Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - Herald Abdiel Boss Guide (Level 58)

Guide on How to Defeat Herald Abdiel in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (SMT5V)

Herald Abdiel is a main story boss enemy faced by the Protagonist or Nahobino in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (SMT 5: Vengeance, SMT5V). The demon is encountered at Da’at’s Minato Region.

SMT V: Vengeance Boss Guides

How to face Herald Abdiel

In order to face Arioch in battle, continue playing the main story and clear the Chiyoda Region. Defeat Arioch and proceed to the Bethel Pandemonic Summit. After the cutscene, battle the boss automatically. Make sure to save your game before the boss fight.

Herald Abdiel Boss Information

Here is a breakdown of the boss’ stats, strengths and weaknesses, and skills:

Herald Abdiel Details

Herald Abdiel Stats

SMT V: Vengeance Abdiel Demon Stats and Skills

Herald Abdiel Strengths and Weaknesses

Physical	Fire	Ice	Electricity
–	–	–	Resist
Force	Light	Dark	Ailment
Resist	Reflect	Weak	Resist

Herald Abdiel Skills

Skill	Skill Effect
Light’s Descent +5	Severe Light attack to all foes. Chance of instakill when striking weakness. (Unique)
Pierce Armor +2	Weak Physical attack to 1 foe. Lowers target’s Defense by 1 rank for 3 turns.
Dark Sword +2	2 medium attacks to 1 foe. Chance of inflicting Seal/Mute.
Myriad Slashes +2	5 weak Physical attacks to 1 foe. Low accuracy.
Agidyne	Heavy Fire attack to 1 foe.
Maragidyne	Heavy Fire attack to all foes.
Mighty Cleave +2	Heavy Physical attack to 1 foe. Low accuracy, but hits are always Critical.
Omagatoki: Critical	All attacks, including magical attacks, will become Critical hits for all allies for 1 turn.

Herald Abdiel Boss Setup

Here is a breakdown of the battle preparation against the boss:

Carry HP and MP Recovery Items.

Before engaging the boss, bring HP and MP recovery items in case your party runs out of HP and MP during battle. Also, don’t forget Ailment recovery items such as Amrita Soda.

Max your Magatsuhi Gauge.

In addition, make sure that your Magatsuhi gauge is already maxed. Having it maxed prior to battle is helpful in setting up your offense. Also, having a Miracle skill, Magatsuhi Wellspring, will provide your party HP and MP recovery at the start of your party’s turn.

Assign Nahobino Dark skills.

Make sure to import Dark skills if you can in order to exploit the weakness of the boss. Otherwise, you can rely on your ally demons to have those skills for you. To add, complement your offense with strong Physical skills like Aramasa/Wrath Tempest and/or with strength-based elemental skills such as Black Dracostrike.

Furthermore, put in Support and Passive skills to boost damage if there are still skill slots remaining. Recovery skills are optional if your active party members do not have these skills. This is to sustain the party during battle.

Attach resistances to Nahobino that nullify Phys, Fire, and Light skills.

With the Divine Amalgamation Miracle, Nahobino can implant new resistances from essences. Add to Nahobino resistances that can Reflect/Absorb/Void/Resist Physical, Fire, and Light skills.

Pick ally demons that can counter Phys, Fire, and Light skills.

Bring party members can innately Reflect/Absorb/Void/Resist Physical, Fire, and Light skills, if possible. If you can’t, make it a point that their weaknesses are covered during battle. Options include using Block skills or consuming Dampener items.

Add demons that can use Phys and Dark skills.

Similarly, add demons to your active party that can use Physical and Dark skills. If they don’t have access to those skills, utilize Essence Fusion to grab those skills from demon essences. Preferably, implant these skills to demons with skill potential on those skill types.

Herald Abdiel Boss Strategies

Here is a breakdown of the battle strategies against the boss:

Pass Regular Turn to Support demons.

If you start the battle with Nahobino and don’t have access to debuff/buff Support skills, make use of the Press Turn System and pass your turn to demon allies that can use debuff Support skills.

Land Debuffs.

Land debuffs on the boss while leaving some MP for offense and recovery. Debuffs are in the form of attack power decrease (Tarunda), defense power decrease (Rakunda), and hit/evasion power decrease (Sukunda). In addition to these Support skills, you can utilize skills from other types such as Fang Breaker (Tarunda), Pierce Armor (Rakunda), Toxic Spray (Rakunda), and Blinding Strike (Sukunda) to cast similar effects. These debuffs can be accessed by Nahobino and any demons in your party.

Prioritize on landing Sukunda first. Followed by Tarunda and Rakunda.

Cast Buffs.

Cast buffs on your party members as well. Buffs can be in the form of attack power increase (Tarukaja/Matarukaja), defense power increase (Rakukaja/Marakukaja), and hit/evasion power increase (Sukukaja/Masukukaja). These buffs can be accessed by Nahobino and any demons in your party.

Prioritize on landing Sukukaja/Masukukaja first. Followed by Rakukaja/Marakukaja and Tarukaja/Matarukaja. You may also use Charge/Donum Gladi and Concentrate/Donum Magici buffs to boost your party’s damage even further if available. Since the boss will keep on using its Pierce Armor skill, cast Dekunda or -kaja buffs again to boost your party’s capabilities in battle.

Cure Seal/Mute Ailments inflicted to the party.

If a party member got inflicted with an Ailment such as Seal/Mute, make sure that you have access to Ailment recovery skills such as Patra or Me Patra to cure it. You can also use status recovery items such as Amrita Soda to remove them if available. Ailment recovery skills can be accessed by Nahobino and any demons in your party.

Use Block skills or Dampener items to void enemy skills.

Before using a Magatsuhi skill in your next turn, you can use a Block skill or a Dampener item to nullify an enemy’s upcoming attack. You can prioritize voiding Light and Fire since the boss has a multi-target skill on it. Once the attack misses, it will consume an additional press turn resulting in fewer actions. Take note that you can only block one affinity or element per turn and it is not stackable.

Activate Magatsuhi skill.

Unleash the Magatsuhi skill such as Omagatoki: Critical to boost your damage even further. Make sure to use it once debuffs and buffs are already set. Activate the Magatsuhi skill on Nahobino’s turn and you will have up to 8 possible actions against the boss.

If you already unlocked the Race Transcendence Miracle skill, you can also use other Magatsuhi skills held by other party members.

Use Dark skills against Herald Abdiel.

Herald Abdiel is weak against Dark skills which Nahobino and his ally demons can capitalize on. The damage will be higher if the party is buffed with Tarukaja/Matarukaja and Concentrate/Donum Magici.

If you are setting up for Black Dracostrike, cast Charge/Donum Gladi instead to boost the damage.

Use Phys skills against Herald Abdiel.

Herald Abdiel does not have resistance against Physical skills so add party members that specialize in this skill type. The damage will be higher if the party is buffed with Tarukaja/Matarukaja and Charge/Donum Gladi. This is to maximize the damage potential of your Physical attacks.

Heal allies.

Keep the party’s HP sustained by using healing skills. Especially when other party members are getting overwhelmed by enemy damage.

Other Boss Guides

Canon of Vengeance Bosses

Minato Region - Vengeance Route Main Story Bosses

Beast Glasya-Labolas (Level 8)	Drake Hydra (Level 15)
Qadistu Naamah (Level 18)	Fallen Eligor (Level 20)
Lady Nuwa (Serpentine) (Level 22)	-

Shinagawa Region - Vengeance Route Main Story Bosses

Naamah and Beast Glasya-Labolas (Level 22)

Vile Lahmu (Level 24)

Other Vengeance Route Main Story Bosses

Qaditsu Eisheth Zenunim (Level 28)	Human Yuzuru Atsuta and Holy Hayataro (Level 38)
Deity Khonsu (Level 46)	Meta Shohei Yakumo and Lady Nuwa (Level 49)
Qaditsu Agrat bat Mahlat (Level 50)	Qaditsu Lilith (Level 52)
Herald Abdiel (Level 58)	Deity Odin and Deity Zeus (Level 72)
Tyrant Beelzebub (Level 72)	Herald Metatron (Level 79
Fallen Abdiel and Human Ichiro Dazai (Level 80)	Tiamat (Level 83)
Tehom (Law Route) (Level 84)	Herald Mastema (Chaos Route) (Level 84)
Matter Lucifer (Level 85)	-

Canon of Creation Bosses

Minato Region Main Story Bosses

Drake Hydra (Level 15)	Fallen Eligor (Level 20)
Lady Nuwa (Serpentine) (Level 22)	-

Minato Region Optional Bosses

Vile Pazuzu (Level 16)	Yoma Apsaras (Level 16)
Femme Leanan Sidhe (Level 17)	Brute Oni (Level 17)
Megami Anahita (Level 18)	Brute Shiki-Ouji (Level 19)
Dragon Xuanwu / Genbu (Level 23)	Avian Jatayu (Level 25)
Holy Baihu / Byakko (Level 43)	Avian Zhuque / Suzaku (Level 43)
Kishin Koumokuten Part 1 (Level 44)	Dragon Qing Long / Seiryu (Level 45)
Kunitsu Ouyamatsumi / Oyamatsumi (Level 48)	Drake Seth (Level 62)
Deity Khonsu (Level 64)	Kishin Koumokuten Part 2 (Level 65)
Dragon Huang Long / Kohryu (Level 70)	Fury Zaou-Gongen (Level 75)

Shinagawa Region Main Story Bosses

Shinagawa Region Optional Bosses

Chiyoda Region Main Story Bosses

Chiyoda Region Optional Bosses

Taito Region Main Story Bosses

Taito Region Optional Bosses

DLC Optional Bosses

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Recommended Article List

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