In Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Macca, the in-game currency, becomes increasingly manageable as you progress, especially in the late game. Understanding how to effectively acquire and spend Macca is crucial for optimizing your demon fusion and skill inheritance strategies without unnecessary grinding.
Late-game vending machines are a surprisingly lucrative source of items, offering significantly better or more numerous items compared to their early-game counterparts. For instance, you might find a single vending machine in locations like Odaiba dispensing stacks of “33xSoda.” These items can be sold for a substantial amount of Macca if you find yourself needing a quick cash influx. Furthermore, many late-game quests reward you handsomely, sometimes granting as much as 150,000 Macca upon completion. By simply playing through the game and completing available quests, you’ll naturally accumulate a considerable sum, often reaching around 1 million Macca by the game’s conclusion.
Frugality plays a key role in maintaining a healthy Macca balance. When negotiating with demons, it’s wise to decline if they demand excessive amounts of Macca, especially early on. Utilizing the Omagatoki Luck buff before engaging quest or story bosses can significantly increase Macca drops, providing a strategic way to boost your earnings. Don’t overlook the value of collecting orbs scattered throughout the environment for healing, as this reduces your reliance on item purchases and conserves Macca.
Unless you are aiming to fuse incredibly powerful, stat-maximized demons, hoarding millions of Macca is generally unnecessary. The base game content, including challenging superbosses outside of DLC, does not demand such extreme levels of demon optimization. Feel free to spend Macca when it provides a worthwhile time-saving advantage, but avoid frivolous spending when it’s not truly needed.
The primary strategic use of the Demon Compendium lies in its ability to facilitate skill inheritance across fusion chains. It’s also essential for leveraging Miracles that grant stat and level boosts based on the component demons used in fusion. However, in the later stages of the game, the number of skills truly worth repurchasing from the Compendium diminishes. Pleromas and resistance skills to cover elemental weaknesses are among the few exceptions. Essences offer a more streamlined alternative for skill customization in many cases.
For most demon acquisition needs, direct recruitment from the overworld or strategic fusion is more cost-effective than relying heavily on the Compendium. Utilize the in-game reverse compendium fusion or external tools like fusion calculators to identify the component demons needed for your desired fusions. Re-obtaining these component demons through recruitment or fusion is significantly cheaper than repeatedly buying demons directly from the Compendium. For example, instead of spending 20,000 Macca to repurchase a leveled-up Naga from the Compendium, you can recruit a wild Naga for a minimal cost or fuse it from readily available demons like Andras and Makami. Fusing during a full moon further enhances efficiency by granting extra levels and stats to the resulting demon, potentially allowing it to quickly learn valuable resistance skills like resist fire. Ultimately, it’s a trade-off between time and convenience versus Macca expenditure, and the optimal balance shifts as you progress.
With approximately 215 demons available in the game, your Macca should be strategically allocated to streamline progress. In the early game, judicious spending on Compendium summons can accelerate deliberate fusions. Later, focus on creating powerful late-game demons with optimal skills and high stats. However, avoid wasting a substantial portion of your Macca, such as a fifth of your total savings, on acquiring demons within your current level range that will soon be outleveled within a few gameplay sessions.
While the final abscess area offers late-game vending machines, remember that the final Compendium Miracle reduces Compendium costs by 50%. This miracle provides a welcome discount and further enhances the strategic viability of Compendium usage in the very late stages of the game, but smart Macca management throughout your playthrough remains key to efficient demon development in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.
