How to Defeat the Reaper in Persona 3 Reload

In Persona 3 Reload, the Reaper is one of the most difficult boss encounters in Tartarus. Here is everything you need to know to defeat the Reaper in Persona 3 Reload, including battle strategies and even a cheap way to cheese the boss fight altogether.

Where to find the Reaper in Persona 3 Reload

You first encounter the Reaper on Floor 62 of Tartarus in Persona 3 Reload. The tough boss doesn’t actually have a location per se. Once you encounter him for the first time on Floor 62, he will start appearing on every floor if you spend too much time on it.

To find the Reaper, explore any floor above 62 in Tartarus and stand still for five minutes. After enough time, Fuuka will inform you that a dangerous Shadow is coming your way. Eventually, the Reaper will appear and will start chasing after you. If you want to encounter the boss, rush into it and slash at it.

Persona 3 Reload Reaper strategy

Before attempting to defeat the Reaper in Persona 3 Reload, you should at least be level 80 minimum. And for some players, you may need even to be a little higher. Not only do you need the extra health just to survive his attacks, but you also need your group’s Persona at a high enough level that they have certain powerful moves.

Here is the team we recommend using for this encounter, as well as some moves they should have:

• Protagonist (Marakunda: Decrease all foes’ Defense for 3 turns, Theurgy King and I: Heavy Ice Damage to all foes, Vile Assault: Deals Heavy Pierce damage to 1 foe).
• Mitsuru (Diamond Dust: deals severe Ice Damage to 1 foe, Concentrate: next magic attack will deal double damage, Marakunda).
• Akihiko (Masukukaja: Increase party’s Accuracy/Evasion for 3 turns, Diarahan: fully restores 1 ally’s HP, God’s Hand: Deals Massive Strike to 1 foe).
• Aigis (Theurgy Orgia Mode: heavy pierce damage, Primal Force: deals severe Pierce damage to 1 foe).

You can defeat the Reaper with other combinations, but this is the group I found success in taking down the menacing boss fight. On top of the moves, you will also need a lot of healing and buff items. Below is a list that should give you an idea of the items you should bring into the fight:

• Revival Bead (Revives one ally with 50% HP).
• Debilitator Sutra (Decreases ATK/DEF/Accuracy/Evasion for one foe for three turns.
• Bead (Fully restore HP to one ally).
• Bead Chain (Fully restores party’s HP).
• Antibiotic Gel (Restores 200 HP to one ally).
• Balm of Life (Revives one fallen ally with full HP).
• First Aid Kid L (Restores 200 HP to all allies).
• First Aid Kid M (Restores 100 HP to all allies).
• Kamimsubi Water (Restores 200 HP to all allies).
• Snuff Soul (Restores 50 SP to one ally).
• Soma (Fully restores the party’s HP).

The main strategy here is to defeat the Reaper by attrition and to whittle his health down over time. I will be real with you; this fight will take a long time! So before jumping into it, expect to put aside 20 to 30 minutes to take on this battle. At its core, Mitsuru will be dealing the most damage with her Diamond Dust move, which deals severe Ice Damage. This is especially potent after you use her Concentrate to double her Magic attack damage. Aigis will also be dishing out damage with her Theurgy Orgia Mode and Primal Force severe Piece damage move.

One of the main hurdles to this battle is the Reaper’s “Heat Riser” move, which raises his Accuracy and Evasion, and Debilitate, which lowers your party’s Evasion and Accuracy. You want to counter this buff with Marakunda from the Protagonist and Mitsuru. Akihiko’s Masukukaja will also increase your own party’s Evasion and accuracy. For most of the battle, the Protagonist will use items such as Antibiotic Gel to heal Mitsuru and other party members.

In a pinch, Akihiko can use Diarahan to heal a party member fully. You will also want to have at least 10 Revival Bead-type items in case the Reaper takes one of your party members out. So, for most of the battle, Mitsuru and Aigis will be dealing damage with Diamond Dust and Primal Wave. And whenever anyone in your party gets a Max Theurgy meter – USE IT! Basically, have two party members focusing on damage, while two other members are healing and reviving and applying debuffs to the Reaper. This isn’t the most elegant strategy, but you will eventually defeat him. You just have to stick it out.

Peaceful Mode Cheese Strategy

Before you groan, yes, we are going to cover the cheese strategy. Before you judge, consider that not every player is skilled at intense combat mechanics. This strategy is for those who have tried everything to beat the Reaper and can’t defeat him. Specifically, it’s for those who have given up on ever defeating the difficult boss, so it’s a last resort.

To cheese the Reaper boss fight in Persona 3 Reload, you will want to change your game’s difficulty level to “Peaceful” and take advantage of the game’s infinite revives. After the Reaper kills every party member, you will choose to “revive,” which will throw you back into the fight with your HP and SP completely healed. But, most importantly, the Reaper’s HP damage will still carry over from your previous death.

• Get into battle with the Reaper.
• Do as much damage as possible.
• Let the Reaper eventually take out every party member in your group.
• A cutscene will play that says, “It can’t end like this… Can it?”. Select the “I can’t die yet” option to revive your entire team fully.
• Continue to attack the Reaper until you die again, and repeat the process of being revived.
• Eventually, you will whittle his health down and defeat the Reaper.

Even in the cheese method, this fight will take you 30 min to an hour, depending on your character’s level and damage potential. But on Peaceful mode, you can revive as many times as you want. So it’s just a matter of eventually taking out the Reaper’s health.

I know many might consider the cheese method cheating. And I get it. But Peaceful mode is a feature the developers included for casual players specifically. You can ignore it altogether and keep grinding your level and Persona if you are set on taking it out the honest way. It’s actually totally worth doing this, as defeating the boss with the normal method feels incredible due to the challenge.

Persona 3 Reload Reaper Weaknesses

The Reaper is not weak to anything in Persona 3 Reload. But the boss is also not resistant to any attacks either. The boss fights the entire gimmick in his “Heat Riser” move, which pretty much allows him to dodge any attack you throw at him. So, while you can technically bring any party member into this fight, just be aware that you will need a Persona that can debuff his Evasion.

Persona 3 Reload is now available on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.