What Level Should I Be to Fight Reaper?

The generally accepted answer is that you should aim to be around level 65-70 to comfortably fight the Reaper in Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5. While technically beatable at lower levels with specific strategies, being in this level range significantly increases your chances of survival and reduces reliance on exploiting game mechanics. This provides a more enjoyable and less frustrating experience.

Understanding the Reaper’s Threat

Before diving into strategies, it’s crucial to understand what makes the Reaper such a formidable foe. This enemy possesses extremely high stats in all categories, including strength, magic, endurance, agility, and luck. This translates to powerful attacks, high evasion, and resistance to many elements. Here’s a breakdown of its key characteristics:

• High Stats: As mentioned, its stats are incredibly high, making it difficult to hit and dealing substantial damage with each attack.
• Resistances: The Reaper resists most elemental attacks, significantly reducing their effectiveness.
• Megidolaon: The Reaper’s signature move, Megidolaon, is an almighty attack that deals severe damage to the entire party, ignoring all resistances. This is its deadliest move.
• Fluctuating Weaknesses (P5 Royal): In Persona 5 Royal, the Reaper’s weakness changes during the battle. Exploiting this is key to victory, but finding the weakness can be challenging.
• No Weakness (P5): In the original Persona 5, the Reaper has no weaknesses, making it a significantly more challenging fight.

Factors Affecting the Difficulty

Your optimal level for fighting the Reaper depends on several factors:

• Game Version (P5 vs. P5 Royal): As mentioned, the Reaper’s weaknesses differ significantly between the two versions. Royal offers more opportunities to exploit weakness changes, making it slightly easier overall.
• Difficulty Level: Playing on higher difficulty settings increases enemy stats and damage, requiring you to be at a higher level to compensate. Safe and Easy modes will obviously make the fight much more manageable.
• Persona Builds: The Personas you use are arguably more important than your level. Having Personas with strong resistances, immunities, and offensive abilities is crucial.
• Party Composition: Your party members should complement each other with diverse skills and abilities, providing healing, buffs, and offensive power.
• Strategy: Exploiting the Reaper’s weaknesses (in Royal) or using specific tactics like Flu Shot (P5) or buff/debuff stacking can significantly impact your chances of success.

Leveling Up Efficiently

If you find yourself below the recommended level, here are some tips for leveling up quickly:

• Mementos: Mementos is the best place to grind for experience. Utilize Jose’s stamps to increase experience gains.
• Confusion: Confusing enemies in Mementos and then hitting them with a weak attack (preferably physical) is a fast way to farm experience. Confused enemies will often call for reinforcements, increasing the number of enemies you can defeat in a single battle.
• Kamoshida’s Palace (Early Game): Early in the game, re-visiting Kamoshida’s Palace after completing it offers a decent source of experience for those early level gains.
• Ryuji’s Instant Kill: Ryuji’s Instant Kill ability (rank 7 of the Chariot confidant) can quickly dispatch weaker shadows in Mementos, saving time and gaining experience. Note: It doesn’t work on strong enemies or bosses.

Battle Strategies

Beyond level, strategy is paramount. Here are some approaches:

• Persona 5 Royal – Weakness Exploitation:
  • Analyze: Use Analyze or skills like Oracle to identify the Reaper’s current weakness.
  • Technical Damage: Once you know the weakness, exploit it using skills that inflict technical damage, such as inflicting burn and then using a fire attack.
  • All-Out Attacks: Capitalize on Downed enemies with All-Out Attacks for massive damage.
• Persona 5 – Flu Shot Method:
  • Equip party members with Personas immune to Despair.
  • Inflict Despair on the Reaper (through skills or items).
  • The Reaper will spend its turns attempting to cure the Despair, effectively wasting them.
  • Exploit this vulnerability to deal damage while it’s incapacitated.
• Buffs and Debuffs:
  • Attack Up/Defense Down: Use skills like Tarukaja (attack up) and Rakunda (defense down) to maximize your damage output and reduce the Reaper’s damage.
  • Accuracy/Evasion: Sukukaja (accuracy/evasion up) and Sukunda (accuracy/evasion down) can improve your hit rate and help you evade the Reaper’s attacks.
• Healing:
  • Consistent Healing: Ensure you have a dedicated healer in your party or Personas with potent healing skills like Mediarahan.
  • Status Cure: Be prepared to cure status ailments like Despair, Brainwash, and Fear.

Equipment

Having the best possible equipment can also improve your chances. Visit Iwai’s shop for weapons and armor. Don’t underestimate the value of accessories that grant resistances or boost stats.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 15 frequently asked questions about fighting the Reaper, providing even more information to assist you:

1. Can I beat the Reaper at a low level (e.g., level 40)? Yes, it’s possible, but highly dependent on your strategy, Persona builds, difficulty setting, and luck. It requires a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics and potentially exploiting glitches (though those are rare). It’s generally not recommended for a first-time player.

2. What are the best Personas to use against the Reaper? Some of the best Personas include those with strong resistances (like Yoshitsune for Physical Repel), healing abilities (like Sraosha), and powerful offensive skills (like Alice for Megidolaon in some strategies). Consider Personas that nullify or drain specific elements.

3. Is the Reaper harder in Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal? Generally, the Reaper is considered slightly easier in Persona 5 Royal due to the changing weaknesses, which provide opportunities for exploitation. However, the Flu Shot method in the original Persona 5 can also make the fight trivial.

4. What difficulty setting is recommended for fighting the Reaper? For a balanced challenge, Normal difficulty is recommended. However, if you are underleveled or new to the game, consider playing on Easy or Safe mode.

5. How do I trigger the Reaper fight? In Persona 5 and Royal, the Reaper appears when you stay too long in a single area during a flu season in Mementos or Palaces.

6. Does the weather affect the Reaper’s appearance? Yes, the Reaper is more likely to appear during flu season.

7. What happens if I lose to the Reaper? You will get a Game Over. Make sure to save frequently before attempting the fight.

8. Are there any trophies or achievements related to defeating the Reaper? Yes, there is a trophy for defeating the Reaper in both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.

9. How many times can I fight the Reaper? You can fight the Reaper as many times as you want, provided you meet the encounter conditions.

10. What rewards do I get for defeating the Reaper? The Reaper drops a significant amount of experience and a rare item.

11. Is it worth fighting the Reaper early in the game? Not generally. The Reaper is extremely difficult to defeat at low levels, and the potential rewards are not worth the risk for most players. Focus on leveling up and building your Persona arsenal first.

12. Can I use DLC Personas to make the fight easier? Yes, DLC Personas can provide a significant advantage, especially those with powerful skills or immunities. However, relying solely on DLC can diminish the sense of accomplishment.

13. Are there any specific party member combinations that are particularly effective? Party composition depends on your strategy, but a good balance of offense, defense, and healing is crucial. Having a dedicated healer like Morgana or a versatile character like Makoto is generally recommended.

14. What are some common mistakes players make when fighting the Reaper? Common mistakes include being underleveled, having poorly optimized Persona builds, neglecting buffs and debuffs, and failing to heal consistently.

15. Where can I find more detailed guides and strategies for fighting the Reaper? Websites like GameFAQs, Reddit (r/Persona5), and YouTube offer numerous guides and videos demonstrating various strategies for defeating the Reaper.

By understanding the Reaper’s capabilities, carefully planning your approach, and utilizing the information provided in this article, you’ll be well-equipped to conquer this challenging enemy and reap the rewards! Remember that level is only one factor in success; strategy and preparation are equally important. Good luck!