How To Beat Ishtar Shin Megami Tensei 5. Ishtar is one of Shin Megami Tensei 5‘s most difficult bosses, but also one of the easiest if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t prepare properly, she can easily destroy your party in a single round of combat as the Wife of God himself.
Ishtar is the final boss of Chiyoda, and he is no pushover. You will lose if you rush in blind or ignore the cautions before engaging in lethal combat. When battled at her height, Ishtar is a tremendous menace, but we’re not going to do that; instead, we’re going to get sneaky.
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Things To Do Before Challenging Ishtar
Before you even consider battling Ishtar, you must first finish the following side quest: The Goddess of Augmentation.
This Side Quest is rather straightforward to finish, but it does necessitate some backtracking. Ishtar is gathering Magatsuhi from seven devices dispersed around Chiyoda, according to the prevailing consensus. These devices are closely linked to her power and difficulties.
When you face Ishtar, any gadget that is still operational will increase the number of turns she has per round by one. This means that if none of them are disabled, she will attack with a whopping eight turns, with a maximum of 16 if she hits weaknesses or lands criticals. This is not a situation you want to be confronted with.
By destroying all seven gadgets, she will be limited to only one turn per round, effectively making her the simplest boss in the game – exactly what we want.
Finally, the quest is unmissable, and if you’re keeping track of it, the places will be marked on your map. It’s really simple and can be completed in approximately 10 minutes without the use of a guide.
Ishtar’s Potentials, Attacks, and Resistances
Potentials
Ishtar, as a divine entity with god-like power, is skilled in the use of light and electricity. This is represented by a respectable +2 Potential in Electricity and a +3 Potential in Lightness. She also possesses a +2 in Recovery and Support, but neither of these abilities will be useful in this fight.
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Attacks
| Attack | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Dreadful Gleam +2 | Ishtar deals Heavy Electric damage to the whole party. This attack also ignores Affinity and pierces through Resistances. Finally, Dreadful Gleam has a chance of inflicting Seal. This is NOT a Magatsuhi attack. |
| Ziodyne +2 | Ishtar deals Heavy Electric damage to one target. |
| Mazionga +2 | Ishtar deals Medium Electric damage to the whole party. |
| Hamaon +3 | Ishtar deals Heavy Light damage to one target. This attack can instantly kill a target if it strikes a Weakness. |
| Mahamaon +3 | Ishtar deals Heavy Light damage to the whole party. This attack can instantly kill a target if it strikes a Weakness. Ishtar will only use this attack after gathering Magatsuhi. |
| Sexy Dance | Ishtar has a chance of inflicting Charm on the whole party. |
| Diorama +2 | Ishtar heals herself a moderate amount. |
| Marakunda +2 | Ishtar lowers the Defence of the whole party by one rank for three turns. |
| Omagatoki: Critical | All Ishtar’s attacks, including Magic-based ones, have a 100% chance of inflicting a Critical Hit. |
How To Beat Ishtar Shin Megami Tensei 5
Ishtar’s plan is simple: she wants to use powerful magic to overwhelm you and punish you for bringing a weak demon to Light. Before we move on, let’s address the elephant in the room: Dreadful Gleam.
At this point in the game, Dreadful Gleam is a ridiculously powerful spell. Even with a lowly +2 Potential, this spell can quickly take down your group – especially if she starts casting many times. There is no defence against this spell – you will be hit regardless of Resistances.
So how do you deal with it? Well, the magic requires two actions to cast, which means if you completed the Augmented Goddess side quest, she can’t cast it. Furthermore, this does not deter her from attempting. If Ishtar attempts to cast Dreadful Gleam but does not have enough turns to pay for it, the cast will fail and her turn will end immediately. Finish the side quest.
What do we have to be concerned about now that Dreadful Gleam is gone? Ziodyne and Hamoan are both extremely powerful abilities that can cause a lot of damage, but her other devastating spells aren’t as impressive.
Marakunda can be problematic, and if a squishier demon is targeted after a few spells, it can likely end in a 1HKO. You’ll also want to keep Amarita Sodas and Showers on hand in case of a Sexy Dance emergency.
It may appear like diorama is a problem, but it isn’t. It may lengthen the battle a little, but all it does is give you an extra round to heal and strike.
Mahamaon is her Magatsuhi attack, which, like all Magatsuhi assaults, is extremely powerful yet may be avoided with a small investment of resources.
Resistances
As one would assume, Ishtar is totally impervious to electric and light damage. She is, however, vulnerable to both Force and Dark. This is especially noteworthy because many demons may take advantage of these flaws while remaining immune to Ishtar.
Recommended Party Setup
Ishtar is weak to both Force and Dark damage, which provides for a lot of versatility in what we may bring into the party. Don’t forget that Physical damage at this point in the game is starting to out scale magic damage – a strong physical demon can do a lot of work in this fight
Alice
Alice is a difficult Special Fusion to pull off, but if you followed our Shohei Yakumo approach, you should already have her in your collection. Alice is a great fighter in this battle, especially once she’s levelled up, because she can cast powerful Dark magic and isn’t affected by light.
Die For Me is her one-of-a-kind ability, and it deals massive amounts of damage to Ishtar while leaving her helpless. Alice is also equipped with Spirit Drain, which allows her to replenish her mana without the usage of consumables. For this battle, a great monster has been summoned.
Anubis
Although Anubis is far weaker than Alice at this point in the game, he is more than capable of assisting Alice in this fight. Anubis, like Alice, is unconcerned about Light harm and has access to some very potent Dark spells.
Ingesting some Light Sutras or transferring Concentrate can keep him casting for longer, while transferring Spirit Drain can keep his damage up for this fight. He won’t be a major player, but he’s still a good decision.
Yoshitsune
Yoshitsune works during Chiyoda, and he will work much harder when he faces Ishtar. He is unaffected by any of her attacks, possesses excellent stats, and, most significantly, possesses Hassou Tobi, which has a 100% chance of striking a Critical Hit and causes huge damage.
It’s not difficult to transfer Charge, Resist Electric, and Resist Light onto Yoshitsune to make him even more powerful. During the fight, he will be virtually unkillable, and his damage will increase.
Lahmu
Lahmu is another Special Fusion worth considering solely because he is a tanky magical powerhouse capable of doing massive Dark damage when combined with Mudoon. He’s not immune to Ishtar’s attacks, but he doesn’t have to be. To top it off, he can debuff and deal Almighty damage with Silt of Ruin.
Lahmu’s capacity to sustain himself indefinitely means that transferring Spirit Drain and possibly even Life Drain will keep him alive for the duration of the battle. A powerful monster.
Demons need your help.
To be honest, you don’t need any assistance demons for this fight if you don’t make any mistakes and fight Ishtar at full strength. Any mix of the aforementioned demons will suffice, especially if you have a well equipped Nahobino.
If you wish to run something in support, you can do it by following these steps:
Dominion
Dominion is a high-level demon that may take some time to obtain, but if you do, this fight will be an easy win – even easier than it already is. Dominion is immune to both Electric and Light assaults, and she may readily learn Taunt to focus the majority of Ishtar’s strikes towards her impenetrable defences.
Dominion also has access to several fantastic support spells, a fantastic statline, and is out of this world if you can transfer Heal Pleroma and/or Bowl Of Hygieia. Again, she is unlikely to be required for this fight, so don’t push for the grind if you aren’t level 50.
Parvati
Because of her intrinsic access to Media, Heal Pleroma, and Bowl Of Hygieia, Parvati is an excellent support demon throughout Chiyoda. Even when her numbers start to fail her later in the game, this alone makes her an excellent healer.
Bowl Of Hygieia can also be used to Overheal your party, boosting the durability of a squad that is already tough. Parvati is also resistant to Light and is not vulnerable to Electric damage, making her suitable for this fight.
Preparing For Battle
Fusion of Essence
It can be difficult to acquire the Essence Fusion for Nahobino for this fight quite right because essences that grant Light and Electric Resistances at the same time aren’t particularly common. Having said that, they do exist. Any Aogami Essence should suffice. Before you waste it, make sure you don’t desire any talents from it.
Getting an essence from Dominion can be difficult, but it’s also highly useful because it makes Nahobino functionally eternal. If everything else fails, concentrate on Electric Resistance, as Ishtar has more attacks that use this element. Make sure you don’t have a Light vulnerability, though, otherwise the fight will be over quickly.
Fuse with Aogami Type-5 for Kannabi Veil if you haven’t previously, and if you’re using a Physical Nahobino, focus on Sakanagi as your main source of damage. If you’re using a Nahobino that’s based on magic, transmit the strongest Dark attack you can.
Dampers
Dampers are excellent in this fight, as they always are. Purchasing three Light Dampers for 450 Macca effectively takes a whole turn from Ishtar if she enters Magatsuhi. You might also use Light Block, a simple to learn and transferable talent.
Gems
If all of your Dark demons are killed during the combat, Force/Dark Shards and Force/Dark Gems can help. It’s unlikely that this will occur, but they are available if you need them.
Battle Strategy
Ishtar’s battle tactic is straightforward: attack her hard every turn until she dies. Even with Nahobino at level 46, there’s a good possibility you’ll be able to kill Ishtar without suffering any damage.
If you completed her side quest before diving in, Ishtar is a wet noodle with only one turn every round and a non-zero percent probability of failing to use Dreadful Gleam. You don’t need a backup demon; all you have to do is swing away.
This fight will be over before you realise it, thanks to Die For Me, Mudoon, Hassou Tobi, and Kannabi Veil (if you really want to).
Chiyoda is complete after Ishtar is dead, and you can continue on to the next location – or in this instance, Dungeon.
