Tackling the early portions of any Shin Megami Tensei game is a perilous activity at the best of times. You’ll likely have all manner of systems thrown at you, be introduced to Demon summoning, fusing and various attack categories, then released into a hostile world and be expected to survive. Happily, the early portion of SMT5 is relatively tame, however you will eventually come upon some devilishly difficult boss battles, of which the early game often houses the most difficult of all. That being the case, you’ll want to get yourself a powerful selection of Demons to fight at your side. So, with a certain many-headed beast at the tower in mind, make sure you grab at least a few of the following, and you’ll find your life remains in your hands. Well, for now at least.
5. Daemon
Avid questers of the side variety will no doubt recognise our first choice here, which is the Daemon erm, Demon. Should you take on the side quest to slay some of these, you’ll be familiar with their cave domain, which presents an ideal opportunity to recruit one, which you very much should do. Statistically speaking they have a good deal of strength, but the main reason for grabbing one of these is for Hellish Slash, which is a physical attack that deals damage 4 times. These hits do only have an accuracy of 50%, however this is an ideal skill for taking down enemies for which you do not have access to a weakness.
It’s not going to have a great deal of longevity, but with a few levels on it you could take it to the first boss and do quite well. Further still, it has access to both Agi and Mudo, and even learns Tarukaja at level 10, which can be used to buff the damage of the protagonist or another Demon. It’s a great little all round, physical attacker that will help you push through some of the more difficult enemies on your way through the early sections of SMT 5.
Demon Benefits
- Powerful multi-hit physical attack Hellish Slash.
- High strength at the beginning of the game.
- Access to the base Agi spell.
- Access to the base Mudo spell.
- Learns Tarukaja at level 10, which is a damage buff for one team member.
Advertisement
4. Azumi
We mentioned the first boss in our prior recommendation above, and whilst there’s technically one Demon that’s by far the best that will be detailed later, Azumi makes for an ideal addition to the team that will take on the boss at the tower. This is mainly because Ice is its weakness, and Azumi is very strong in this regard. It has access to Bufu at its base level, learns the group version Mabufu at level 13 and has a reasonable Magic statistic, so it’ll deal a good amount of damage with them. Further still, rather than being useless versus anything that isn’t weak to Ice spells, it learns Scratch Dance at level 12, which is a multi hit physical attack that’s ideal for dispatching regular enemies in battle. It’s almost like the developers wanted you to notice these and others during your side questing in the early game…
Demon Benefits
- Innately knows the Bufu ice spell.
- Learns the group target Mabufu spell at level 13.
- At level 12 it learns the powerful Scratch Dance physical skill.
- Excellent choice for the first main boss at the tower.
3. Tsuchigumo
For some reason we rarely see the chunky arachnid Tsuchigumo mentioned when considering the early game in SMT5. To ignore it like this is a big mistake, because its selection of skills will make a great difference as you progress into the second main zone. It innately knows the Mazio skill, which will be very useful in the upcoming area, and it accompanies this with a 1-3 hit physical attack in Bouncing Claw. It doesn’t have a great magical stat, so Mazio won’t break any damage records, but it does have great health, strength and vitality, so it’ll take a few hits and keep going. Finally, it has access to Tarukaja, so it can double as a supporting demon in tough encounters. Others might have flashy exclusive spells and more weakness choices, but don’t sleep on a solid, well performing demon such as this.
Demon Benefits
- Innately knows the groul Elec spell, Mazio.
- High strength and vitality stats.
- Access to the powerful multi-hit physical skill, Bouncing Claw.
- Also learns Tarukaja, which buffs the attack of a comrade.
2. Mermaid
And the prize for ‘best Demon that the developer obviously put in the early game to help players defeat the first boss’ goes to Mermaid! Yes, this is by far the best option for taking on the first main boss at the tower, because she innately knows the Stormcaller Song skill, which deals Ice damage and hits 3-6 times, dealing massive damage and striking it’s weakness. This is effectively an easy mode for this particular boss, and helps to smooth the transition for gamers coming over to the SMT franchise from more forgiving titles.
It’s worth noting that, outside of Stormcaller Song, this particular demon isn’t really endowed with much else. It has access to a few ailment spells, none of which are really worthwhile in SMT5, and the absolutely terrible Rakukaja spell, which simply buffs the defence of a single unit. You could perhaps use this alongside some kind of Taunt ability to deal with upcoming encounters, but it’s not really worthwhile. It’s hard not to recommend this thing due to the power of its special spell, but it’s probably best to just grab this demon to make short work of the tower boss, and then fuse it with a Daemon for the useful Andras demon.
Demon Benefits
- Stormcaller Song, known by Mermaid, is a massive multi-hit ice spell.
- The first main boss is weak to ice.
- Did we mention it decimates the tower boss with this spell?
- Really not that great otherwise…
Advertisement
1. Angel
Alright, we’re going to break this section down into two main areas. Firstly, we’ll tell you about some of Angel’s good parts, then we’ll get to the bit that actually matters. Right, so this Demon has access to the light spell Hama, which is a very powerful itself, and it also learns Patra and Recarm at level 11 and 13, which are an ailment cleanse and a resurrection spell respectively. These are all great abilities which alone may even make us consider recommending it, but none of these compare to the main event…
It has an exclusive group heal called Humble Blessing. This is essentially a mini version of the Media spell, and it heals your entire team for a small amount. Given that you’re early on in our journey, said small amounts often end up being pretty damned significant, and this is the earliest way that you’ll access a group heal, so if you’re struggling to stay alive this demon will make a huge difference. Yes, you can get it before the first boss, and yes it does make it a great deal easier. You may even find that you keep this thing in your team for quite a long time, because 15MP is pretty cheap for a group heal, especially when Media costs 30MP.
Demon Benefits
- Access to a very early group heal in Humble Blessing.
- Learns Patra, whcih is a useful ailment cleanse.
- Also learns Recarm, which is a resurrection spell.
- The power of a group heal this early will likely keep Angel in your team for a while.
More Shin Megami Tensei 5…
The 18 Best Demons Overall | Shin Megami Tensei 5
Fusing yourself some powerful demons is vital to success in SMT5, or indeed any Shin Megami Tensei game. Consistently recycling your repertoire of powerful allies is the only way to get through these difficult titles, and in Shin Megami Tensei 5 specifically you’ll often find yourself sifting through the compendium, seeking out new ways to…
4 Helpful Healer Demons | Shin Megami Tensei 5
Modern RPG games not named Shin Megami Tensei often consider a healer to be well.. Optional. Oh sure, party members will often have access to healing spells, and the occasional Dragon Quest entry might come along that allows practically everyone to play health restorer, but the days of a dedicated healer are on the decline…
5 Superior Support Demons | Shin Megami Tensei 5
Having the correct support demons can make all the difference in a Shin Megami Tensei game. We cannot emphasise enough the importance of buffs and debuffs in these games, especially in tough sub or main boss battles, to the point where the entire encounter can be completely swung through their usage. Experienced SMT players will…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Categories: Shin Megami Tensei 5