Updated Title Publisher
Updated Title Publisher
Updated Title
Published Title Score Editor's Choice Publisher
Published Title Publisher
Table of Contents
Expand All

Shin Megami Tensei V

How to defeat Xuanwu

By
Jarrod Garripoli

During Subquests, you will sometimes have to fight a boss while doing the quest. This page will pertain to the fight against Xuanwu.

You will fight Xuanwu during The Gold Dragon’s Arrival

Where to Find Xuanwu

Xuanwu is a demon that you have to fight during The Gold Dragon’s Arrival quest. Once you have logged the quest, teleport to the Kamiyacho Leyline in the Minato region. Follow the street north of the leyline, past the Tsuchigumo, and stop when you reach the group of Sudama. Just east of them will be Xuanwu, in a little corner.

(1 of 2) Xuanwu is found north of the Kamiyacho Leyline

Xuanwu is found north of the Kamiyacho Leyline (left), He will be tucked away in a little corner underneath the highway (right)

Stats and Resistances

Icon Name Lv Weakness Resistances Location
Xuanwu_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Xuanwu 23 Fire_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png, POISON Ics_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png (BLOCK) West Shinabashi

Skills

Type Skill Effect
Ics_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Ice Breath +5 Weak 2-5 Ice attacks to random foes.
Support_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Rakukaja +2 Raises Defense of 1 ally by 1 rank for 3 turns.
Physical_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Heavy Blow Medium Physical attack to 1 foe. Greater effect if a Critical hit.
Ics_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Bufula +5 Medium Ice attack on 1 foe.
Support_Icon_Shin_Megami_Tensei_V.png Critical Aura +2 Next Strength-based attack of self will be 100% accurate and guaranteed Critical.

Recommended Party

Xuanwu (also known as Genbu in some of the other games) is definitely a challenging enemy, as he has high Vitality, meaning he is not going to be taking a lot of damage from attacks, even if it’s from something like Fire skills. That’s why it is a good idea to have Rakunda in this battle to debuff his defense, especially since Xuanwu can even improve his own defense with Rakukaja. You would be in for a very long battle if you left his defense alone, which is not an easy thing to do around the level in which you fight him. Outside of that, Xuanwu does primarily Ice attacks, so having protection from that will be your main goal.

Andras, for example, blocks Ice, so having him in your party is nice, especially since he doesn’t suffer from a low Fire skill potential. That means if you can get Agi/Agilao on Andras, then you’re golden. Another reason why Andras is a great choice is because Xuanwu is weak to Poison and Andras has Poisma right out the gate, which can help a lot due to the high defenses. Feng Huang is another great choice, as he isn’t weak to Ice and has Agilao from the beginning. Your third choice should be either of the two listed above, as they both learn Rakunda, although Fortuna learns it a lot sooner than Kaya-no-Hime. The plus that Kaya-no-Hime has over Fortuna, though, is some natural resistance to Ice, so she won’t get hit as hard.

(1 of 2) Xuanwu will increase his already high defense with Rakukaja

Xuanwu will increase his already high defense with Rakukaja (left), which is why it’s important to have Rakunda on hand to reduce it (right)

Delving into the skills Xuanwu has a little more, you have Bufula, which is a medium Ice attack against a single target. While his Magic stat isn’t too high, this can still hurt quite a bit. There is also Ice Breath, which hits random targets up to five times; as with any random-targeting skills, there could be trouble if hits concentrate on a single character. Rakukaja is dangerous, simply because Xuanwu already has high defenses. The last two skills can be a brutal pairing, as Critical Aura ensures the next Strength-based attack will be a critical, and Heavy Blow will deal more damage if it’s a crit. You might even see this potentially one-shot some characters, so make sure you keep everyone healed.

No Comments
No Upvotes
User profile pic

Comment submission error:

The comment must be at least 1 character in length.

Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Atlus, Nintendo, Sega
  • Platforms,
    Switch
  • Genre
    Action Adventure, Action RPG, RPG
  • Guide Release
    5 November 2021
  • Last Updated
    18 February 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author

Share this free guide:

Get a Gamer Guides Premium account:

Quick sign up

Already have an account?

Quick log in

Don’t have an account?