Persona 5 Royal: Reaper Tutorial

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Finding the Reaper: The Reaper is the OP party-killing Shadow that lurks around Mementos killing anyone who stays on one floor too long. He is to be feared... or killed, if you have the right setup. It's actually required for an achievement in Theieves' Den. You don't find the Reaper- he finds you. Stay on one floor in Mementos (floor number does not affect difficulty or EXP gained, so try to pick one just after a save point) and wait for the Reaper to spawn. He will then (slowly) track you down. Do NOT wait on the tutorial section, Path of Qimranut, because he will not spawn.

Preparing for the Reaper: The most important thing to know about fighting the Reaper is that putting the game on Easy mode is not a coward's way out. He gains a major buff on Merciless, and since he spams Heavy Damage skills, High chance crit skills, and insta-kills, Easy difficulty is a good idea for inexperienced Reaper grinders and pros alike.
Equip the free DLC item Hermelin Badge on your party members to avoid all insta-kill spells, since the Hermelin Badge nulls Curse and Bless, effectively blocking all insta-kills. Bring a dedicated healer to your party as well (like Morgana or Makoto), and plenty of SP restoring items such as Coffee or Soul Drops.
It may seem counterintuitive, but let the Reaper ambush you, so he only can use one move per turn instead of two. Getting a Hold Up on him will reverse this effect.

Reaper's stats and moveset:

• Level: 85
• HP: 5,000
• SP: 12,000
• Strength: 99 (MAX)
• Magic: 80
• Endurance: 80
• Agility: 75
• Luck: 80

No weaknesses. Drops 72050 EXP, 3570 Yen, and the Divine Pillar accessory.

Skills:

• Vorpal Blade. Severe Physical damage to all foes.
• Vorpal Blade. Severe Physical damage to all foes.
• One-shot Kill. Severe Gun damage to 1 foe. High Critical Rate.
• Riot Gun. Severe Gun damage to all foes.
• Agidyne. Heavy Fire damage to 1 foe. Rare chance of Burn.
• Maragidyne. Heavy Fire damage to all foes. Rare chance of Burn.
• Bufudyne. Heavy Ice damage to 1 foe. Rare chance of Freeze.
• Mabufudyne. Heavy Ice damage to all foes. Rare chance of Freeze.
• Ziodyne. Heavy Electric damage to 1 foe. Rare chance of Shock.
• Maziodyne. Heavy Electric damage to all foes. Rare chance of Shock.
• Garudyne. Heavy Wind damage to 1 foe. Technical dmg: Burn.
• Magarudyne. Heavy Wind damage to all foes. Technical dmg: Burn.
• Psiodyne. Heavy Psy damage to 1 foe. Technical dmg: Mental ailment.
• Mapsiodyne. Heavy Psy damage to all foes. Technical dmg: Mental ailment.
• Freidyne. Heavy Nuclear damage to 1 foe. Technical dmg: Burn/Freeze/Shock.
• Mafreidyne. Heavy Nuclear damage to all foes. Technical dmg: Burn/Freeze/Shock.
• Hamaon. Medium chance of instantly killing 1 foe. Bless-type.
• Mahamaon. Medium chance of instantly killing all foes. Bless-type.
• Mudoon. Medium chance of instantly killing 1 foe. Curse-type.
• Mamudoon. Medium chance of instantly killing all foes. Curse-type.
• Megidola. Heavy Almighty damage to all foes.
• Megidolaon. Severe Almighty damage to all foes.
• Life Leech. Drain 150 HP from 1 foe. Almighty-type.
• Spirit Leech. Drain 100 SP from 1 foe. Almighty-type.
• Concentrate. Next magic attack inflicts 2.5x damage.
• Fire Break. Suppress innate Fire resistance of all foes for 3 turns.
• Ice Break. Suppress innate Ice resistance of all foes for 3 turns.
• Elec Break. Suppress innate Electric resistance of all foes for 3 turns.
• Wind Break. Suppress innate Wind resistance of all foes for 3 turns.

What to do: Hit, hit, and hit again. Make sure Joker's health is nver lower than 150 HP, since once the Reaper is down to half health, it will start to use Leech Life, and Joker down is a Game Over. I suggest cycling Debilitate, Heat Riser (or Thermopylae if you have Attis!) Concentrate/Charge, and hitting with your highest damage skill, keeping an eye on HP and SP. With some deliberation, and remembering you're not on a timer, you can get through the fight.
I personally like to solo the Reaper, and on NG+ I've done it as early as level 23. But I had crazy Personas, and you need to be aware of crits. A persona that nulls as much damamge as possible is good, because the Reaper will waste time trying to break those immunities.

Good luck soldier! And if you need more specific advise fighting it or making personas, feel free to contact me on any of my contacts found on the main page.