The Demi-fiend boss fight in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a true test of one’s mettle. This four on four brawl will punish those that don’t come in prepared with a clear game plan.

In order to defeat this boss you will need to understand how his mechanics and how to build a team to withstand his onslaught.There are a few critical mechanics to keep in mind before and during the fight. The first is that your team should not fully resist physical damage as it will trigger Demi-fiend to use Gaea Rage, a move that will instantly wipe your team as it pierces resistance and will do damage well over the 999 HP cap. The second is that Demi-fiend will also cast Gaea Rage if he has not summoned a new minion in ~6 actions. As Demi-fiend takes 2 actions per turn this means you must be defeating a minion every three turns. Demi-fiend’s other major attack is Chaotic will which has a chance to instant kill every member of your team in addition to reducing the press turns of your next turn to two. This skill seems to trigger ~every 25% of his health. It will be a major obstacle to overcome if more than one member of your team is defeated. Lastly, at 50% health he will fully heal himself and his team. You can work around this by inflicting seal on him the turn his HP hits 50%.

Our successful team consisted of Shiva (Tank/Debuffer), Danu (Support), Baal (DPS) and Nahobino (Support & DPS). The MVP of this fight is Baal’s innate skill Hammer of Judgment. This skill will give your team an extra press turn if Baal is debuffed during the opponents turn. Given that several of the opposing team’s demons cast Debilitate you will be triggering this skill more often than not.

Our General Strategy:

Shiva: A superboss in his own right, Shiva is a great tank for this fight as he has innate physical resist which will allow the rest of your team to carry the null phys skill. This will cause all of Demi-fiend’s single target physical attacks to target Shiva. It wouldn’t hurt to buff Shiva with some Vitality Incense to increase his survivability, but it shouldn’t be an issue. On Omagatoki: Critical turns use Tandava to defense break the opposing team, but otherwise just pass your turn to conserve MP and give extra turns to Danu.

Danu: This Lady only does two things, but she does them well. She will rotate using both Bowl of Hygieia and Matriarch’s Love to keep your team clear of debuffs and your HP topped off.

Baal: As mentioned above Baal is the absolute MVP due to his innate skill Hammer of Judgment. His only goal is to generate press turns with his innate skill and kill off minions. His priority should always be clearing Parvati to prevent her from healing Demi-fiend and undoing your progress.

Nahobino: The main character can be played in a few different ways. You will mostly be focused on Demi-fiend DPS with Murakumo but you can either alternate Critical Aura or Evergreen Dance depending on your play style preference as the end goal is just to land big hits on Demi-fiend.

With some luck and perseverance this team should see you through. Once acquired we recommend using Demi-fiend’s essence to immediately make the Nahobino impervious to almost all damage and status effects.

Good Luck!