Persona 3 Portable: Yuko (Strength) social link choices guide

by Alex Donaldson on 16 January, 2023

The Persona 3 Portable Yuko Nishiwaki social link is one of many major storylines that is optional but important for players to experience, as it’s the S-Link that’s attached to the Strength Arcana, which is one of the more common Persona types.

As always, there’s two benefits to spending time with Yuko and ranking up her S-Link. First of all, you’ll get to know her more intimately - and it can lead to a romantic subplot for your character if you so please. But also, the benefits of hitting rank 10 for each Arcana are notable in any acts of Persona fusion you undertake. This guide will help you to do all that - and more!

Yuko Nishiwaki S-Link Guide - Strength

The male protagonist Persona 3 Portable Yuko Social Link represents the Strength Arcana. We explain how to get it to max rank fast.

Fans of other Persona games will be familiar with exactly what sort of S-Link the Persona 3 Portable Yuko Nishiwaki Strength social link is - it’s the classic ‘sports classmate’ link, with Yuko acting as the manager of whatever sports club the male protagonist joins. Notably, this relationship is exclusive to the male lead - the female protag gets a Strength S-Link with Koromaru instead. Help with that link can be found on other pages of this Persona 3 Portable Social Link guide.

If you're currently playing Persona 3 Reload, while this guide can work for you, we recommend that you use our Reload-specific Yuko guide - this page is optimized for P3 Portable.

Once the relationship with Yuko is unlocked, advancing the S-Link happens by spending time together - though the process can be sped up by saying the right things or giving the right gifts to her, which grants bonus ‘EXP’ to the hidden stat that determines when your relationship levels up. This guide helps you to do that with clear indicators of every dialogue option that offers bonus points.

A couple of quick points of order: first, if a choice isn’t listed here, it has no bonuses available, so you can say whatever you want - go with your gut, your heart, or role-play your protagonist. Also, if the bonus points received don’t match ours, we list them including the Arcana bonus that’s achieved by having a strength Persona with you when spending time with Yuko.

Yuko is available on Wednesday and Saturday daytimes, and can be found hanging out on those days outside Classroom 2F of your high school.
Yuko appreciates the three expensive ‘Brand’ gifts for the most as gifts, but she’ll also be happy with items like the Teddy Bear, Lucky Charm, or Mini Cactus.

Unlock & Rank 1:

As the male protagonist, you’ll actually need to advance another social link to get access to the Yuko S-Link. The earliest you’ll be able to do this is late April or early May.

Specifically, you’ll need to progress the Chariot social link with sports club friend Kazushi, and then offer to walk Yuko home during Rank 2 and 3 of that link. At this point, you’ll establish a rapport and relationship with Yuko.