Demon fusion stats random?

[archenemy]

Hey, maybe I am just not understanding something, but when I want to fuse demons, it does not really matter what stats they have, the end result is always kinda random. By stats I mean Vitality, Luck and so on, and NOT the skills.

I tried the following:
- Fused Demon 1 and Demon 2 together, noted the resulting Demon's stats
- reloaded, fused again (i did not actually fuse, just previewed), stats changed, but overall roughly stayed the same
- reloaded, boosted Demon 2 with all kinds of stat boosts, Demon 3 preview had even different stats and didn't seem to be stronger overall

This suggests me the following:
- using your stat boosts on early demons is a waste, as it does not carry over to fused demons
- by saving/reloading the game before fusing, you can change the stat allocation of the fused demon, they won't get more stats overall but perhaps better distribution

Am I right? Am I missing something obvious?

[Part-Time Prick]

I think it would've been obvious that stat boosters don't carry, but yes. Demons are random, and will always be random. They're frequently changed out as you level up after all until you reach that point where they're not, whether that be because you decided you're dragging it the whole way cause you like them or if they're like level 90 to begin with.

[SadPlatty©]

There is a Miracle that helps with this - but to the other person's point, your initial demons are essentially chaff that help get in the way or chip away at certain things, unless you really want to invest a lot into them.

That isn't to say there isn't value dragging one along - I have solely kept Mermaid around for her passive and the unique ice skill as it does seem effective, and I tossed a Life Drain on her. Leveled her up (using some books, statuses, and fighting) so she is like level 45 right now.

Downsides :
- fusion won't keep all the investment, so some is wasted
- she needs like, 10x the EXP any other demon needs to level (yes, she needs more XP than even me at level 50 to level 1 time)
- without HP/MP buff items, her health would have also still been below 200 (which is really bad imo at this point)

Upsides :
- Her magic skill is pretty high thanks to some RNG on the talks and so her life drain hits for a bunch, so healing her is ez, and her unique skill can easily shred mobs not resistant to it
- looks good? I really can't think of a #2 right now haha

[archenemy]

Thanks! I kinda get how the game works (I played and finished SMT Nocturne), I just wanted to be sure there are no hidden mechanics. Cheers!

[xdkillfor34]

Originally posted by SadPlatty©:

There is a Miracle that helps with this - but to the other person's point, your initial demons are essentially chaff that help get in the way or chip away at certain things, unless you really want to invest a lot into them.

That isn't to say there isn't value dragging one along - I have solely kept Mermaid around for her passive and the unique ice skill as it does seem effective, and I tossed a Life Drain on her. Leveled her up (using some books, statuses, and fighting) so she is like level 45 right now.

Downsides :
- fusion won't keep all the investment, so some is wasted
- she needs like, 10x the EXP any other demon needs to level (yes, she needs more XP than even me at level 50 to level 1 time)
- without HP/MP buff items, her health would have also still been below 200 (which is really bad imo at this point)

Upsides :
- Her magic skill is pretty high thanks to some RNG on the talks and so her life drain hits for a bunch, so healing her is ez, and her unique skill can easily shred mobs not resistant to it
- looks good? I really can't think of a #2 right now haha

To go further, you can use that miracle to get competitive stats for any (?) demon through a fusion loop if i remeber correctly, though it is mostly a late game thing. Useful if you want to make a super pixie, for example. Dragging most demons along won't be a powerful strat for sure, but it matters little if you get attached to one :) A great thing about smt is how viable challenge runs are, if you bother trying them.