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Shin Megami Tensei 5 can be an incredibly challenging experience, especially at some of the higher difficulties.
Bosses encounters, both optional and mandatory, can be very difficult to overcome without the proper party and skill setup. While the DLC bosses are on a tier of their own, some of the story bosses in Shin Megami Tensei 5 like to gatekeep the players, making progression unnecessarily tiresome at times.
Lady Nuwa is one such gatekeeper, and players will encounter them in the early parts of Shin Megami Tensei 5, where she acts as a skill checker, forcing players to put everything they have learned until that point to the test.
Many equate her to Matador from Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne, and she is often regarded as the unofficial final boss of the game’s tutorial phase.
In New Game mode and in medium and hard difficulties, Nuwa can do a number on the player’s party, wiping them and the Nahobino out over and over again. Hence, today’s article will talk about some of Nuwa’s strengths and weaknesses and how players will be able to counter her effectively.
Nuwa encounter guide: How to beat the Shin Megami Tensei 5 boss
1) Grind out a few levels
Shin Megami Tensei 5 players will be able only to encounter Nuwa after they complete the main quest, “The Angel’s Request”. As she is one of the story bosses, players will not have to go out of their way to encounter her, and just by following the main quests and narrative, they will eventually be up against her in the Tokyo Diet Building.
It’s advisable that players face her when they are at least level 20 or higher, as Nuwa herself is level 23, and she will hit like a truck and manage to wipe out the Nahobino and his party without the proper strategy and set up.
It’s foolhardy to go into the fight under-levelled, and it’s important that players grind out a few levels in the nearby area before heading into the contest.
2) Investing Macca in Force Dampeners
Before opting into the encounter, it’s important that players stock up on a good amount of Force Dampeners. Lady Nuwa is difficult not just because of her astronomical health pool, but that coupled with her ultimate attack, “Sacrifice of Clay +7”, he one-shots health bars in the blink of an eye.
The ultimate ability deals heavy Force damage to all foes, along with lowering their attacks and defence by one rank for three turns. While this may not have been too difficult to deal with in the later stages of Shin Megami Tensei 5's narrative, when the player has access to more demons, what makes this fight challenging is when players are made to face Nuwa in the narrative.
She comes very early on and tests just how well the player was able to pick up and master some of the combat mechanics that Shin Megami Tensei 5 has taught so far.
Hence, while players may not have access to too many reliable demons ad this point, it’s advisable that they exploit Gustave’s shop. There they will be able to invest a minimal amount of Macca for some Force dampers, which will significantly reduce the amount of damage that “Sacrifice of Clay +7” does.
3) Making the Nahobino immune to Force
Shin Megami Tensei 5 has an incredible quality-of-life mechanic, which is the Essence Fusion. By employing this, the players will be able to change the affinities that the Nahobino has to fit the situation at hand.
If the Nahobino dies, it’s game over, and players will need to start again from their last checkpoint. Hence when it comes to the more difficult fights in Shin Megami Tensei 5, players should ensure that the Nahobino is well equipped to deal with some of the damage sources coming its way.
To make the Nahobino immune to Force, one small trick that players can employ is to fuse him with a Sudama essence. Sudamas are null to force, and by fusing the Nahobino with its essence will be able to give him the same resistance.
By doing this, if Nuwa attacks the protagonist with force skills, it will have no effect, and she will also lose additional turns. However, it’s important to mention here that Sudamada is neutral to electric attacks, so if Nuwa decides to use Mazio now and then, players must make sure to top of the Nahobino’s health when required.
4) Exploiting her Fire weakness
When it comes to her affinities, Nuwa is very weak to Fire while at the same time having null effects on Electric and Dark. She also repels Force. Hence it’s not advisable for players to bring those demons in their party who solely rely on Force attacks for their damage output, even if they boast the resistance for that particular element.
Hence, it’s important to exploit her Fire weakness as much as possible so that players can start chunking out her health and not allow her to repeatedly spam “Sacrifice of Clay +7” by filling out her specials gauge over and over.
To do this, players will either need to fuse the Nahobino with an essence that has a high skill affinity with fire and grant him spells like Agi. However, it’s not advisable. Instead of making the Nahobino the prime damage source of the party for this encounter, Shin Megami Tensei 5 players can look into another demon for it.
For demons around the level 20 mark, Jack-O’-Lantern can be a great source of damage against Nuwa. Not only does he come with a wide variety of fire spells, but he also boosts a perfect +5 potential with Fire magic.
The Nahobino can combine with a Sudama essence and act as a tank for the rest of the party demons.
5) Relying on buffs ad debuffs
As Nuwa acts as a gatekeeper for the player, much like Matador in Nocturne, she will test players to the limits, and they will need to use everything in their arsenal to take her down.
Nuwa will force players to be more reliant on the more supportive skills in the game, and this is when players will really get a grasp on when to use spells like Tarukaja, Rakukaja, Sukukaja, and Rakunda.
As mentioned previously, Nuwa comes with a tremendously high health pool, and players will in for a very long, drawn-out, and mentally exhausting fight.
However, instead of chipping at her health bar bit by bit, players can accelerate the process by not just using fire skills but also relying on a bit of buff and debuffs.
Rakunda comes in handy in the fight, and it helps to lower her defences considerably during the fight. So if players do not have a demon in their party that boas that particular support skill, then they can look into a level 17 Kaya-no-Hime who comes with the skill.
Lady Nuwa is one of the hardest fights in Shin Megami Tensei 5, and players should expect to die a few times to her before getting used to the encounter and learning to use the right skills at the right time.
