5 hardest Shin Megami Tensei 5 bosses

Shin Megami Tensei 5 has quite a big roster of optional and mandatory bosses who are quite tough to beat.

Keeping in line with some of the former entries in the mainline series, Shin Megami Tensei 5 does not hold the player’s hands regarding boss fights.

In the normal and hard mode, players are bound to struggle against some of the tougher enemies and can repeatedly die if they do not have the right skills and party setups to counter what the bosses throw at them.

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While grinding out lesser demons for a couple of hours can help with the boss fight ahead, it’s also important to build a balanced roster that comes with damage, buffs, debuffs, as well as healing.

No Shin Megami Tensei 5 boss, base game, or DLC is a “walk in the park” in higher difficulties. However, there are some who takes the test to a whole other level and are just too brutal to face without proper preparation,

Hence, today’s article will talk about some of the toughest and best adrenaline-inducing boss fights that Shin Megami Tensei 5 has to offer.

Five best and toughest boss fights in Shin Megami Tensei 5

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Before starting the list, it’s important to note here that the demons mentioned are not ranked in any way. Shin Megami Tensei 5 boss designs are unique and versatile. Therefore every player will have a different encounter with them, depending on the particular party that they boast.

1) Lahmu

What makes Lahmu so difficult in Shin Megami Tensei 5 is the Mud debuff that the abomination inflicts along with having two phases, making it one of the most mentally exhausting fights in the game.

Players with a strong enough party will be able to take him down without having to switch out demons for the second phase. However, those who are not as prepared will face mana issues and will require to switch their primary demons out for the next phase.

The Mud status that Lahmu inflicts will subtract one turn out of the total turns that the players have. Hence, it’s important to have demons who can exploit his weakness and deal Force or Light attacks to extend turns, as those are the only two types of spells that Lahmu is weak to in phase one.

In phase two, players will not have to deal with the Mud effect. However, Lahmu’s resistances change, and the abomination is now weak to Fire, making Agi spells a must-have in the party.

Dealing with Lahmu in higher difficulties can be extremely difficult. The encounter can very easily get out of hand if Lahmu is allowed to get his Mud effects off and keep reviving the damaged tentacles with Babylon Curse.

2) Shiva

The Hindu “God of Destruction”, Shiva, is one of the “super bosses” in the Shin Megami Tensei 5 DLC. While it’s true that each DLC boss is a cut above the base game ones, Shiva is a whole new level of pain, no matter how well prepared the player is for the encounter.

Shiva’s Tandava attack is a force to reckon. With it, he delivers severe AoE almighty attack that will drop the defense of those hit by it to a minimum. Coupled with this, he calls in allies, primarily Kali and Ganesha, to fight by his side, and make the fight all the more difficult than what it already is.

If this does not overwhelm the players, Shiva has one more trick up his sleeve. When his health bar is in the red, he will summon Anat, who is capable of haling Shiva for upwards of 10K hit points, during his turn. This means that the player will have to restart the process of whittling down Shiva’s massive health pool all over again.

To overcome Shiva in the Shin Megami Tensei 5 DLC, players will need to compose a good party that deals both Ice and Dark damage. While Shiva and Kali are weak to Ice themselves, Ganesha and Anat are weak to Dark.

While there is no proper tried and tested exploit for the first phase of the fight, for the second, it’s crucial that players take out Anat as soon as he appears and to make sure that he does not get a turn to heal Shiva.

A party comprising Beelzebub, Metatron, and Vishnu might just do the trick. However, it’s hard to come up with a meta composition to go up against Shiva because of just how volatile the fight actually is.

3) Demi-Fiend

After Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne, the Demi-Fiend has been making small appearances in other mainline and off-shoot MegaTen games, including Digital Devil Saga and Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse.

In Shin Megami Tensei 5, the Demi-Fiend will be making another reappearance and will be taking up the role of one of the hardest bosses in the DLC.

The Demi-Fiend fight is by far the most mentally draining encounter in Shin Megami Tensei 5. With an astronomical HP pool and attack that hit like a truck, the protagonist of Nocturne is also capable of summoning random demons as allies every time the player takes one of his demons down.

To make things even more of an uphill battle, the Demi-Fiend also has access to spells like “Mediarahan +4”, which can completely heal his entire party.

It’s an extremely long and very drawn-out fight, and players will need to constantly be on their toes to be able to take him down. Continually switching out demons is also something that they will need to do, and it’s important to make a party that comes with a tonne of buff and debuff spells.

The Demi-Fiend does not allow much room for exploits, which ultimately makes abilities like Sukukaja, Tarukaja, and Rakukaja a must-have for the encounter.

4) Matador

Matador was a compulsory boss fight in Nocturne, where players encountered him in the Great Underpass of Ginza. He would gatekeep the players out from the rest of the game, and in the early parts of Nocturne’s progression, he was indeed the hardest boss fight.

Matador was also the point where a lot of players chose to quit the game. He came with an arsenal of Physical and Force attacks, which Atlus decided to transfer almost entirely in Shin Megami Tensei 5.

Matador is one of the early DLC bosses whom players can encounter when they are level 5. However, as he is a much higher-level field boss, it’s recommended that players come back and try him when they are at least between levels 30 and 40.

Even then, the Matador fight in Shin Megami Tensei 5 is brutal, and without the proper precautions, players will die over and over again to him.

Matador is weak to Zio and primarily does AoE Physical and Force attacks, hence bringing something like a Shiisa to the fight, along with Kikuri-Hime, might just do the trick. Much like with the Demi-Fiend encounter, buffs and debuffs are essential for this encounter as well, and a good deal of importance should be given to having the Tarunda, and Sukunda spells in the part.

5) Shohei Yakumo

Yakumo represents the “Chaos” ideological standpoint in Shin Megami Tensei 5. Along with Nuwa, he is one of the main bosses in the game, and players will encounter him in Akihabara.

Like Matador, Yakumo too is all about dishing out a barrage of AoE Physical spells to the Nahobino and its party. It can be a very tilting experience to tackle him without the proper resistance and party setups, as Yakomu will be able to delete the player’s party in the blink of an eye.

Additionally, he also comes with Mazionga, and taking the AoE electric damage head-on is not advisable at all. Hence, it’s important that players carry a fair amount of Electric Dampeners and have demons who are not weak to Zio or Physical abilities.

Another tactic that can help is having a demon with very high physical resistance and Taunt. This will force Yakumo to target that demon the most instead of instantly annihilating the squishier party members.