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Matador has an infamous reputation in the Shin Megami Tensei canon, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is no exception. As the first boss in the Return of the True Demon sidequest, Matador can and will wipe the floor with you if you challenge him unprepared. Though Matador was a challenge in the vanilla version of Shin Megami Tensei V, the Vengeance rerelease adds a new gimmick that you’ll need to deliberately play around. Fortunately, as long as you bring the right skills and demons, you can easily overcome this challenge.
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For best results, your main character should be at level 24 before challenging Matador. If you’re underleveled, consider advancing the main story and returning to this encounter later. This is especially helpful if you’re playing the Vengeance story, since you’ll recruit Guest characters who can come in clutch for this fight. Also consider stocking up on Elec Shards from Cadaver’s Hollow to give the Nahobino and any other human characters a way to exploit Matador’s weakness.
With that out of the way, here’s everything you need to know about overcoming Matador.
Matador’s abilities and weaknesses
At first glance, Matador doesn’t seem too bad. He’s weak to Electric (Zio) damage, Immune to Force (Zan) damage, and resists Hama and Mudo. He also resists a spread of status ailments, though you can still inflict these conditions since he’s not full immunities. While Electric damage is your best option here, Physical attackers are perfectly viable too. This is especially true of any Physical moves that have a higher likelihood to inflict a critical hit (like Aramasa).
The real challenge here is Matador’s skills. New to Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the Crippling Blow innate skill, which gives Matador a chance to instantly kill anyone when it hits a weakness or scores a critical hit. Yes, just one unlucky dice roll when Matador strikes the Nahobino can turn an otherwise successful encounter into an instant loss. Matador will exclusively inflict Physical and Force damage, so avoid bringing any demons who are weak to either of those.
You’ll also want to watch out for Red Capote, which will raise Matador’s accuracy and evasion by two stages whenever it’s used. Shin Megami Tensei V really punishes you for missing attacks, so you’ll want to use Sukunda to counter this buff. In fact, any and all debuffs will serve you well here, since Matador doesn’t have any way to neutralize these conditions.
Matador’s battle strategy
Before you even have a chance to attack, Matador will use Red Capote. Use Sukunda and other debuff moves ASAP so you don’t risk letting Matador dodge your attacks, since this will put you on the backfoot immediately. You can use a Purge Charm to immediately remove the effects of Red Capote, which helps a great deal if you don’t have multiple demons using Sukunda.
Fortunately, Matador casts Red Capote infrequently beyond this point. Though it can use Marakunda to lower your party’s defense, you shouldn’t have to worry too much if you keep Matador’s attack debuffed with Tarunda or equivalent attacks. Otherwise, Matador will primarily hit you with Physical attacks and the occasional Mazan, so make sure to defend accordingly.
As has been the case with other bosses, you’ll eventually see the text “Matador began gathering nearby Magatsuhi!” To counter this, make sure your party uses Guard at the end of their turn. Guarding is the only way you can completely negate the chance of suffering a critical hit, which Matador will inflict after gathering Magatsuhi. This is a good tip for many boss encounters, but it’s especially vital here.
That said, based on my testing, Matador seemed to use Mazan after gathering Magatsuhi, which he then followed with Andalucia (which inflicts multiple Physical hits) on the next turn. Because of this, you may want to have the Nahobino use Guard for another turn to avoid the possibility of catching an unlucky critical hit. This also means that anyone in your party immune to Force may be able to endure his Magatsuhi-charged attack without guarding. Your mileage may vary.
Aside from this, Matador doesn’t have any other surprises to throw at you. Keep him comprehensively debuffed, exploit his thunder weakness as much as you can, and pile on the damage until he goes down. Your tactics beyond that will depend on your party composition, so let’s give you some pointers.
How to build the Nahobino to fight Matador
Given Matador’s moveset, you’ll mitigate a ton of damage by imbuing the Nahobino’s Affinities with the Sudama Essence. This will grant your protagonist total immunity to Force damage, protecting him from potential critical hits via Mazan and making him cut Matador’s turns short (enemies abide by the same Press Turn system the party does, so hitting an immunity inflicts a turn penalty). Sudama’s weaknesses aren’t relevant in this encounter, and you can purchase the essence from Cadaver’s Hollow.
Beyond that, Nahobino’s moveset will depend on how you’ve built him and what party members you’ll bring to the fight. Aramasa remains one of your strongest moves in a Physical build, whereas Zio or Zionga will obviously excel in a magic build. Physical Nahobinos may still prefer to bring Zio if you don’t want to bank on critical hits for extra turns. Beyond that, debuff moves are useful to bring, and Miracle Water will come in clutch if you don’t have a viable healer. Inflaming Divinity can help if you’ve progressed far enough to access it, though this will drain your MP very fast. Rooted Soul is always viable for the extra HP and MP, so use that if you have a skill slot to spare.
The best demons and party members to counter Matador
You’re forced to take your protagonist into the encounter, but your other monsters are a different story. Bring these beasts to deal with Matador.
Shiisaa
Shiisaa feels tailor-made to counter Matador. It naturally learns Zionga to exploit Matador’s weakness, Sukunda, to mitigate the effects of Red Capote, and it resists Force damage. It can even counter Matador’s attacks thanks to its Guardian Beast innate skill.
Since other Zio-focused demons are weak to Force, Shiisaa is uniquely one of the best damage dealers you could use in this encounter. You honestly don’t need to do much to build it, just level it up so it learns its full moveset.
Kikuri-Hime
If you need a dedicated healer, Kikuri-Hime is one of your best options. Her primary boon is her Force immunity, completely negating Matador’s Mazan. Additionally, she naturally learns Recarm and Media, which allows you to heal and revive party members as needed. Her innate skill Divine Benevolence will also reduce the MP cost of support skills, which includes debuffs.
Kikuri-Hime’s only downside is her negative electric proficiency, so she struggles as a damage dealer despite her great Magic stat. That said, her support proficiency makes her especially good at using debuffs like Tarunda, which she can learn naturally. Also consider giving her the Essence of Obariyon to let her learn Sekunda and/or Sekukaja.
Oni
With the threat of Matador’s critical hits hanging over you, a dedicated tank like Oni becomes enormously appealing. With good Strength, even better Vitality, and native access to the Taunt skill, Oni can soak Matador’s Physical attacks like a champ. What’s more, his Physical resistance will dampen Matador’s hits and ease pressure on your healer(s). Fang Breaker is also a great support skill, as it deals damage and lowers the enemy’s offenses by one stage.
If you want to optimize Oni even further, give him the Counter ability. This will give Oni a chance to counter attack any enemy that uses a strength-based attack, which is perfect for a tank. You can learn this skill from the Nozuchi or Rakshasa Essences.
Ippon-Datara is a serviceable alternative to Oni, thanks to its native access to Taunt and its tank-supporting One-Foot Hop ability. That said, Oni is generally superior, and you don’t need to use both.
Yoko Hiromine
For those playing through the Vengeance story path, Yoko Hiromine fares well in this fight. Her most obvious perk is Zio, which upgrades to Zionga after a small amount of story progress. Thanks to her high Magic stat, she can make good use of these spells. She can heal and debuff Matador’s attack in a pinch too, though you’ll want to save her MP for those electric spells.
As a human character, Yoko can use items as needed. Given how helpful items are in Shin Megami Tensei V, this alone makes Yoko more versatile than she has any right to be. Absolutely no investment or building is required to use Yoko, so slot her into your party if you’re tired of devoting resources to this fight.
Honorable Mentions
Aside from the above, any demons that can inflict Electric damage and aren’t weak to Force can work. For example, Feng-Huang resists Force and doesn’t have a negative Electric proficiency, so you can teach it Zio and use it as well.
As long as you play carefully, you shouldn’t need many backup demons to get through Matador. Build your team right, react to Matador’s attacks, and you should get your clear in no time. As a reward, you’ll unlock a special fusion for Matador, so you can use his powers against all who stand against you. Good luck in the rest of your journey through Da’at!