Makoto starts out on bad terms with the Phantom Thieves, but she changes her mind once she sees them in action and quickly becomes one of the core characters of Persona 5 Royal. Eventually, she becomes one of Joker's confidants and one of many potential love interests.
To begin this confidant, players must completely clear Kaneshiro's Palace and get his Treasure. After that, players can find Makoto standing outside the student council room on the third floor. If Joker has rank 3 Knowledge (Scholarly), Makoto will confide in him and the Priestess confidant will unlock.
General Information
In Tarot tradition, the High Priestess Arcana represents a female figure of great wisdom and spiritual strength. The card's negative aspects include secrecy and manipulation, which are good descriptions of Makoto's actions before she joins the Phantom Thieves. Makoto's Persona is Johanna, a (most likely fictional) woman who was elected Pope in the 9th century and was an inspiration for the High Priestess card in the Tarot deck.
When Makoto is willing to hang out, Persona 5 Royal players will find her during the day outside the student council room as usual. On days off, she stands outside the school gate. In December, players can find her in the Aoyama subway station. Her available days are usually Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, rain or shine. Many of her events take place in school, but she's willing to sneak in if it isn't a school day.
Makoto will offer to help Joker study on 7/12 and 10/14, and she invites him to the movies on 7/28. She also invites Joker out to Ikebukuro on 7/30 (assuming Futaba's Palace is cleared by then) and to Jinbocho on 8/15. Joker can invite Makoto to Suidobashi to get the Gi-Nyant Doll and to Chinatown to get the Shumai Cushion. Makoto's favorite gifts are the Heart Ring, Designer Perfume, Kitchen Tools Set, and Motorbike Figure.
If players haven't made the friendship choice during the rank 9 event, they can invite Makoto out during the Hawaii trip to get a Tiki Keychain. This gives the holder Divine Grace, which boosts the effects of healing magic by 50 percent. After the school festival, Joker can spend time with Makoto to get Makoto Donuts, an item that restores 100 SP for one ally.
If Makoto is rank 10 and in a romance with Joker, players can invite her on Christmas Eve and get a Wristwatch, a special item that increases the same-Arcana bonus for Priestess hangouts during New Game Plus. Lovers can also spend time with Makoto on Valentine's Day to get Makoto's Chocolate (a full SP restore for one character) and invite her to a date on White Day.
Rank 1
As mentioned earlier, Joker will need Knowledge 3 before he can start the Priestess confidant. Once he does, Makoto will confide that she doesn't know much about typical high schooler behavior, and the two will end up in the Shibuya arcade. Most dialog choices don't matter, but at the end there's one choice that can give players some relationship points.
- Let's go again sometime. 3
- It's a new you. 2
- The red-light district next? 3
Bear in mind that these are the numbers players can get if they have a Priestess Persona in their stock during the event. All the numbers in this guide assume players have this.
The reward for this rank is Shadow Calculus. During battle, players can now use the Analysis screen to see a Shadow's skills and potential item drops.
Rank 2
For the next event, Makoto brings Joker to the red-light district in Shinjuku to find a Shujin student. This event takes place outside, so Makoto will only be available if it isn't raining.
- You're very well informed. 2
- Have you ever been here? 0
- Stay close to me. 0
- You should have known better. 2
- That was dangerous. 3
- You get flustered easily, huh? 0
- Why is it called a salon? 0
- What kind of place is that? 0
- Couldn't agree more. 2
- He just wouldn't give up. 0
- Let's actually go in next time. 0
Rank 3
During the third event, Makoto brings Eiko to the student council room to confront her. However, the two end up having more in common than expected.
- You have the wrong idea. 2
- So what if we were together? 0
- It's none of your business. 0
- Don't let it get to you. 2
- You can change. 3
- Beep boop. 0
- Sounds like you two get along. 2
- Buchimaru-kun? 0
- Okay, calm down. 0
The reward for this rank is Black Belt Talk. If Joker fails to convince a Shadow to join him and that shadow has a Physical skill, Makoto can convince it to give Joker another chance if she's in the party.
Rank 4
During this event, Makoto opens up about her personal problems and what she wants to do after school.
- That's unlike you. 2
- Is Thieves work distracting you? 0
- I'm sure you did better than me. 0
- Eiko? 0
- ...Who? 0
- Don't you have goals? 0
- What about college? 0
- What do you mean? 0
- Why do you use it? 3
- That's adorable. 2
- You're not very ladylike... 0
- Do you still want to pursue it? 0
- I like a woman in uniform. 2
- It's an amazing goal. 3
For reaching rank 4, Makoto gets Follow Up, which is a chance that she'll attack an enemy and deal an automatic critical hit after Joker's turn.
Rank 5
During this event, Makoto updates Joker on Eiko's love life and mentions her suspicions about the new boyfriend.
- Are you jealous of them? 0
- That's annoying. 2
- He sounds suspicious. 3
- I got this. 3
- Why do I have to do it? 0
- Only if I can take it seriously. 2
- Fist! Of! Justice! 0
- Report him to the police. 0
- Try to reach out to her. 2
Rank 6
To unlock this event, Joker must have reached Charm 5 (Debonair). This is so Joker can pose as Makoto's fake boyfriend as she checks out Eiko's boyfriend, Tsukasa.
- We just started. 2
- We're fighting right now. 0
- Love comes in many forms. 3
- Don't be so pushy. 0
- Back off. 0
- Here, have my number instead. 0
- No, you're being considerate. 0
- You worry too much. 0
- Probably a little. 0
- Tell him you're on a date. 2
- You're allowed to ignore him. 0
- Fire the same thing back. 0
This rank gives Makoto Harisen Recovery. On her turn, Makoto has a chance to cure a status ailment afflicting another party member.
Rank 7
Makoto has only become more suspicious of Tsukasa after meeting him, and she opens up a little more to Joker about her history.
- Do you think he likes you? 0
- Does Eiko know about this? 0
- Probably a little. 0
- You watch too many soap operas. 0
- He's definitely suspicious. 0
- Who was their leader? 0
- What gang was it? 0
- That's a horrible story. 3
- Was it tough without him? 2
- He was a noble man. 3
- That's admirable. 3
- I'm sure he was happy. 3
- Do you have an answer? 2
- You can figure that out now. 2
- I'm game if you are. 2
- What are you going to say? 0
- Refuse her, please. 2
- Of course... 2
- I guess so. 0
- It's the role I always hoped for. 2
This rank awards the ability Shadow Factorization. When a Shadow has a known null, repel, or drain affinity for an element, players will see an "X" when aiming the wrong kind of attack at the Shadow.
Rank 8
Makoto's next move is to bring Eiko to Big Bang Burger to talk about her boyfriend, but he's already begging her for money.
- He says that to all his girls. 2
- That's how he ropes you in. 2
- I'm not sure. 0
- Absolutely. 3
- What are we going to do? 2
- Eh, she deserves him. 2
This rank gives Makoto Endure, the ability to sometimes survive a fatal blow with 1 HP remaining.
Rank 9
The private talk wasn't enough to convince Eiko, so for this rank Makoto and Joker head to Shinjuku to gather evidence and confront Tsukasa. Players will need to run around and speak to people for the first part of this event, but the only person who will move the plot forward is the Irritated Promoter in front of the bookstore.
- Get away from her! 3
- Your fight's with me. 3
- I'm calling the cops. 3
- We should get out of here. 2
- Follow me. 2
- It looked like it hurt. 0
- That was the right move. 2
- You really smacked her. 0
- I'm a regular here. 3
- It's a popular meeting spot. 3
- Not as much as you. 2
- You'll find someone someday. 3
- I'll be your study partner. 0
If players choose option 2:
- I do. 3, (romance flag)
- That's not what I meant. 0
If players are on the friendship path:
- No problem at all. 2
- Man, that got tense. 0
- You could always slap me too. 0
If players are on the romance path:
- I'd do anything for you. 2
- Were you scared? 0
- No big deal. 2
Either way, Makoto will get the Protect ability. If Joker would be killed by a single-target enemy skill, Makoto has a chance to jump in the way and take the damage instead.
Rank 10
This event is slightly different in the friendship and romance paths. Both start out with Makoto describing her reconciliation with Eiko, but they go in very different directions after that. As the last rank event, players can choose any dialog options they like. If players are curious, however, the best responses are 1, 1, 2, 1 or 3, 2, and 3 for the friendship path and 1, 1, 2, any, 3, and any for the romance path.
After reaching rank 10, Makoto will undergo a Second Awakening. Johanna becomes Anat, an ancient goddess of war and hunting whose worship started in Mesopotamia and spread into Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Anat nulls Nuke damage, is strong to Curse damage, and gains the Evade Psy skill. Joker will also get access to the Cybele Persona.
Rank 11
If players reach Priestess rank 10 and unlock the third semester, Makoto will approach Joker in January and ask to speak with him privately. Doing so will activate a Third Awakening, and Anat will transform into Agnes, another name given to the fictional female Pope. Agnes will evolve Gaia Pact into Gaia Blessing, which improves the odds of Burn, Freeze, or Shock by 50 percent instead of 25 percent. She'll also get the skill Checkmate, which works like Debilitate but affects every enemy.
If Makoto is at Rank 10, players can speak to her on 3/19 to get the Buchi Calculator. This will let players use Shadow Factorization immediately after they reestablish the Priestess confidant during a New Game Plus run. This ability is especially useful during NG+ since affinity info about registered Shadows also carries over.
Persona 5 Royal is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.