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Though he’s become something of a staple for your optional battles in the Persona series, Persona 3 was the first to introduce The Reaper, andPersona 3 Reloadhas brought him back once again in his fullest might. And there are no shortcuts you can take to handle him more effectively on certain days, either – this is might versus might.
Bring an all-star team with you when you summon The Reaper to fight you, but don’t dare attempt the fight before your team has grown – The Reaper is famously one of the strongest Shadows you’ll face in any Persona title.
The Reaper, Explained
If you’re a longtime Persona fan, then The Reaper will come as no surprise to you as you enter Tartarus, but if P3R is your first Persona game, The Reaper is asuper-strong Shadow that spawns if you idle on a floor of Tartarus for too long.
There’s no set time after which he spawns, though – The Reaper’s spawn has to do with plenty of things happening on the floor. His arrival is hastened:
You’ll first hear mention of The Reaper in thesecond half of Arqa, after Fuuka has joined the group as your nav expert. As you climb the second half ofthe Arqa block, Fuuka will warn you about halfway up that you shouldn’t loiter for too long, as she can sense apowerful enemy approaching.
“Powerful” is not an understatement, either – The Reaper is typicallyLevel 99in Persona games and is capable of usingheavy-level spells and skillscovering every affinity. He can alsopinpoint your teammate’s weaknessesand exploit them, sodon’t fight him until you’re truly prepared.
Team Suggestion
Though there’sno right or wrong teamto use in fighting The Reaper in Persona 3 Reload, there are certain elements in your team’s composition that you almost can’t do the fight without. You’ll all butneed a healer capable of reviving fallen teammates, as you’re all but promised to sustain massive damage during this battle.
And with so many status ailments coming your way, you’ll need tobe able to heal status ailmentsfor the team, as these can massively turn the tide in The Reaper’s favor. Teammates who’ve been stricken with Fear may run away from the battle. He can also Shock the team, leaving them unable to move on their next turn, while Confused teammates may attack you instead of The Reaper.Heal ailments as quickly as possibleto keep the flow of battle going.
Additionally, with such a need forbuff and debuff skills, having teammates capable of using them is essential to keeping The Reaper’s stats to a manageable level, asThe Reaper will consistently buff himself. If he buffs himself too much and nobody on the team is capable of debuffing him, The Reaper will essentially just take chip damage until his buffs time out or he KOs the team, whichever happens first.
After trying the fight with a couple different builds, below is theteam we had the best luck with.
- Yukari’s Theurgy is up to your playstyle. She went first for us, and we had her use Tranquility to boost everyone else’s damage, but Cyclone Wind is still completely valid if you’d rather go for outright damage instead.
How To Know When The Reaper Is Coming
If you don’t want to worry about The Reaper that night, thefortune teller at Club Escapadeoffers afortune to prevent bad thingslike The Reaper’s spawn that evening in Tartarus for¥5,000.
If you’ve been idle for too long, Fuuka will offerone warning callabout a powerful Shadow she’s picking up that seems to be heading your way. If you’re not trying to fight The Reaper that day, her saying that is your cue toleave the floor to despawn The Reaper.
After her initial warning, though, the second time Fuuka calls (roughly30 seconds or so after her first warning), it’s to tell you thatThe Reaper has spawned on your current floor of Tartarusand has begun to actively hunt the party down.
The edges of you screen will show adistressed red border, and your mini-map displays apulsing red Shadow that leaves a trailas it beelines for your party.
In older versions of Persona 3, The Reaper wouldn’t be able to catch you if you were standing on the stairs to the next floor. In Persona 3 Reload,The Reaper can attack you regardlessof where your party has chosen to wait for him.
Once he spawns onto the map,The Reaper will not stop looking for your groupuntil he either finds you, or youleave the floorto leave him behind and make your escape.
Get Ready For A Difficult Battle
Before you actually take on The Reaper, it pays massively todo some prep work beforehand that nightto make the battle flow a little smoother. Whichever party members are coming into the fight will need to be outfitted in thebest armor and weapons they can currently useat the time.
It’s because of this thatwe recommend waiting until January to fight The Reaperfor the easiest time, as not only will the team be stronger, but you’ll have a wealth of gear available betweenthe police stationandMayoido Antiquesin the final month of the game.
Though tempting as it may be to sprint headlong into the fight with nothing but morale and adrenaline,explore a few floors of Tartarus firstbefore you attempt to bait The Reaper out. Doing so allows you tostart the fight against The Reaper witheveryone’s Theurgygauges filled completely(including Fuuka’s, for her passive support boosts).
This is becauseThe Reaper has amassiveHP pool, and even your Theurgy attacks will leave him with between a third and half his HP remaining, even using everyone’s evolved Personas. Given this high amount of damage you’ll need to inflict, it’s wise tohave someone on the team who knows buff or debuff moves.
A handy one to have isDebilitate, which lowers The Reaper’s attack, defense, accuracy, and evasion for three turns. The Reaper having such powerful damage-dealing moves in his arsenal can be damning, but making him hit less while aiming less accurately is never a bad idea.
Finally, before drawing The Reaper out of hiding, you’ll want to double-check everyone’s gear and accessories. Not only are armor and footwear important, butaccessoriescan change the tides in battle. A handy accessory foryour protagonistduring this battle (or any major fight, really) is anything that grants the effect ofEnduring Soul, which allows you torevive to full HP once per KO in battle.
Given the massive amount of damage The Reaper is capable of dealing, being able to revive upon death prevents you from immediately being made to try the battle over.Accessories stack with Personas that know Enduring Soul, too, which offers additional revival opportunities, which may come in handy during the fight with The Reaper in Persona 3 Reload.
If you don’t have ateammate with a revival skill, be sure tobring plenty of revival items, as you’ll likely lose a teammate or two along the way, and KO’d teammates don’t earn EXP after the battle if they’re still fainted when it ends.
Additionally, with so many insta-kill skills at The Reaper’s disposal, you’d do well tobring a Homonculus or twoto prevent anyone on the team - especially your protagonist - from being KO’d.
The Reaper Battle Strategy
To get a leg up in the battle, you canambush The Reaperto ensure your team goes first, instead of waiting for him to attack your party and giving him the first move in the battle. You can improve your ambush abilities usingwebsites from the Shady Dealer at Club Escapadeand spending time using them on theShared PCat Iwatodai Dorm.
On your very first move once you’ve begun the battle with The Reaper, the first teammate up to bat shoulduse Fuuka’s Theurgy immediatelyto grant any additional boosts to the party for the fight ahead. With the team having full HP and SP, you’re quite likely to get the boost that leaves the teamcharged and focused, which is a guaranteed way toincrease the damage dealt on every teammate’s next attack
And while this extended damage output is in effect, it’s the best time touse everyone’s heaviest-hitting Theurgy skill on their first movein battle to immediately put the heaviest dent into The Reaper’s HP pool.
Doing so does a colossal amount of damage to The Reaper before he even gets his first turn.The Reaper gets a couple moves per turn,so you may see him focus more on buffing himself than dealing outright damage.
That said,The Reaper is capable of immense damageif you don’t debuff him somehow. Not only does he dealheavy elemental or physical damage to one or all teammates, but he’s also capable ofinflicting status ailmentsthat can turn the battle in his favor if you’re not quick to heal them.
We had Mitsuru useBlade of Executionon her turn to lower all of The Reaper’s stats, and after Koromaru used his Theurgy on his first turn, we had him follow up withDebilitate. In all, this gives yousix moved on which The Reaper has lowered stats. Six may sound excessive, but with a health pool as high as his, you’ll likely be here at least that long.
As much as you focus on inflicting damage, though, be sure to also spend some timehealing and buffing your teamas needed. When The Reaper’s attacks do land, they still deal a lot of damage, and withThe Reaper able to hone in on and exploit weaknesses, you’ll be taking some damage along the way.
Additionally, do your bestnot to let The Reaper get One More attacksoff his critical damage from exploiting weaknesses. Dealing as much damage as he does, the last thing you want is a second dose right after the first – it may prove fatal.
Once your Theurgy moves are expended, it’s unlikely you’ll be in the fight long enough to recharge, especially with The Reaper not having weaknesses or any susceptibility to ailments.
We suggest usingLucifercomes in handy – Luciferrepels Darkanddrains Fire and Electric, rendering half The Reaper’s magic useless against your protagonist.
Stack inAli Danceto increase our evasion against Fire, Ice, Electric, and Wind magics to make your protagonist neigh impossible to hit and a pain to deal with when The Reaper does, lest he heal you on accident.
From here, it’s just a matter ofdealing as much damage as you canwhile keeping an eye on your own health andreviving fallen teammateswhenever possible to ensure everyone gets the huge EXP payout for defeating The Reaper.
How To Cheese The Reaper Battle
If you’re not into the outright exchange of blows with this difficult foe, there’s still a reliable way to end the battle with The Reaper fairly easily, butyour protagonist needs to be at least Lv. 88, as this method relies on your Theurgy skills.
While theArmageddonTheurgy skillyour protagonist can learnmay be dicey in fights against the Ultimate Enemy or Nyx, it’s pretty helpful here. When you have bothHelelandSatanregistered in your Compendium, you’ll be able to use the Armageddon skill in battle.
This Theurgy skill is considered the Ultimate one for your protagonist, as itdeals 9,999 Almighty damagewhen used, but a move that powerful doesn’t come without a caveat - using itreduces your HP and SP to one, meaning it’s risky to use if you’re not sure it’ll do the trick. Here, though, it’s typically enough todefeat The Reaper in one blow.
What Do You Get For Beating The Reaper?
Since taking on and besting The Reaper is acompletely optional challengethat brings no penalty for not completing it, you’ll receive a wealth of perks for choosing to take on this beast of a battle. And given that defeating The Reaper isone ofElizabeth’s Requests, you’ll receive a prize from her for your efforts, too.
After the battle, though, not only will everyone involved earn anextremely large amount of EXPfor their tremendous efforts in the battle, but The Reaper also drops aBloody Button. After showing this to Elizabeth to complete the request, feel free to sell it to Officer Kurosawa for a cool ¥100,000 the next time you’re at Paulownia Mall.
Finally, defeating The Reaper is one of more than 40achievements and trophies for Persona 3 Reload. Upon his fall in battle, you’ll pop theReaper Reapedtrophy or achievement for your hard work.
