Claire is in fact very possible to beat on lvl 55-59 without any cheats or max grinding cheese.I actually managed to hit max level and defeat Claire without cheating! (Still got accused of cheating though)
Using the spirit gem (10x EXP gained) on a stimulation battle with all enemies as plants got me straight to max level.
I then use timeslip to do a second playthrough, fought Claire normally and won.
We are going to make use of the fact that her strength lies only in ability to one-shot your characters.
If she can't one-shot she is just a sack of HP without crowd control or disables.
Skills necessary:
-Rin ranbu
-Heart of justice
-Final shot
-Sidewinder
-Protect
-Assault buff
-Shiva's breath
Items needed:
Guard rings x7
Magical Jewel x1
Kamikaze shoes
Magic ring x3
as many full HP potions as u can carry (99 recommended)
Equip:
Rin - Magical Jewel, Guard rings x2
Tetra - Kamikaze shoes, Guard rings x2
Melfi - 3x guard rings
Amelia - 3x magic rings
With this equip, your lvl 59 Rin should have 6.5k HP, which is effectively ~8k HP due to high def. Claire does ~15k per hit so it is still a one-shot.
When Rin is buffed by Heart of justice, Protect, Assault, Claire does only ~8k. Still a one-shot.
However, when Rin is buffed and Claire is debuffed by Final shot+Sidewinder, she does 3~5k per hit. So, big deal. She will just 2-shot Rin and end the fight, right?
Buffs and debuffs last indefinitely in this game. Fully buffed Rin will do 65-70k damage with Rin Ranbu, 200k on critical. Claire will focus her mosty (as the main dps), while othe party members can heal her with full HP pots.
The fight that will defeat Claire should go as follows:
Round 1:
Round 2:Rin buffs Heart of justice. Tetra buffs protect. Melfi debuffs Claire with Final Shot. Amelia kills two heal ninjas with Shiva breath. Claire one-shots Amelia.
Round 3:Rin uses Ranbu on Claire. Tetra buffs Assault. Melfi debuffs Claire with Sidewinder (important - cast sidewinder AFTER Final shot otherwise it has no effect, likely resist due to high stats). Claire one-shots Tetra.
Rounds 4-onwards:Rin uses Ranbu on Claire. Melfi defends. At this point, Claire can no longer 1-shot Rin, and can only 1-shot Melfi with a lightning attack (anything else she throws will not one-shot). Claire attacks either Rin or Melfi.
Claire drops 100k gold and enough XP to level your party from lvl59 to lvl62.Rin hits ~70k with her Ranbu now, so Claire will mostly focus on her. Heal with Melfi, but dont attack with her. Since Claire has ~1million hp, it will take about 10-12 turns to finish her off.
When she is at low hp (20% or so), claire is likely to focus down Melfi, meaning you will lose your free heals. Does it mean the fight is lost in 2 turns? No. Every 3-5 turns Claire will throw a regular attack that damages for ~500. Chug full HP potions and tank until that happens, throw a ranbu afterwards. Eat a ~5k follow up shot. Keep chugging potions again till Claire throws another tickle attack. Repeat until victorious.
Honestly this encounter is one of the best "challenge fights" in JRPGs I've seen. It is difficult enough so it feels 100% impossible, yet can be solved without grinding, top gear or Newgame+ by simply using your existing abilities and equips right. Feels good man.
Also feels good to get hackusations from the developer while playing fair . Anyone who wants to try it out - the save file right before Claire is attached.
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