Building a strong team early on in Shin Megami Tensei V can make a huge difference in surviving the game’s punishing battles. This guide will walk you through optimizing your main character’s build, fusing powerful early demons, and preparing for the first major boss fight.

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Optimizing the Main Character

1. Essential Miracles:

• Travel to the World of Shadows and unlock these Miracles:
  • Divine Amalgamation: Allows you to inherit affinities from Demon Essences.
  • Art of Essence: Expands the skills you can inherit.
  • Divine Proficiency: Adds an extra skill slot.

2. Core Skills to Transfer:

• Use Demon Essences to equip:
  • Fire Spell: From Anaraki.
  • Ice Spell: From Preta.
  • Wind Spell: From Pixie.
  • Aramasa: A powerful multi-hit physical attack.

3. Choosing Affinities:

• Equip the essence from Amanozako for:
  • Immunity to Dark and resistance to Fire—perfect for the first boss.

Pro Tip: After defeating the first boss, switch to an essence with no Light or Dark weaknesses to avoid instant-kill spells.

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Early Stat Allocation

Vitality > Agility:

• Focus on Vitality to reduce incoming damage until around level 15.
• Agility does not significantly improve evasion early on.

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Must-Have Early Demons

1. Angel (Level 10):

• Role: Healer and Light damage.
• Key Skills:
  • Humble Blessing: Efficient healing.
  • Dream Needle: Essential for sleep effects in early quests.

2. Aitvaras (Level 17):

• How to Obtain:
  • Start the quest at this location and choose to side with Aitvaras.
• Strengths:
  • No Fire weakness and blocks Dark.
  • Ideal for the first boss after inheriting Bufu (Ice skill).

3. Apsaras (Level 16 Alternative):

• Strengths: Strong Ice attacks but weak to Fire.
• Tip: Use only if you can manage the Fire weakness.

4. Aitvaras Setup:

• Inherit Bufu from Sandman to exploit the first boss’s Ice weakness.

Pro Tip: Use Grimoires from cave locations to level up your demons to match your main character.

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Early Game Boss Strategy

Boss Weakness: Ice Boss Damage Types: Fire and Dark

Recommended Team Setup:

• Main Character: Balanced build with Ice spell and Aramasa.
• Angel: Healing and Light attacks.
• Aitvaras: Ice attacks and Dark resistance.

Battle Tips:

• Use Spyglasses: Identify enemy weaknesses quickly.
• Exploit Weaknesses: Focus on Ice spells.
• Prioritize Healing: Keep HP high to survive fire attacks.

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Conclusion

With this optimized team and setup, you’ll breeze through the first boss and be well-prepared for the next few hours of Shin Megami Tensei V. Focus on leveling your demons evenly and adapting to new enemies with Essence changes.

Stay tuned for mid-game builds and advanced strategies!