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

It’s not too long after your first encounter with the Qadištu in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance that you’ll encounter one of them again, and the second time around can be an extremely nasty fight that will likely catch many players off guard, as there is little warning before you’re thrown into it. In this guide we’ll give you some tips to prepare for and overcome this second round with the game’s new antagonists.

About Namaah and Glasya-Labolas

Your second encounter with the Qadištu is Namaah again, only this time she’s accompanied by Glasya–Labolas, the boss you faced at the very start of the game. Although they’re both at a higher level than they were previously, they have the same toolkit and a reduced amount of health, which can make the fight a little easier, especially if you go in prepared with the right party.

Recommended demons and strategy

It won’t have been that long since you’ll have faced off against Namaah the first time, so your levels and demons are likely to be the same. The strategy we outlined in our first guide against Namaah works just as well against her here; if you’d like to refresh your memory you can check that out here.

Glasya-Labolas brings an added problem to the fight this time around, and it is much stronger than last time. It does have the same weakness to Electric skills however, which is something you have easy access to: the Nahobino starts the game with Zio, and there are plenty of good options for this skill too. High Pixie, which is a special fusion between Pixie and Angel, is particularly noteworthy and a party member you might want to consider, as its Innate Skill, Elec Gestalt, will increase its damage, and it also has a resistance to Force skills. Ame-no-Uzume, who you can acquire at level 22 by fusing either Mokoi or High Pixie with Zhen, has access to the next level of the skill, Zionga, which is invaluable in the fight. However, she has a weakness to Force skills, so if you do plan on using her you’ll want to either change her affinity through Essence fusion or swap her out before the end of the turn.

You can get by with Rakshasa using Beatdown+2 for Namaah, but at level 23 you’ll also be able to fuse Oni, who has Heavy Blow+3 and would serve as another excellent physical attacker for the fight. The easiest way to get to Oni at this stage would be to fuse Nozuchi with Kodama to create Andras, then to fuse that with Mokoi. At level 24 you’ll be able to fuse Berith, a strong physical attacker with Pierce Armor+2 – the quickest way to do that would be to fuse Oni with Mermaid. If you have the Macca to re-summon Oni through the Compendium, or recruit another Nozuchi and Kodama to fuse a second, you’ll have more than enough power to take her out.

Of the two, Namaah represents the greater threat thanks to her Capitulate to Pleasure ability, which she will start her turn with to inflict Charm on your characters. Given the urgency of the fight, having any of your party incapacitated by this is something you want to avoid at all costs. Fortunately the game will let you go first, so don’t pull any punches: use your best physical attacks on Namaah first. With the right setup and a tactical use of Omagatoki: Critical at the start of your turn, it is actually possible to eliminate Namaah before she gets a chance to act, which would be the ideal scenario.

This fight is much faster in tempo: at the end of their first turn your opponents will gather Magatsuhi, and then hit you with their strongest attacks on the following turn, which can easily wipe out your entire party even when guarded against. If you find yourself struggling, consider returning to Netherworld to gain a few more levels. The stronger you are, the better demons you can fuse.

It’ll be a while before you encounter the Qadistu again after this, and by that point you’ll have a wider variety of demons at your disposal. If you found a different strategy for this duo that worked for you, why not share it with us in the comments below?

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is available now on Switch. You can find the rest of our coverage on the game here.