SMT V Vengeance: How to Beat Hydra (Shin Megami Tensei V)

The first big boss you’ll find in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the Hydra, a multi-headed beast barring your passage to Tokyo Tower. If you’re struggling with overcoming this Demon, here’s precisely how to beat the Hydra in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.

How to Defeat the Hydra in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

The Hydra is the first big wall you can encounter in the game, as one of the first mandatory bosses who presents a real threat to your team. It mainly attacks with strong physical hits and Fire Breath +3 (fire AoE hit), but it can also charge Magatsuhi for a powerful Poison Breath +3 during the next turn. Below is some basic info on this opponent.

• Recommended Level: 15
• Weaknesses: Ice
• Resistances: Fire, All Ailments (Except Sleep)
• Recommended Skills: Bufu, Rakunda, Sukunda.

Due to its Fire resistance, using Fire-based Demons is completely out of the question. Bring Bufu users instead. Azumi is an easy-to-get option (as you can find some right next to the fight), and Mermaid and Apsaras (if you sided with her or managed to fuse her) are also great here. However, those last two are weak to Fire attacks, so be careful. Bring any other decently-leveled Demons who inherited Bufu from fusions to serve as sub-attackers.

If you want to be safer, bring a debuffer Demon to use skills like Tarunda, Rakunda and Sukunda on the Hydra to make it weaker during the fight. I mainly used Neko Shogun (although a bit underleveled) for this role as he learns a lot of these skills naturally. Teach your Demon Dia/Media too for extra safety.

Teach Bufu to Nahobino by using any Essence (Preta and Sandman are easy-to-get early options) even if you’re not building toward Magic. If you’re playing the Canon of Vengeance route, Yoko is good to bring as she resists Dark and can use items. She can also attack with either Mudo +3 or Ice Gems from your inventory.

The strategy revolves around debuffing the Hydra while constantly hitting for its weaknesses to get extra turns. Sukunda must always be up so the Hydra may have a bigger chance of missing its attacks. If it misses at least one person during its Fire Breath, it loses its next turn, giving you more breathing space.

The main issue is Poison Breath, which can be deadly to your party if it hits. However, it can be easily negated by using a Dark Dampener (which you can buy from the Cadaver’s Hollows). You’ll need one or two of these to finish the Hydra off.

Save your Omagatoki skill for when your debuffs are all up to maximize your output. If you have two item users in this fight, make whoever’s acting last use the Dampener for safety. With its main attack out of the way all that’s left is worrying about Fire Breath, which can also be negated through Fire Dampeners or face-tanked, as it tends to miss a lot more than Poison Breath.

Halfway through the battle, the Hydra’s heads will fall off, increasing damage taken and decreasing damage dealt. This is your sign for the final push. Assault it with your Omagatoki skill one last time.

After that, congratulations, you’ve beaten the Hydra! You get a Bead for completing the battle, as well as being able to finally progress through the main story. If you still can’t defeat it, you may consider changing up the game’s difficulty for a while.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is available now.