Quick Links
- Getting Set Up
- Spawning The Reaper
- Taking On The Reaper
- Rewards
Atlus made a ton of changes in Persona 5 Royal that we can definitely get behind, but one of the things we miss about vanilla P5 was how easy it was to grind for levels by choosing tactful days to bait the famously tough Reaper into fighting.
RELATED: Persona 5 Royal: Weather Conditions Explained
You can still cheese this showdown by lowering your difficulty for a moment or by using Personas that are maybe a little too overpowered, but if you’re betting on strength alone, you’re in for a challenge. If you want to make that battle a little easier on yourself, though, then you’ve come to the right place.
Getting Set Up
A frustrating change to Persona 5 Royal was the removal of an oversight in vanilla that made fighting The Reaper a cakewalk. If you went into Mementos during Flu Season in November or December, all shadows would be afflicted with despair and die after three turns had passed, The Reaper included.
Nowadays in Royal, though, flu season still impacts Mementos and the shadows there, but The Reaper has gotten its shots, it seems - the Flu Season cheese for The Reaper no longer works in Persona 5 Royal. Guess you’ll just have to fight him the old-fashioned way.
One of the things that makes this fight so challenging is that The Reaper can and regularly will use insta-kill attacks. Be sure to have a good healer for this fight, as you will definitely be using them throughout to recover. No matter how powerful your party members are or how good their agility is, with those insta-kill moves, odds are good that you’ll be down a Phantom Thief or two by the end of this fight.
Therefore, it’s all but necessary to bring revival items to keep the fight in your favor. Here are a few that’ll do the job, as well as where you can find them.
Item Name | Effect | Locations | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Band-Ace | Revives one fallen ally to half HP. | Given for having save data for vanilla P5. | N/A |
Revival Bead | Regular chests in palaces or from shadows during negotiations. | N/A | |
Revivadrin | Takemi Medical Clinic (one item), or from the Home Shopping Program on 6/19 (three items). | Takemi (Base Price): ¥1,800 | |
Takemi (Discount): ¥900 | |||
Home Shopping: ¥9,980 | |||
Melon Pan | Revives one fallen ally to full HP. | Yon-Germain Bakery at the Ginza Line Gate in the summer, Home Shopping Program on 11/27 (one item) or 1/25 (three items). | Ginza Line: ¥1,000 |
Home Shopping 11/27: ¥4,800 | |||
Home Shopping 1/25: ¥69,800 | |||
Angel Tart | Yon-Germain Bakery at the Ginza Line Gate in the winter, Supermarket Taisho at the Shibuya Underground Mall. | ¥1,800 | |
Balm of Life | Chests and locked chests in palaces, defeating Caroline and Justine (20 items). | N/A | |
Life Ointment | Takemi Medical Clinic. | Takemi (Base Price): ¥6,400 | |
Takemi (Discount): ¥3,200 | |||
Reviv-All | Revives all fallen allies to half HP. | Takemi Medical Clinic (only after maxing the Death Confidant). | ¥50,000 |
Renew-All | Revives all fallen allies to full HP. | ¥250,000 |
In addition, there are two Confidants whose progressive abilities prove a massive help.
- Hifumi Togo (Star)
- At Rank 1: Allows Joker to swap out party members during battle on his turn.
- At Rank 10: Allows anyone to swap out party members during battle on their turn.
- Futaba Sakura (Hermit)
- At Rank 1: Chance to heal the party or cast a -Kaja move to help.
- At Rank 6: Chance to recover SP for party members.
- At Rank 9: Chance to swap party setup when two or more members are KO-ed.
- At Rank 10: Chance to save a party member from an otherwise fatal blow.
You’ll have plenty of time to befriend them, as we don’t recommend fighting The Reaper below Level 60.
Spawning The Reaper
You’ll definitely have done a lot of exploring through Mementos by the time you take on The Reaper, so get the group to any level deeper than the Path of Aiyatsbus, the second area in the Metaverse. As soon as you arrive on a floor deep enough for it to spawn, Morgana warns the party about a dangerous shadow.
To get The Reaper to spawn, simply idle in place for a few minutes. You know it’s arrived when you hear the jangling of chains, and the screen begins to show a red ripple effect.
From the time it spawns until when you either engage him or leave the area, The Reaper will be hunting the Thieves relentlessly. It can’t phase through walls, but doors are no obstacle for him, so don’t try to hide and wait him out.
If the Thieves get out of the vehicle on a platform at the entrance or exit, they will be safe until they get back in the bus. This resets The Reaper to wherever it originally spawned, buying you some time if you need. However, The Reaper will remain on the floor where it spawned until the Phantom Thieves leave the floor or defeat it.
The Reaper can spawn immediately due to one of the possible Deviations in Mementos. It will be almost immediately outside the entrance platform waiting for you, but going back up a floor and returning will reset the floor to normal if you’re not ready for the fight.
Taking On The Reaper
Once your party is appropriately leveled and in good shape, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be to challenge The Reaper. Though it seems a little counterintuitive, letting The Reaper hit you first means it only gets one attack per turn. Additionally, letting it come at you can trigger Thermopylae, which will boost the Thieves’ attack, defense, and agility for the first three turns of battle.
The Reaper will always be Level 85, and it has no weaknesses, resistances, or nullifications. In addition to this, it cannot be insta-killed or affected by status changes.
Typically in battle, The Reaper will default to elemental magic when it’s attacking. During the initial phase, it uses single-target -dyne moves, which it continues with until it reaches about half its HP. After this, it will switch to multi-target ma- elemental attacks, and will add Vorpal Blade, Life Leech, and Spirit Leech to its regular arsenal for the final half.
It’s worth noting that The Reaper is good at exploiting your team’s elemental weaknesses. Stat boosts and immunities are worth stacking up where you can. Additionally, if someone in your party is able to use Makarakarn to erect a wall to block magic attacks against all allies for one turn, The Reaper will not use elemental magic on its next move.
Instead, it will default to Megidolaon. This attack deals severe almighty damage to all foes, but as long as you can withstand it, The Reaper will have to concentrate for a move after using Megidolaon before it tries to use the move again.
A good cheese strategy is to continue to put up Makarakarn and force The Reaper to rely on Megidolaon, hitting it with everything you’ve got when you can and having the team guard when you’re not.
Rewards
While the fight against The Reaper is certainly tough, the juice is more than worth the squeeze. Not only do you get a ton of EXP and cash for your efforts, almost certainly leveling up everyone who fought with you, but there are a few other spoils as well.
First, if you’re achievement hunting, taking down The Reaper for the first time rewards you with the achievement called “A Unique Rebel” to add to your collection. There are no bonus achievements for doing it multiple times, but the payout is more than worth it if your team can handle it.
Additionally, The Reaper drops an item called Divine Pillar. When you give this item to anyone in your party, it halves the damage they take from each attack, at the low cost of being unable to evade. The Reaper is the only shadow to drop this item, so grab it while you can for a pretty sweet boost to someone in your party.
NEXT: Persona 5: Hidden Details Everyone Missed About Mementos
FAQs
How do you beat the Reaper easily in Persona 5 Royal? ›
There is only one item or skill you really need to have in the bag to take on Persona 5 Royal's Reaper and that's something that repels any magic except Almighty. The skill Makarakarn does exactly this. It can be learned by Haru at level 44.
What level should I be to fight the reaper? ›The Reaper is level 85, though a level 60 party is sufficient for fighting it as long as players are well-prepared and adequately equipped. The Reaper has no weaknesses and no resistances or immunities.
Does down shot work on the reaper? ›If it's a bit too hard, use Down Shot, and do not use an All-Out Attack, do what you need to do. You can change your party a bit if you have the items necessary, but keep Haru. Keep repeating this until The Reaper dies, once again.
Is the Reaper weak to anything? ›The Reaper will always be Level 85, and it has no weaknesses, resistances, or nullifications. In addition to this, it cannot be insta-killed or affected by status changes. Typically in battle, The Reaper will default to elemental magic when it's attacking.
Can you cheese the Reaper in Persona 5 Royal? ›If you hit 'Safety' once, your game will be permanently locked there until you beat the game. Although they both still require some elbow grease, these two methods are the easiest ways to cheese the Reaper in Persona 5 Royal. If you want to defeat him with your own strength, that's a whole other ball game.
How do you cheese the Reaper in Persona 5? ›How to Defeat the Reaper in Persona 5. The best method for defeating the Reaper in Persona 5 is to challenge it during Flu Season. On several days throughout November and December, Mementos will be effected by this "weather" condition, which provides a chance that enemies will enter battle afflicted with Despair.
Can a Level 5 Reaper see all ships? ›At Grade V, Reaper's Bones Emissaries gain the power to see all other Emissary Ships on the Map Table, but without any indicator to their Company or Grade level.
What tier is Reaper? ›Reaper is an S+ Tier Spec in the Rarity Tier List.
How much does Reaper heal per shot? ›Damage per second: 216 while firing (157.09 overall w/reload) Healing per second: 75.
How much XP does the Reaper give Persona 5? ›Simply wait for three turns, and the Reaper will be killed automatically. Once this occurs, you will earn a large amount of experience points, which can be anywhere in the region of 60,000 to 200,000 EXP depending on how you have progressed through some of the game's Confidant side quests.
Does Instakill work on Reaper? ›
Insta kill, no.
Why is Don't Fear the Reaper good? ›It's basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners." The song is about the inevitability of death and the foolishness of fearing it, and was written when Dharma was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age.
Can you bring Reaper Kings into boss fights? ›Do not use reapers for boss fights. 3 times more damage is a stretch. The situation is more complicated, and your test wasn't very good if your takeaway is that Rexes do 3 times the damage of Reapers.
How do you avoid a Reaper Leviathan? ›The Reaper Leviathan often swims deeper down but not quite at the seafloor. The player can use this advantage and swim on the surface to avoid detection. It is also less likely to notice the player if they use a Seaglide instead of a submersible.
Does Reapers 50 count to pirates? ›It does work just like all the other factions and counts towards Pirate Legend!
Does Level 50 Reaper count towards pirates? ›Once a player reaches rank 50 with The Reaper's Bones, it will count towards Pirate Legend status. Players will be able to get water from the water barrel on the ship from every angle. When a player chooses from the Cannonball Radial during cannon fire, the correct cannonball will now be loaded for the next shot.
Can Reaper ships see you on the map? ›It also pays to know that while other Emissaries can see Reapers and their Emissary Grade on their map tables (much like flying the Reaper's Mark flag), those Reapers can't see you, though any pirate can see how many Emissary ships are in each lobby.
Can you defeat Reaper Vampire Survivor? ›Killing The Reaper the first time unlocks the secret character Mask of the Red Death as a playable character. If The Reaper was defeated with either Infinite Corridor or Crimson Shroud, it will drop 5 Golden Eggs and White Hand will spawn and end the run.
Can you save during Dont fear the reaper? ›Two factors make this mission uniquely difficult: Saving is not allowed throughout the entire mission.
Is Reaper immune to ailments? ›With two actions, no weaknesses on top of immunity to almost every ailment available, the Reaper is a very tough opponent, with party-wide attacks of all varieties.
What level is the skull reaper? ›
The Skull Reaper (ザ・スカル・リーパー, Za Sukaru Rīpā) was the Floor Boss of the 75th Floor in Sword Art Online.
Is Reaper difficult to play Ffxiv? ›Reaper is doing alright. It is the weakest melee at this time, but it's still within a couple percent of other melee jobs. Furthermore, owing to its extreme easy of play and low-risk, high reward playstyle, it should probably remain slightly below the others.
Who should I take to fight the human reaper? ›On Insanity, using Tali and Legion for this fight can be extremely helpful, provided both have full points allocated for their drones. Their drones will distract the Collectors and Harbinger so you can focus on the Human-Reaper itself.
Can a Level 5 Reaper emissary? ›If you reach Grade 5 as a Reaper's Bones Emissary, you gain the power to see every OTHER Emissary on YOUR map table. Guess the map tables are turned! You can increase your Emissary Grade each session by grabbing loot (especially stolen loot), killing other players, and stealing Emissary Flags off of ships that sink.
Is Asuna still alive? ›Towards the end of the SAO arc, she saves Kirito from a killing blow by Heathcliff at the cost of her life. However, her death was only in-game and she is shortly reunited with Kirito shortly after the death of Heathcliff.
How many skulls are missable? ›Are There Missable Skull Locations In Halo Infinite? Five of the Skulls available in Halo Infinite are locked to specific campaign missions are thus missable. This is because Halo Infinite's Campaign Missions are not replayable, requiring you to replay the entire campaign just to play through them again.
How strong was the fatal scythe? ›The Fatal Scythe is an extremely powerful boss that is able to deal a serious blow with just one swing from its scythe. It was capable of sending both Kirito and Asuna flying and, even though both of them blocked the attack together, they still lost half of their HP from the blow.