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[Mitama]

Yes,

Spoiler

you have to fight him 3 times. I'd mark that as a spoiler by the way.

 

[vall03]

marked as spoiler.

Damn, why couldn't I beat it in one turn?! this is seriously going to be annoying... *sigh*

 

[Mitama]

If your characters are strong enough,

Spoiler

you could just position them where he'll appear next. That way you don't have to move around all the time.

 

[vall03]

well, I just beat it a while ago at the expense of two dead demons. My main problem when I first tried it was low mp, then when I restarted, I made a few adjustments with my team setup. Thank god theres Blood Wine! I never really used it back in DS1 since I preferred Tyranny but in this situation, Blood Wine is better.

 

[duckroll]

The Wednesday boss features a SRPG design I'm really not fond of.

Spoiler

It's an interesting mechanic in the fight itself, but I feel the game could have telegraphed it a lot better before the battle so the player can plan to execute the strategy required. It's poor design when there is really no warning at all that the boss will move between points. All this means is that the players who have a suspend save at the start of the battle or before attacking the boss for the first time has the biggest advantage in terms of loading and just positioning the characters better to tackle the situation.

I feel that it would have been much better if the briefing at least hints that you should be wary about the enemy being able to move to another position quickly when wounded. There's a battle later in the game which also requires characters to be positioned separately for optimal success, but the briefing for that mission makes it pretty clear what is expected of the player, so it felt much better designed imo.

 

[Mitama]

Here's a couple of my favourite demons. I've finally managed to succesfully defeat the final boss with consistent ease with some of these.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
Nulls all elements, reflects physical
------------------------------------------------------------------

Get from auction :

* Fairy Vivian (platinum auction - 4S) (Drain)
* Femme Rangda (platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)
* Dragon Ym (platinum auction - 5S) (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow)
* (Recommended) Dragon Ym (platinum auction - special) (Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow)

Femme Rangda x Dragon Ym = Ghost Purple Mirror (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)

(Recommended) Element Flaemis x Dragon Ym = Dragon Asp (Mana Surge)

(Recommended) Fairy Vivian x Dragon Asp = Fallen Bifrons (Drain/Mana Surge)
OR Fairy Vivian x Beast Nue = Femme Dzelarhons (Drain)
OR Fairy Vivian x Dragon Ym/Femme Ixtab/Femme Peri = Fallen Orobas (Drain)

(Recommended) Ghost Purple Mirror x Fallen Bifrons = Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
Ghost Purple Mirror x any of the above = Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghost Purple Mirror (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel/Force Drain)
Reflects all elements but Force, drains Force and reflects physical
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Get from auction:

* Femme Rangda (platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)
* Dragon Ym (platinum auction - 5S) (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow)

Element Aeros x Femme Rangda = Femme Dzelarhons (Phys Repel/Force Drain)
Element Erthys x Dragon Ym = Dragon Python (Holy dance/Dual shadow)
Femme Dzelarhons x Dragon Python = Ghost Purple Mirror (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel/Force Drain)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Megami Parvati (Mediarahan/Drain/Holy Dance/[Mana Surge/Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: if you don't like her "Wk Ice" resistance, you should have a Tyrant Hecate
that has learned Anti-Most in order to get rid of it. Substitute another skill
to pass it on; I recommend replacing Mana Surge because she already has a pretty
large amount of MP and she can always replenish it with Drain.

Get from auction :

* Fairy Vivian (platinum auction - 4S) (Drain)

* Dragon Ym:
a) You want to get rid of her "Wk Ice" resistance:
(platinum auction - 5S) (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow)
b) You prefer Mana Surge:
(platinum auction - special) (Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow)

* Femme Rangda:
a) fusion path 1:
(platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)
b) fusion path 2:
(platinum auction - special) (Drain/Phys Repel)

1) Requires Omega Wu Kong

Element Flaemis x Fairy Vivian = Fairy Silky (Drain)
Fairy Silky x Dragon Ym = Fallen Bifrons (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow)
Fallen Bifrons x Tyrant Hecate = Omega Wu Kong (Drain/Holy Dance/[Mana Surge or Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow)
Omega Wu Kong x Femme Rangda = Megami Parvati (Mediarahan/Drain/Holy Dance/[Mana Surge or Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)

2) Requires Jeanne d'Arc

Tyrant Hecate x Megami Scathach = Hero Jeanne d'Arc [Anti-Most]
Hero Jeanne d'Arc x Dragon Ym = Divine Kazfiel (Holy Dance/[Mana Surge or Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow)
Divine Kazfiel x Element Aquans/Flaemis = Divine Remiel (Holy Dance/[Mana Surge or Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow)
Divine Remiel x Femme Rangda = Megami Parvati (Mediarahan/Drain/Holy Dance/[Mana Surge or Anti-Most]/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Megami Parvati (Mediarahan/Drain/Holy Dance/[Mana Surge/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel]/Elec Repel/Anti-Phys)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: only follow this fusion path if you don't have access to either Omega Wu Kong or Hero Jeanne d'Arc,
the previous one is far better.

Get from auction:

* Snake Seiryuu (occult auction)
* Dragon Ym (platinum auction - 5S) (Holy Dance/Mana Surge)
* (Recommended) Dragon Ym (platinum auction - special) (Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow)
* Femme Rangda (platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)
* Fairy Vivian (platinum auction - 4S) (Drain)

Snake Seiryuu x Element Flaemis/Aquans = Snake Gucumatz
Snake Gucumatz x Dragon Ym = Wilder Sleipnir (Holy Dance/Mana Surge or Dual Shadow)
Wilder Sleipnir x Femme Rangda = Avatar Airavata (Holy Dance/Mana Surge or Dual Shadow or Phys Repel)
Avatar Airavata x Fairy Vivian = Megami Parvati (Mediarahan/Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge or Dual Shadow or Phys Repel/Elec Repel/Anti-Phys)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divine Remiel (Drain/Holy Dance/[Dual Shadow/Mana Surge/Phys Repel/Anti-Most])
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: this fusion requires the better Parvati. There's a couple possible
combinations so you'll have to decide what you like best. Divine Remiel learns
Phys Drain after he gains 2 levels so you can drop Phys Repel if you like.

Get from auction:

* Femme Rangda (platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)

Megami Parvati x Femme Rangda = Divine Remiel (Drain/Holy Dance/[Dual Shadow/Mana Surge/Phys Repel/Anti-Most])

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divine Remiel (Drain/Holy Dance/[Dual Shadow/Mana Surge/Phys Repel/Anti-Most])
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: if you don't manage to create the better Parvati, you can still
create this Remiel.

Get from auction:

* Femme Rangda (platinum auction - 4S) (Phys Repel)

Megami Parvati x Femme Rangda = Divine Remiel (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge or Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tyrant Loki (Megidolaon (LV+1)/Drain/Holy Dance/Anti-Most/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
Reflects physical, strong vs. all elements and curse
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: this fusion requires the previously fused Divine Remiel
with a skillset of Drain/Holy Dance/Phys Repel/Dual Shadow.

Get from auction (4-5 stars if possible):

* Fallen Murmur (occult auction)

Fallen Murmur x Element Aquans/Element Erthys = Fallen Decarabia
Fallen Decarabia x Divine Remiel = Tyrant Loki (Drain/Holy Dance/Anti-Most/Phys Repel/Dual Shadow)



Last but not least, 2 very easy to fuse demons that allow my MC to rush the final boss and kill him in 2 turns:

Ganesha (Diarahan/Holy Dance/Phys Repel)
Sleipnir (Diarahan/Phys Repel)

 

[CornBurrito]

It looks like you're starting to hit your stride. Awesome ♪

What day are you on?

7th

edit: Woah Mitama, thanks for the fusion walkthrough

 

[duckroll]

I'm on Day 7 now. I've been using 1 save slot all the way until now, but suddenly all 3 save slots are filled because I'm paranoid about the end game route. Lol.

 

[7Th]

Cu Chulainn is so fucking broken...

Spoiler

I'm already in day 7 and this level 43 guy is still one-shotting most enemies with his brutal combination of Pierce, Phys Boost, +Stone and Assassinate.

 

[Golbez]

Hasn't Start + Select + Shoulder buttons been a standard way to reset a game to start screen for a while now? Like going way back to the PSX?

Even some SNES games had it, I know Super Mario RPG did.

 

[CornBurrito]

Cu Chulainn is so fucking broken...

Spoiler

I'm already in day 7 and this level 43 guy is still one-shotting most enemies with his brutal combination of Pierce, Phys Boost, +Stone and Assassinate.

Hmm, he was definitely a reliable demon.

edit: Woah.... this day 7 battle against

Spoiler

Yamato

is impossible. Edit: Or not... damn all I needed to do was get my tactical nuke MC in range.

edit: Damn the Septembertrone (yeah I forgot the real name) sounds like it is gonna be a hell of a fight. Hopefully I have the team necessary to win this, otherwise I'm going to have to grind like crazy.

 

[PK Gaming]

Oh man. The WEIRDEST thing about the AI in that fight was how

Spoiler

if the boss is COMBINED, he will always target the boss. But when the boss is separated and actually vulnerable, he will NEVER attack the boss as long as there is another enemy in range. It was really hilarious.

Spoiler

Fun fact, I brought the bosses HP to 1 (yes I was that unlucky -_-) and when Ronaldo attacked its fused form he actually killed it by doing 1 damage. It seems NPCs will always deal at least 1hp to invincible enemies

Obsessed, you will suffer. A lot. If you lose, come back and i'll tell how to win without telling you how to win ;0

 

[duckroll]

Spoiler

Fun fact, I brought the bosses HP to 1 (yes I was that unlucky -_-) and when Ronaldo attacked its fused form he actually killed it by doing 1 damage. It seems NPCs will always deal at least 1hp to invincible enemies

Spoiler

Every single time Ronaldo attacked the fused form, he would do damage. Sometimes he would do 17 damage, once I think he did 38 damage or something. I'm not sure how he was doing it, maybe we should study his skill set and demon combination to find out...

 

[PK Gaming]

Spoiler

Every single time Ronaldo attacked the fused form, he would do damage. Sometimes he would do 17 damage, once I think he did 38 damage or something. I'm not sure how he was doing it, maybe we should study his skill set and demon combination to find out...

Spoiler

!!!

Interesting oversight, not complaining since that boss has screwed me over a few times.
Maybe Ronaldo is cheating

 

[CornBurrito]

Spoiler

Fun fact, I brought the bosses HP to 1 (yes I was that unlucky -_-) and when Ronaldo attacked its fused form he actually killed it by doing 1 damage. It seems NPCs will always deal at least 1hp to invincible enemies

Obsessed, you will suffer. A lot. If you lose, come back and i'll tell how to win without telling you how to win ;0

Maybe I won't suffer. Maybe....

Spoiler

I rarely swap demons anyway. And even if the humans can't do shit to the boss, I can give them reflect magic/phys/shield all, and healing spells.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

Start + Select + L + R does a quick reset to the title screen.

Why didn't I think of that. At least I know that now.

Partway through day 3 now. Fought a couple battles, met new characters and just received today's death clip.

 

[Koroviev]

Oh man. The WEIRDEST thing about the AI in that fight was how

Spoiler

if the boss is COMBINED, he will always target the boss. But when the boss is separated and actually vulnerable, he will NEVER attack the boss as long as there is another enemy in range. It was really hilarious.

Much more amusing in hindsight than in the moment <_<

 

[Chrono Helix]

Just had a long and grueling battle on day 6. The one where you have to

Spoiler

4 spots, despite them telling you there are 3 important spots. It just so happened I didn't have any demons with phantasm or flight, so I had to take the long path to all the points. The enemies were slowly whittling me down, and I only had 2 sources of Recarms (fortunately on separate teams). There were a few times I was close to losing both teams, and anyway my constant Recarming had them running low on MP. Fortunately my main assault team practically had infinite mana thanks to Alter Pain and a fallen's racial ability, and the other team had a Tyrant. I was really pissed when they showed the last point as being right next to where you started.

 

[CornBurrito]

Just had a long and grueling battle on day 6. The one where you have to

Spoiler

4 spots, despite them telling you there are 3 important spots. It just so happened I didn't have any demons with phantasm or flight, so I had to take the long path to all the points. The enemies were slowly whittling me down, and I only had 2 sources of Recarms (fortunately on separate teams). There were a few times I was close to losing both teams, and anyway my constant Recarming had them running low on MP. Fortunately my main assault team practically had infinite mana thanks to Alter Pain and a fallen's racial ability, and the other team had a Tyrant. I was really pissed when they showed the last point as being right next to where you started.

For some reason I'm not remembering this battle at all.

 

[duckroll]

For some reason I'm not remembering this battle at all.

Spoiler

He's talking about the battle where you have to pick up the 3 pieces of the demon, I think. It was a pretty easy battle because you really only have to pick up the one at the bottom, while wiping all the enemies below. After that you should just camp the escape spots if you're not going to be fast enough to chase them.

 

[7Th]

Spoiler

He's talking about the battle where you have to pick up the 3 pieces of the demon, I think. It was a pretty easy battle because you really only have to pick up the one at the bottom, while wiping all the enemies below. After that you should just camp the escape spots if you're not going to be fast enough to chase them.

Spoiler

No, he is talking about the battle where you have to take out the seal thingy in order to use the Dragon Stream against the self-replicating Angel.

 

[duckroll]

Spoiler

No, he is talking about the battle where you have to take out the seal thingy in order to use the Dragon Stream against the self-replicating Angel.

Spoiler

Oh, but that one was pretty clear. It said you have to start the terminal, and then push the 3 buttons on the pillar as it rises. Even if you are confused about the initial instructions, the location of the first switch is very obvious, and once you start the terminal, unless you're really poor at observation, you'll see where all 3 switch points will be as the pillar rises.

 

[CornBurrito]

Spoiler

No, he is talking about the battle where you have to take out the seal thingy in order to use the Dragon Stream against the self-replicating Angel.

Then the dude wasn't paying close enough attention to the ingame text.

 

[7Th]

Spoiler

Oh, but that one was pretty clear. It said you have to start the terminal, and then push the 3 buttons on the pillar as it rises. Even if you are confused about the initial instructions, the location of the first switch is very obvious, and once you start the terminal, unless you're really poor at observation, you'll see where all 3 switch points will be as the pillar rises.

Spoiler

I understand that, but I can see why someone that skips through the non-story-related text would go along with the explicitly mentioned number 3.

 

[duckroll]

Spoiler

I understand that, but I can see why someone that skips through the non-story-related text would go along with the explicitly mentioned number 3.

 

[Mitama]

Hahaha.

No problem Obsessed, hope it's of some use for the upcoming battles!

 

[survivor]

Day 2 spoilers

Seriously fuck

Spoiler

having to use that red haired chick in the mission where I have to save Keita. I'm already used to my members dynamics, I don't want her.

 

[scy]

Day 2 spoilers

Seriously fuck

Spoiler

having to use that red haired chick in the mission where I have to save Keita. I'm already used to my members dynamics, I don't want her.

But she's really good!

Spoiler

Seriously, amazing STR/AGI out of her

.

 

[Deified Data]

Picked up the game this weekend. So far I'm in the middle of Day 2 (I see a lot of frustrated spoiler-marked comments for Day 2...wonder why?). I'm enjoying the game so far, but I'm a little disappointed that they reused so many maps for battles. Yeah, I know - SMT reuses assets like mad, but still.

On the plus side, I feel like the game gives you a lot more opportunities to contribute to dialogue, one of my favorite elements of DS/Persona. Still trying to figure out JP's, and why they have such a silly name. Free battles seem to be a bit tougher than the last game, which is good. Story battles seem to be a bit easier, but I've hardly put a dent in the story yet. I plan on focusing a lot more on demon fusion in this game than I did in the first one.

 

[DTJAAAAM]

But she's really good!

Spoiler

Seriously, amazing STR/AGI out of her

.

Yep, she's like a female Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star when you give her Multi-hit and Multi-strike!

 

[Deified Data]

Also worthy of note: my first playthrough of DS2 will be my first attempt at making a melee MC. Every MC build in the first game used nothing but magic. Trying to mix things up a bit.

 

[DTJAAAAM]

Also worthy of note: my first playthrough of DS2 will be my first attempt at making a melee MC. Every MC build in the first game used nothing but magic. Trying to mix things up a bit.

That's the build I always go for, and had fun making it through this game. I only had huge issues with two battles near the end. Never found the STR-based Almighty skill, so I wonder if I just missed it or if it wasn't available on the path I'd selected.

 

[Mitama]

You can get it from

Spoiler

the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub; he's an unlockable boss in the second cycle.

 

[semiconscious]

Finished Day 3. The battles throughout Day 3 were pretty solid in general. Lots of fun. The story and characters in Devil Survivor 2 are really kinda.... disappointing in a way. It's not that they're particularly bad or anything, but I'm kinda annoyed that instead of making a proper sequel to the first game, they decided to take the gameplay and make a totally new story and setting instead which honestly feels much less like the more classic SMT tone that the first game had, and instead goes in the direction of a more modern-Persona sort of tone.

this. after my first few hours, this. even the music (particularly during the 'goofy' parts) feels flat. was the first game simply too good?...

but the gameplay's great, & i'm in for the long haul, so, whatever ...

 

[Deified Data]

That's the build I always go for, and had fun making it through this game. I only had huge issues with two battles near the end. Never found the STR-based Almighty skill, so I wonder if I just missed it or if it wasn't available on the path I'd selected.

Will be on the lookout for that.

this. after my first few hours, this. even the music (particularly during the 'goofy' parts) feels flat. was the first game simply too good?...

but the gameplay's great, & i'm in for the long haul, so, whatever ...

An interesting point. The story of the first DS has the distinction of being my favorite SMT story, period. Was it "too good"? I don't know if there's such a thing. It felt darker, more apocalyptic. In DS2, I don't feel like the world's really on the line (yet). It all still feels like friends out on a school trip. Of course, I'm only on Day 2. I hope this changes.

 

[CornBurrito]

Hahaha.

No problem Obsessed, hope it's of some use for the upcoming battles!

I'm just gonna wait for NG+ mode to tackle those perfect demons.

Right now I'm doing fine. At what I believe is the final fight, and I haven't really had any problems. I was actually shocked at how easy

Spoiler

The Anguised One

was to beat.

But she's really good!

Spoiler

Seriously, amazing STR/AGI out of her

.

Never bothered with her too much.


Also anyone else finding STR to still be the lesser choice by endgame? My party have pretty much been at its best when I use Magic MC/Otome/Fumi, and then a STR user with Pierce/Marksman. When I've used two STR users I've focused on the second STR user using an assassination build.

I mean there are a lot of great STR skills now, but I find at the endgame a lot of enemies come with resistance. With magic users I can easily swap out what element I'm using pre-battle. With STR users I only have one Pierce to go around, and Pierce seems mandatory late game.

this. after my first few hours, this. even the music (particularly during the 'goofy' parts) feels flat. was the first game simply too good?...

but the gameplay's great, & i'm in for the long haul, so, whatever ...

I love every song in the game except for the goofy song. I agree it feels flat.

 

[cj_iwakura]

The only carryover from SJ(aside from animated sprites) that this game would've been awesome with were demon codes for sharing your creations, but I guess there's not as much potential awesome as there was in SJ.

 

[CornBurrito]

The fuckkkkkkk... How am I supposed to win this last battle?

 

[Mitama]

The only carryover from SJ(aside from animated sprites) that this game would've been awesome with were demon codes for sharing your creations, but I guess there's not as much potential awesome as there was in SJ.

Man, don't tell me about it, I loved that system. I wrote a FAQ that had passwords for pretty much every single demon that had a sweet source and only required minimum experience to level up, so it'd be very easy to obtain. Also managed to reverse the password generation which was a lot of fun.

Obsessed: see, I told you, didn't I?

 

[scy]

I'm a bit behind everyone else but, anyway, Day 3 boss was lol easy. Had more trouble on the

Spoiler

Ronaldo fight, if only because I wanted to crack everything and Ronaldo kept trying to suicide to my MC. Not sure why he kept trying to melee range me, though

.

Never bothered with her too much.


Also anyone else finding STR to still be the lesser choice by endgame? My party have pretty much been at its best when I use Magic MC/Otome/Fumi, and then a STR user with Pierce/Marksman. When I've used two STR users I've focused on the second STR user using an assassination build.

I mean there are a lot of great STR skills now, but I find at the endgame a lot of enemies come with resistance. With magic users I can easily swap out what element I'm using pre-battle. With STR users I only have one Pierce to go around, and Pierce seems mandatory late game.

STR does still feel lacking but she is basically the best STR character so eh, works out somewhere.

 

[CornBurrito]

Obsessed: see, I told you, didn't I?

I'm so pissed... I think have no idea what to do. I guess I should grind in free battle.

 

[PK Gaming]

Make you sure set up a super star demon squad. The demons Mitama posted are invaluable (especially Fairy Titania... oh baby) if you're at lvl 65, grinding will not help you.

I'd also get Culebre for evil flow (super snipe basically)

 

[CornBurrito]

Make you sure set up a super star demon squad. The demons Mitama posted are invaluable (especially Fairy Titania... oh baby) if you're at lvl 65, grinding will not help you.

I'd also get Culebre for evil flow (super snipe basically)

I have Culebre. He is ace. I'm not level 65 yet. I'm going to set up a super-squad.

Where can I get Dragon Asp?

edit: Nevermind, didn't need it. Mitama, you are a lifesaver. Thanks for that epic list.

edit: What demons make up Elemental Aquann/Erthys?

edit: Free battles are starting to get stale, but I must grind MORE MACCA.

 

[Mitama]

I have Culebre. He is ace. I'm not level 65 yet. I'm going to set up a super-squad.

Where can I get Dragon Asp?

edit: Nevermind, didn't need it. Mitama, you are a lifesaver. Thanks for that epic list.

edit: What demons make up Elemental Aquann/Erthys?

edit: Free battles are starting to get stale, but I must grind MORE MACCA.

To create an Element Aquans, combine any 2 demons of the same race. Their race has to be one of the following: Megami/Snake/Avatar/Kishin/Femme/Fiend. So, for example: 2x Avatar or 2x Kishin, etc.

For an Element Erthys, combine 2 of these: Fallen/Wilder/Tyrant/Jaki/Ghost.

I hope it's clear from the 2 examples that they need to be the same race, so you can't mix races from that list (as in, you can't fuse a Femme with a Fiend to get an Element Aquans).

Spoiler

Also, grinding to LV65 is really unnecessary. I imposed several restrictions when creating those fusions:

- no grinding allowed, so a maximum demon level of LV61/62
- no demon can die, unless they are in a team setup that allows quasi infinite Samarecarms (I had a team with Divine Remiel and Megami Parvati and used the weaker version of Parvati back then. When Parvati died, I had the team leader cast Samarecarm the next turn; you are never attacked twice inbetween those turns so that team could not fall. If you create the stronger Parvati, no demon of your entire roster dies, ever)

I had these in place so that it was possible to go for these 2 titles:

Focused: Finished the game with no free battles (200P)
Unkillable: Finished the game without any deaths in battle (200P)

It was pretty important to have both a Ganesha and Sleipnir with Diarahan and Phys Repel. Having Sleipnir cast Devil Flash and Ganesha being a Genma, this allows you to rush up to the main defense. I first attack the spawn directly north of the starting point, then I warp north once again and kill the buff spawn (the ones that look like the tip of a spear), then warp to the buff spawn in the east (the Victory Cry one) and finally I warp to Polaris itself. Depending on whether or not you get the spawn in the east (if you already have Victory Cry), you can finish him in 3-4 turns this way. The rest of the team stays put at the starting point, basically healing each other and attacking the spawn that gets within range.

For phase 2, you can warp right next to Loki on the first turn and kill that group. On the second turn you warp next to Polaris and finish him off.

For phase 3, Polaris B will always, always (has happened to me like 5-6 times consecutively so I assume this to be) attack the team of which the leader has the weakest protection vs. physical attacks. To counter this, make sure that that team leader is paired with 2 demons that have Phys Repel; this will soak up its extra turns and you will be able to survive that initial attack. At that point, I have my MC warp north and end his turn and the rest of the teams also move north (always outside that lane where the main Polaris sits though). The next turn, I warp right up to Polaris and start attackin him. Polaris loves to use Cepheid, which is a physical attack, so that's why it's very important to have Phys Repel on your MC. This will allow you to attack on the first turn, then he'll use Cepheid and get some damage bounced right back at him, rewarding you with Extra Turns in the process. The next turn you can finish him off.

If you didn't manage to finish him off in that time, don't worry. The next turn, have the team with Megami Parvati use Goddess Grace on the MC's team to fully recover his health. He'll need it for the next turn, when Polaris will blast you with a Supernova. When it's the MC's turn again, heal up with Diarahan and then deliver the final blow.

Yup, that's pretty much my entire strategy!

 

[duckroll]

The only carryover from SJ(aside from animated sprites) that this game would've been awesome with were demon codes for sharing your creations, but I guess there's not as much potential awesome as there was in SJ.

With SJ I think the system made more sense because if you had a ton of Macca but you didn't want to travel to various different maps and grind random encounters before contracting a base demon you needed, you could just get a password from a friend instead. For Devil Survivor, there really isn't such a need.

You can pretty easily share a specific demon recipe in Devil Survivor with friends, like someone here is doing right now!

 

[CornBurrito]

Spoiler

Also, grinding to LV65 is really unnecessary. I imposed several restrictions when creating those fusions:

Thanks again Mitama. Also I didn't grind for that reason. I had to grind for macca though. My demons basically mopped the floor with every enemy except the final one.

 

[Mitama]

Also anyone else finding STR to still be the lesser choice by endgame? My party have pretty much been at its best when I use Magic MC/Otome/Fumi, and then a STR user with Pierce/Marksman. When I've used two STR users I've focused on the second STR user using an assassination build.

I mean there are a lot of great STR skills now, but I find at the endgame a lot of enemies come with resistance. With magic users I can easily swap out what element I'm using pre-battle. With STR users I only have one Pierce to go around, and Pierce seems mandatory late game.

I'm just gonna paste a post I made on Gamefaqs about this:

If you properly analyze the builds from the start of the game until endgame you will find that:

* You can't exploit every single enemy weakness with just 1 magic based team, so you will need to spread the dances over 2 magic based characters (early to midgame).

* There's barely enough offensive magic skills for 2 magic based teams at the endgame (Drain/Megidolaon/Holy Dance, that's about it).

* You can only have 1 physical based attacker (only 1 person can have Pierce).

* Early game until waaaay endgame, a properly built physical team has an amazing damage output and annihilates every single enemy team except for the ones that have Repel Phys without having to resort to a very specific element dance.

* While it's true that you can exploit elemental weaknesses, a physical character doesn't need to rely on those since he'll be hitting at least as hard.

* Take note that while you can abuse elemental weaknesses, there are still demons that can reflect/drain/null/resist certain elements. a physical build mitigates this by having Pierce (null/resist/drain can all be completely disregarded because of this).

* There are very (very!) few enemies and bosses that reflect physical attacks which is a huuuge advantage (you can take on close to all bosses and enemy teams with a physical based MC team).

If you take all of the above into consideration, you'll notice that a physical build is very viable indeed and has many advantages over a magic based one. Magic based teams are an extremely lethal force and can also wipe out entire teams with ease, which is why my recommended team for early game consists of a physical based MC team, along with 2 magic based teams (Otome and Fumi are wonderful) which have the elemental dances equally spread, along with some form of healing.

For midgame until endgame, I recommend the MC with a physical based team, 2 magic based teams and 1 magic based team that focuses on healing.

So, my recommended setup is 1 physical based and 2 magic based teams. A MC with a magic based team can also be the leader of 1 of those magic based teams and you can use Keita/Jungo/Hinako as the physical based team, so in the end it's all equal you may think. So why exactly do I recommend a physical build for the MC? Because the MC is with you the entire game, does not have trouble with any enemy team or boss until late, late game and wreaks havoc until you reach one of those teams (and even then, there's the 2 magic based teams to take care of those). If you were to make a magic based MC, you would always need at least one other magic based team to take care of the elemental weaknesses you don't cover.

Last but not least, again, the damage output. Ever compare a max-ST Deathbound to a max-MA Holy Dance? I have. Deathbound can crit and easily outdamage Holy Dance every single time. The best part is that the damage of Deathbound/Berserk/Hassohappo and so on actually increases with more VI, so you can keep pumping ST and VI to get both crazy damage and health.

Thanks again Mitama. Also I didn't grind for that reason. I had to grind for macca though. My demons basically mopped the floor with every enemy except the final one.

No problem. Yeah, they can be quite expensive if you didn't manage to save much Macca over the course of the game.

 

[vall03]

Is Multi-Strike still in the game? It was my favorite physical skill in Overclocked, and when I spread it, just one can basically annihilate entire teams.

 

[Mitama]

Yup, it is. And it can still do that.

 

[vall03]

sweet! can't wait to go further in the game. Since I'm a bit busy, I'm still stuck at the middle of Day 5 just doing Free Battles whenever I have the free time.