If you are new to mainline Megaten titles then the Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance early game is going to be rough, especially if you don’t have the best demons in your party.
There are a lot of factors that go into determining what the best demons are in the JRPG. From your individual playstyle, to how well-rounded the demon is, to the type of abilities that they bring to the table.
Making the perfect party is all about balance. Having demons that complement each other is one of the best ways of making progression easier.
So if you are struggling in the early game, below is a list of some of the best demons that you should be recruiting in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance.
10 best demons to get early in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
1) Apsaras
- Level requirement: 16
Apsaras is a must-have in the early game. She is going to be of massive help against two specific bosses: Hydra and Na’amah. Hydra is weak to Bufu, which Apsaras already has, and for Na’amah you need her Essence for the Nahobino.
Na’amah has a skill called “Capitulate to Pleasure”, this lets her have a high chance of inflicting Charm on all foes. So during the Canon of Vengeance, when you face her for a second time (this time she will pair up with Glasya-Labolas), Apsaras’ essence will come in handy for the Nahobino.
Apsaras passively blocks charm, and if you give her Affinities to the Nahobino, then they will not be affected by Na’amah’s “Capitulate to Pleasure”.
It will free you up to use Amrita Soda/Shower and remove the charm effect from the rest of your team. You can get her essence by leveling her up and talking to her in the Demon Haunts.
Apsaras can be obtained by either completing her quest “The Spirit of Love”. However, you will need to side with Apsaras in this mission to take down Leanan Sidhe. Once you complete it she will then automatically join you even if you are under-leveled for her.
The other way to get her is to fuse Mokoi and Preta which is the most cost-effective way of getting her. However, you will have to be level 16 for it.
2) Feng Huang
- Level Requirement: 22
Feng Huang is one of the best early-game demons to take out Nuwa when you encounter her for the very first time in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance’s Tokyo Diet Building. Nuwa is one of the hardest challenges that you will face during this stage of the game.
She is weak to Fire and usually deals Force damage. Feng Huang, on the other hand, resists Force, comes with Agilao, and has a +4 Fire affinity.
The demon even has the Fire Melody innate skill, which allows it to increase damage when striking Fire weakness for all allies as long as he is a part of th active party.
Additionally, Feng Huang comes with Media with a +3 Support affinity. He will be able to heal your entire party for a large chunk of their missing HP.
The best way to get Feng Huang will be to fuse Angel and Onmoraki together. It will be cost-effective and help Feng Huang get Hama, Patra, and Recarm.
3) Matador
- Level Requirement: 24
Matador is a special fusion that you unlock after you have defeated him in Da’at Minato. He is a part of the “Return of the True Demon” quest line where you will have to take down several “avatars of death”.
Matador is the first of these side bosses and is incredibly challenging. However, once you take him down you will unlock his special fusion. You will need to be level 24 and have registered the following Demons in your Compendium: Ame-no-Uzume, Fortuna, Turdak.
What makes Matador amazing in the early game is his innate skill “Crippling Blow”, this lets him get a chance to instakill an enemy when striking their weakness or landing a Critical hit.
He is one of the best Physical DPS demons at that stage of the game, and he comes with two incredible Unique skills, Andalucia and Red Capote.
Andalucia lets him deal 3-6 weak Physical attacks to random foes, while Red Capote lets him increase the Accuracy/Evasion of one ally by 2 for 3 turns.
If you can unlock him before the first Nuwa encounter, then he is going to melt through her HP when Omagatoki: Critical is active.
4) Turbo Granny
- Level requirement 26
Turbo Granny too is a special fusion that you can unlock after completing the “Supersonic Racing” side quest. You get this sidequest by talking to a Reporter in Tokyo who asks you to learn more about the Urban Legend of a lady who runs very fast.
Once you discover and beat Turbo Granny, you will be able to unlock her as a Special Fusion in the world of Shadows. You will need Poltergeist, Bicorn, and Peallaidh to fuse her, so make sure you have recruited them at least once and registered them in the Compendium.
Turbo Granny is amazing because of her incredibly high Agility. This lets her evade enemy attacks more often than not.
Additionally, her innate skill is called Speed Star. This makes sure that her attacks, including Magic, can become crit hits against foes who have lower agility than her. This means that during the early game in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, she will crit quite often.
Additionally, she comes with Bling Strike as well, which does a weak Physical damage but will lower the enemy’s Accuracy/Evasion by 1 rank for 3 turns. Making it much easier to get crits.
5) Nezha Taizi
- Level Requirement: 28
Nezha Taizi is a great DPS demon to keep in your party by the time you reach the Container Yard of Da’at Shinagawa. He comes with Agilao, Zanma, and Berserk God with a +2 affinity for Fire, Force, as well as Physical.
This allows him to fit a variety of situations at this stage of the game, making it significantly easier to extend your press turns. Additionally, Nezha Taizi also has the Universe Ring innate skill.
This lets him counter with a medium Physical attack with a chance to instakill every time he Resists or Nulls an attack. If you like using Elemental Dampners in a fight or have demons with Elemental Blocks and even Phy Block, then Nezha Taizi is an amazing option for your party.
The most cost-effective way of making him will be to fuse Sandman and Cait Sith. However, you can fuse Pixie and Legion as well if you want to provide Nezha Taizi with a Mudo.
6) Jack Frost
- Level Requirement: 25
The Megaten mascot is the next entry on the list. You can get him through demon negotiation once you have reached the Container Yard of Da’at Shinagawa or through fusion.
We would recommend that you get via the latter by fuzing Makami with Archangel. By doing so you will be able to transfer some valuable abilities to Jack Frost, like Hama, Mahama, Dia, and Recarm.
Jack Frost has a +2 affinity to Light, hence the Hama skill will be incredibly useful for him. Additionally, he comes with the Jack Bufula unique skill which does a Medium ice attack to 1 foe while lowering their Defence by 1 rank for three turns.
Getting a free Rakunda with his ice attack is extremely beneficial and he will make taking down some tougher enemies much easier. He even has the Fickle Personality innate skill that lets his attacks, with positive skill potential that strike a weakness, be a critical hit when an Omagatoki effect is active.
You will also need Jack Frost to make King Frost as a part of the latter’s Special Fusion process.
7) Attis
- Level requirement: 27
Attis is another amazing demon to have in the early game of Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance. He has a +2 affinity to Physical along with a +2 Affinity to both Fire and Healing.
The abilities he drops with are Venom Chaser, Agilao, and Recarm. Hence, one of his best fusion paths will be to make him by using Take-Minakata and Daemon. Take-Minkata will give him Lunge, while Daemon will give him Poisma.
Poisma will inflict poison on enemies and greatly buff the damage that Venom Chaser inflicts. If Omagatoki: Critical is active, Attis can one-shot any enemy that is afflicted with poison.
However, if you want to give him some support tools, then you can fuse Apsaras and Neko Shogun. This will give him a lot of utility during encounters.
Attis has the innate skill Pine Tree’s Rebirth which will grant slight HP recovery to all allies when he becomes incapacitated after being in the active party.
8) Kaya-no-Hime
- Level requirement: 21
Kaya-no-Hime is one of the best support demons in the early game. You can either get her through negotiations in the starting area of Da’at Shinagawa or by fusing Incubus and Unicorn.
The demon is amazing because of her healing skill Harvest Dance. It grants slight HP recovery to 1 ally while raising their Defense by 2 ranks for 3 turns. The additional buff is amazing and can be the deciding factor when you are going up against more powerful enemies.
Her innate skill is Demonic Mediation which makes it so that if she is in the active party, and if a demon’s mood sours mid-negotiation, they have a chance of forgiving you.
Additionally, if you are getting her through Unicorn you will get your hands on other amazing support skills like Dia, Patra, Sukukaja, and Recarm. However, do keep in mind that Kaya-no-Hime will automatically unlock Patra once she reaches level 22.
9) Dis
- Level requirement: 31
After Kaya-no-Hime, the next incredible support demon that you should be getting is Dis. She will make boss encounters a breeze as she comes with most of the blockers: Elec Block, Ice Block, Fire Block, and Force Block.
You can essence fuse in Dark Block, Light Block, and Phy Block, making her the ultimate defensive tool.
Apart from the blockers, Dis also has Diarama and Me Patra. Me Patra is extremely useful the later you go into the game as it will instantly clear all status ailments from your party. This will let you save up on your Amrita Soda/Shower.
Additionally, Dis resists Fire, Ice, Elec, and Force attacks, although she is weak to Physical, having these resistances makes her ideal for any team composition.
She will let you save up on Dampeners as well, and force enemies to lose their turn when their Omagatoki is active.
10) Shiki-Ouji
- Level requirement: 29
Shiki-Ouji can be recruited through negotiations after you find them near the Container Yard of Da’at Shinagawa. However, a better way of getting them will be through fusing Bugs and Incubus.
Bugs will provide Shiki-Ouji with Mamudo which the demon does not innately receive, even through a level up. Shiki-Ouji comes with Hama and Mudo with a +2 affinity for both Light and Dark skills.
Leveling them up will get you Makajama, Mahama, and Riberama. As he does not get Mamudo, Bugs can help him out with that.
Riberam is a skill that will help the Nahobino and their party level up. It prevents enemies from fleeing in the field and greatly increases the chance of consecutive encounters until the new moon.
Shiki-Ouji resists Physical, Light, and Dark, and has the innate skill Ward off Evil. If the demon is in the active party then they will increase the chance of natural recovery from ailments for all allies. This makes it a good pick against Daisoujou in Atlus‘ RPG.
