Knowledge is an important asset in life, and that's true even in Persona 5 Royal. The Knowledge social stat is necessary to level up for a few reasons, particularly if you want to ace your exams every time. But you also need relatively high Knowledge to be able to start Makoto's Confidant and continue Akechi and Hifumi's Confidants.
Luckily, there are a lot of ways to increase your Knowledge in the game. Some of these ways are pretty clear, but there are other ways that you might miss if you're not the type to check every item frequently.
8 Answering Class Questions Correctly
On school days, teachers will sometimes ask you to answer their trivia questions. If you get the answer right, you'll get one knowledge point. Though that might not sound like much, these events happen automatically and don't take up a time slot, so they're essentially freebies.
You don't have to look up a guide to get the right answer, either. If your game is connected online, you'll be able to see which answers other players chose. The answer with the highest percentage is always the right one.
7 Studying
Just like in real life, studying in Royal increases your Knowledge. But there's actually more than one way to study, and not every way gives the same amount of Knowledge points. Studying in the school library will give you one point of Knowledge, and sometimes a bonus Guts point. Studying in Leblanc at night gives you two points, and three if you study while it's raining.
Studying at the diner also gives you two Knowledge points, and three if you go there on rainy days. It can also give you points for other Social Stats depending on what you order. Also, when exams are near, your friends will invite you to study sessions. Going to them gives you three Knowledge points, as well as two points to their Confidant.
6 Hifumi's Confidant
At some point, Hifumi will need you to be at rank five Knowledge to continue her Confidant. The good news is that every time you spend time with her, you get a point of Knowledge on top of the Confidant.
Her Confidant gives you some of the best abilities in the game, including letting you swap out party members during battle, being able to escape ambushes, and earning double the money after battles if you beat them quick enough. So the Knowledge boost is like a little bonus on top of all the awesome battle perks you get.
5 Gaining Knowledge In Leblanc
Leblanc has two unique things you can do to gain Knowledge points: solving crossword puzzles and answering TV quiz shows correctly. They're both completely optional and easy to miss, but doing them is a good idea since neither of them take up a time slot. They only give one Knowledge point each, but free is free!
In Leblanc, the crossword puzzle book will be on a table on some nights, and you can watch the TV quiz shows every week after a certain date, so make sure to check both of those before doing any other activity.
4 Reading Books
There are multiple locations where you can read. You can catch up on books in the school library or at Leblanc during the evening. Sometimes, you'll be able to read on the way to school if you managed to snag a seat, so always having an unfinished book on you is a wise idea.
You can borrow The Great Thief from the library, as well as buy Medjed Menace and Wise Men's Words from the Shibuya Bookstore. Reading any of these books will give you three Knowledge points once you've finished them.
3 Watching Movies
Going to the movie theater is a good way to kill two birds with one stone, since you get the chance to raise a social stat as well get more Confidant points if a friend joins you. The first time you watch any movie will give you three points towards specific social stats, while watching it again will give you just one, unless someone joins you.
Watching Soraemon in Shinjuku and Back to the Ninja in Yongen-Jaya gives you three Knowledge points. You can also invite Futaba to watch Back to the Ninja with you. If you've finished reading the book Cinema Treasures beforehand, you'll get an extra point of Knowledge.
2 The Big Bang Challenge
You'll find Big Bang Burger in Shibuya's Central Street. You can attempt the Big Bang Burger Challenge, but it's only in succeeding that you'll get some Knowledge points, as well as points for Guts, Proficiency, and Charm. For the first burger, you'll need to have your Guts, Knowledge, and Proficiency at rank two at minimum. Succeeding will give you one point for every social stat but Kindness.
The second burger needs a minimum of rank three Guts, Knowledge, and Proficiency, and will award you two points in all but Kindness. The final burger needs them at rank four, and gives you three points. You'll also get a cool accessory and some burgers when you succeed.
1 Drinking Special Juice
If you visit the juice stand in Shibuya's Underground Walkway on Sundays, you'll be able to purchase some juice to drink. The good news is that doing so doesn't take up a time slot. The bad news is that the social stat you raise with the juice is completely random. Plus, it's only one point.
Basically, if you've got the money to spare, the juice method is useful if most of your other social stats aren't already maxed out. Otherwise, you might be better off spending your money on something with more certain results. That juice isn't cheap.