The Shin Megami Tensei series rewards swapping out your roster of demons, but that doesn’t mean fans don’t get attached to certain monsters. One of these is Dagda, and… look, I didn’t play Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, so I’m not going to pretend I can give a lesson on Dagda’s backstory. However, I’ve read enough comments that end with his catchphrase “kid” to get the picture. While Dagda does return in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, he’s locked behind the new Holy Will and Profane Dissent DLC. Let’s break it down.
Holy Will and Profane Dissent is a level 75 quest in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. However, you don’t have to be level 75 to complete it, as you’ll meet the raw unlock conditions for the quest fairly early in your adventure. As long as you’re strong enough to defeat Dagda, your level is irrelevant. Much like the other quest you can purchase as DLC, Holy Will and the Profane Dissent adds 15 minutes of gameplay at most. The main reason you’d want to drop $5 for this is to use Dagda, who will join your party once the quest is cleared.
If you’ve purchased the Holy Will and Profane Dissent DLC, or you own the Digital Deluxe edition of the game, here’s how to access this extra boss fight.
How to unlock the Holy Will and Profane Dissent quest in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
The unlock conditions for Holy Will and Profane Dissent are identical to Sakura Cinders of the East. In fact, if you’re purchased the two packs together, this quest is probably already in your quest list. However, in case you’re the world’s biggest Dagda fan and you purchased this pack a la carte, we can start from the beginning.
To begin the quest, you’ll have to return to the Tokyo Diet Building. If you haven’t gotten to the Tokyo Diet Building yet, then you’re definitely too low level to be doing this quest. Just keep playing and you’ll get there sooner than later.
Once you return to the Tokyo Diet Building, go through the exit on the south side of the Terminal Room. In the next room, keep running down the hallway and go down the staircase. Talk to the Head Researcher, and select the “Offer assistance” option. As long as the Holy Will and Profane Dissent DLC is registered to your account, the Head Researcher should point you towards a Researcher in the same area who will give you the titular quest.
After this, the quest directions become self-explanatory. Follow your quest marker back to the Shiba region in Minato, and ride the Magatsu Rail to where the demon Danu is. Long story short, Dagda did some dimensional hopping to come to this world, and he plans to become a god unshackled by responsibilities like taking care of humans. Danu doesn’t like that too much, and it’s your job to confront Dagda about it.
Follow the new quest marker to the north side of Minato, and you’ll find Dagda there. Approaching Dagda will begin the boss encounter against him, so make sure to save and finish your battle preparations first. Also, make sure you have an open slot in your party.
How to defeat Dagda in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Dagda is a level 80 boss who packs a serious punch if you’re unprepared. That said, for as strong as Dagda is, it’s possible to clear him far below the recommended level 75. For example, if you’ve long since min-maxed all the challenge out of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance on the Normal difficulty, and you only feel alive when solving turn-based battles above your level, you can easily clear Dagda before you hit level 60.
I, of course, don’t know anything about this. Don’t look at the screenshots.
At first glance, Dagda’s moveset looks very scary. Not only can he use physical attacks, he can exploit weaknesses to Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Force. Luster Candy and Debilitate also allow him to buff and debuff stats respectively. Even scarier is the Magic Harp passive ability, which effectively enables his Lost Hit and Power Punch attacks to sleep or instantly KO any party member if he’s charged Magatsuhi (and Lost Hit already has a chance to instantly KO).
That said, Dagda is very easy to exploit. His AI heavily biases him towards using Lost Hit and Power Punch, presumably because they inflict much more base damage than the elemental attacks. Because of this, the Phys Block spell and Phys Dampener items massively counter Dagda. His turn will get cut short whenever you nullify his attacks, potentially letting you go the entire battle without ever taking a single hit. That said, you should cover up weaknesses to the elements Dagda can target as a precaution.
To play it even safer, consider saving your own Magatsuhi skills for when Dagda charges his Magatsuhi. Holding abilities that remove a Press Turn icon from the enemy – such as Fountain of Chaos or Tides of Chaos – will completely prevent Dagda from landing a physical attack through a Phys Block barrier. This, in turn, will eliminate any chance of you getting defeated via an unlucky attack that activates Magic Harp.
With the above strategy in mind, counter Dagda as you would any other major enemy in Shin Megami Tensei V. Apply a suite of party buffs, keep Dagda’s stats debuffed, and exploit his weakness to Light attacks. Though he nullifies several elements, Physical attackers who can reliably land Critical Hits also excel in this fight.
What happens if you finish off Dagda or stow your weapon?
After the battle resolves, Danu will appear and celebrate your victory. After an exchange of words, you’ll be given the choice to either finish him off or stow your weapon. There are differences between the two choices, but the end result will remain the same.
If you finish him off, the Nahobino will deliver a killing blow to Dagda. Danu will approve of your choice, and you’ll find an Oak Staff on the ground. After you turn in the quest to the researcher in the Tokyo Diet Building, you’ll be told that the Oak Staff can be studied. The item will be removed from your inventory, but by talking to the Head Researcher afterwards, you’ll see a new menu option. Select this, choose to summon Dagda, and the fearsome foe will instantly join your party. You’ll also unlock the option to fuse him.
If you stow your weapon, Danu will explain that if Dagda can run free in this world, then the world will also reject her. Accordingly, Danu will leave, and Dagda will acknowledge that you’ve caught his interest. As a result, he’ll join your party on the spot, and the option to fuse him will appear as well.
In other words, Dagda can join your party regardless of which option you choose. The mechanics of how it will happen just differ between the two options. It’s unclear if this choice affects your alignment, so take that into consideration. If it does, “Finish him off” is presumably the Law-aligned choice, whereas “Stow your weapon” would be the Chaos-aligned choice.
Dagda’s stats and abilities
Unlike his in-battle counterpart, Dagda’s default moveset features no elemental coverage. Fortunately, that doesn’t matter in the face of Dagda’s sheer power. Lost Hit is his unique move, which inflicts severe Physical damage and has a chance to instakill foes. Hades Blast inflicts heavy damage to the enemy party, and Freikugel deals severe Strength-based Almighty damage with a high critical hit rate. This alone ensures Dagda won’t be stopped by an enemy with Physical resistance or immunity.
The Magic Harp passive ability works exactly as it did in the boss encounter, letting you potentially instakill common foes or put an enemy to sleep if an Omagatoki effect is active. High Phys Pleroma boosts his physical damage even further, and Null Phys combines with Dagda’s resistances to form a powerful wall of immunities. Luster Candy is a great party buff move, assuming you aren’t using the likes of Idun or Konohana Sakuya to fill that void.
Considering that it’s possible to grab him several hours before you’re intended to by cheesing his boss fight, Dagda offers a frankly insane power boost to your team.That’s good news if Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is giving you trouble. The bad news is that he might make your team building less exciting when he clearly outperforms so many damage dealers. So whether he’s worth the $5 or not is ultimately up to you.
Personally, I can’t believe Atlus would paywall quality dialogue such as this:
An absolute poet and philosopher, thank you Dagda for your wit and insight.
