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Oni is a fiendishly tough brute that can be found in the far northwest corner of the Netherworld, with the closest landmark being the Nagatacho Leyline Fount. Those wishing to do every subquest in Shin Megami Tensei 5 will have to speak with Oni before eventually having to fight them.
However, when this Shin Megami Tensei 5 boss battle begins, players may find that they have come woefully underprepared to deal with Oni. This red demon is resistant to Physical damage, meaning that Physical skills and basic attacks are virtually useless. Furthermore, Oni can slam the player's party with powerful blows that can hit all allies at once, making it tough to do anything besides heal and guard for some turns. Thankfully, there are some ways to get around Oni's Physical offensive and defensive might.
Breakdown Of Oni's Stats & Weaknesses
This crimson combatant has high Vitality, meaning that they will be able to take a lot of hits due to their impressive damage reduction. Even magical attacks, while still very useful, won't take as much health from Oni as they would from most other foes.
About Oni's Resistances
Oni is only resistant to Physical attacks but is not against any other element. This means that players should avoid wasting actions of their turn attacking this threat with basic attacks or Physical skills. However, Oni is weak to both Electric and Light-type skills.
As such, demons that have offensive skills from these elements will be useful. A good choice for an ally to bring against Oni is Archangel, as they can be obtained with the Hama skill (possibly up to +3) that deals Light-type damage. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that Oni is very susceptible to the Confusion status condition, but more on that later.
About Oni's Attacks
Equipped with 2 brutal Physical skills, as well as punishing basic attacks, Oni can potentially take down allies with lower HP and Vitality in singular strikes. Heavy Blow +3 will smash individual allies with a huge hit while Crusher Onslaught +3 can devastate the entire party at once.
These attacks will be very hard to deal with, even if the members of the player's party are above Oni's level. Healing and guarding are the best way to react to them, however, it is better to prevent them by taking advantage of Oni's biggest status condition weakness.
Using The Confusion Status Condition To Beat Oni Easily
Since Oni is weak to Confusion, when player's use skills like Pulinpa on the red demon, it will almost always hit and its effect will trigger much more frequently than they would on enemies who are merely neutral to Confusion.
When afflicted by the Confusion status condition, Oni will most often skip their turn from being too dazed to move or will attack themselves with basic attacks. They won't do very much damage to themselves, however, more importantly, both of the aforementioned effects of Confusion will prevent Oni from using their brutal Physical skills on the player's party.
Don't sit back and relax, as this is the best time to press the attack! Use Electric and Light-type skills to wear down Oni while also giving the player's team more actions per turn. Additionally, activating the protagonist's Magatsuhi skill to guarantee critical hits can allow one to take down the mighty Oni relatively quickly. Just be sure to re-apply the Confusion status on Oni if it wears off and to heal when injured to avoid losing the upper hand.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is available on the Nintendo Switch.