How to beat the first Qadištu boss battle in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

In the Canon of Vengeance in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance the Nahobino and his allies will face off against the Qadištu, a new group of demons with their own mysterious agenda. Before reaching the Diet building after traversing the Netherworld, you’ll come face-to-face with the first member of this group. Aogami will warn you of a tough fight ahead, but it can be more difficult than expected. We’ll go over what you can expect, and suggest some strategies to make your life a little easier. Be warned that there will be spoilers below!

About Namaah

Namaah is your first encounter with the Qadištu, and she is a respectable level 18, which will be slightly higher than the other demons you’ll have encountered on your journey through Netherworld up to this point. She’ll start the battle off with Capitulate to Pleasure, inflicting Charm on your entire party, before focusing on single targets with Mudo, occasionally pausing to gather Magatsuhi or hit a character with Tarunda. She also has access to Mamudo but will use this sparingly, and it’s uncommon for her to use Life Drain. She has two actions per turn by default.

Recommended demons and strategy

To make this fight go as easily as possible, we would recommend that you are at least level 20 before tackling Namaah, although the fight is still do-able at lower levels. As she is weak to physical attacks you’ll want to capitalise on this as much as possible. Raising your offensive capabilities with Tarukaja, and lowering Namaah’s defense with Rakunda, are both things you’ll want to consider. Having a demon that can use Patra is also something to consider, as she’ll frequently use Capitulate to Pleasure to inflict Charm, which is highly disruptive.

Rakshasa is your best available physical attacker if you’ve managed to hit level 20, starting with 25 strength and +2 strength skill potential. When paired with Omagatoki: Critical it can end the fight very quickly. Giving it skills such as Beatdown+2, which you can get easily by fusing Ippon-Datara with Agathion – both demons you’ll have encountered by now – can make it even more potent.

Ippon-Datara itself is another excellent option, being available for fusion and recruitment at level 17. It has the skill Beatdown+2 available immediately, which does more damage the more HP it has remaining.

Bicorn is a good choice if you’re at a lower level, as it has Beatdown+2 and can learn Charge to increase the damage of its next Strength-based attack. But more notably, it completely blocks dark skills. But getting yourself a Bicorn is recommended for another reason: by using its Essence on the Nahobino, you can inherit its affinities and have him block dark skills. This can prevent a nasty surprise end to the battle if Namaah decides to focus on him with Mudo or use Mamudo more than once.

Having the above three demons on your team will make your life significantly easier when facing off against Namaah, but if you’re at a low level and struggling for choices, demons that resist dark skills such as Daemon and Leanan Sidhe are also useful in a pinch. You’ll find the battle takes longer due to their lower strength stats, so you’ll need to rely more on buffs and debuffs to push through, and keep an eye on your health.

This is just the first time you’ll be facing off against the Qadištu in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, and not the last time you’ll see Namaah. How difficult did you find this first encounter with her? Did you find another strategy or demon helped you defeat her? Let us know your experience in the comments below, and check out the rest of our coverage for the game here.