Shin Megami Tensei IV *SPOILERS ABOUND*

Beat Cleo on my second try. She was definitely weaker than the Ancient and Masakado, and YHVH in this one, but maybe about on par with Sanat.

So I think I'd rank the IV duology superbosses that I've fought for difficulty thusly:

Cleo < Sanat < Mephisto ≤ Apocalypse Mother Harlot < Vanilla Fiends (on average) < Vanilla Astaroth and Beelzebub < Masakado's Shadow < Ancient of Days.

I wonder where Stephen and En no Ozuno would stand...

On my list I'd bump down Masakado's Shadow and Apocalypse Mother Harlot a few spaces. Masakado isn't so bad once you get past the gimmick, and maybe it's just cause I brought in three deadly winds but Mother Harlot went down like a chump.

Oh I just realized, you forgot the Archangels.

Dunno where I'd rank SJ Demiurge due to the combat system being so different, but regardless, he's not hard. With the right setup you can cheese his AI into casting Dekunda most of the time.

Archangels aren't ultimate bosses. They're bosses for skills to beat ultimate bosses like Kannuki Throw.

So nobody wants to talk about Stephen... except me...

I'd talk about him if I'd fought him yet.

They are powerful dlc bosses the game recommends you be at end game strength before fighting.

He's a pretty tough guy.

edited 23rd Nov '16 8:22:45 PM by Moth13

I bought Explosive Epidemic and Diamond Realm. Not all that interested in Twisted Tokyo at the moment.

They want you near endgame to avoid spoiling the story bits about them. Hell I beat them when I was just in the seventies and they were pretty easy. Mastema's Megidoloan spam or the Fiends are more of a challenge.

edited 24th Nov '16 8:15:13 AM by OmegaRadiance

That's something you made up.

Cleared Explosive Epidemic, pretty easy apart from the time limit, then tried Diamond Realm aaaaaaaaaaand died to the first horde.

Sweet. Christmas.

edited 24th Nov '16 8:58:26 AM by HamburgerTime

There's DLC that comes with it and explains the Demon Gene better right?

Advice for the Law Horde in the Diamond Realm? Honestly one of the hardest things I've fought yet.

Use Concentrate + Growing Hate with Mephisto. It does stupid damage to hordes resistant to Light.

The free DLC that raises the level cap is almost mandatory if you want to go through multiple Twisted Tokyo cycles... would also be a good idea to get in general.

edited 24th Nov '16 11:00:13 AM by CybranGeneralSturm

Ssssssssoooooooo... Stephen.

Without exaggeration, the hardest boss I've faced in anything ever. Haven't even gotten halfway through the first form yet, I don't think. And, oh yeah, out of MP restoratives.

The Ginza secret shop has relatively cheap Chakra Pots. Chakra Beads will take a little bit more doing though.

And yeah, Stephen is a monster. I feel like it helps to know when not to overextend on your buffs, but unfortunately he seems to count doping and charge/concentrate as buffs too.

Have you beaten him? If so, any tips? I really hope I won't have to extensively recustomize my demons, or even worse totally reset the game like with Priam. I watched a video of the fight, and of course the guy's strategy depended a lot on skills I never used much and accordingly "bred out" of my demons like Charge, Concentrate, and Magaon.

edited 24th Nov '16 8:49:05 PM by HamburgerTime

To be honest, even with Charge, Concentrate and Magon Stephen's been too much for me so far.

I'm currently giving some weight to the possibility of using the Fiends to get a lot of Pierces spread on my final team.

I beat him, but it took me many many many many tries. Phys resistance is very important, and I think using a demon with doping really helped because he hits like a freight train. On the second phase I had my team focus mostly on survival while the guest heroes did most of the damage, at least until they were able to gets some key weaknesses going.

Okay, think I've found a strategic adjustment I can make after reading up some. Seems he uses his buff canceling moves either less or not at all if you keep the buffs at 2 both ways. Will give that a try.

I know I sound frustrated but I'm actually pretty excited; the superbosses in this game have underwhelmed me so far so I was hoping Stephen would pick up the slack.

Again, remember that concentrate and charge count as a buff, so make sure to always use them up by the end of the turn or there's a chance he'll wipe everything.

edited 25th Nov '16 8:22:24 AM by Moth13

Watch out for his version of Imposing Stance as well... it steals three Press Turns.