Shiva is one of the super bosses in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance. He is significantly harder than all of the story mission bosses including Tiamat and Lucifer, and you will be struggling quite a bit in the fight even on lower difficulties.
Shiva’s Tandava hits like a truck and he is capable of one-shotting your entire roster with it. To make matters worse he will summon Kali, Ganesha, Parvati, and even Ananta in the fight.
The gods of Hindu mythology will keep buffing him and rebuffing your team to make it easier fo Shiva to on 100-to-0 the Nahobino.
So if you are struggling with taking down Shiva in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance, here is a guide that might help make the fight more manageable.
Shiva Weakness and Resistance in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
Shiva Elemental Weaknesses and Resistances
| Element | Resistance/Weakness |
|---|---|
 Physical | Resist |
 Fire | Aborb |
 Ice | Weak |
 Electric | Absorb |
 Force | – |
 Light | Resist |
 Dark | Resist |
Shiva Status Ailments Resistances
| Status Effect | Resistance/Weakness |
|---|---|
 Sleep | Resist |
 Confuse | Resist |
 Charm | Resist |
 Mirage | Resist |
 Seal | Resist |
 Poison | Resist |
Shiva Skill Proficiencies in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
Elemental
| Element | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| Physical | +6 |
| Fire | +3 |
| Ice | -5 |
| Electric | +3 |
| Force | – |
| Light | – |
| Dark | – |
Other Statuses
| Status | Proficiency |
|---|---|
 Almighty | +3 |
 Ailment | -5 |
 Recovery | -2 |
 Support | +2 |
Shiva skills in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
Tripura Samhara (Innate Skill):
- While in the active party, reduces MP costs of skills for allies with an active Charge effect.
Maragibarion (+3):
- Severe Fire attack to all foes.
Maziobarion (+3):
- Severe Elec attack to all foes.
Akashic Arts (+6):
- Severe Physical attack to 1 foe. Greater effect if Critical.
Hades Blast (+6):
- Heavy Physical attack to all foes.
Megdolaon (+3):
- Heavy physical attack to all foes.
Tandava (+3):
- (Unique) Severe Almighty attack to all foes. Lowers Defense to the minimum for 3 turns.
Impaler’s Animus (+2):
- Increases the damage of the next attack for self and adds Pierce effect.
Dragon Eye:
- Greatly raises Accuracy
How to beat Shiva in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
1) DO NOT fight Shiva on hard
Super bosses in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance need the perfect party set-up and a precise set of skills to beat on hard. Shiva will wipe your entire team in 2 turns if you are playing the game on anything but Casual and Normal difficulty.
So unless you are confident about your skills in this JRPG, it would be wise to go for Shiva on a much lower difficulty.
2) Try being at least level 96 for the fight
Shiva himself is level 96. So try and match his level before you start the fight. The best choice would be to be at level 99, however, you can make do by reaching level 96 instead.
With the Dance of the Mitamas DLC, you will be able to target farm Kushi MItama to gain Gospels. This will help your Nahobino reach the desired level.
With this, you will even get access to higher-level demons which can make the fight much more manageable.
3) Constantly keep up with your buffs and debuffs.
Demons with Debilitate and Luster Candy are instrumental in the fight. Shiva’s summons will buff him while rebuffing your team. His Tandava also causes defense down making it much easier to one-shot you.
With Debilitate and Luster Candy, you will be able to you will make it much harder for him to wipe your team. So keep applying these buffs to your team.
4) Have strong Ice demons
Nahobino and Agrat can be a great choice for dealing massive Ice damage to Shiva. He is very weak to the element and his lower Vitality pool will also help you finish him off faster.
If you are playing Canon of Creation then you can use Cleopatra’s Bufu skills for the fight.
5) Frolic and Capitulate to Pleasure can be clutch
While Shiva resists status ailments, he does not completely block them. Hence, abilities like Cleopatra’s Frolic and Na’amah’s Capitulate to please will have a chance of charming him and all the demons that he summons.
If he is affected by a status ailment Eisheth will be able to exploit it with her Voracious Salvation.
Best demons for beating Shiva in Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance
The demons you pick for this fight will mainly depend on the type of playstyle that you are going for. We beat Shiva on normal difficulty and used the following demons for him:
- Support: Na’amah, Lilith, and Cleopatra.
- Healer: Agrat
- Damage: Agrat, Nahobino, Metatron, and Eisheth.
We did use Grimoires to increase their levels to 86 for the fight. Bth Na’amah and Cleopatra were able to get in several charms on Shiva and his party making it much easier for Eisheth to deal massive damage to them after using Imaler’s Animus.
Once you take down Shiva you will get a massive amount of EXP along with three Gospels and Shiva’s special fusion in Atlus‘ RPG.
