Incense

Incense (お香 or インセンス, Okō or Insensu)^? is a special type of item in the series.

Role[]

Incense is a special type of item that increases a playable character's stats and fully restores their HP and MP. Typically they can only be used outside of battle, and are only available for base stats (St, Ma, Lu, etc), increasing a single stat by 1, however some games feature Incense that can be used for HP and MP, increasing them by 5 or 10. A few games also feature incense that increase all stats by 1 or 2.

However, in Shin Megami Tensei IV, each Incense found is based on the 5 stats, and using one heals all HP and MP of a character or demon, as well as raising the stat it is named after by 3.

In Shin Megami Tensei and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, only humans could use Incenses.

Types of Incense[]

St (力の香, Chikara no Kō)^?: Increases strength and attack.
- (つよさのこう, Tsuyosa no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
- (STRインセンス, Sutorengusu Insensu)^? (Megami Ibunroku Persona & Persona 2)
- (パワーインセンス, Pawā Insensu)^? (Persona 5 Strikers)
Ma (魔の香, Ma no Kō)^? / (魔力の香, Maryoku no Kō)^?: Increases magic, MP, magic attack, and sometimes magic defense.
- (まりょくのこう, Maryoku no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
- (マジックインセンス, Majikku Insensu)^? (Persona 5 Strikers)
In (知恵の香, Chie no Kō)^?: Increases wisdom, magic defense, MP, and sometimes magic attack.
- (ちえのこう, Chie no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
Vi (耐の香, Tai no Kō)^? / (耐力の香, Tairyoku no Kō)^?: Increases HP and defense.
- (たいりょくのこう, Tairyoku no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
- (VITインセンス, Baitaru Insensu)^? (Megami Ibunroku Persona & Persona 2)
- (ガードインセンス, Gādo Insensu)^? (Persona 5 Strikers)
Ag (速さの香, Hayasa no Kō)^?: Increases hit, speed, and avoid.
- (はやさのこう, Hayasa no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
- (AGLインセンス, Aguriti Insensu)^? (Megami Ibunroku Persona)
- (AGIインセンス, Aguriti Insensu)^? (Persona 2)
- (スピードインセンス, Supīdo Insensu)^? (Persona 5 Strikers)
Lu (運の香, Un no Kō)^?: Increases critical, drop rate, hit, and avoid.
- (うんのこう, Un no Kō)^? (Shin Megami Tensei)
- (LUKインセンス, Rakku Insensu)^? (Megami Ibunroku Persona)
- (LUCインセンス, Rakku Insensu)^? (Persona 2)
- (ラックインセンス, Rakku Insensu)^? (Persona 5 Strikers)
Dx (技の香, Waza no Kō)^?: Increases dexterity, magic attack, magic defense, and MP/SP. Only seen in Megami Ibunroku Persona and the Persona 2 & Shin Megami Tensei IV duologies. (replaces Ma and In)
- "TEC Incense" (TECインセンス, Tekunikku Insensu)^? (Megami Ibunroku Persona & Persona 2)
HP (HPインセンス, Eichi Pī Insensu)^?: Increases max HP by 10.
- Health Incense (Shin Megami Tensei V)

Persona exclusive[]

SP (SPインセンス, Esu Pī Insensu)^?: Increases max SP by 10
All (ALLインセンス, Ōru Insensu)^?: Increase all stats by 2.
Lucky Mallet (打出の小槌, Uchide no Kozuchi)^?: Increases all stats by 3/4

Gum[]

Gum (おこう, Okō)^? is the name for the stat increasing items found in the Devil Children series and increase a stat by one point. Unlike other games they do not restore HP/MP, nor does increasing certain stats increase those two, and must either have the demon gain HP through rank up or Trainers.

Attack (アタックのおこう, Atakku no Okō)^?
Guard
Magic
Speed
Resist (Ｍガードのおこう, Majikku Gādo no Okō)^?
Luck

Noise[]

Noise (ノイズ, Noizu)^? serves the same function as Incense in the Digital Devil Saga series. They increase the individual stat by 2, with the exception of HP/MP, which increases by 10. All are dropped by specific demons:

Power Noise (パワーノイズ, Pawā Noizu)^?: Dropped by Ongyo-Ki in Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner and Surt in Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2.
Magic Noise (マジックノイズ, Majikku Noizu)^?: Dropped by Horus in both games.
Vitality Noise (バイタルノイズ, Baitaru Noizu)^?: Dropped by Arahabaki in both games.
Quick Noise (クイックノイズ, Kuikku Noizu)^?: Dropped by Garuda in Avatar Tuner and Barong in Avatar Tuner 2.
Luck Noise (ラックノイズ, Rakku Noizu)^?: Dropped by High Pixies summoned by Pixie in Avatar Tuner and Mada in Avatar Tuner 2.
MP Noise: Dropped by Isis in Avatar Tuner and Lilith in Avatar Tuner 2.
HP Noise: Dropped by Girimehkala in both games.

Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku[]

In Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku, use of Incenses is restricted to healing springs.

Warrior's Incense (物夫の香, Monofu no Kō)^?: Increases Strength
Earth Incense (大地の香, Daichi no Kō)^?: Increases Vitality
Heaven Incense (天の香, Ten no Kō)^?: Increases Intuition
Soul Incense (心魂の香, Shinkon no Kō)^?: Increases Wisdom
Devilish Incense (魔性の香, Mashō no Kō)^?: Increases Magic
Scholar's Incense (学人の香, Gakujin no Kō)^?: Increases Intelligence
Devotee's Incense (精進の香, Shōjin no Kō)^?: Increases Divine Protection
Gale Incense (疾風の香, Hayate no Kō)^?: Increases Agility
Artisan Incense (職人の香, Shokunin no Kō)^?: Increases Dexterity
Noble Incense (貴人の香, Kijin no Kō)^?: Increases Charisma
Luck Incense (運の香, Un no Kō)^?: Increases Luck

Shin Megami Tensei V[]

In this title, Incenses are used to boost the stats of the Nahobino's recruited demons. When used, they increase their specified stat by 1, aside from Health and Stamina Incenses, which increase a demon's maximum HP and MP counts by 10. However, they do not restore spent HP or MP.

The Nahobino has an equivalent to Incense in the form of stat-boosting Balms, and they increase his stats by the same amount Incense perform. In the localized version, the names of these Incenses and Balms are not written in shorthand.

Health Incense/Balm: Raises Max HP by 10.
Stamina Incense/Balm: Raises Max MP by 10.
Strength Incense/Balm: Raises Strength by 1.
Vitality Incense/Balm: Raises Vitality by 1.
Magic Incense/Balm: Raises Magic by 1.
Agility Incense/Balm: Raises Agility by 1.
Luck Incense/Balm: Raises Luck by 1.

Persona 5 Royal[]

In Persona 5 Royal, uses of Incenses are restricted to improving the Personas the protagonist can use within the Lockdown facility in the Velvet Room, much like Incense Cards, where they behave as actual incense in a spherical burner. Like how they worked in classical iterations, specific Incenses (抹香, Makkō)^? improve battle stats by 1 (e.g., a Incense MA adds 1 point to Magic, etc.), though they do not restore HP/SP due to their non-combative application.

In addition to that, there are stronger versions of Incense called Ambergris (リュウゼン香, Ryūzenkō)^? (+2 version) and Nirvana (ニルヴァーナ香, Niruvāna-kō)^? (+3). There is also a unique variety called Musks (ジャ香, Jakō)^?, which raise a point to two specified stats, and the Rasta Sandalwood (ラスタのビャクダン香, Rasuta no Byakudankō)^?, which raises 1 point to St, Ma, and Ag.

During a Fusion alarm, the effects of a freshly lit Incense is doubled.

Incenses can be bought from Jose's Shop and the Mantra Ganda specialty shop within Kichijoji, as well as being able to be found in treasure chests within Palaces, dropped by certain Shadows, and can possibly be obtained from an Itemization Accident.

Persona 5 Strikers[]

Unlike Persona 5 Royal, Incenses in Persona 5 Strikers work very similarly to their function in the Shin Megami Tensei games, but do not restore HP or SP, but they do take into account the new max HP/SP totals, and increase a character's current HP/SP stock as well by the same amount.

Incenses can only be used outside of combat. Upon use, an Incense will permanently boost either a character or a Persona's stats; HP and SP Incenses boost the selected character's eponymous stats by 5, while Power, Magic, Guard, Speed, and Luck Incenses boost the Str, Ma, En, Ag, & Lu stats respectively of any Persona by 1.

Incenses are normally very rare and are usually obtained as chest rewards, drops from special enemies, or as rewards from Requests. However, in New Game+, Sophia's Shop will sell limited quantities of every variety of Incense for a high price of ¥200,000 each (as low as ¥80,000 during a sale). Like normal items, Sophia will restock Incenses regularly between visits to the Metaverse. On Merciless difficulty, Incenses will also drop frequently from normal encounters.

Treasure Demons can randomly drop 2 of a specific Incense after a battle, while Request-specific Shadow or Boss rematch fights can drop 3. The Reaper in particular can drop 75 of any given Incense while on Merciless difficulty.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE (Encore)[]

In Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE and its enhanced port, Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore, Incenses work somewhat like they do in most Shin Megami Tensei installments, in that while using them to enhance a playable Mirage fully restores the HP of the selected character, they don't restore spent EP. There are 7 varieties of Incenses, though the last of them is an oddity in games made before and after:

Str Incense: Permanently raised the Strength stat.
Mag Incense: Permanently raises the Magic stat and raises a character's maximum EP count.
Skl Incense: Permanently raised the Skill stat.
Spd Incense: Permanently raises the Speed stat.
Def Incense (守備の香, Shubi no Kō)^?: Permanently raises the Defense stat and raises a character's maximum HP count.
Res Incense (魔防の香, Mabō no Kō)^?: Permanently raised the Resistance stat.
Lck Incense: Semi-permanently raises the Luck stat, until the next New Game Plus run.

Wholly unique to this game, the Lck Incense when used bolsters the Luck stat by 1, where as the other Incenses bolster their respective stats (aside from Max HP/EP) by 3. This is due to how Luck isn't a stat measured by a numerical value like tradition, but as a property measured by a ranking system. Any bolstering with Lck Incenses does not carry over to New Game+ files despite the effects of the other Incenses being able to do so, presumably to said lack of traditional point value. As such, Lck Incenses only carry over if you simply don't use them. A minor note is that their Japanese name isn't the full name of the Luck stat (幸運, Kōun)^? for Fire Emblem, but the common abbreviated form for Lck Incenses from the Megami Tensei franchise.

Incenses can be won via the lottery at the Hee Ho Mart by spending Melmarks, which are gained by purchasing items, accessories, and costumes, as well as the rare Vending machines pull. They can also be found in treasure boxes and obtained through completing requests.

The most reliable way to get Incense is through Illusory Urahara, an Idolasphere located in Harajuku. Start the "Arena Staff on Hire" request there, and Nieg, a Phantom, will show up in Harajuku near the Crepes Dia shop. Recruit him to the Arena and he will trade one of six Incenses for every 9 clusters of Detritus traded, and throws in a randomized free Incense with each tenth successful trade. This random freebie is how one gets Lck Incenses from Nieg. However, if you are carrying the maximum amount of any given Incense and the randomized freebie just so happens to be that Incense you're maxed out on, it is considered trashed and is wasted.

The reason Nieg has so much Incense is that, in his desperation to get stronger and getting Detritus ended up too much trouble for him to obtain it from Savage Mirages, he looked elsewhere and splurged to obtain a large amounts of Incense after hearing of their power to improve their recipients, only to find out they don’t work on Mirages.