Best Stats to Level Up | Can You Respec?

Stats determine a character's strengths and weaknesses in battle, separate from their Elemental Weaknesses and Resistances. Learn what each stat means, what they affect, and how to increase your stats to max out your characters!

Stat Priority Change (11/17/2021)

After further play testing, Agility has been shifted down and the strength stat has been upped to max rating. Vitality has also been found to be a great investment stat for your points.

Best Stats to Level Up

Stats Priority Ranking

Vitality Can Never Go Wrong

With the changes to HP scaling and the ability for Vitality to reduce damage, going for a safe build is now completely viable. With the addition of Magatsuhi skills, we are also not lacking in too much damage so investing in general safety by upping your defense is a very good option.

Strength and Magic Are Both Strong Options

It all depends on your build, but you can go for Strength instead of Magic to maximize your Physical attacks and let your demons handle other Magic skills. Take note that Magic is superior early game due to weakness exploits but mid-late game, Physical builds are incredibly great due to abilities that are Physical-based but also has elements and the addition of Piercing Physical skills.

Agility is Lackluster Than Initially Viewed

Dodge Tanking was a strategy we have hoped to use due to Agility's dodge increasing mechanic. However, this reality did not bear fruit so its main purpose has been shifted to increasing our hit rate. Unfortunately (for Agility), we gain stats every level up as well which makes spending a stat of your choice to agility which scales pretty well without putting some points into it pretty much useless.

Stat Effects Explained | What is Luck?

List of Stats

What is Luck?

Affects Rates for Critical, Item Drop, and Ailments

The Luck stat in Shin Megami Tensei V increases chances of inflicting Critical hits, chances of Ailments and Instakill abilities (Light and Dark skills), and affects the drop rate of items post-battle.

Resistances

Below the Conditions section, players will be able to find the Resistances section, which shows a characters Elemental strengths and weaknesses. Below each Elemental icon, there will be an indication of whether a character is resistant, weak, or neutral to a particular element.

These will show whether or not a character, once hit by an Elemental attack, will resist, be greatly affected, or simply receive normal damage from such an attack.

Conditions

The Conditions section of a character's information sheet denotes a character's current status on the field. This section includes the character's current HP (Health) and MP (Mana). These condition stats do not replenish outside of combat unless you use an item.

Can You Respec Your Stats?

No, You Cannot Respec Stats in SMT 5

Once you've spent that point on a stat, it's pretty much a done deal. You can't take it back, meaning you can't take away points already added for the stat and then transfer them to another stat.

Be sure to plan your stat allocation accordingly!

How to Increase Your Stats

Earn Stat Points to Use By Leveling Up

Upon leveling a character up, you will receive a point (shown beside the Stats header in the character info screen) that you can spend on any stat to increase its value by one (or more if multiple points are available).

These points are specific to the character that has leveled up and cannot be shared between characters. This means that if you want a powerful team, you will need to level up each Demon separately.

Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT 5) Related Guides

Tips and Tricks | Beginner's Guide

Game Mechanics

Press Turn System Guide	Battle System Explained
List of Difficulty Modes	How to Fuse Demons
List of Affinities	Effects of Skill Potential
List of Status Ailments	How to Use Magatsuhi Skills
Moon Phases Effects	How to Fast Travel
Interactable Objects	How to Get Essences
All Miman Locations

Stat and Build Guides

All Stats Explained	Best Nahobino Builds
Strength	Vitality
Magic	Agility
Luck

Farming Guides

How to Level Up Fast	How to Farm Macca
How to Farm Glory	How to Farm Mitamas

Tips and Tricks

Best Names for the Nahobino	Best Demons to Use
Best Miracles Tier List	All Abscesses Locations
All Cironnup Locations	All Aogami Essence Locations
List of Special Fusions

FAQ

Apsaras or Leanan Sidhe	What Carries Over in NG+
Principality or Lilim	Should You Eat the Golden Apple?
Black Frost or Dionysus	Where to get the Horn of Plenty
How to Get Dragon Scales	Should You Spare Khonsu?
Futsunushi or Adramelech