shinjiro, Koromaru
T - Tanaka, Ken
W - Shinjiro
T - Tanaka, Monk, Ken
F - Monk. Shinjiro
S - Monk, Shinjiro, Tanaka, Koromaru
S - Monk, Koromaru

Key dates to start Social Links:
Young Girl - 6th May
Fuuka - 15th June
Koromaru - 15th August
Ken - 1st Sept
Shinjiro - 7th Sept
Akihiko - October 5th (reopens up)
Ryoji - November 9th
Mitsuru - November 21st
Aigis - 8th Jan (Mon to Sat availability)

Shinjiro Social Link:
With Shinjiro, you should attempt to speak to him at every opportunity in the Dorms. Literally every night from September 7th - most nights he won’t be around to do things, but it’s worth trying anyway. You should be able to finish with 4 days to spare if you speak to him every chance you get. Then, you can grab the pocket watch from the police station on the 29th, after achieving rank 9 on the evening of the 28th, and then speak to him on the 30th, before the full moon event on October 4th. It’s tight, but not as tight as…

Ryoji Social Link:
With Ryoji, you have 10 chances to do 10 links. You miss one, and that’s it, you’ll miss him. So, the dates for all 10 events are as follows.
Level 1 - November 9th - Social Link starts automatically.
Level 2 - November 12th - Ranks up automatically after train ride.
Level 3 - November 13th - Speak to him after school.
Level 4 - November 15th - Speak to him after school. Say “I’d be totally up for it” to date at the end.
Level 5 - November 19th - Event automatically happens if you agreed to it on the 15th. Say “Okay” to the next date at the end.
Level 6 - November 22nd - Event automatically happens if you agreed on the 19th.
Level 7 - November 27th - Event automatically happens.
Level 8 - November 29th - Agree to go out with him when he phones.
Level 9 - December 1st - Speak to him after school.
Max - December 31st - Social Link will max out, if you decide to be a pacifist.

General Notes:
Finally, it should be noted that August and December don’t have a massive amount of Social Link days (due to exams and holidays), so don’t rely on them to get you through. Also, September is massive for the female main character, with so many day and night Social Links to fly through.

If you want to compare how you’re doing to a successful run. By the end of September, I had 144 levels completed of the 220 you need (including the mandatory ones like the Fool and Death, which were still at ranks 5 and 6 respectively), and by the end of October I had 164 (with 12 completed S-Links), to give you an indication of where you should be. I was pretty much done with all but Ryoji, Mitsuru (starts later) and Aigis (January) by the school trip in the middle of November. December and January are all about Mitsuru and Aigis, so take that into account.

And if all else fails, you can follow this excellent day-by-day breakdown by penguin knight, from way back when.
A Pair of Wild Cards

80
Beat the game with each protagonist.
Persona 3 Portable, unlike Persona 3 FES, actually has two protagonists: male and female. This isn’t just a different skin, the female version actually has a load of different and reworked Social Links compared to the male protagonist too. The male protagonist is more akin to the path you’d take in Persona 3 FES. The story is the same for both protagonists, so don’t worry there.

But yes, as the description says, you need to complete the game twice, with both protagonists, to get this achievement. And yes, you can take the male playthrough (playthrough one) and then jump into New Game Plus as the female protagonist.
One Who Has Proven Their Power

80
Defeat Margaret.
If you thought that Elizabeth/Theodore was a hard boss fight, well, let me tell you, Margaret’s boss fight might be even harder. While in the Elizabeth/Theodore boss fight you had to go in and fight them solo, the Margaret fight is a team effort - meaning that not only do you have to max out the main character, but also your squad as well - that 999 HP and SP is paramount to your survival.

Like we did with Elizabeth, we’ve prepared an in-depth guide to taking on Margaret too, that covers absolutely everything, from how to access the fight, what party to take, what items you need, and what your strategy should be. Like with Elizabeth, don’t forget to stock up on Homunculus as well, which we’ve prepared a guide on the Homunculus locations too.

Check out the full in-depth Persona 3 Portable Margaret boss fight strategy and you’ll have this achievement before you know it.
S.E.E.S. the Day

10
Rescue a missing person.
On June 18th, Elizabeth will get in touch with you and tell you that a few people have wandered into Tartarus and need saving. This will happen every month from June all the way to January (if you make it to January, of course), so there’ll be plenty of opportunities to get this achievement. The truth is though, you should try and save them all, because not only do they give you great rewards, which you pick up from the police station in Paulownia Mall, but sometimes Social Link characters will wander in, and if you don’t save them, the Social Link will stop dead in its tracks.

Our advice on when to go into Tartarus to get them each month is below (and what floors they’ll be on), as you don’t want to keep going in every time one goes in. Persona is all about efficiency!
- Batch 1 - Head into Tartarus on June 26th. You’ll find one on 45F, 51F and 61F.
- Batch 2 - Head into Tartarus on August 3rd. You’ll find one on 69F and 83F.
- Batch 3 - Head into Tartarus on September 3rd. You’ll find one on 95F, 101F and 108F.
- Batch 4 - Head into Tartarus on September 22nd. You’ll find one on 120F, 131F and 137F.
- Batch 5 - Head into Tartarus on October 30th. You’ll find one on 149F, 152F and 158F.
- Batch 6 - Head into Tartarus on November 28th. You’ll find one on 168F, 175F and 185F.
- Batch 7 - Head into Tarrtarus on December 22nd. You find just the one on 203F.
- Batch 8 - Head into Tartarus on January 15th. You’ll find one on 224F and one on 250F.
The above dates are tight as well - with the full moon events - so if you don’t stick to those dates, you end up losing them. For instance, in September we recommend going in on the 3rd (the day the last individual gets lost) while the full moon event is on the 5th (and they have to be completed by the day before the full moon event).

Oh, and don’t forget to pick up your rewards from the police station.
Granter of Your Desires

10
Buy 5 things from Tanaka's Amazing Commodities.
Tanaka’s Amazing Commodities is a TV show that players can buy unique rewards from, every Sunday. Using and interacting with the TV in your dorm room in the daytime - it has to be in the daytime, at night it doesn’t work - you can choose from some pretty high-end items, rare ones too, which will be delivered to your dorm a few days later.

To get this achievement, you simply have to do this 5 times throughout the year. I would, however, recommend trying to get into a rhythm of doing this every week, as it’ll no doubt help you in the long-run.

In terms of important dates, the following are extremely useful:
- May 10th - Zio and Garu skill card.
- July 5th - Precious Egg and 2 x Yawn-B-Gone.
- August 23rd - Soma and 3 x Best Friends.
- September 6th - Megido skill card and 4 x Mind Supplements.
- October 18th - 2 x Pearl and 3 x Topaz.
- November 8th - Ruby and 2 x Sapphire.
- December 6th - Growth 3 skill card and 2 x Ruby.
- December 27th - 5 x Diamond and 5 x Pearl
Moderate Bookkeeper

35
Register over 50% of the Compendium.
Refer to Thorough Bookkeeper (80G) for more information.
Bond Maniac

10
Max out 10 Social Links.
Refer to Social Butterfly (35G) for more information.
Advantage Mine

10
Enter a battle with Player Advantage.
One of the easier achievements in the game. When in Tartarus, just make sure you sneak up on a shadow and hit them from behind. That’s it. If you do it correctly, and you don’t see a red exclamation mark, you’ll see the words “Player Advantage” in big letters in the centre of the screen when the battle starts. One note to help: black, regular shadows, usually can see the width of a corridor from where they are. So, if they’re coming towards you, stay a corridor width’s distance apart, and then when they turn, hit them from behind.
The Nose Doesn't Always Know

10
Experience a fusion accident.
This is perhaps the most annoying achievement in the Persona series. One they’ve seemingly brought across from the Persona 4 Golden Vita trophy list. It’s pure luck, this one. A fusion accident occurs when you’re trying to fuse Personas together, to make another Persona, and you don’t get the result you tried to get. There is a 1 in 64 chance to get a fusion accident with a fusion involving 2 Personas, and a 1 in 32 chance with those involving 3. There’s nothing you can do to help this, it’ll just happen at some point. For me, it didn’t happen until about the 80th hour, when my Compendium was at 50% full. For some people it happens on the first try. It’s pure potluck.

You can, of course, purposely fuse and fuse and fuse until this happens, just be prepared to have a lot of yen handy. Just make a save beforehand as well, in case you spend millions of yen on a really crappy Persona that you don’t want. The achievement and the Persona is the only reward for getting a fusion, so reloading after you’ve got one this way won’t change anything.
Displaying Adaptability

10
Switch Personas 5 times in 1 battle.
You’ll 100% get this one naturally if you’re trying to get every achievement in the game, because in the Margaret fight, you’re likely to change Persona a good 20 or 30 times! If you’re not going for the Margaret fight though, there’s plenty of bosses that you can do this against, just make sure you’re holding multiple Personas. Then, at the beginning of every turn, change Personas in the wheel menu. It doesn’t have to be 5 different Personas, either, we did it with just 2, switching back and forth over the space of about 10 turns.
Going Nova

10
Deal over 999 damage in 1 attack.
In the early levels of Tartarus, 999 in one hit might seem like a distant pipedream, but it won’t be long before you get this naturally. You’re likely to get it on a Treasure Hand, as when you land a crit on them, it does insane damage. If you, by some miracle, don’t manage to get this naturally, take a super high level Persona and go to the bottom of Tartarus. Your damage and their lack of defence will mean you’ll do well over 1,000 in no time whatsoever. Especially if you get a crit.
Skilled Commander

10
Perform 50 All-Out Attacks.
All-Out Attacks in Persona 3 Portable work in the same way they’ve always worked: use a spell/ability to focus on an enemy’s weakness, and “down” them all at the same time, then perform a group attack. Do this 50 times and this achievement is yours.

To be fair, you should be aiming to finish every fight on an All-Out Attack, because that will guarantee you a Card Shuffle at the end, which is the best way to boost experience (and money if experience doesn’t show). Get into that habit early and Persona 3 will be infinitely easier on you.
Tactical Fighter

10
Exploit enemy weaknesses 100 times.
You'll naturally get this while going for Skilled Commander (10G). All you need to do is hit enemies weak against ice with an ice spell. Self-explanatory, really. Do it 100 times and you’ll unlock this. It’s the key to success in the game, something which all players must do… even if you didn’t try for it, you’d probably get this by accident anyway!
Grasping at Greed

10
Defeat a Golden Hand.
The Golden Hands in Persona 3 Portable will come in the form of the gold shadows that you see when you’re fighting through Tartarus. Simpy attack the shadow and defeat the various different Hands and this achievement will unlock.

The actual hardest part of this achievement is getting them to not bolt on first sight. 2 things to note on this: 1. Their sight range is a lot longer than standard black and red/purple shadows. If the range of a standard shadow is one Tartarus block, the range of the gold shadows is closer to 1.5 blocks (by blocks, we mean from wall to wall of a corridor. 2. The only way you can take them by surprise is to come from directly behind them.

Take into account those 2 points and you’ll master the art of taking them down in no time. Also, only use melee attacks. That’s all. And that counts for all the different variations from top to bottom.

A few other notes as well: if you want them to drop rewards for the Elizabeth requests RE the various different Hands, you need to have accepted that quest. And also, if you don’t have a request accepted, they’ll drop Nihil items, which can be used to forge better (and the ultimate) weapons at the Shinshoudo Antiques.
Fashion Plate

10
Fight a battle in costume.
Rather simple one this, but some of the armour pieces in Persona 3 Portable actually double up as outfits. Whether you’re talking about the Maid Outfits, the Battle Panties, the Winter and Summer Outfits, the Orange Cutsew, the Angora Sweater, and so on. Just equip one and fight in a battle in Tartarus with it and this achievement is yours.
Head of the Class

10
Rank #1 in your class on an exam.
Throughout the year in Persona 3 Portable, every few months you’ll have to sit exams, which can last for an in-game week. These exams usually consist of 5 or 6 days of questions, one per day, and will dictate how well you’ve done in your exams. In order to unlock this achievement you have to come first in your class.

But becoming first isn’t about just getting the correct answers, oh no, you need to raise your character’s Academics as well (see Flawless for how to do that). Considering in order to get all 1000, you need to max out all Social Links, and Mitsuru’s Social Link requires you to have been ranked #1 in your class to initiate it, you’ll likely get this one naturally in the two playthroughs.

To get 1st in the class in the first exam, you need to have “Above Average” intelligence and get every question correct. For the second you need “Smart.” Third you need “Intelligent” and fourth you need “Genius”. It’s not an exact science, but shoot for those and you’ll be golden. This is worth doing on every test anyway, as Mitsuru’s rewards are pretty valuable.

If you’re struggling or want to blaze through them, use this list of answers as a cheat sheet, if needs be.
Exams take place in the following weeks:
- 18th - 23rd May
- 14th - 18th July
- 13th - 17th October
- 14th - 19th December
Special Fusion Expert

10
Use 4 or more Personas in a special fusion.
There are 16 “4 or more” Persona fusions in Persona 3 Portable. These often come around from maxing out social links, but some are related to level requirements. The 4 or more Persona fusions (Cross Spread, Pentagon Spread and Hexagon Spread) are available after September 21st, in-game.

If you’re going for the Thorough Bookkeeper achievement, you’ll get this naturally. If you’re not, and are looking for a quick and easy achievement, here’s the 16 fuses and how you unlock them.

Cross Spread (4)
1. Kohryu - Max out Hierophant Social Link (Old Couple) (Level 61)
2. Metatron - Max out Aeon Social Link (Aigis) (Level 54)
3. Alice - Level 56 Requirement
4. Girimehkala - Level 42 Requirement
5. Black Frost - Level 34 Requirement
6. Arahabaki - Max out Hermit Social Link (Maya/Saori) (Level 54)
Pentagon Spread (5)
1. Daisoujou - Level 53 Requirement
2. Attis - Max out Hanged Man Social Link (Maiko) (Level 58)
3. Sandalphon - Max out Moon Social Link (Nozomi/Shinjiro) (Level 71)
4. Lucifer - Max out Star Social Link (Mamoru/Akihiko) (Level 88)
5. Mara - Level 77 Requirement
Hexagon Spread
1. Susano-o - Max out Fool Social Link (SEES) (Level 76)
2. Asura - Max out Sun Social Link (Akinari) (Level 85)
3. Beelzebub - Max out Devil Social Link (Tanaka) (Level 81)
4. Thanatos - Max out Death Social Link (Pharos) (Level 64)
5. Orpheus Telos - Max all Social Links in one playthrough

Monorail Inspection Complete

35
Defeat the Priestess.
Story-related, cannot miss.

The first full-moon operation as a squad will happen on May 9th, and you’ll head to the monorail to deal with the Priestess boss. Defeat the Priestess and this achievement is yours.

Priestess level: 8
A New Persona-User

35
Defeat the Emperor and Empress.
Story-related, cannot miss.

On June 8th, the second proper full moon operation will commence, seeing you return to the school and Tartarus to rescue Fuuka. At the end of the mission you’ll fight both the Empress and the Emperor, who change their properties throughout the fight. Use Mitsuru to attack them, and hit their weaknesses. Once they’re dead, this achievement will unlock.

Emperor and Empress level: 15
Hotel Investigation Squad

35
Defeat the Hierophant and Lovers.
Story-related, cannot miss.

Like the previous full moon, the July 7th full moon comes with a pair of shadows to defeat: namely the Hierophant and Lovers - this time they’re separate fights though. Defeat both of them for this achievement. One bit of advice: make sure you have some Dis-Charm available, and maybe even a null charm accessory/Persona ability for this one. Yukari has Charmdi which is helpful too… if she isn’t suffering from charm, that is!

Hierophant and Lovers level: 21
Bunker Debunked

35
Defeat the Chariot and Justice.
Story-related, cannot miss.

On August 6th, during the next full moon, you’ll head into the Underground Bunker to fight both the Chariot and Justice. Defeat both of these Shadow bosses and you’ll unlock this achievement.

Note: You must defeat them both in one turn, otherwise the alive one will resurrect the dead one.

Chariot and Justice level: 32
Paulownia Mall Power Control

35
Defeat the Hermit.
Story-related, cannot miss.

On the September 5th full moon event, you will head to Paulownia Mall, into Escapade, to fight the Hermit. Kill it and this achievement is yours.

Hermit level: 40
No More Bets

35
Defeat the Fortune and Strength.
Story-related, cannot miss.

On October 4th, when the full moon hits, you and SEES will head to Iwatodai Station to fight the Fortune and Strength bosses. Probably the best and most interesting fight of Persona 3 Portable, and a real inspiration to boss fights in Persona 4 and 5, clearly. My only advice for this fight is, if you want to stop the wheel in the correct spot, if you hit the section you want to hit when it goes past 12 o’clock, it’ll stop at 6 o’clock when the wheel has slowed down.

Fortune and Strength level: 46
Settled the Score

35
Defeat the Hanged Man.
Story-related, cannot miss.

The Hanged Man is the last of the 12 shadow bosses, and is fought on the Moonlight Bridge on November 3rd. The only knack to beating this boss is taking out the statues he spawns as soon as possible. Each statue has one element it can block: electricity, fire, and ice. Wind attacks do damage across the board, so use a wind Persona (like Norn) and take Yukari with you.

Hanged Man boss level: 54
To Live is to Oppose Death

35
Defeat Nyx Avatar.
Story-related, **missable**

The Nyx Avatar and Nyx boss fights are wholly missable unless you make the right choices at the right time.

Firstly, on December 31st, when you get the option to kill someone. Don’t. That will unlock January.

Secondly, in order to fight Nyx Avatar you have to fight your way to the top of Tartarus. So, level 254 is where the new area opens up on January 31st, and then you need to defeat two sub-bosses before you get to the top. Nyx Avatar will be waiting up the top. Prepare for a fairly long fight here, and make sure you’re stocked up on Homunculus, as he can be a bit cheap otherwise.

Nyx Avatar boss level: 76
The Great Seal

80
Defeat Nyx.
Story-related, **missable**

This isn’t so much a boss, per se, and so long as you follow the advice in To Live is to Oppose Death (35G), and beat Nyx Avatar, you’ll end up at this fight. This is the end of the game, effectively.