Shin Megami Tensei V: Should You Side with Apsaras or Leanan Sidhe? (SMT V)

One of the main conflicts in Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT V) is Law versus Chaos, and the game forces you to pick a side. The first choice is between Apsaras or Leanan Sidhe. Here’s who you should side with in Shin Megami Tensei V.

Should You Choose Apsaras or Leanan Sidhe in Shin Megami Tensei V (SMT V)?

During the initial moments of a new playthrough in SMT V: Vengeance, players will find two conflicting quests in the initial zone of Minato. The first of them is The Spirit of Love, given by Apsaras next to the Shiba leyline. You must have accepted A Preta’s Predicament before starting this quest. Apsaras warns you about Leanan Sidhe, who’s supposedly deceiving other Demons instead of actually helping them to survive, and Apsaras asks you to deal with her.

You can find Leanan Sidhe next to the Tokyo Tower leyline (inside a cave, past all the Azumi enemies). She tries to convince you that Apsaras is the one in the wrong here, and that Apsaras  is offering false protection to her fellow demons but is using them as her personal army instead. You can accept The Water Nymph quest from Leanan Sidhe, which pits you against Apsaras here.

You can meet both of them in any order, and the choice is completely up to you. But fulfilling one side’s request invalidates the other.

Siding with Apsaras will put you against Leanan Sidhe and increase your Law alignment, while siding with Leanan Sidhe results in a battle against Apsaras and boosts your Chaos alignment. You will also recruit the Demon you sided with to your party automatically once you finish the quest.

While both options are tempting, Leanan Sidhe is the best choice here. You have plenty of Ice users by this point of the game (with Mermaid being a notable option), while Mudo users are still scarce, so Apsaras is less valuable. Leanan Sidhe also has plenty of utility with skills like Media and Marin Karin, which can make your life way easier as she acts as a jack-of-all-trades for your team’s needs.

On the flipside, the Leanan Sidhe battle is arguably easier than Apsaras’ due to her weakness to Ailments, and having Apsaras early can make the Hydra boss battle (which can be an early progression wall) even easier if you cover for her weakness. She lacks interesting skills, though.

During her fight, Leanan Sidhe is vulnerable to Hama, Sleep, and Poison, while Apsaras is weak against Agi and Confusion. Leanan Sidhe has Ippon-Datara on her side, who has the same weaknesses as her, while Apsaras brings Agations who are weak to Zio and Bufu.

You can still get both Demons in the end, as you can fuse for the one you didn’t pick. Leanan Sidhe can be fused by combining Obariyon + Tsuchigumo at Level 17, while Apsaras is obtained by combining Preta + Mokoi at Level 16.

It all boils down to which alignment you prefer to follow—something that can alter your rewards next to the game’s final moments. There are still other chances to alter it later if you regret this one, though, but having some extra points toward your initial choice always helps.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is available now.