How to defeat Hydra in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance

No matter which route you take in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, you must still face the Hydra. It’s the first major boss in the game and can be found on the way to Tokyo Tower. A huge beast that is in its way, reminiscent of the popular “Mara” demon, it only has a few attacks, but they all hit incredibly hard. On top of that, it has a ton of health.

Thankfully, it’s not a complicated boss fight. When you fight Hydra, you have to be aware of a few AOE attacks, and keep your health topped up. Luckily, if you go the new route in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, you will have a brand-new ally to help you out.

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Tips for defeating Hydra in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance

The stats of the Hydra in SMT5 Vengeance (Image via Atlus)

Hydra, a member of the Drake family in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance is the first major boss encounter. Like the original game, it’s a Level 15 boss, packs a serious punch, and has some intense AOE attacks. That’s really what makes the boss a threat, but it’s nothing the player can’t overcome with a little planning. Here are its elemental weaknesses and attacks:

Affinities for Hydra

• Weaknesses: Ice
• Resists: N/A
• Nullfies: Fire

Hydra’s attacks

• Pernicious Venom (Passive): While in the active party, all allies’ attacks, including Magic, may become Critical hits against foes that have ailments.
• Frenzy +3: Medium Physical attack to all foes.
• Toxic Breath: Unique Medium Dark attack to all foes. Chance of inflicting Poison.
• 2-5 weak Fire attacks to random foes.

Since the Nahobino comes with an Ice spell right off the bat (Bufu), the Hydra will always be hit by something it's weak to in Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance - that is, provided you have enough MP. While I didn’t have a lot of ice magic users at the time, I did have an option to make things a bit easier: Yoko Hiromine.

In the new route of Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, you get a new guest character, who will be with you for much of the game. While she had no ice spells, I did have 10x Ice Shards and a few Ice Gems. That means she had regular access to another way to weaken the boss. As a human character, she also has access to the full menu of items, as Nahobino does.

In my case, I had Nahobino, Fortuna, Leanan Sidhe, and Yoko Hiromine for the battle. While neither demon had useful spells to take advantage of weaknesses, Fortuna had Life Drain to keep herself healed, and Leanan could use dark magic since Hydra doesn’t nullify it in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance.

When Hydra draws in Magatsuhi, Toxic Breath comes next every time (Image via Atlus)

When it gathers up Magatsuhi, it will blast the party with Toxic Breath the next turn, which hits everyone with a poisonous dark attack. That is the other reason I had Leanan Sidhe in the party - she took no damage from this attack. This isn’t an especially challenging battle if you keep your health topped off and whittle away at its health.

Beware of poison though, because of its Pernicious Venom passive. If it poisons someone in your party, all of its attacks have a chance to be critical, and that can be particularly dangerous.

Other than being aware of its attacks and staying healthy, there isn’t too much to this battle. Defeating it grants the party +610-803 EXP for the main party, and 351-403 EXP in the back row. You also gain 825 Macca and 1 Bead.

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Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance went live on June 14, 2024, and is a re-release of the original SMT5. However, this version has several important quality-of-life features and a brand-new optional story for players to tackle.