The Hydra boss battle in Shin Megami Tensei 5 will definitely give some players a run for their money, especially those that have yet to recruit and fuse powerful Demons. When players finally reach the Tokyo Tower, the battle will commence and it's recommended that players consider their team's resistances and weaknesses, as most of this battle relies on SMT 5 players having Demons that are resistant to the monster's powerful elemental moves: Toxic Breath and Fire Breath.
Toxic Breath can ultimately poison the entire party in Shin Megami Tensei 5 as it can hit more than one monster at a time; the Fire Breath move can do the same thing. And just like the main character, opponent monsters can gain extra turns if they get a Critical hit or hit a Demon's weak spot. If a player's team has a monster or two that's weak to Fire, they should definitely switch them out for some other monsters. Having a monster with Poison resistance isn't as important, as players can just use items or a monster's skill to cure the ailment quickly.
Recommended Demons for Hydra Boss Fight
Since the Hydra is weak to Ice-type attacks and dishes out very powerful Fire and Poison-type moves, it's essential to have Demons in the party that are resistant to at least one of the monster's special attacks. However, it's more important that most of the monsters in the party have an Ice skill like Bufu attached to them, or in the Mermaid's case, Stormcaller Song, which dishes out 3-6 weak Ice attacks.
Suppose Shin Megami Tensei 5 players continue to attack the Hydra with Ice moves. In that case, they'll get extra moves each turn, which can really turn the battle around, especially when players activate their critical Magatsushi ability. Here are some Demons that could be useful in the Hydra fight:
- Mermaid - Great potential for Ice moves
- Aquans - Can learn Ice moves
- Apsaras - Can also learn ice moves
- Daemon - Resistant to Fire
- Tsuchigumo - Resistant to Poison
Where To Find the Aramasa 8 Hit Slash Attack
One way for SMT 5 players to gain a small advantage over the Hydra is to acquire a powerful skill for the main character called Aramasa. It's a physical-based skill that unleashes eight powerful slashes and can make the Hydra much easier to take down. The skill can be acquired by finding one of the yellow crystals in Shiba Park and breaking it to find an Aogami Type-1 Essence.
Now, players will need to go to a save point and enter the World of Shadows. Click on Apotheosis, then Essence Fusion. Choose Nahobino as the target, and then choose the Aogami Essence to inherit the Aramasa skill.
Besides using Ice-type moves to hit the Hydra's weaknesses, here are some other tips to keep in mind:
- Have a healer, preferably a Demon with a move to heal the entire party at once
- Grind by fighting nearby monsters and taking on side quests
- Collect Miman to gain new passive Miracle skills in the World of Shadows
- When raising stats after leveling up, go with pure strength or vitality
- Make sure to Fuse Demons in World of Shadows. Players can only create Demons that have lower (or the same) levels as Nahobino.
After defeating the Hydra boss, players can make their way to the Diet Building in Shin Megami Tensei 5.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is available now for the Nintendo Switch.