So I've finally decided to complete Persona 3 after spending a few hours with it last year in anticipation for Persona 5 and rather than reviving old threads, I want to post specific questions I have here if that's ok. I am using a Max Social Link guide because I want to do it all in one playthrough but not everything is answered/clearly defined (don't judge me). Ok, here we go:

1. I'm only at 4/25 right now and I want to collect as many Personas as I can for maxing social links, but my party members get tired very easily so right now I'm on my own fighting mobs on floor 10 and up, is it a good idea to grind on my own or should I always wait until I have a full party?

2. Do you have to wait until the compendium opens before you can get Orpheus again? I need him for Omoikane but don't want to get rid of him until he's registered on the compendium.

3. Can you go to the bathroom repeatedly to remove the Tired/Sick status? Or do you only have one chance per day and if it fails to raise it, that's it?

I don't remember enough about FES specifically to answer the first 2 questions but you can only use the bathroom once per day, though you should see the doctor before doing that to raise your courage.

What difficulty are you playing on? When I played FES on easy, the way I circumvented the whole tired mechanic was to run straight for the next available boss whenever given the opportunity, running past all the enemies I saw. On easy, the bosses weren't a challenge even without the XP I would have gotten by facing all the common mobs. It meant that I would free up the rest of the month to do whatever social linking and persona fusing I needed to, and I wasn't always waiting on my party to recover so we could go back to Tartarus.

@corevi: Ok cool thanks!

@sunbrozak: Hmm, that's a good idea. Thanks!

If you fuse Orpheus into something else before you get the compendium, he'll automatically be in the compendium once it opens up. Not sure if it'll be in his "initial" state or if it'll reflect whatever XP and skills he learned before you fused him, though.

The early part of the game where you're at right now is by far the trickiest in terms of juggling personas for S-Links and managing tiredness. As you get further into the game, both of those things will become much less of an issue.

Keep in mind that at least early on, there is no socializing at night, so grinding in Tartarus doesn't take time away from working on your social links. That changes later on (the Tower and Devil social links are at night), but by then your party has a lot more endurance in Tartarus.

Yes, they will get tired very fast in the beginning, but it gets better fast. I would just grab the personas you need for the first few social links you're working on, then let your roster of personas grow naturally as your party can stay longer and longer in Tartarus.

Night time can be used for insane social stat ups through the arcade, karaoke bar and coffee shop.

Getting tired is secretly a good thing. You get some courage points every day you are tired/sick as long as you see the nurse.

1. When you get a good array of personas, one to deal with each element ideally, or just one to deal with each enemy of the flight of stairs, you can safely grind on your own.

2. Orpheus ocasionally drops. Omoikone often drops.

3. I believe you have three chances per day to rest. One at lunch, one after school, and one at night.

@corevi: Sure, but there's plenty of time to grind courage, academics and charm. I don't think that's what we're talking about here.

@jeust: Yeah since I last posted I've gotten a lot more Personas thanks to the shuffle list on the second block and just general fusion. I didn't know you can run around during lunch hours, I thought days usually start from morning then skip right to after school unless there's a social link conversation.

Yeah the party gets tired maybe after two dozen battles right now but then I just continue on solo to level up some personas until I get tired of the grind, I usually do all the Tartarus stuff in one night so it gives me more time to work on Academic, Charm and Courage (with maxed out Courage now).

One question though: Now that I have a crap ton of money, is it wise to buy gear from Officer Kurosawa or should I just use the ones I get from Tartarus? I hate that the stats on weapons/armour are random when you buy them though.

Primarily the stuff from Tartarus. Kurosawa is pretty much just someone to sell your excess shit to.

1. Generally with a full party. You can grind on your own if you want, and I did it several times to get money with easy enemies, but for efficiency it's easier to level all your characters together.
2. I usually keep him until I get the compendium, but I believe you get the non-upgraded base version automatically. Oddly, you can also get him later in the game.
3. Only works once per day. Go to the doctor at lunch before you do for free Courage.

I believe the chance to rest @jeust is talking about for 'lunch' is when you are tired in class. You can either rest to recover or stay awake for free Academics. You will also get this choice even if you're not tired, which makes it an easy choice IMO.

Basic strategy is to try to get to the portal right before the boss as soon as it opens up each time. You'll know if you're under-leveled just by how difficult it is to get there. Good luck with some of the mid-point bosses. A few of them are harder than the full moon shadows, and sometimes require some special tricks to beat. If you lose against one a few times, don't feel bad looking up a strategy.

I personally didn't use the Max SL guide and got all but 2 Social Links to Max right before the end of the game. Play as you wish, but I think some of the fun of a first play through is just discovering the game. Not judging. ;)

Generally don't buy items from the police chief, though occasionally you'll go on a dry streak and need a minor improvement or two. The quests you get from Elizabeth get you some of the best items and Personas in the game. Especially the recover SP accessories.

Enjoy! Easily my favorite Persona, but it was also my first.

Yeah, it's been a while since I last played it. ^^

@viking_funeral: Yeah that's pretty much what I've been doing except for the lectures which I stay awake for so I can continue building my Academics stat. I'm using a guide mainly just so I can see everything in one playthrough so I can move on to Persona 5 when that comes out. So far I'm using the Spiked Bat for MC and the Toy Bow for Yukari which are super OP this early on in the game but I heard they won't be useful further in since they don't offer any stat modifiers, 99 Hit is something I don't want to lose though!