I'm struggling winning early boss fights like the bandit King, ogre and White fang without using the collar. Are there any suggestions for boss fights without superpowers? I've been struggling with the corruption limit. I have I think all possible spells and upgrades my equipment I can have with the blacksmith.
The magic word for both the Bandit King, and the Ogre?
Thunderbolt.
It's super effective, letting you follow it up with pierce. And if you see them setting up a power-attack for the next turn, immediately hit them with another thunderbolt. The numb status effect prevents them from doing their power attack, and makes them lose their turn.
Now, thunder magic is quite magically expensive, so if you are lacking in max MP, you should make sure to use every bit of Ether you come across, and buy Mana Stones at the alchemist. The first 10-15 Mana Stones should go towards this purpose, at the very least. 40 extra MP, without any loss in days or increasing Blacksmith prices is a WAY better use of 10 Ether, than using them at the blacksmith.
Now, I don't know HOW many upgrades you have bought at the blacksmith, and with what materials, but you may have screwed yourself quite badly, if you have upgraded your equipment with weak material like Ether and Pyromantium. Because not only do you need those materials for various quests and item crafting at the alchemist, but doing so also raises blacksmith prices down the line for when you start getting much better materials. Money is a finite ressource, which means you only get a limited number of blacksmith upgrades. So if you have raised crafting prices to an unsustainable level with subpar upgrades, what are you gonna do with all your powerful mid/lategame materials? As a general rule, only use the most powerful materials you get your hands on for the blacksmith. Save room, and keep the prices low for later.
Now the wolf is much simpler. If you use the nasty oil sword coating, whose formula you can acquire during killing the demon in the mines, you can break the defenses of any enemy with a sensitive nose. The wolf boss is one such enemy, causing it to lose 75% DEF and MDEF, and allowing you to finish it off, in no time at all.