The Social Link/Confidant system is a mainstay of the Persona series, wherein your relationships with your friends and allies helps you to develop your Persona abilities. Unfortunately, Igor never shows up for spin-offs, so there are no Social Links in Persona 5 Strikers. But just because there isn’t a big scary voice telling you to do it, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get closer to your friends. Here’s how to raise your Bond level in Persona 5 Strikers.
In lieu of Social Links, Joker’s relationship with the other Phantom Thieves is gauged by his Bond level. As you progress through the game and become closer with everyone, your Bond will gradually grow. Filling up the Bond bar and raising its level, along with certain other activities, earns you Bond points, which can be spent in the Bond menu to unlock all sorts of helpful abilities such as stat buffs, post-battle recovery, and better item drops.
How to Raise Bond Level in Persona 5 Strikers
As I mentioned, your Bond level will naturally raise on its own, usually after major story beats. You’ll see the meter increasing on the top right of your screen. However, just doing it this way won’t get you very many points, so you’ll have to put some extra work in.
The first and simplest way to raise your Bond is to defeat enemies. Every combat encounter in a Jail will raise your Bond slightly. You should endeavor to clear all enemies out of an area, both to raise your Bond and to get more EXP and money.
Next, requests. Sometimes your fellow Thieves will ask a little something of you. It might be something innocuous like going out for a bowl of ramen with them, or it might be something a little more complicated like gathering a few particular materials. These are great for raising Bond, as not only do they give pretty good Bond level payouts, but some of them can even be repeated. If you’re looking to grind up brownie points, this is the best way.
Finally, cooking. When you gain access to Joker’s Kitchen a little ways into the story, you can make lots of different food using ingredients either purchased from around town or scavenged from within the Jails. Every time you complete a new recipe, you’ll get a big boost in Bond level, not to mention handy recovery items.
Oh, one last thing: when you’ve got enough Bond points, make sure to acquire the skill Bondmaker, which increases all Bond level payouts.
