Devil of Decline is an incredibly open game in how you can approach it, and, as a result, there's no one solution to any given fight. What works for one player and their party may not work quite as well for another player and their own wildly different party. This guide is meant to provide help and advice if you're struggling, and I've done my best to accommodate a variety of playstyles, but it's not (nor can it be) a be-all end-all. If something's not necessarily working for you, don't be afraid to tweak the idea and experiment. And if all else fails:

Seriously, though. The way the main game is structured means that you can often walk away from a fight and go do something else. Only some bosses truly block progression, and when they do, you may still have optional content left that you can attempt elsewhere instead. Don't be afraid to just walk out.

Fantasy Maidens
Location: Reimu's Fantasy Plains 1 Area 5 (Fujiwara no Mokou & Rumia) | Reimu's Fantasy Plains 3 Area 5, Yukari's Garden of the Sun Area 4 (Utsuho Reiuji & Wriggle Nightbug) | Yukari's Fantasy Plains 2 Area 5 (Yuyuko Saigyouji & Letty Whiterock) | Byakuren's Youkai Mountain Area 5 (Sunny Milk & Rumia) | Byakuren's Fantasy Plains 2 Area 5 (Sanae Kochiya & Minoriko Aki) | Meiling's Bamboo Forest of the Lost 1 Area 5 (Nitori Kawashiro & Wriggle Nightbug) | Meiling's Fantasy Plains 1 Area 5 (Sunny Milk & Letty Whiterock)
As none of these bosses are in the compendium, their stats are as follows:
Note: Divine Shield and Regen have been omitted for space as none of the Fantasy Maidens have any.

A Fantasy Maiden fight serves as the first and third fights of each prologue, and while there is minor variety in the fights, they're largely all the same. As you long as you have each party member (that has one) pop a damaging spell, the fight will end on turn one, especially if you can hit weaknesses. The only exception is if Wriggle manages to status someone before they act, but in that case, as long as everyone else just keeps attacking her, she'll go down without issue.

If you used your spell charges before starting the fight, just return to a healing circle to restore them.

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Bourreau
Location: Reimu's Fantasy Plains 2 Area 5, Yukari's Fantasy Plains 1 Area 5, Byakuren's Fantasy Plains 1 Area 5, Meiling's Bamboo Forest of the Lost 2 Area 5

Bourreau is the second fight of the prologue, and he largely serves as a tutorial for land regen. He attacks primarily with single target Dark attacks, gradually building the gauge to the point where he'll begin to regen HP. Reimu and Yukari don't have to worry about this as they can make short work of him with Light element spells. Meiling doesn't have any access to Light at this point, but she has no shortage of buffs, allowing her to easily make up the difference and then some. Byakuren, however, has this fight the roughest, but it's still manageable. Due to her lack of Light attacks, she can't prevent Bourreau from building Dark land, and her lack of buffs means it's harder to kill him before that becomes annoying. To make matters worse, Byakuren has no access to healing yet either, effectively putting this fight on a soft time limit. If need be, Sunny's Rainbow Light "Prism Flash" can stun Bourreau for a turn and give you some extra time to work with, and if you're really struggling, Yuyuko's Flowery Soul "Ghost Butterfly" can be used to debuff his defense, but that comes at the cost of pushing the land further towards Dark. As long as you don't let up, you should be able to come out on top, though it may be closer than you would like.

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Tenebres
Location: Reimu's Forest of Magic Area 8, Yukari's Forest of Magic Area 8, Byakuren's Forest of Magic Area 8, Meiling's Forest of Magic Area 9

Tenebres serves as the final fight of the prologue and your exam before the game sets you loose. He's largely just a stronger version of Bourreau, so the same strategies apply, though it's important to note that Byakuren now has access to Sanae and her buffs, fixing the big issue she had against Bourreau. As a whole, this fight shouldn't be too bad if you've made it this far, but if you absolutely need to, you can get Minoriko to level 6, at which point she'll learn Star Blaze and turn this fight into a joke.

Defeating Tenebres will immediately end the prologue and make these areas permanently inaccessible, though the enemies and loot can still be found elsewhere if you missed any of them.

Futara Orochi
Location: Waterfall of Nine Heavens Area 6

This boss blocks the route north from Chaos Plains 1 and can serve as your tutorial for telegraphed attacks. It acts twice per turn and will periodically end its turn with Gather Strength (increasing the damage of its next physical attack), then follow up with Venom Zapper on the next turn. Try to avoid using any formations that place too many characters in the same column, and stay on top of healing any Poison that gets inflicted. It's vulnerable against Paralysis as well, so use that if you're having trouble surviving.

If you're lucky enough to get a Zombie Killer to drop from a Zombie or an Atago Gongen, you can use that to learn Wolf Fang, a skill that inflicts Paralysis and Slays Reptiles and Beasts, making this fight trivial.

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Akagi Oomukade
Location: Underground Area 2

If you went south instead of north from Chaos Plains 1, then this fight will likely be your tutorial for telegraphed attacks, though it's in an optional area and can be potentially easily missed in there as well. It acts twice per turn and will periodically end its turn with Focus Mind (increasing the damage of its next magic attack), then follow up with Earthquake on the next turn. Make sure your party's healed up to full - it shouldn't one-shot you as long as you're not undergeared/underleveled - and then heal back up afterwards. If you're playing as Meiling, you can simply negate the damage entirely with Rainbow Sign "Rainbow Wind Chime". If you're playing as Yukari, you can cut the damage by 75% with Yet-Unseen Danmaku Barrier so long as you're lucky enough to have it ready. As long as you focus down its weaknesses with whoever isn't healing, it should go down without too much trouble.

Note: This fight doesn't block access to anything beyond travel out of the Underground without warping via the map, so it can be completely ignored if need be.

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Henyan-jun
Location: 1st Makai 1 Area 5

This will likely be the first story boss you run into in Chapter 2, but it's optional and can be easily missed if you're not fully exploring the areas you visit. He attacks twice per turn and primarily takes advantage of his high PAtk with Heat Hand and Flame Strike. Avoid formations that stick too many party members in one row, and rush him down with Water and Light attacks. He's vulnerable to Freeze as well, so you can also stun him every now and again if you're lucky. Once Letty hits level 10, she'll learn Lingering Cold, a decently powerful omni-target Water spell that can Freeze, making this fight much easier. It's important that you have Letty and Isohime on separate party members so that you can use multiple Water attacks per turn and keep the land from leaning towards Fire. If Fire land is high enough while Henyan-jun is below 50% HP, he'll start using Flame Sign "Crimson Cremation", an incredibly powerful omni-target Fire spell, every other turn, almost certainly ensuring a party wipe.

If you're struggling with this fight, you can always just come back later. It's 100% optional, though clearing it early is recommended in order to recruit Orin for a good source of Fire damage in the earlygame.

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Yuuka
Location: 1st Makai 2 Area 5

Yuuka acts twice per turn, primarily using Pierce and Earth attacks that target rows. Additionally, she can inflict Topple, Shock, Poison, Sleep, and Dull (-Accuracy, Evasion, and Speed), will punish Poisoned and Sleeping party members with Survival of the Fittest, regens HP in Earth land, and gets much more aggressive as her HP drops. Every now and again, she'll end her turn with Gather Strength, then follow up with Flower Sign "Blossoming of Gensokyo" - a powerful omni-target Pierce attack that can lower PAtk - the next turn, and there's nothing stopping her from prepping another Gather Strength on that same turn either. Avoid using formations that put too many party members in the same row, and do everything you can to inflict Silence and keep it inflicted. Silence won't shut down her whole arsenal, but it'll at least stop her strongest attacks (including Blossoming of Gensokyo) and make her waste turns trying to cast them anyways. This early in the game, your options for Silence are Mute (Wriggle lv3), Butterfly Storm (Wriggle lv13), Strange Voice (Mystia lv7), and the Golden Silence (rare drop from Venus Flytraps in the Sea of Trees). Additionally, it would be wise to recruit Lyrica over in 1st Makai 3 to get access to Fazioli Nether Performance, a highly effectively Res buff that targets the whole party, in order to protect against Yuuka's status barrage.

Reasonably, you should wait until you've finished most of the rest of the stratum before you attempt this fight, but if you can manage to keep Silence active, you can absolutely beat her when you first get here, giving you immediate access to one of the best defensive party members and the Second Stratum.

Village of Mirrors & Iron Beetle
Location: Sea of Trees Area 3

This boss blocks passage through the Sea of Trees, keeping you from reaching the First Clock Tower of the End unless you instead go through Futara Oohebi on the other side of the stratum. This is an interesting fight. The Village of Mirrors reflects magic but is weak to all physical elements while the Iron Beetle reflects physical attacks but is weak to most magical elements, thus preventing you from safely using multi-target attacks. Make sure your party is decently balanced between physical and magical attackers before going in. The Iron Beetle primarily use Lance Charge, a wide row Pierce attack, so try to debuff its PAtk and buff your PDef. It'll be difficult to pick out a formation that doesn't get too much of your party hit by it. Meanwhile, the Village of Mirrors primarily uses Energy Riot, an omni-target Mystic attack, which you actually won't have many options for dealing with this early in the game. Instead, take it out quickly by equipping one of your physical attackers with the Crowbar (a strike weapon that Slays Tsukumogami) and Lunasa (for her +15% Slay damage passive) and using Battering Ram (a skill that also Slays Tsukumogami). With the Village of Mirrors out of the picture, it should be easy to keep the party healthy enough to survive while you finish off the Iron Beetle.

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Anshuidi
Location: 1st Makai 3 Area 3

This boss blocks the entrance of the First Clock Tower of the End and nothing else, so if you're struggling, don't be afraid to just come back later, though I recommend doing this fight sooner rather than later to gain access to the synthesis recipes in the tower. Anshuidi acts twice per turn and uses mainly physical Water and Slash attacks, including Cold Hand, which can Freeze. Additionally, he can use Flash to inflict Blind to the whole party, Acid Storm to debuff the PDef of a column, and Healing Water to heal himself. His most dangerous attack - Whirlpool Sign "Whirlhell" - is an omni-target magic Water attack that can inflict Out of Commission and heavily push the land towards Water. If Water land gets too high, he'll start using Whirlhell more often, and he'll also begin to use Freeze Impact, a stronger version of Cold Hand. Make sure you buff your Res (Lyrica's Fazioli Nether Performance is perfect for this, and she's even found in the same zone) to protect against the stuns, debuffs, and statuses; use Orin's and Isohime's Fire attacks to keep Water land from building too high; and keep your PDef high and his PAtk low.

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Zhuli
Location: North of 1st Clock Tower of the End Area 26

TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE IT TO THE END OF THE 3RD STRATUM. Zhuli is a massive difficulty spike from everything else in the 1st Stratum and easily the hardest of the three tower bosses. Her first two turns are semi-set in stone. She'll use Focus Mind as her second action on turn 1 and Calamity "Bloodspray Dance", a powerful magic omni-target Water attack that can inflict Death, as her first action on turn 2. If you can survive these opening turns, you should have a chance of beating her. For the rest of the fight, she acts twice per turn and will attack mostly with Hard Hit, Vampirize, Cold Hand, Cold View, and Polar Blast. Additionally, she can use Hypnosis to inflict Sleep on a column, Vortex to attempt to clear all Varieties on both sides of the field, and Animate to inflict KO'd party members with Zombie. At any point, she can end her turn with Focus Mind again, and it'll always be followed up with Calamity "Bloodspray Dance" next turn. If you've beaten another tower boss by this point, use Water Barrier (Buruburu lv1) every turn to negate all Water damage, giving you a much better chance of bringing down her 7777 HP safely. If this is your first tower boss (and you're determined to not turn around), boost the Water resist of your party members as high as you can manage it and dedicate a party member or two to constant healing duty. Keep your PAtk, MAtk, and Res buffed, but be ready to reapply it whenever Vortex happens. If you've found Murasa and leveled her to at least level 21, you can use Damage Net for passive damage to speed things along. If you've reached the end of the 3rd Clock Tower of the End, you can synthesize the Legendary Fianna Spear and use it to keep her from healing off of Vampirize and high Water land. Above all else though, even though she's not weak to it, use as many Fire attacks as you can to keep her from building up Water land too much.

Genuinely, do not be afraid to come back later. While beating any tower boss will unlock shikigami recruitment, it's not worth trying to beat her early as there's a much easier tower boss you'll have access to almost immediately after stepping foot in the 2nd Stratum that you can fight instead.

Land-Model Terminator
Location: Muenzuka Area 8

If you've played pretty much any other Strawberry Bose game before, seeing this thing probably almost gave you a heart attack. Thankfully, it's just a Terminator in name and base design only. It does NOT have an omni-target default attack that Slays literally everything. Instead, it just sticks to a decently powerful single-target Stab attack, but it counters any and all physical attacks with Main Cannon - a powerful Large Area physical attack - as a free action. Make sure you bring some magic Thunder attacks and have anyone without magic focus on buffs, debuffs, and healing.

Note: This fight doesn't block off anything other than travel out of Muenzuka without warping via the map, so you can 100% ignore it if you need to.

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De Mort Roi
Location: 2nd Makai 2 Area 3

De Mort Roi guards the entrance to the Second Clock Tower of the End, so you absolutely don't need to fight him this early, but surprisingly, the tower's right next to the staircase from the 1st Stratum, and extra surprisingly, you can absolutely take him on at this point so long as you've gathered a decent amount of Light skills.

De Mort Roi acts twice per turn and attacks with mostly single target Dark and Slash attacks, though he also has Dark Zapper and Shadow Burst. Additionally, he can use Death, Power Decrease (specifically targeting VIT), and Control Land (Dark). Control Land in particular is also guaranteed to be used as both actions on turn 2. If the land is tilted far enough towards Dark while De Mort Roi is below 2/3rds HP, he'll begin using Fist Sign "L'Enfer Uppercut", an incredibly powerful single target Slash attack. He's notable vulnerable to Poison, Curse, and Blind, though he'll always cure the latter next turn with Clearance. If you Curse him (accomplished via Curse [Lunasa lv18]), he can easily wipe himself out with Curse damage, especially if he uses L'Enfer Uppercut. If you Blind him on turn 1, he'll use Clearance on turn 2, overriding the Control Land he's supposed to use then and making countering the land buildup easier. Make sure to buff your Res, VIT, and PDef, and try to keep Dark land as low as possible.

At the point when this fight first becomes available, you'll have access to Star Blaze (Minoriko lv6, Ran lv1), Star Shining (Ran lv1), Starlight Whip (Ran lv13), Six Elements Sign "Philosopher's Stone" (Patchouli spell), Spirit Sign "Dream Seal" (Reimu spell, Reimu's route only), and Star Hand (Tewi lv8, Meiling's route only). If you grab the Hookshot from Muenzuka, you can also gain access to Starlight Web (Star lv19) and potentially even Shooting Sapphire (Star lv23) if you're willing to spend a little time grinding up a new shikigami. If you wait until the you reach the end of the stratum, you can find the Staff of Joy in a chest if you enter Muenzuka from 2nd Makai 4. With even half of these damage sources, you should be able to easily win this fight.

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Chloe
Location: North of Second Clock Tower of the End Area 25

By far the easiest of the tower bosses. If you were able to defeat De Mort Roi, even if you only just entered the 2nd Stratum, you can still rather easily beat Chloe. She acts twice per turn and attacks with Ribbon Slice, Shinigami's Scythe, Magic Missile, Rainbow Ray, Magic Storm, Blizzard, and Lightning. Additionally, she has access to Sleep (single target Sleep skill) and Malediction (omni-target Curse skill), and she'll target any statused party members with Survival of the Fittest. She can also end her turns with Gather Strength, and she'll follow up with Great Conquest "Ruinous Hunter" - a low accuracy column-targeting Slash attack that can inflict Death - on the next turn. As long as you buff your Res and Evasion (or debuff her Accuracy) and spam Light attacks, she should go down without a problem. Star's Shooting Sapphire will especially make very quick work of her.

If she was the first tower boss you've beaten (and there's not much reason why she shouldn't be), Satori will join your party as a shikigami, you'll gain the ability to recruit specific enemies as shikigami, and Interstice Boundary 1 will become available, which will let you convert inactive party members into shikigami if you can reach the end of it. You should absolutely do this fight as soon as you can manage it.

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Grim Reaper
Location: Netherworld Area 2

The Grim Reaper acts twice per turn and will alternate between Danse Macabre - a powerful row-targeting Slash attack - on odd numbered turns and buffs (typically Haste or Weapon Bless) or weaker attacks on even numbered turns. Try to avoid formations with too much of your party in the same row, and make sure to debuff its accuracy and/or DEX to keep it from being able to hit you. Beyond that, as long as you have a decent supply of Light attacks, this fight shouldn't be too much trouble.

Note: While the Grim Reaper is recruitable with a rank of SS, it won't join your party after the initial battle, even if you've unlocked the ability to recruit enemies. Instead, it'll appear in the southern part of Hakurei Shrine Area 0 for a rematch after defeating Chloe Griper in the Castle of Chaos Clock Tower of the End.

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Angel Force #1, Angel Force #2, & Angel Force #3
Location: Heaven Area 4

This is a bit of a puzzle boss. #1 uses exclusively Light magic but is vulnerable to Silence. #2 uses exclusively Slash and Light physical attacks (including Holy Cross, which can be extra dangerous if you have any Undead or Youkai party members) but is vulnerable to Blind. #3 almost exclusively uses buffs, debuffs, and Control Land (Light) but is vulnerable to Paralysis. However, #3 will also use Hyper Elixir to revive its allies and fully heal them and itself (including curing Permanents) if it's not dealt with first. Start by inflicting the Angel Force with their respective statuses, then use Dark attacks to take them out, focusing down #3 first. If the statuses wear off before the end of the fight, either quickly reapply them or rush down the remaining Angel Force if you think you can.

Note: This fight doesn't block off anything other than travel out of Heaven without warping via the map, so you can 100% ignore it if you need to.

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Hippotite Worm
Location: Garden of the Sun Area 6

The Hippotite Worm acts twice per turn and will almost only ever attack with its default attack, which can inflict Petrify. However, much of its time will instead be spent using Stone Pack (single target Petrify), Scent (omni-target Sleep), Decrease (omni-target variable debuff, almost always VIT or POT), and Counter Force (omni-targer Res debuff). Additionally, it'll target any statused party members with Survival of the Fittest. Equip some Petrify resist if you have it, then buff your Res and rush down its weaknesses to quickly take it out.

Eiki
Location: 2nd Makai 4 Area 3

Eiki blocks passage to the 3rd Stratum and is a notably difficult fight. She acts twice per turn and attacks with Fire Arrow, Fireball, Eruption, Detonate, Ice Chill, Blizzard, Plasma Hole, Lightning, Thunder Pierce, Thunderclap, Earth Javelin, Canyon Clap, Lethal Poison, Daemon Shock, Shadow Burst, Dark Web, Star Blaze, Star Shining, Starlight Whip, and Starlight Web, though her stronger attacks will only come out if the land gauges shift too far in one direction. Additionally, she'll use Silence (single target Silence), Radiation Mist (column-target MAtk debuff), Dispel (single target Variety dispel, almost exclusively on herself), and Animate (single target Zombie on KO'd party members). Buff your Res and PAtk/MAtk - don't worry too much about debuffing her as she'll just dispel it - and either focus on using elements you can better protect yourself against or attempt to keep the land gauges balanced. Additionally, Eiki is classified as an Angel, so Daemonbane is a helpful skill to use if you managed to get a Zombie Killer or Tethra's Magic Blade to drop earlier. She's also vulnerable to Poison, which can be a great way to add on extra damage.

Once she drops below 750 HP, her attack pattern changes entirely. She'll only act once per turn at this point, and she'll alternate between Full Charge and Last Judgement - a magic omni-target typeless attack that deals 666 fixed damage. Thankfully, she's vulnerable to stun effects, so either Stun her or negate/reduce the damage in some way, and finish the fight as quickly as you can.

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Gloire
Location: Youkai Mountain Area 9

Gloire acts twice per turn and attacks with Stun Blow, Hell's Crush, Star Hand, and Starlight Whip. Additionally, he has access to Mute (column-target Silence), Pitch Black (column-target Blind), Stone Pack (single target Petrify), and Animate (single target Zombie on KO'd party members). Every now and again, he'll end his turn with Gather Strength, then follow up on the next turn with Judgement Sign "Colere Dieu", an omni-target Light spell that also dispels Varieties. First and foremost, you should keep the land from drifting too far towards Light, but also, Dark can't be your main source of damage as he heavily resists it. If you've beaten a tower boss by this point, you can get around that by using Control Land (Fairy Maid lv1) a couple times at the start and then whenever necessary to shift the land more towards Dark. Additionally, his omni-target dispel means it's better to debuff him than to buff yourself, though I still recommend at least buffing your Res to protect against the numerous status effects he has access to. His lack of weakness would normally mean this could be a long fight, but at the very least, he's vulnerable to Curse, which could be a great source of extra damage if you're willing to play more risky.

This fight is completely optional and doesn't block any progress anywhere, but beating him does cause Murasa to join you as a shikigami. Murasa has access to many highly useful field effects, including the valuable Yukkuri-hunting skill Damage Net, which she's the ONLY source of before the back half of the main story's final dungeon.

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Froberge Diablo
Location: Remains of Blazing Hell Area 3

Whether or not you find Froberge Diablo difficult depends ENTIRELY on if you've cleared a tower or not by this point. It acts twice per turn, attacks exclusively with Fire attacks, and will often use Control Land (Fire). If Fire land gets too high, it'll begin to exclusively alternate between Focus Mind and Phoenix, almost certainly causing a party wipe. If you've cleared a tower by this point, just use Fire Barrier (Burabura lv1) every turn. You've now won as long as you don't run out of MP. If you haven't cleared any towers by this point, you'll need to instead protect against Fire the best you can and try to use exclusively Water attacks to keep the land in check. At this point, you should have access to Ice Chill (Isohime lv1, Letty lv1), Blizzard (Letty lv4), Lingering Cold (Letty lv10), Cold View (Letty lv16), Icicle Pilum (Annwn, synthesis), the Annwn itself, Glacial Crush (Club of Ice, synthesis), the Club of Ice itself, and Six Elements Sign "Philosopher's Stone" (Patchouli spell). Additionally, one of your casters should equip the Freezing Staff (Sea of Trees chest) to increase the strength of their Water attacks. If you have them, the formations Phoenix Wing and Great Tidal Wave can be great for either reducing incoming Fire damage or increasing your Water damage.

Note: This fight doesn't block off anything other than travel out of the Remains of Blazing Hell without warping via the map, so you can 100% ignore it if you need to.

Note: From this point forwards, this guide will assume you've defeated Chloe. If you haven't and don't plan on doing so yet, simply ignore any recommendations involving Satori, the Kedama, any recruited enemies, main party members converted into Shikigami, or any gear found in the first two Interstice Boundaries, though keep in mind that you will naturally struggle more with the difficult fights of this stratum if you don't.

Gakkou Kunin
Location: Forest of Magic Area 4

Gakkou Kunin acts twice per turn and initially attacks with primarily Mystic spells (both single and omni-target), but she'll lean more towards other elements if the land tilts in their direction. Additionally, she'll instantly counter any magic attacks with Magic Storm, and she'll quickly cure any Permanents with Clearance. Debuffs will not be countered, however, so debuff her MAtk, then buff your PAtk and Accuracy and rush her down with physical attacks.

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Osukuni no Ikusakami
Location: Misty Lake Area 5

Osukuni no Ikusakami is the exact opposite of Gakkou Kunin (though he doesn't have a magic weakness, unfortunately). He acts twice per turn and attacks with Meteor Shower, Shadow Blade, and Holy Cross. Additionally, he'll instantly counter any physical attacks with Gale Sword, and he can buff his physical stats with Heat Weapon and Earth Wall. Debuff his PAtk and Accuracy, then buff your MAtk and whittle him down with magic.

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Haniyasu Daisoi
Location: 3rd Makai 3 Area 3

Haniyasu Daisoi acts twice per turn and attacks with Stun Blow, Gramary Buster, Earth Javelin, and Toxic Cloud. Additionally, he can buff himself with Heat Weapon, Armor Bless, Earth Wall, and Spell Enhance; use Control Land (Earth); and set the Regeneration field. If the land tilts far enough towards Earth, he'll begin using Rend Sign "Raging Tremor Strike" - an incredibly powerful single target multi-hit Strike attack - without warning you with anything like Gather Strength beforehand. To have even a chance of winning, you'll need to buff yourself (especially your Res), either debuff him or dispel his buffs, be prepared to overwrite Regeneration with a different field, and use primarily Thunder attacks to keep the land in check. In particular, Magic Barrier (omni-target MDef buff, Manuscript lv1) United Mining Village (omni-target PDef+MDef buff, Mining Village lv30), Anti-Magic Shell (omni-target +3 resist to chosen element, Isohime lv32), Osendaku (field that can not be overwritten, Oshira-sama lv1), Psychic Field (field that increases Slash/Stab/Strike resist, Shinzo lv1), Dispel (single target Variety dispel, Star lv1, Shinzo lv1), and Control Land (boost the land gauge in any direction, Fairy Maid lv1) are all very helpful options to have for this fight.

This is by far the toughest of the elemental demons, so don't be afraid to skip him and come back later. Beating him allows you to recruit Suwako as a shikigami, and while she's rather powerful, you should have enough options by this point that you can do without her for the time being if need be.

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Fujitaka Yoshino
Location: Hill of the Nameless Area 5

A nice change of pace from that last fight. Fujitaka Yoshino acts twice per turn and attacks with Twin Venom Fangs, and Fatal Poison Claws. Additionally, she will almost always set Poison Hazard (field that boosts Poison damage) if it's not active, and she can also use Toxic Cloud (omni-target Poison), Counter Force (omni-target Resistance debuff), Thorn Bind (omni-target Accuracy, Evasion, and speed debuff), Decrease (omni-target stat debuff, almost always picks POT), and Hyper Decrease (stronger omni-target stat debuff, almost always picks POT). Her attacks aren't actually all that strong, so all the Poison is the real threat here. Thankfully, she's not immune to it herself. Keep your Resistance buffed, debuff her Evasion/buff your Accuracy, and do what you can to inflict Poison, then watch the magic of Poison Hazard happen.

Note 1: This fight doesn't block off anything other than travel out of the Hill of the Nameless without warping via the map, so you can 100% ignore it if you need to.
Note 2: While Fujitaka Yoshino is recruitable with a rank of SS, she won't join your party after the initial battle, even if you've unlocked the ability to recruit enemies. Instead, she'll appear in the southern part of Hakurei Shrine Area 0 for a rematch after defeating Shijuukara Otoha in the Castle of Chaos Clock Tower of the End.

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Dongyue Dadi
Location: Sanzu River Area 5

This is a hilarious puzzle boss. Dongyue Dadi acts twice per turn and attacks with powerful single target physical and magic attacks. Additionally, it may end its turn with Focus Mind, then follow up with Judgement of the Ten Kings - a single target attack that deals 6666 fixed typeless damage - on the next turn (and it may even do it for both actions, but not always). Option 1 would be to find a way to survive the damage from Judgement of the Ten Kings, whether it's by nullification, an endure effect, or just constantly reviving party members. However, Dongyue Dadi's high HP and lack of weaknesses means you would need to do this for a prolonged fight. Option 2 is much easier. Dongyue Dadi is vulnerable to Curse, meaning that you can simply inflict it and watch him quickly annihilate himself with his own absurdly powerful attacks.

Kakuyoku Daibu
Location: 3rd Makai 4 Area 4

Kakuyoku Daibu blocks the entrance to the Third Clock Tower of the End. He acts twice per turn and attacks with Vacuum Slice, Plasma Hole, Thunder Pierce, and a normal attack that can inflict Blind. Additionally, he can use Flash (omni-target Blind), and he doesn't give any warning before using his spell, Electric Sign "Thundershock Blast", which is a wide row targeting Thunder attack that can inflict Shock. Make sure to avoid formations that keep too many party members in a single row, and equip as much Thunder resist as you can. During the fight, just make sure to buff your Resistance, and focus on using magic Earth attacks. Moriya's Iron Ring (Suwako lv1) is a phenomenal choice for this fight if you managed to beat Haniyasu Daisoi.

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Shou & Nazrin
Location: 3rd Clock Tower of the End Area 12 (when entered from Area 18)

Shou attacks with Wild Thrust, Vital Variety Stab, Starlight Whip, and Starlight Web while Nazrin attacks with Magic Missile and Magic Storm. Additionally, Shou can use 1 Million Volts (single target drop to 1HP), and Nazrin can use Heat Weapon, Active Mind, Earth Wall, and Pendulum Guard (single target 95% damage reduction). Notably, this version of Pendulum Guard is stronger than the version she can use as a shikigami. As long as you dispel Nazrin's buffs, you can quickly focus down Shou, and then Nazrin will barely be able to fight back.

This fight is completely optional (and easily missed if you don't ever enter this room from the back), but clearing it will allow you to recruit both Shou and Nazrin as shikigami.

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Otoha
Location: North of 3rd Clock Tower of the End Area 25

Otoha acts twice per turn and attacks with Wild Thrust, Thunder Hand, Plasma Hole, Tornado, and Power Suction. Additionally, she can use Silence (single target Silence), Gutless (single target All debuff), and Jammer (field that grants +2 resist to chosen element, always chooses Earth). She immediately counters any magic Earth attacks with Thousand Needles (fixed 1000 Stab damage), though physical Earth attacks seem to be fine, and if she ends her turn with Gather Strength, she'll follow up next turn with Supersonic "Nightmare Wings", an omni-target Thunder attack that can inflict Shock. On top of everything, she's fast enough to outspeed nearly anyone at this point in the game and is decently evasive too. Make sure you're well protected against Thunder attacks; the Youkai Power Plant formation is a great choice if you have it. It'll be difficult to prevent Thunder land from building up too much without Earth magic, but Control Land (Fairy Maid lv1) can help supplement the physical Earth attacks you have. Make sure to buff your Accuracy and PAtk immediately, and then either buff your AGI or use Lightning Speed (Sylph lv1) to set a field that guarantees your whole party gets to act first. It's still helpful to buff Resistance, but it's not quite as necessary if you can manage to outspeed her and not have to worry about Shock. Make sure you debuff her Evasion if you can, and then rush her down with physical attacks. If you need a bit more DPS (especially if Thunder land climbs too high), she's also vulnerable to Poison.

Kogasa
Location: Chaos Plains 3 Area 5 (when entered from Area 3 after beating all 3 tower bosses)

Lol. Lmao, even.

Welcome to the party, Kogasa.

Note: This fight doesn't block access to anything, so you can 100% ignore it if you feel bad.

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Suika & Yuugi (Shikigami)
Location: 3rd Makai 2 Area 4 (after beating all 3 tower bosses)

Suika attacks with Grand Buster, Missile, and Hellfire, and Yuugi attacks with Stun Blow, Temple Crush, and Bone Crush. Additionally, Suika can use Radiation Mist (column target MAtk debuff) and Missing Purple Power (x2 PAtk buff), and Yuugi can use Weapon Bless. If Yuugi ends her turn with Gather Strength, she'll follow up with Headfirst Charge next turn. Try to avoid any formations that position your party members too close together. Debuff their PAtk and Accuracy, and buff PDef and Evasion, along with whichever attacking stats you use, then focus down Suika first as her attacks are exclusively multi-targets. If you're struggling to take them out, you can enter the Castle of Chaos and get the recipe and materials for the Hrunting, a sword that Slays Giants, right in the first room.

This fight is optional for now, but they do block access to the postgame areas if you haven't beaten them by the end of the main story. Additionally, beating them will allow you to recruit Suika as a party member and Yuugi as a shikigami, but more importantly, it also gives you the first of two free Shikigami Tickets. The Shikigami Ticket can be used at Hakurei Shrine Area 0 to fight any recruitable enemy you've registered in the compendium (except Grim Reaper, Fujitaka Yoshino Uzubogikhi, or Ergon Wing), and the ticket will only actually be consumed if you recruit that enemy or fight an enemy you've already recruited. Take advantage of this fact.

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Zarik & Taurvi
Location: Castle of Chaos Lower Area 6

Zarik attacks with high level Fire and Dark magic while Taurvi attacks with high level Earth and Dark magic, and both can use Control Land for any of their respective elements. Zarik's Fire attacks can be completely shut down with Fire Barrier (Burabura lv1) every turn, and Dark attacks can be severely weakened by using Control Land (Fairy Maid lv1) and/or Absolute Justice (Shou lv1). Thus, with the only remaining threatening attacks being of one element, you can easily just equip Earth resist gear and use the Sunflower formation (if you have it) to protect yourself. From there, just buff your attacking stats and focus down Taurvi. Thunder attacks are helpful for keeping the land in check, but they're not necessary if you don't have a lot in your current build, especially if you have Control Land. Once Taurvi goes down, Zarik can only flail helplessly while you finish the job. If you need extra DPS, both are vulnerable to Poison, and the Muramasa (rare drop from Salajins and Wraiths) can do hefty damage when paired with Daemonbane (which you can also now learn from synthesizing the Hauteclere, Fragarach, or Hrunting).

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Tenshi
Location: Castle of Chaos Middle Area 22

Tenshi acts twice per turn and attacks with Hard Hit, Deplorable Hit (despite using Slash damage), Land Impact, Earth Javelin, Canyon Clap, Supergravity, and Stone Shower. Additionally, she can use Weapon Bless (single target PAtk buff), Armor Bless (single target MAtk buff), Concrete (omni-target Petrify), and Ectoplasm Net (area target Death), and she'll instantly counter any Thunder attacks with Jammer (field that gives +2 resist to chosen element, will always pick Thunder). Make sure to re-equip your Earth resist gear and use the Sunflower formation if you have it. Dispel her buffs whenever she uses them, and make sure to buff your Resistance, PDef, and attacking stats. She's vulnerable to both Poison and Curse, and which one you inflict largely depends on how risky you feel like playing this fight. Most importantly, though, Osendaku (Oshira-sama lv1) is your best friend in this fight. Osendaku can't be overwritten by any other field, meaning you're free to overwhelm Tenshi with Thunder attacks, and she won't be able to set Jammer to stop you.

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Chloe Griper
Location: Castle of Chaos Middle Area 24
As this boss isn't in the compendium, her stats are as follows:
Note: Divine Shield, Regen, and Land Regen have been omitted for space as she doesn't have any.

While you're supposed to lose this fight, it is technically winnable, but give you anything beyond bragging rights. Compared to her rematch later on, all of her base stats here have been increased by a flat 100, and her PAtk, PDef, MAtk, and Resistance have all seen hefty boosts as well, putting them all on par with the semi-unsealed version of the postgame final boss (and some of them are notably better, even). The best I can recommend would be to follow the strategies for the rematch (though her skills are supposedly slightly different), but you would need to grind HEAVILY, and you don't even have access to Yukkuri Kings yet.

Eirin & Kaguya
Location: Between Castle of Chaos Upper Area 11 and Area 12

Eirin attacks with Wild Shot, Spider Net, Blade Net, and Starlight Arrow, and Kaguya attacks with Detonate, Eruption, Cold View, Polar Blast, Thunder Pierce, Thunderclap, Toxic Cloud, Lethal Poison, Starlight Whip, Starlight Web, Dark Lure, and Dark Web, with her choosing her skills based on the current land power. If land power gets too high for an element, she'll start using Disintegrate, Absolute Zero and Diamond Dust, Mega Stroke, Supergravity and Stone Shower, Divine Gate, or Abyss, depending on the element in question. Additionally, Eirin can use Insanity (single target Berserk), Water Pulse (large area target heal), Vortex (world target Variety dispel), and Jackpot (field that increases the number of hits for multi hits), and she'll target any statused party members with Survival of the Fittest. Kaguya, meanwhile, only has Charm (single target Charm) for standard status moves. If Kaguya is defeated first, Eirin will use every action going forward to revive her at about half HP with Resurrection. If Eirin is defeated first, Kaguya will sometimes (but not always) attempt to revive her at full HP with Elixir. Buffs and debuffs will be tricky (and potentially expensive) to maintain with Vortex, but at the very least, keep your Resistance buffed at all costs. If Eirin's multi-hits are giving you trouble, have a field of your own ready to replace it, but if you're fine with them, you could instead take advantage of it to buff your own multi-hits, especially if you equip the Platinum Crusader shikigami to buff them even further. Do your best to keep the land gauges balanced to keep Kaguya from using her more dangerous skills - Control Land (Fairy Maid lv1) is great for this - and focus her down as she's the real threat, though try not to neglect damage on Eirin. For good damage, you could use Tyrant Flash (learn from Konrad Sword, chest in 2nd Makai 1) and pair it with the Muramasa if you have it, though it may be wise to synthesize a better weapon at this point. Additionally, if you're willing to part with one of the 2 Orichalcum available at this point, you can make the Mistilteinn, a powerful staff that completely ignores resistances.

Once Kaguya is defeated, immediately cast Colosseo (Murasa lv1, Oshira-sama lv20) before Eirin can act again to prevent her from being able to revive Kaguya, then finish her off before the field wears off while she keeps uselessly trying to cast Resurrection. You can equip Decarabia to increase the duration of Colosseo, but otherwise, if it runs out, you'll need to replace it before Eirin can act again. If you're not confident you can outspeed her, make sure to use First Strike (Aya lv12) or debuff her AGI.

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Xia Zhuli
Location: North of CoC Clock Tower of the End Area 21

Xia Zhuli acts twice per turn and attacks with Vampirize, Hell's Crush, Absolute Zero, Freeze Impact, and Diamond Dust. Additionally, she can use Insanity (single target Berserk), Animate (single target Zombie on KO'd party member), and Vortex (world target Variety dispel). If she ends her turn with Focus Mind, she'll follow up next turn with Calamity "Bloodspray Dance", but if she's below half HP, she may instead use Cataclysm "Descent into the Maelstrom", an even stronger version of Bloodspray Dance. Her first two turns will also be identical to how they were in the initial fight, with Focus Mind on turn 1 and Bloodspray Dance on turn 2. As a whole, you can use the exact same strategies you used to beat her initially; just be mindful of the fact that she's swapped Hypnosis out for Insanity.

Defeating her is optional, but doing so unlocks one of the seals to weaken Angra Menog.

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Chloe Griper
Location: North of CoC Clock Tower of the End Area 27

Time for your revenge! Chloe Griper acts twice per turn and attacks with Shinigami's Scythe, Full Moon Revenge, Rainbow Ray, Cosmic Liner, and Dark Lure. Additionally, she can Stone Pack (single target Petrify), Malediction (omni-target Curse), Earth Wall (omni-target PDef buff), Active Mind (omni-target MAtk buff), Spell Enhance (single target MAtk buff), and Vortex (world target Variety dispel), and she'll target statused party members with Survival of the Fittest. If she ends her turn with Gather Strength, she'll follow up next turn with Great Conquest "Ruinous Hunter", but if she's below half HP, she may instead use Soul Hunter "Hearse Anima", a stronger version of Ruinous Hunter that swaps out the Death chance for lifesteal. As a whole, you can use largely the same strategies as the first fight, but be mindful of the fact that she has access to buffs now. Dispel those whenever possible, and absolutely make sure your own Resistance is buffed. If her magic attacks are giving you too much trouble, Magic Barrier (Manuscript lv1), Aquarius Age (Undyne lv40), and United Mining Village (Mining Village lv30) are incredibly helpful, or you could equip Mystic resist gear.

Defeating her is optional, but doing so unlocks one of the seals to weaken Angra Menog (and feels extra satisfying).

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Shijuukara Otoha
Location: North of CoC Clock Tower of the End Area 14

Shijuukara Otoha acts twice per turn and attacks with Wild Thrust, Thunder Hand, Mega Stroke, Tornado, and Power Suction. Additionally, she can use Silence (single target Silence), Gutless (single target All debuff), Remove Field (removes current field, including Osendaku), and Vortex (world target Variety dispel), and she'll still counter Earth magic with Thousand Needles, but now she'll also follow it up with Jammer (field that gives +2 resist to chosen element, always picks Earth) on the next turn. If she ends her turn with Gather Strength, she'll follow it up it next turn with Supersonic "Nightmare Wings", but if she's below half HP, she may instead use Lightspeed "Luxon Edge", an incredibly powerful physical Thunder row attack with an incredibly fast cast speed. As a whole, you can largely use the same strategies as the first fight, but be mindful of the fact that she can remove fields now.

Defeating her is optional, but doing so unlocks one of the seals to weaken Angra Menog.

Note: If you've opened every chest up to this point, you should have 5 Orichalcum and 5 Adamantite. If you take the effort to obtain 120 of the 128 shikigami available at this point, you can get a 6th Adamantite. If you take the time to grind to 5000 enemies defeated, you can get a 6th Orichalcum. Spend these wisely on the equipment that will best suit your build.

Angra
Location: North of Castle of Chaos Upper Area 15
As the unsealed variants aren't in the compendium, their stats are as follows:
Note: Divine Shield, Regen, and Land Regen are omitted for space as Angra has none.

Angra acts twice per turn and attacks with Razor Wind, Lick, Soldering Iron, Vacuum Wave, Phoenix, Diamond Dust, Roaring Thunder, and Stone Shower. Additionally, she'll typically use Moonlight Mirror (party reflects magic for the rest of the turn) as her first action of the turn. If she ends her turn with Gather Strength, she'll follow up with Cruel Devil "Great Damavand Eruption", a series of 5 magic Mystic attacks on random targets. Notably, she'll never use Moonlight Mirror on the same turn she does this as it takes up her first action, so use this as your chance to exploit her weaknesses. She's immune to Permanents and stun effects, incredibly resistant to Quick debuffs, and resistant to Resistance debuffs, but she's otherwise notably vulnerable to other stat debuffs. She doesn't have access to Vortex, so take this first phase as your chance to set up your buffs: be sure to buff your attacking stats, PDef, Res, and MDef (if you're running Manuscript, Undyne, or Mining Village on anyone). For dealing damage in phase 1, attribute weapons and physical skills with extra elements are a great way of adding on extra damage. Only use magic if you're 100% able to outspeed her or if she's about to use Great Damavand Eruption; however, Reimu's Spirit Sign "Dream Seal" and Patchouli's Six Elements Sign "Philosopher's Stone" (as of the current 1.0 unpatched version, even though it doesn't say it) both ignore magic reflects, allowing you to use them unimpeded.

You should be able to bring her health down rather quickly, and when you do...

Angra Menog
As the unsealed variants aren't in the compendium, their stats are as follows:
Note: Divine Shield, Regen, and Land Regen are omitted for space as Angra Menog has none.


Additionally, Angra Menog can summon the following adds to replace her hands after they're defeated:

If Zhuli's seal is inactive, the Right Hand of the Depths is replaced with the Right Hand of Zhuli:

If Chloe's seal is inactive, the Right Hand of Darkness is replaced with the Right Hand of Chloe:

If Otoha's seal is inactive, the Right Hand of the Azure Sky is replaced with the Right Hand of Otoha:

After the phase transition, the rest of the turn plays out with all remaining attacks directed towards the main body, and Angra loses any remaining actions. If you can time it right, you can prep an AoE to deal good immediate damage to the hands as well.

Angra Menog attacks with Razor Wind, Lick, Molar Bite, Vacuum Wave, Rainbow Ray, Cosmic Liner, Energy Riot, and Destruction Nova. Additionally, she can use Gaze (single target Petrify), Roar (omni-target Death), and Evil Sign "Devil's Blessing" (fully heal any living hands). If a hand is defeated, she can replace it with Black Sign "Dark Elixir", and if both hands are defeated, she'll revive them both with Evil Sign "Devil's Rebirth" after a couple turns. If at least one hand is still alive, she can end her turn with Focus Mind, then follow up next turn with Darkness "Black Saoshyant", an omni-target 666 fixed typeless damage attack. If only one hand is alive, the damage is reduced to 333, and if both hands are defeated before the attack is used, the damage is reduced further to 111. Notably, the Aegis shield (synthesized with an Orichalcum and an Adamantite) can protect against typeless damage. If no hands are alive, she can instead end her turn with Full Charge, then follow up with Devil Lord "Vendidad Vinaya", an omni-target attack that deals 1000 fixed Mystic damage spread evenly across all party members (though the damage seems to be doubled when Angra is fully unsealed).

All Right Hands can use Black Sign "Dark Elixir", and all Left Hands can use Super Healing and Moonlight Mirror. Additionally, they can individually use:

• Left Hand of the Devil - Power Decrease
  
• Left Hand of Crimson - Heat Hand, Eruption, Control Land (Fire), Flame Sign "Crimson Cremation"
  
• Left Hand of the Crust - Poison Hand, Lethal Poison, Earth Wall, Rend Sign "Raging Tremor Strike"
  
• Left Hand of Supremacy - Star Hand, Judgement Sign "Colere Dieu"
  
• Right Hand of the Devil - Stun Blow, Full-Strength Smash, Temple Crush, Hard Hit
  
• Right Hand of the Depths - Vampirize, Cold Hand, Cold View, Acid Storm, Whirlpool Sign "Whirlhell"
  
• Right Hand of the Azure Sky - Spider Net, Thunder Hand, Thunder Pierce, Electric Sign "Thundershock Blast"
  
• Right Hand of Darkness - Dark Hand, Drain Touch, Dark Lure, Death, Fist Sign "L'Enfer Uppercut"
  
• Right Hand of Zhuli - Absolute Zero, Calamity "Bloodspray Dance"
  
• Right Hand of Chloe - Dark Hand, Dark Zapper, Abyss, Death, Great Conquest "Ruinous Hunter"
  
• Right Hand of Otoha - Thunder Hand, Inazuma Slash, Mega Stroke, Mad Thunder, Supersonic "Nightmare Wings"

Immediately, take out the hands with physical AoEs (both to avoid Moonlight Mirror and to take advantage of their 0 PDef). Anything that hits a row is perfect for this, but large area attacks can do in a pinch if you target the main body. If you have Reimu and/or Patchouli (assuming this isn't changed in a later patch) in your party, they can help with their reflect-ignoring spell cards. Once the hands are down, your mages can open fire on the main body while your physical attackers conserve their MP for when the hands return. If you ever see her use Full Charge, make sure as many party members as possible are alive to better spread out the damage of Vendidad Vinaya. As long as you're able to keep up the rhythm of taking out the hands as soon as they appear, and you're well protected against Mystic damage, Angra Menog should eventually fall.

However! Make absolutely certain that no hands are alive when the main body is defeated. They can and will fully revive her with Black Sign "Dark Elixir". If any hands are still alive, do whatever you can to quickly take them out before they can act again. If you manage this, then congratulations! You've defeated the Devil of Decline herself and resolved the incident!

Fun fact, by the way! Because Angra's unsealed variants aren't in the compendium, you won't register either of her forms unless you beat her while fully sealed. Thankfully, you can rematch her at any time, so this isn't a problem, but it is really funny. This also means that you can't check her stats during rematches whenever any of the seals are inactive.