Super Mario RPG Switch Remake - Low Level Part 22: Wizakoopa
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Originally named Magikoopa, this is the first boss battle faced in the game's final dungeon. By now, I've spent some unnecessary time trying to score FP-boosting items, a futile effort, as all of the skills I'm likely to use are exactly as cheap as they were in the beginning of the game, item use dominating my strategies quite a bit.
For the first time ever, I open with a lineup of Mario, Geno and Peach, protecting the party against one attack, like a longer-yet-free version of Red Essence. Summarily, Geno is replaced by Bowser, who actually stands a fighting chance to inflict damage by using physical attacks - but not against every single enemy we face here.
Wizakoopa's gimmick is summoning Bahamutt, King Bomb and Jinx Clone, sometimes several of one of these depending on your luck, to prevent any damage done to him while the summoned monster is still alive. As the monster is then always eliminated before getting its own attack in, this does little but prolong the battle, using up our actions and causing the boss's Fear status, which he is weak to, to wear off sooner. Mario's Jump is easily the strongest attack on average to use against the summons.
In between the turns spent summoning monsters, Wizakoopa usually casts some magic, some of which can be reduced with Bracers/Fear and Safety Ring's partial elemental protection, and some not. Mario can be expected to fall to said magic, though not all of it, and raising him is generally a good idea for the damage he inflicts with his very first skill this late into the game. Guess grinding his Jump potency up was worthwhile in the end after all.
Progressing past Wizakoopa leads to infinite money earning potential, which is a bit faster than the alternative I've been using all game long - the early one in Rose Way. I'd like to say that more efficient coin grinding is useful, but there aren't all that many things we could buy at this stage of the game...