You’re running around Gekkoukan High, the sun is setting, and you’ve got a checklist of social links and stat boosts a mile long. Then it hits you. Elizabeth wants pine resin. If you’re like most players, you probably checked the pharmacy. Then maybe the school store. Then you realized it’s nowhere to be found in the places that actually make sense.
It’s frustrating.
Persona 3 Reload is a massive, sprawling remake that streamlines a lot of the clunkiness from the 2006 original, but it kept some of the "where the heck is that?" energy of the Velvet Room requests. Elizabeth’s requests are basically the game’s way of forcing you to explore the corners of Tatsumi Port Island you’d otherwise ignore. Request #15 is the one that usually trips people up first because it involves a specific character who isn't always available.
Where to Actually Get Pine Resin in Persona 3 Reload
Let's get straight to it. You don't buy pine resin. You can't find it in Tartarus. You won't get it by defeating a Golden Hand or breaking a random pot in the Arqa block.
To get your hands on pine resin in Persona 3 Reload, you have to talk to Sanada Akihiko.
But there is a catch. You can’t just walk up to him in the dorm hallway on any random Tuesday and expect him to hand over the goods. The request from Elizabeth specifically mentions that the item is used by a certain club. Since Akihiko is the captain of the boxing team, he’s your guy.
Wait until the evening of 6/16.
Go to the student dorm. Akihiko is usually hanging out near the lounge area or the stairs. When you speak to him while Request #15 is active, a unique dialogue prompt will trigger. He’ll mention he was just about to head out or that he has some extra gear, and he’ll give you the Pine Resin for free.
One and done. No yen required.
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The Timing Problem
Timing is everything in Persona. If you miss the window or forget to check the dorm during those mid-June evenings, you might feel like you’ve soft-locked the request. You haven't. However, the game really wants you to prioritize Elizabeth’s deadlines.
The deadline for this specific request is 7/5.
If you don't grab that resin from Akihiko before the first week of July ends, you lose out on the reward. And the reward isn't just flavor text; she gives you the Siren’s Song, a bow for Yukari that is significantly better than most of the stuff you can craft or buy at that point in the early-to-mid game. It adds a high chance of inflicting the Distress ailment, which basically turns Yukari into a crowd-control machine during those grueling climbs through the second block of Tartarus.
Why Does Elizabeth Want This Anyway?
Elizabeth is... eccentric. If you’ve played Persona 4 or 5, you know the Velvet Room attendants have a weird obsession with the mundane aspects of the human world.
In the original P3, her requests were often cryptic. In Reload, they serve as a subtle tutorial for the "Dorm Life" mechanics. By forcing you to interact with your teammates in the evening to fulfill these requests, Atlus is nudging you to see the dorm as more than just a place to save your game or fuse Personas.
It’s about building the atmosphere of the SEES squad.
Honestly, the pine resin hunt is a bit of a classic P3 "noob trap." It teaches you to read the request descriptions carefully. If the text says "used by a certain club," your brain should immediately go to your teammates. Mitsuru has her fencing, Akihiko has boxing, Junpei has baseball (sort of), and Yukari has archery.
The Specifics of Request 15
To even see the option for pine resin, you need to have completed some of the earlier "fetch" quests. Elizabeth likes to work in sequences. If you haven't finished Request #14 (which is the one where you hand over a specific amount of medicine), #15 might not pop up immediately.
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Check the Velvet Room door outside the mall or in Tartarus frequently.
The sequence of these early "bring me an item from the real world" quests usually goes like this:
- Scrub Brush (Found in the school's port-to-hallway area).
- Pine Resin (Akihiko).
- Handheld Game System (Junpei).
Each of these requires you to engage with a different part of the environment or a different teammate. It's a loop. A rhythm. Once you get the hang of it, you'll stop checking the shops and start checking your contacts.
Common Mistakes When Hunting Pine Resin
I've seen people waste entire in-game days searching for this. Here is what not to do.
Don't go to the rooftop. Don't go to the gym area at school. Don't go to the pharmacy in Paulownia Mall hoping it's a "special stock" item. The game won't trigger the item drop unless you have the quest active in your list. If you talk to Akihiko without accepting the request first, he’ll just talk about training or his obsession with protein.
It sounds simple, but in a game where you're managing Social Stats (Courage, Charm, Academics) and trying to rank up the Hierophant link before the elderly couple forgets who you are, it's easy to forget to "Accept" the quest in the Velvet Room menu.
Another thing: make sure your inventory isn't full of junk, though Reload is pretty generous with inventory management compared to the PS2 era.
The Rewards: Is it Worth the Effort?
Yes.
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I mentioned the Siren's Song earlier. In the grand scheme of a 100-hour RPG, a mid-level bow might seem trivial. But Persona 3 Reload is all about momentum. If you can get Yukari a weapon that inflicts Distress, you're getting more Critical Hits. More Critical Hits means more "All-Out Attacks." More All-Out Attacks means you're clearing floors faster and saving SP for the bosses.
Plus, completing Elizabeth’s requests is the only way to unlock certain high-level Persona fusions later on. You don't want to be at the end of the game, staring down Nyx, and realizing you can't fuse a specific powerful entity because you were too lazy to ask a boxer for some sticky tree sap back in June.
Beyond the Resin: What Comes Next?
Once you hand over the resin, Elizabeth will immediately have another task for you. She's relentless like that. Usually, the next one involves Junpei and a handheld game console.
The logic is the same:
- Check the request board.
- Identify the "hint" in the text (usually referring to a person or a specific shop).
- Go there at night.
The night economy in Reload is much more robust than it used to be. Between the PC software you can buy at the manga cafe and the kitchen activities, your evenings are packed. Fitting in these Elizabeth requests is tight, but since they don't usually consume "time" (talking to Akihiko in the lounge doesn't pass the clock), they are essentially free rewards.
A Quick Checklist for Success:
- Date: Between 6/16 and 7/5.
- Location: Iwatodai Dorm.
- Action: Talk to Akihiko Sanada (Evening).
- Prerequisite: Request #15 must be "Accepted."
Final Tactical Advice
Don't sit on these requests. The pine resin is a prime example of how the game rewards players who pay attention to the calendar. June is a relatively "quiet" month in terms of major plot beats compared to the chaos that happens later in the autumn, so use this time to clear the deck of Elizabeth's errands.
If you're aiming for a 100% completion run, or even just a run where you don't feel chronically underpowered, these fetch quests are your bread and butter.
Grab the resin. Get the bow. Keep climbing.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Open your menu and navigate to the "Requests" tab to ensure Request #15 is explicitly marked as "Accepted."
- Check your in-game calendar; if it's past June 16th but before July 5th, head straight to the dorm during the Evening phase.
- Locate Akihiko in the 1F lounge or near the stairs and initiate conversation to receive the Pine Resin.
- Return to the Velvet Room entrance in Paulownia Mall immediately to turn it in and equip Yukari with the Siren's Song before your next Tartarus run.