Memoirs may only increase your overall Force by relatively negligible amounts, but they provide (sometimes) incredible buffs to your passive abilities. These can be used to create your ideal character build, whether that’s focused on critical hit chance, attack percentage, agility, hit points, or another stat. 

Like almost everything else in Nier Reincarnation, Memoirs come in four rarities: 1-Star; 2-Star; 3-Star; and 4-Star. Of course, 4-Star variants are often the most sought after, but discounting lower rarities would be a misstep. Some 1/2/3-Star Memoirs are more appropriate for certain builds and provide stronger stat buffs despite their overall rating.

Memoirs can be acquired by completing Dungeons — specifically The Dynast’s Memories and The Officer’s Memories. You’ll get a few of these items for completing the story, but the bulk of your farming will come in the dungeons mentioned above. 

You can see which Memoirs drop from which Dungeons by going to the Subquests menu and clicking on either The Dynast’s Memories or The Officer’s Memories on the left side of the screen. The middle portion of the screen will then show the obtainable items within that Dungeon, though it’s possible for others to drop. 

For example, I’ve received “Destiny: The Wanted Man” from The Dynast’s Memories Dungeon, even though it’s not listed as a Memoir that drops. 

There are a few important things to know about Memoirs outside of the above information: what the Sub Number is and how Enhancement works. 

First, to find your Memoirs, go to the main menu and select “Enhance.” From there, select “Memoirs” to bring up a list of what you currently have. You can then filter by Star Rarity and Sub Number.

We’ve already talked about Star Rarity, but what is a Memoir’s Sub Number? The Sub Number is the number inside the diamond in the top left corner of a Memoir. The indicates how many abilities are unlocked for a Memoir at any given time, both primary and secondary combined. 

Every Memoir has a single primary ability and four secondary abilities, making for a total of five abilities. At Level 1, for example, you will see that there is one primary and one secondary ability unlocked. The number 2 will be in the Sub Number diamond for that Memoir.

Memoirs can reach a maximum overall level of 15; unfortunately, they can’t be ascended to increase their level cap like characters or weapons can be. However, every time you Enhance a Memoir, there is a random chance to unlock a new ability and/or improve the abilities you’ve already unlocked.

Ideally, you want to prioritize and Enhance Memoirs that already have secondary abilities unlocked. This doesn’t always work out depending on your desired build and the Memoirs you’ve pulled, but all things being equal, Enhance a Sub Number 5  Memoir over a Sub Number 2 Memoir. 

Last is Memoir Synergy. 

Memoir Synergy can be essential or not at all worthwhile. Again, it depends on the build you’re going for and the abilities you want to maximize in relation to the Memoirs you have unlocked. 

So how do you know if the Memoirs you have equipped synergize? 

Go to the “Loadout” screen and click on any of your characters. You’ll see which Memoirs you have equipped currently on the right side of the screen. If any of the Memoirs are connected by a white line and have red chevrons on them, they are synergized. 

This means they are of the same memory/story, such as “Musings of the Hunter.” To see which memory/story a Memoir is a part of, press and hold the Memoir’s icon in either the Loadout screen or the Enhancement menu. Look in the top left corner under the star and Memoir name; the text there shows the memory/story. 

A Small Set Bonus is applied to your character when you have two Memoirs in the same memory/story. A Large Set Bonus is applied when you have three. 

And that’s essentially everything you need to know about Memoirs in Nier Reincarnation. Make sure to take full advantage of their ability buffs whenever possible and choose the best for your desired build and style. For more on Nier Reincarnation, consider reading some of our other guides.