Originally Posted by
Raistlin
If you're in end-game, IIRC, you shouldn't need the Death trick for very long, though you might still need a summon for a while.
With a summon: have your party leader have Com, Rav, and Sab (I used Fang), along with a high +STR weapon and +STR items. Start the battle, and immediately summon. Switch to a Sab/X/X paradigm and put a few debuffs on him, and then switch to Rav/X/X to Stagger, and then Com/X/X to inflict some big damage (Fang's Highwind is excellent for this when the stagger's about to run out). When the summon wears off, just quickly restagger and then go all-out (Com/Com/Rav or Com/Com/Com) to finish it off. Even though it still uses a summon, it's better than the Death trick because you at least are guaranteed a kill.
Pretty soon you should be able to kill them (at least the somewhat weaker Adamantortoises) without summons, by buffing your party at the start and then taking out the legs first (again, Fang's Highwind is great for this by one-shotting staggered legs if her strength is high enough).