I'm on NG+ and trying to max out all the S-links, however i'm near the end of the game and i don't think i'll be able to.

My question is should i be spending more time with friends at night to speed their S-links? Also, if you see someone out at night does that mean they will be available for S-linking the next day?

I'd look up a FAQ on S-Link points to see at which stages you need an extra boost to reach the next level. Sometimes it may be necessary but not every time.

As far as S-Linking the next day, I'm not sure as I only S-Linked once or twice at night during the entire game. Each character follows a schedule though, so you should be able to figure it out according to that.

Worst-case scenario, you can throw down multiple saves to crawl your way through and backtrack if you realize you made a mistake.

I've noticed that around rank 6 or 7 is where it starts to slow down so i haven't spent time at night with someone i was very low with.

@StarvingGamer: Do you focus on your party S-links first or is it better to balance em out? On my first playthrough i focused a lot on my party(especially Rise because of her buffs).

@jedted: I'd aree with @StarvingGamer for the most part.

For me, the first two times I ran through golden, I did it without a faq and failed both times to max all of the s-links concurrently. I ended up just following an s-link guide on my 3rd time through and adapting it to my preferences here and there. From memory they opt to max out your party members ASAP whilst simultaneously progressing all of the other available links, though at a slower pace.

The general idea is to get your social stats to max to allow you to have full progression with everyone from as early a point as possible (hence why doing it on a 2nd playthrough, etc, makes it much easier). Aside from that it's a matter of juggling all of the s-links to get it all lining up properly.

Because of your high social stats on new-game+ playthroughs, you can go to the shine at night to significantly speed up your progression with people (when you would have otherwise been reading books on a first playthrough) or have at chat with them if they're hanging around. Talking to people generally gives you the standard 3 points for having their arcana's persona equipped and you can usually get 2-3 more if you answer their dialogue "correctly". So of the two, talking to them is better than going to the shine (which randomly gives you 1-3 points with people). For that matter, talking to them is better than making them food (2 points, from memory), and if you're fine with save/reloading to get a "great blessing", the shrine is, too. Of course, in a situation where they never seem to show up when you want them to, food is a good option - and you can always leave your house, check, then come back and make food (ie, if you cbf'd dealing with the shrine's RNG or want to see the dialogue). If I'm misremembering that then there's the option of saving before checking the fridge. So, in general;

Night Time Activities, order of usefulness;

1. Talking to them
2. "Great blessing" from the Shrine
3. Making them food perfectly
4. Other Shrine blessings.
5. Going directly to sleep (moderate chance of gaining progress with a random s-link - good for early game in NG+)

There are some situations where all of the above is useless, though - for example, Marie has 2 levels of her s-link where you actually have to spend a day with her to progress, regardless of how many points you have with her. When a person needs you to have a specific level of a stat (eg. Nanako), any time you spend at the shrine during that period is generally useless too.

Anyway, that all leads me to what points mean in general - and that is where Starving is 100% right. Sometimes a person only needs 3 points to level their s-link (death is a great example of this), so you actually don't have to spend any additional time on them. Most of the time they need around 6 or 9 with some rare cases of 10 or higher. Trumping all of that, there is even some randomness built in. So if you had their persona equipped and answered their stuff correctly when you last spent time with them, then there's a good chance you'll level up next time (until - as you correctly surmise, around lvl7+, where most of them go from requiring 6 to 9+).

After that point my number 1 tip for you is:

READ the question before you confirm that you want to spend time with someone. It actually tells you if you will progress ("You will become closer soon" or something similar). If you are not going to progress with them on that day, hang with someone else instead - the key to maxing all s-links is to waste as few days as possible on spending time with people without progression. In the case where it says "you will not become closer yet" or similar, remember that and spend time with them at night or use the shrine for them instead.

ED: Oh, and just to be clear, "Points" are how many yellow notes you see above their heads when you spend time with them.

"S-Linking at night?" Sounds so very wrong.

@davvyk: I think you mean so very right

@selfconfessedcynic: Thanks for the tips! As for the S-link points, if i'm on the verge of ranking up with someone are any points gained with them just wasted or will they be put towards the next rank?

Sorry about that, I couldn't log into this site for whatever reason for a couple of days.

Anyway, I'm back - yay.

The sad answer to your question is all extra points are lost. The point total is reset whenever you rank up with someone.

I tested this out on my 2nd run with Yosuke, literally leaving him at rank 7 for about half a year, gaining points from events, answering questions correctly in class, talking to him at night when noone else was around, etc. Then I ranked up with him to 8 and lo and behold, I didn't have enough points to advance further (even though I'd "saved up" like 40 by that time).