Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Pesudo-Red Star style. Op. Op.
**This is a low level challenge run of SMT: Digital Devil Saga. There's only one rule this time round - no gaining EXP outside of forced encounters**
Welp, Jatayu is an idiot. You can pretty much lock him into Dekunda, pseudo-Red Star style, and because he always follows up Dekunda with Mudoon you can safely whittle him down with Void Death, a debuff, and an attack. It's not 100%, sooner or later he will Taunt you, and once your defence is minimised he'll start buffing himself and attacking with Agidyne - although I've since learned that he'll use Dekaja instead of Agidyne if he detects buffs, so you could easily keep the stunlock going by casting a -kaja spell right after he Taunts, and then reapplying whichever buff he removes each turn. Just don't forget to remove the Taunts for the battle with...
...Garuda, who absolutely kicked my ass multiple times before I figured out a safe strat. The key is not getting hit by charged attacks, because all his AoEs can hit for 200-300 damage, and you can't really stack buffs due to how often he dispels. Fortunately there is a way to avoid this, because his attack script is more predictable than it might seem. Power Charge is easy enough to deal with, just set up a Void Phys shield whenever he uses it. As for Mind Charge, you can actually prevent him from using it at all, because of where it falls in his script. He only uses it in the following patterns:
Mabufudyne, Attack, Mind Charge
Megidola, Dekunda/Power Charge, Dekaja/Mind Charge (He will always prioritise buff removal if he detects any)
So to stop him from using it, keep Void Ice up at all times, unless he uses Power Charge in which case switch to Void Phys. And always have a single buff stacked (I chose Sukukaja so Hell Fang would actually connect.)
All these cautionary measures combined with a lack of decent damage options makes for a slow fight that's helped along somewhat by Heat's counters, but it is much safer than simply all-out attacking and praying to RNGsus. Incidentally, I dropped 600k on the Revival Orb for this fight, only to never use it in the winning attempt :| But hey, it'll still come in handy for the optional bosses. Serph and Argilla finally learn some much needed -dyne spells at the end of this one also.
Pesudo-Red Star style. Op. Op.
**This is a low level challenge run of SMT: Digital Devil Saga. There's only one rule this time round - no gaining EXP outside of forced encounters**
Welp, Jatayu is an idiot. You can pretty much lock him into Dekunda, pseudo-Red Star style, and because he always follows up Dekunda with Mudoon you can safely whittle him down with Void Death, a debuff, and an attack. It's not 100%, sooner or later he will Taunt you, and once your defence is minimised he'll start buffing himself and attacking with Agidyne - although I've since learned that he'll use Dekaja instead of Agidyne if he detects buffs, so you could easily keep the stunlock going by casting a -kaja spell right after he Taunts, and then reapplying whichever buff he removes each turn. Just don't forget to remove the Taunts for the battle with...
...Garuda, who absolutely kicked my ass multiple times before I figured out a safe strat. The key is not getting hit by charged attacks, because all his AoEs can hit for 200-300 damage, and you can't really stack buffs due to how often he dispels. Fortunately there is a way to avoid this, because his attack script is more predictable than it might seem. Power Charge is easy enough to deal with, just set up a Void Phys shield whenever he uses it. As for Mind Charge, you can actually prevent him from using it at all, because of where it falls in his script. He only uses it in the following patterns:
Mabufudyne, Attack, Mind Charge
Megidola, Dekunda/Power Charge, Dekaja/Mind Charge (He will always prioritise buff removal if he detects any)
So to stop him from using it, keep Void Ice up at all times, unless he uses Power Charge in which case switch to Void Phys. And always have a single buff stacked (I chose Sukukaja so Hell Fang would actually connect.)
All these cautionary measures combined with a lack of decent damage options makes for a slow fight that's helped along somewhat by Heat's counters, but it is much safer than simply all-out attacking and praying to RNGsus. Incidentally, I dropped 600k on the Revival Orb for this fight, only to never use it in the winning attempt :| But hey, it'll still come in handy for the optional bosses. Serph and Argilla finally learn some much needed -dyne spells at the end of this one also.
