Dragon Quest IX

[arus2001]

I'm just messing around Bowhole (so hard not to call it Blowhole) killing Liquid Metal Slimes to farm up skill points across various classes (2 groups at 40-41, third at 30ish now). I've probably been over about 75% of the map at this point, and while there's stuff to gather here and there, it's never really plentiful enough to heavily invest into Alchemy since you need to wait for the things to respawn (whatever actual conditions those may be). On top of that, some recipes do ask for things like mob drops that you might not otherwise have access to a gather point. In general, store-bought gear should hold you over for the plot, doubly so with some over-leveling.

If you're interested in making a bit of cash, you can exploit Alchemy some. If you have around 93k, you can buy 99 Fur Hoods from Slurry Guay, 99 Rabbit Tails from Port, and 99 Lambswool from Bes-whatever (plains village). Convert them into 99 Ear Cosy helmets and you can sell them all back for about 23k profit. It's a bit tedious, but I'd also say it's faster than actually killing mobs when you can first start doing it after getting the ship.

I know I'm interested in the Metal Slime maps for leveling purposes. Only map I tried so far was the starter one, killed the Equinox boss at the bottom, and it gave me another map to an area I haven't identified yet (think it's the volcano region). Think when I finish this group to 40, I might run the dungeon again and see what other map it throws at me.

[Doombear]

Japanese Map Locations. For anyone interested, it makes finding the ! places a bit easier.

Spoiler: show

http://www.shinetworks.net/cgi-bin/i...9904637011.png

[Julian]

Finally reached alltrades abbey, but now I dont see the point in changing jobs anymore, I like my group <.<

Minstrel, 2x mages, and a monk :D

Also, some of these quests are REALLY RETARDED. Making me do stupid stuff, meh, whatever. Kinda lost on where to go next with the story now though lol

[Charismatic]

Even if you don't want to switch classes, there's DEFINITELY a point to it.
MORE SKILL POINTS! Also, skills you learn for other classes (not weapons) do stay with you no matter what class you are on.

So... say you learn Psych Up on Martial Artist then switch to Warrior, you will still have it.

[Julian]

Yeah I noticed that, definitely gonna mess with it later on when I have access to good grinding spots, but for now I think I'm gonna keep my party.

[Nevermore]

I could not wait to get to Alltrades. I hated the mains job so much lol. I saved all my points until I was able to switch. But looking at it now minstrel was not that bad. Kinda confused as to why my thf learning spells tho.

[Charismatic]

Thief learns spells such as heal in DQ, that's just how it is supposed to work.

[Julian]

At first, I thought the Hero was learning all those spells because.. he was the hero. And also why all of his stats leveled up. (Like, Mages don't get the Mending stat, Warrior doesnt get MP or any Magic, etc)

Then when I changed him to Warrior, and realized I lost all those, I quickly changed back to Minstrel, lol. I was in such a hurry to get rid of it, too. The reason I think I'm keeping it is that my party has no healing, since I have a monk and 2 offensive mages, so Hero has been kinda filling that spot, actually, maybe I'll change him to priest :D Really starting to need HealUs or some sort of AOE cure.

I really need to unlock some more jobs, see what they have to offer. For example, I had no idea Thief learned spells like Cure. I'm guessing the Sage job is a mix of offensive and curing? Really need to get that asap.

[Nevermore]

I actually like that my thf learned cure. Its there just in case so its ok. I didnt know that about dq tho this is the first one I really tried playing.

My team atm is thf war mnk and priest. Liking it so far but cant wait to get some of the other jobs.

[Charismatic]

I really need to unlock some more jobs, see what they have to offer. For example, I had no idea Thief learned spells like Cure. I'm guessing the Sage job is a mix of offensive and curing? Really need to get that asap.

Just so you know... it's not possible to get Sage til the final dungeon without cheating.
Yes, it is lame but that is just how it is.

[Charismatic]

...also, can't get the upgraded version of Ministrel til after you've beaten the game I think.
Luckily this game has a ton of post-game content.

[arus2001]

ROM keeps freezing whenever I try to enter Treasure Map dungeons now. Sad panda. ;_;

[Parshias]

Somewhat disappointing that the Dragon Warrior armor makes my Paladin lose about 20 defense over the stuff I already had on before getting it. I guess I'll just wear it for looks.

And hot damn, that cutscene was great. I wish they could have fit more like that into the game.

[arus2001]

I did the same with the set, heh. Sadly, I kinda think they forced the armor equip just for that particular scene so they wouldn't have to specially animate different genders or faces.

[MisterBob]

When I got the set it was a huge upgrade, but I didn't spend hours grinding $$/xp during the main game. If you didn't overpower yourself, it was pretty good stuff for the time they gave it to you.

[Marcicus]

What do you guys recommend me to cap out on Mage, Martial Artists, Priest, and Minstrel(Hero) skill wise?

[arus2001]

For my mage I did wand and their class specific. Priest was Faith and Spear. Minstrel I capped sword then eventually hopped to Warrior. My fourth was thief, of which I've done dagger and it's class tree. I've done others (like the thief has ranger's tree up, mage is working on armsmentalist or whatever, and priest took up mage tree too), but to be honest, I've rarely used abilities while fighting. The stat boosts whatever bring are you usual my goal, so just decide if you want one character to be a tank, DD, support, etc..

[MisterBob]

What do you guys recommend me to cap out on Mage, Martial Artists, Priest, and Minstrel(Hero) skill wise?

For the Mage, cap out Wands, the main class skill, shields, and the priest tree (yes, do it). Then, switch your Mage to Sage and rarely (if ever) look back.

Ditch the Priest entirely. Switch it over to Paladin if you want, so the Magical Mending points aren't lost. There was one boss in the game where I needed a priest (Godwyn part 2), and I was majorly underleveled. (Beat final boss at level 34).

On the Paladin, I recommend maxing Spears for the main game, and Fans for the endgame (Have the Paladin absorb all AoE and reflect it back with the fan, insane damage).

For the Martial Artist, just pile on the attack damage. Max out claws, the rest of the weapons suck (except Fisticuffs early game, but those suck towards the end too).

For the main char, spend time as a Thief, Ranger, and Luminary at the very least if you really want to go the Minstrel path. I would recommend going Gladiator though, their DPS is ridiculous.

Also, all physical attackers should spend time as a Martial Artist to get Psych Up.

[Marcicus]

I'm still early game(just got past Zere), but nice to know. Thanks.

[Yuri-G]

I got the boat like... five hours of gameplay ago maybe? and I still haven't even started looking for the next fygg. I got a paladin and grinded him and a gladiator to 20 on Metal Medleys and then started exploring. I plan on, in no particular order:

- stealing two terrible tattoos (takes forever, ugh)
- make mighty armlets out of them
- make a rosary, hoping to god there is enough thinkincense in the only harvest spot I have access to
- do the paladin and gladiator armor quests
- pore over the insane number of new recipes I've gotten through exploration and see if I can make any of them without too much trouble
- fix up the rest of my equipment and get back on the main quest

all of that, and I still feel like I'm rushing with the amount of crap I'm ignoring for now. this game has so much content it's fucking sick.