The battle between heaven and hell is at the heart of the Shin Megami Tensei and sometimes even the Persona games. The forces of God and Satan are always at war with one another, with many minions taking part on both sides of the fight. As a player, what that effectively means is that we get to recruit these minions to fight for our side, such as in the case of the star of this Abdiel Persona guide.
I have recruited the servants of heaven and hell countless times since starting with the SMT games nearly a decade ago. Abdiel, in particular, though, is a unique case. She is a newer member of the heavenly hosts, only just making her in-game debut in the recent Shin Megami Tensei V. Unfortunately, she is pretty challenging to acquire or even defeat in her boss battle. Thankfully, I’ve got your back with all of these feats in our Abdiel Persona guide.
Bottom Line Up Front
Abdiel is one of the angels that serve the Judeo-Christian God. She recently made her debut in the Atlus JRPGs with her massive story role in Shin Megami Tensei V on the Nintendo Switch.
As the leader of Bethel, she plays a massive role before eventually becoming a challenging boss fight in most paths of the JRPG. Not only is she part of a difficult boss battle, but players are able to add her divine power to their party but only if certain conditions are met in the game.
Abdiel Persona Overview
I will be the first to admit that Shin Megami Tensei V is by and large on the lower side of the SMT mainline games. Despite the near-open-world nature of the game and the better graphics, I think that it is an inferior game to the previous three mainline titles.
However, what I appreciate about SMT V are some of the characters that are introduced in the story, even if they are a little underused. One such fascinating new character is Abdiel, making her true debut in this title as one of the angels serving God in it.
Abdiel is a brilliant new addition to the SMT series, having a harsh but shining personality that is unlike anything else in the series so far. Most of her shtick is being that classic servant of God who is unwavering in her faith to the point of being a little too extreme and forceful at times.
But the difference with Abdiel compared to other angels that are in the SMT series is that she has a much more complicated and intriguing story. If anything, she is like the antithesis of some of the underused angelic forces in the past games.
I appreciate her role in the story, even if it could have been more involved, which is a shared criticism for all of the characters in the cast. The best part, though, is that Abdiel isn’t just there for show. She is one of the more difficult bosses that players can fight in the game’s main story.
She is also one of the few brand new creatures that players can recruit in Shin Megami Tensei V. As for her status when it comes to the Persona series, this part isn’t as notable or positive yet, but that could change in the future.
Appearance
Intriguingly, Abdiel is a brand new angel in the SMT series as we get to see what Atlus does when it has no prior commitments to a character’s looks. She is stunning in her surprisingly revealing golden armor and headdress that provide a unique neo-futuristic angelic style when paired with her wings.
However, that is only in her Herald form. She has a couple of other more spoilery appearances that corrupt the beauty that she has in her angelic form. Her Fallen version is comparatively darker and horrifying, like out of a horror movie, while her Nahobino version is a disgusting creature. I appreciate all of the intensely different looks that Abdiel has.
Origins Explained
You may not be surprised to find out that Abdiel comes from the lore surrounding some of the Judeo-Christian works. The name’s origins come from the Bible itself, where Abdiel is noted by name only once. Oddly enough, the person Abdiel in the Bible was not an angel.
Instead, the character was just a person who was mentioned in a lineage in the middle of one of the books of the Bible. However, that name was then taken from the book and used in the famous poem, Paradise Lost. The story of the war between heaven and hell was instrumental in a lot of what Atlus has done thus far with the Persona and SMT games.
There are a ton of angels and demons that have been taken from that poem and used as creatures in the Atlus JRPGs. Abdiel has, up until this point, not been one of those included creatures, but that all changed in Shin Megami Tensei V.
Oddly enough, her appearance in this game is based on the male angel that has a notable role in Paradise Lost. In the poem, the angel Abdiel is known as the angel who realizes that Lucifer is becoming evil and turns against him to notify God about his betrayal.
He plays a massive role in the fight that ensues against the fallen angels, taking on some of the most powerful of God’s enemies, including Satan himself. Also notable is Arioch, whom Abdiel defeats in the story, as this comes back to play in the recent SMT V.
For the purposes of the recent mainline JRPG, though, Abdiel was depicted as a female angel who is fervent in her servitude to God, who is no longer around due to the events before the game.
Key Moments in Shin Megami Tensei V
Before we go any further, I should note that this will include significant spoilers for the entirety of the SMT V storyline. If you haven’t played the game yet, it is time to turn around as there will be little story left that you haven’t experienced by the time you finish reading this section.
At the start of Shin Megami Tensei V, God no longer exists, fallen due to the canon events in the past SMT titles. Abdiel is the leader of heaven at this point, leading the angelic army that fervently awaits the return of their God.
Caught in an eternal war against the demons from hell, who also lack a true leader at this point, Abdiel is a harsh and intolerant foe. When she first debuts in the game, she is a quick enemy to the player who is the Nahobino.
She refuses to accept their existence as a mix of god and man, seeing him as a disgrace to the God she serves. Over time, she grows to at least tolerate the player since he is of use to her as the leader of Bethel, the group seeking to bring God back.
Over time, she gives missions to her subordinates that the protagonist ends up having to take on. She forces the player to work for her and Bethel for the vast majority of the main story in Shin Megami Tensei V. Over time, she grows fond of Ichiro Dazai, the player’s best friend and troubled youth.
She rescues him from the clutches of death, and Dazai becomes quite close to her. Over time, this bond reveals that Dazai is her human counterpart and the key to unlocking her own Nahobino form between god and man.
Initially, she rejects this notion even after falling in battle to the Nahobino player character during the Bethel summit with the other gods. Eventually, though, she embraces the darkness and temptation inside her and fuses with Dazai to make their own Nahobino form.
At the game’s conclusion, the player has to decide who to side with, with Abdiel being one of the main paths you can take to bring about order and the return of the Judeo-Christian God. If you side with her, Abdiel will fall in battle before the player can save her and Dazai.
If you side against her, as in picking literally any of the other paths in Shin Megami Tensei V, the player will be the one to fell her and Dazai in their claim for the throne to decide the fate of humanity. Her outcome is sealed no matter what happens in the story.
How to Remove Abdiel From the Nahobino Race
Speaking of sealing her fate away, Abdiel is one of the toughest bosses you can face off against in Shin Megami Tensei V. The funniest part about this is that you possibly face her more than once in a single playthrough of the JRPG.
The first time is mandatory, and every player has to do this to continue the story. This boss fight occurs after the conclusion of the Bethel summit meeting. When you face Abdiel here, she is at the peak of her power as the divine leader of heaven’s armies.
This first boss fight is decently far into the story, so players should be at a relatively high level here. I recommend you be at least level 55 at the very base minimum. In my opinion, you want to be at least level 60 if you want to have a much easier time in this fight, at least on the normal difficulty. Obviously much higher than that if you’re going for hard mode.
There are a few weaknesses and resistances that you need to know about for Abdiel. As an angel, she will repel any light attacks and resists the electric and force abilities. However, the bright side is that she does have a single weakness in the dark element. It turns out the armies of hell are her downfall.
Basically, use dark skills if you can while avoiding light, force, and electricity attacks. But I don’t think dark is too huge of a deal as I completed this fight without using any dark abilities. I focused on using the best physical, ice, and fire attacks that I had.
She has a lot of abilities that she uses in battle, and all of them make this a challenging battle. You need to be able to protect your team from fire and light attacks, so make sure to not have any weaknesses in those. If possible, have some resistance to at least one of them, especially on the Nahobino.
You have to watch out for the critical hits that she has, as they can give her far more turns than she needs. But if you can avoid the light and fire attacks or heal up from them easily, this fight isn’t too bad. The only problem is that she only targets the player character outside of AOE attacks.
You will need to make sure your level is high enough and you have some resistance, or else Nahobino could take some serious damage. The demons you pick to accompany you in battle don’t matter all that much since they won’t take damage most of the time. You just need to ensure that they have some solid healing abilities and no weaknesses to light or fire.
Abdiel Final Boss Battle Guide
The final boss battle against Abdiel at the end of Shin Megami Tensei V is actually optional for some players. Depending on the path that you take in the JRPG, it is possible that you will face Abdiel again. How this happens is whether or not you decide to side with her in the final dungeon of the game.
The game makes it clear when this choice happens what side you are taking in the game. If you side with Abdiel, you’ll be fine and not have to face her again. But if you pick any side besides hers, Abdiel and Dazai will be enemies that you fight in the battle royale for the Nahobino throne.
This boss fight is at the very end of the game, so it has a high-level requirement. You need to be at least level 81 or 82 at the bare minimum. Do not attempt this fight lower than this, and, honestly, you should be at least level 85 if you want this to not be too stressful.
The higher, the better. I was level 99 when I faced her, and it still wasn’t a breeze even then. Her resistances have changed quite a bit in this version, being immune to dark and draining fire attacks. But she is also weak to ice now, so there is that at least.
For this purpose, I highly recommend obtaining Arioch, her eternal rival, if possible. His intense ice skill can make short work of her. When it comes to skills, fire and dark will be your main focuses. Like in the previous fight, have resistance to those if possible.
She can crit your team pretty easily, which is by far the most alarming part of this fight. You need to be at a high enough level and have some seriously strong recovery skills. Partway through the fight, her Depraved Arm and Wing will add turns to her side. Watch out for magical reflect abilities here and recover often.
How to Capture Abdiel in SMT V
At the end of the day, the goal with any demon or angel in the SMT series is to acquire them for yourselves. Believe it or not, you can actually gain Abdiel as a permanent ally for your party. In fact, she is one of the most powerful endgame allies that you can have.
The problem is that you wouldn’t know this if you played the game only once. The big catch with having Abdiel join your team is that she requires you to beat the entire game once and then start a New Game Plus playthrough to unlock her as a demon companion.
Once you beat the story, though, you can not only add Abdiel to your team but in two distinct forms. The first is her Herald form, aka her angel form that you see her as for most of SMT V. For this one, you will need to fuse her together in New Game Plus and be at least level 80. That last part shouldn’t be an issue if you carry over your levels.
To fuse for Abdiel, you need to complete the special fusion that includes Adramelech, Dominion, and Melchizedek. However, the twist is that this isn’t the only way to fuse Abdiel. She also has her Fallen Transformed version that you can fuse for.
This one requires three demons, too, and they are Amon, Kali, and the Herald Abdiel. You could always resummon Herald Abdiel afterward and have both in your party if you want.
There is an intense level requirement of 89, but you should be at this point if you do a New Game Plus. This version is only weak to light attacks and has resistances or immunities to five different elements. Fallen Abdiel is one of the very best demons you can get in all of SMT V.
Can You Get Abdiel in the Persona Series?
If you arrived here wondering if you could get Abdiel in the Persona games, the sad truth is, no, you can’t. Outside of Shin Megami Tensei V, Abdiel makes no other appearances in any of the Atlus games. The only minor exception to this is a story mention of her in SMT IV.
But she doesn’t show up in the game for a long period of time and isn’t a boss or demon that you can add to your team. SMT V is the only JRPG in which you actually meet Abdiel. Unfortunately, there is not a single Persona game that you are able to unlock her in.
This sucks because Abdiel is one of the best newer demons (angels, whatever) that has been added to Atlus games in a long time. For a series that hesitates way too much to offer entirely new creatures to unlock, Abdiel is one of the best examples of recent ingenuity from the developer.
It is a darn shame that Abdiel isn’t being offered in any other games at this time. I expect that this will change in the near future, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Abdiel arrive in the inevitable Persona 6 someday. She probably won’t have a massive role in the story but just be a Persona offered there.
After all, all of her components that make her up in SMT V are already offered in at least one Persona game. There are plenty of angels and demons like Dominion and Kali that are already in the Persona games. I imagine that it is inevitable for her to be reused in the very near future.
FAQs
Question: How do you beat Abdiel?
Answer: It depends on which version of Abdiel you are facing. With regular Herald Abdiel, you must watch out for light and fire attacks while protecting Nahobino. For Abdiel Nahobino, you need to take advantage of her ice weakness while protecting yourself from dark and fire attacks.
Question: How do you get Abdiel Transformed?
Answer: You can get the Fallen Abdiel Transformed version by beating the game and fusing regular Abdiel Herald, Amon, and Kali together.
Question: What is Abdiel weak to?
Answer: Abdiel’s weaknesses depend on which version you fight. Regular Herald Abdiel is weak to dark attacks, while the Nahobino version is weak to ice attacks.
Who to Recruit Next
Abdiel spends so much time focusing on the Judeo-Christian God that she serves that she ignores that she is a goddess and waifu in her own right. She is one of the best things to come out of Shin Megami Tensei V as one of the newest angel and demon creations to date.
Having two different forms of her is unique and helpful, letting players choose which version of the newly beloved character they would like to add to their team. Speaking of demons that have multiple forms, another one that you actually can recruit right now in a Persona game, unlike Abdiel, is none other than Izanagi no Okami.
- Persona 5 Manga Guide: Where to Find All Persona 5 Manga - April 2, 2023
- Persona Tarot Cards Guide: Where and How to Buy Persona-Themed Tarot Cards - April 2, 2023
- Ishtar Persona 5 Guide: How to Unlock Ishtar in Persona 5 - March 29, 2023