As the Nahobino, we have the power to recreate the world. But we can’t do it alone, can we? We need some powerful demon allies to help us out. 

There are lots of demons in SMT V to choose from and it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones are the best to use. With so many formidable enemies to face, you’ll want to make sure your party can handle the challenge. Remember that many of their base stats and the moves they start with depend on what demons you fuse to get them.

Here is a list of the top ten demons you should highly consider putting in your party, along with tips on how to build them to be effective.

10. Fionn mac Cumhaill

He used to be known as Deimne. People decided to start calling him Fionn because of his golden hair.

Fionn doesn’t just have his gorgeous hair and antlers going for him. He is also really strong. Probably because he’s carrying that giant sword with him all the time.

His stats start out even, which isn’t a bad thing. If you give him abilities like Dragon Eye and Drain Elec, it will raise his accuracy and remove his weakness for electric moves. Using incense and sutras to boost his strength and agility would make him even more powerful.

What makes Fionn powerful:

• His special move Mac an Luin will definitely leave a mark. Especially if it’s a critical attack because it will have a greater effect, just like the Nahobino’s Murakumo.
• Fionn is best suited for using physical, fire, and ice attacks. If you give him moves that combine strength and magic, like Fire Dracostrike, he will do a lot more damage to enemies that have an affinity.
• He eventually learns Enduring Soul, which will allow him to withstand a lethal blow and fully heal once per battle.

9. Huang Long

Huang Long likes to show up during times of good fortune and joy.

His radiance is almost blinding. He can bless you and your party but also smite your enemies to smithereens. It’s a good thing he’s on your side!

Huang Long is unique in a lot of ways, besides his appearance. Like Fionn, his stats start out even. You can of course use incense and sutras to boost the specific stats that you want to. He is a demon you can use for support and some offense. 

What makes Huang Long powerful:

• He is immune to light damage and resistant to almost everything else. You can easily get rid of his weakness for dark attacks by using an essence.
• His base build encourages that you teach him a few almighty moves because he will eventually learn Almighty Pleroma. There is no enemy in this game that is immune to this attack type. The only exception is the little mitamas you might find floating around, but they’re only resistant to it.
• Besides Omagatoki: Critical, he has Omagatoki: Dance. This makes all multi-hit type moves of all allies deal the maximum amount of hits for one turn.

8. Amon

He's the seventh demon in King Solomon's Ars Goetia and is known to be fiercely loyal.

If you can look past his weird owl-snake hybrid body, he is actually pretty strong. Just focus on the cute owl face instead.

You’d think he would be slashing up foes with those demonic arms of his or pecking them with his beak. That would be too predictable. He’ll either offer support or burn your enemies to death. 

His base build comes with Abyssal Mask, which means he has less of a chance of getting insta-killed or getting an ailment. This is an ability that any support party member should have.

What makes Amon powerful:

• His vitality stat is one of his highest so he can take a lot of damage. You don’t have to worry about your support demon dying and wasting a turn to summon a new one. If you give him Greater Life Spring, his vitality will be even higher and enemies will have to work harder to kill him.
• Amon’s magic stat is also high so you can give him more MP heavy skills like Debilitate. 
• He isn’t without offensive moves. His Megido Flame is also powerful because it ignores any resistances an enemy might have toward fire moves.

7. Zau Gongen

Zau Gongen is known as the repeller of evil and he's potentially a fusion of Buddha, Guanyin, and Maitreya.

Zau Gongen’s strength and magic stats are his highest. He can take a lot of hits. This is good because his agility is his lowest stat. He is there just to destroy your enemies, really. Keeping him on the offensive is the way to go.

What makes Zau Gongen powerful:

• Violent Rage is a skill that is unique to him and is very fitting given his eternally angry appearance. It deals medium almighty damage to all foes with a chance of inflicting seal. If you take away your enemy's ability to use magic based attacks, then you will have an easier time.
• His other special move is Pandemonic Crush , which does medium physical damage to all enemies. It will also lower their defense by one rank for three turns. If he were to use this more than once, it would make troublesome enemies easier to kill.
• Zau Gongen is immune to most status ailments, specifically sleep, mirage, dizziness, and charm.
• His base build comes with Murderous Glee which greatly increases his critical rate.

6. Inanna

Besides being known as the fearsome goddess of war, she is also known as the goddess of fertility. Some say she's a variant of Aphrodite and Venus.

She isn’t called the goddess of warfare for nothing. Seriously… she’ll do more than just end you.

Overall, Inanna is tough. Her magic stat is her highest, but depending on what demons you fuse her with, all her stats will be high. If you use an essence to remove her weakness to physical and dark attacks, she would be practically unstoppable. 

She has good potential with fire, ice, electric, and wind skills. Her potential for almighty moves is also decent. If you want to absolutely destroy your enemies with no mercy, she is a great party member to have.

What makes Inanna powerful:

• She has not one, but four moves that are uniquely hers. Raging Hellfire, Raging Blizzard, Raging Lightning, and Raging Tempest all do severe damage to a single foe.
• Inanna eventually learns Impaler’s Animus which will boost her already immense power.
• She also eventually learns Freikugel, which is a severe strength-based Almighty attack. Depending on who you fuse her with, her strength stat will be high. All the offensive skills she has to do severe damage, but this one has a high chance of landing a critical hit.

5. Yoshitsune

He was a general in the Genpei War. He may or may not have gained mastery over the art of war from the Tengu on Mt. Kurama.

This guy is not someone to mess with. He carries two swords and will cut your enemies like butter.

It’s always good to have a demon in your party who has a lot of strength and can dish out physical attacks. His magic stat is the lowest, so don’t bother teaching him offensive magic moves.

The best way to build him is to give him some good physical abilities and also abilities where he can buff himself, like Impalers Animus, etc. It also may be a good idea to use any health incense you find to increase his overall HP.

What makes Yoshitsune powerful:

• Hassou Tobi is his special move and is very powerful, despite what you may think. It does eight weak physical attacks on random foes, but they are all guaranteed critical attacks. Landing criticals gives your party an extra turn and the damage from those eight attacks can really add up.
• Yoshitsune eventually learns Restore which gives him some MP recovery when striking a foe’s weakness or landing a critical. This is obviously a good thing because of his unique skill.
• He doesn’t just have the option for Omagatoki: Critical. You can also make use of all that Magatsuhi by using Freikugel EX. This does severe almighty damage based on his level to one foe.

4. Danu

Danu is the matriarch of a race of gods called the Tuatha De Danann. It is said that her body is very large and currently lying down on the earth.

She may be motherly and sweet but will destroy you if necessary.

Danu is another demon that can assist with fighting or support. You don’t have to have a dedicated healer in your party when you have her. Her only weakness is dark attacks, but you can easily change that by using an essence.

She has the highest potential for almighty moves as well as healing. So you could build her to have a mix of those types of abilities.

What makes Danu powerful:

• She is immune to light damage and resistant to everything except physical and dark attacks. 
• Her magic stat is very high which means she can make use of some MP heavier moves. She eventually learns Luster Candy. This is a great ability for a demon in your party to have, especially in boss fights.
• Danu’s luck stat is the highest stat she has. That means her skills that have a chance of inflicting ailments have a higher success rate. Her base build comes with Slumber Vortex but you could add other moves like Tentarafoo if you wanted to.
• Matriarch’s Love is an ability unique to her. It can seriously help your party when it's in trouble. It not only offers moderate HP recovery, but also cures any status ailments and gets rid of any debuffs.

3. Metatron

Little else is known about him other than that he's the scribe of Heaven and that he's important.

No matter how brutal of a fight he gets into, he never loses his sheen. He also likes to keep things fair, or at the very least, keep things in your favor.

Metatron has no weaknesses and is resistant to most attacks. Like Huang Long, he is an excellent candidate for almighty attacks. He has a lot of health so you don’t have to worry about him falling in battle easily. With some of his other abilities, he can keep the battlefield balanced.

What makes Metatron powerful:

• He learns High Almighty Pleroma later which will increase his already strong almighty attacks.
• Metatron has a special move called Fire of Senai. It will do 3-7 medium almighty attacks on random foes. With the High Almighty Pleroma, this skill would be even more powerful.
• His base build comes with Dekaja and Dekunda so he can keep the battle balanced between you and your enemies.

2. Vishnu

Vishnu is the highest ranking god in Hinduism and is known as the universe's protector.

The sheer amount of power he possesses is insane. Although that’s to be expected from the guy who is governing the universe.

Vishnu is one of the best dark move users but has a lot of potential with light moves too. His base build comes with Mediarahan which is always helpful. With a high magic stat, he can act as your party healer and also attack your enemies.

What makes Vishnu powerful:

• His base build starts out with Mahambarion and Mamumdobarion. These do severe damage to all foes with a chance of instakill when striking a weakness. 
• He is immune to physical and dark damage. He already repels light attacks but he eventually learns Repel Dark.  If you keep that he can do damage without lifting a finger. Plus it will cut your enemy’s turn short.
• He already has a couple of strong dark moves in his arsenal. So eventually when he learns High Dark Pleroma, they’ll become insanely more powerful.

1. Beelzebub

Infamously known as the Lord of the Flies. It is said his army of flies carry souls into the abyss.

Okay yeah, he is a giant bug. Put the bug spray down for a second and listen. He is actually very strong and you’ll seriously want him on your side.

Like Vishnu, Beelzebub’s potential for dark moves is really good. He’s versatile in that besides dark, he has good potential for electric moves too. But wait, it gets better. Besides cursing and electrocuting your enemies– he can also debuff them. 

What makes Beelzebub powerful:

• He eventually learns Boon Boost EX which allows moves like Matarunda or Matarukaja to last two extra turns.
• His luck stat is high. If you wanted to teach him moves with the chance of inflicting a status ailment, he would be the best choice.
• He is immune to most status ailments so he could cure the party/offer support or continue debuffing enemies.

You may also be interested in:

• [Top 5] Shin Megami Tensei V Best Early Demons (Ranked)
• [Top 10] Shin Megami Tensei V Best Miracles (Ranked)
• Shin Megami Tensei V Stats Guide: The Best Stats To Upgrade