Topic: Dragon Quest IX - Release Date 7/11 - U.S.

[that Baby guy]

Actually, I was surprised too.  Not as much of the map was left undiscovered at the end of the story as it seemed, from my impressions. I thought there was tons left, but for the most part, it was a little bit here, a little bit there, without anything very big.

[DAaaMan64]

What level were you guys at? I walked through the entire ending at level 42-44. Maybe you needed more grinding?

[SixthAngel]

I finished the end level with my characters at level 40, 40, 39, and 40.

[TheFleece]

I just beat the main story. I decided to grind up in anticipation of the final boss, but it wasn't as bad I thought it would be. This was the second Dragon Quest I've played and the last boss in the previous game I played (DQ IV) had multiple transformations and took me about an hour to beat. My team was Paladin, Mage, Priest and Martial Artist at levels 42, 49, 50 and 51. I'm glad that it's all over so I can just go and explore the world map.
Tomorrow is the second Map Event at Best Buy and Simon Mall (is that near anyone, I've never seen one). I'm expecting them to give away the same map from last week, but I will probably go to hook up with other players.

[DmentD]

I went and checked out the DX9 event today at Best Buy.  Ended up getting the map from NOA and 4 more maps from other DQ9 players at the event.  Also managed to get a tshirt, poster and some stickers.  Did anyone else go to this event?  How was the turn out? 

[Halbred]

I should call my Best Buy and see if they're doing it. I don't know how far I am into the game, though. I saved the bishop of Alltrades Abbey and now I'm trapsing through a dunegeon trying to rescue Jona. There are lots of big octopi and crabs. The crabs are annoying.

[TheFleece]

I got sick this weekend and couldn't make the event. Halbred, if you've unlocked Quester's Rest at the inn at Stornway then you can get the map. If you've passed Alltrades Abbey then I believe you done that already.

[Mannypon]

Well I passed by my local Bestbuy as I was unsure if they were going to be having the event and I didn't even know it was going on till I got to work and noticed I got a map from a NOA player lol.  The place was dead but in all fairness, I didn't get their till 330 and the event finished at 4.  I didn't see anyone or anything DQ or Nintendo related though.  There was someone in a white shirt that looked out of place to me at the time but it didn't really hit me till I got to my second job later and noticed I got a NOA guest.  Anyways, as a result, I only canvased one guest, the Nintendo rep.  Hopefully it was livelier earlier in the day.
 
Back to the game though, I managed to grind a bit and give my squad a good 6 level bump since my last post here.  That and finally aquiring the multiheal spell made short order of the last set of bosses.  I'm now running around trying to finish off sidequests and hopefully get the dam train soon so I can travel at will.  It is sweet though to run around fields and, for the most part, have enemies run in fear everywhere I go lol. 

[SixthAngel]

I can't believe how ridiculously tough some of the regular enemies are in some of the flying areas.
I'm walking to somebody's house and I fight the Cold germ enemy and he just kills half my team with his super cold breath and then finishes off the rest with attacks.
The same thing happened against a different enemy near another house.

Does anyone know where I can find a recipe for an orichalcum sword?  I have some orichalcum and a bunch of recipes but no sword recipe.

[Halbred]

Best Buy didn't know what I was talking about. *sad*

I've recruited a fourth character, so I'll have to do some grinding so she's not killed by average enemies. I'm trekking up some mountain that made of lots of caves and alternate paths, outside of Dourbridge.

[that Baby guy]

I can't believe how ridiculously tough some of the regular enemies are in some of the flying areas.
I'm walking to somebody's house and I fight the Cold germ enemy and he just kills half my team with his super cold breath and then finishes off the rest with attacks.
The same thing happened against a different enemy near another house.

Does anyone know where I can find a recipe for an orichalcum sword?  I have some orichalcum and a bunch of recipes but no sword recipe.

I haven't found recipes for any of them.  Not all recipes are in the game.  Actually, though, the Uber Falcon Blade is the best sword, better than what that sword turns into.  The recipe is this, though: Rusty Sword, Glass Frit x9, Orichalcum.

[Caliban]

I have played this game for about 60 hours now, and I have yet to finish the story because I do other stuff like quests and alchemy. I do have some major problems with this game.

How come I can't take the alchemy pot with me on my journey? I have to zoom all the way to Stornway, get inside the inn, talk to the pot, and now I can start doing alchemy. Either only allow me to use it in any Inn, or just let me use it on the go.

How come I can't sort the recipes in order of readiness. It's so tedious as it it right now to go through all the recipes. I would have it so that at the top of the list are the recipes that are ready to be done, then the next recipes are the ones that are almost ready but you have to take off equipment to make them ready, and the last recipes are the ones that you obviously need to collect more materials for.

I have to memorize the location where I can mine for materials? Remember how the Legend of Zelda games for DS introduced the ability to write notes on the maps, and wasn't it great even though there isn't much to remember in a LoZ game. Sure would be quite helpful in a game like DQ9.

Also having an auto-sort option for the equipment menus would be great.

Also I don't mind the grinding, but it would be less tedious if for every battle I didn't have to go through a screen transition every time.

Edit:
I for got to say that the level of customization for this game is good, but I think that in the end it just becomes a game of "equip the best stats" rather than "hey I like all my characters to run around in boxer shorts" kind of game.

[Halbred]

I don't like that you can't disembark anywhere on a piece of land. You have to be in the exact right place and position to get off your boat. That sucks. Anyone know where I'm supposed to go after Gleeba (the desert area)?

[TJ Spyke]

I don't have the game yet, but I checked GameFAQs (I assume you don't want to be spoiled by checking yourself), and it appears you are supposed to go to The Plumbed Depths next. You get there by going down a well.

[Halbred]

Thanks, sir, but I already beat that whole area. The Plumbed Depths are in Gleeba.

Just so you know, the game is pretty linear. Each town has a quest for you to go on, which involves a nearby dungeon and boss. You beat the boss, save the town, and move on to the next area.

I think I found where I'm supposed to go next. At least, I was able to get off my boat there.

[Caliban]

I'm in the last dungeon of the game in the almighty land with Corvus gone evil, so how do I get the ability to fly or something? I've seen areas of the game I can't reach unless I can fly.

I think I found where I'm supposed to go next. At least, I was able to get off my boat there.

Actually if I think I know where you are, you can go to two places. North, and to the West. The direction I went was harder, but still doable if you're leveled enough.

[TheFleece]

I'm in the last dungeon of the game in the almighty land with Corvus gone evil, so how do I get the ability to fly or something? I've seen areas of the game I can't reach unless I can fly.

You gain access to those places after you've beaten the last dungeon.

Yesterday I decided to check out the highest level map I've gotten so far. I didn't beat it, but I was able to get some cool goods. I was able to download some extra quests too. I suggest trying to get them because there are missions that add toward the story line- though I'm not sure exactly how.

[Halbred]

Went on my first treasure hunt instead of moving the story forward. The grotto itself was easy to find (right outside Stornway) and the monsters inside were easy, but the boss (Equinox) started out fairly simple but then went all hardcore halfway through the fight and made a mess of my party. Lucky I saved before going into the grotto!
 
Hey, does anybody have a recommendation for a different class for my Minstrel? It's becoming clear that she's not the powerhouse I want her to be. Right now, I only have one powerhouse: the martial artist. What other classes offer lots of attack power?

[that Baby guy]

Right now, the Warrior.  There's a few unlockable alternatives, but the Warrior class is the way to go if you want strength.  Honestly, it's better than the Martial Artist, too, since it gets better equipment.

[SixthAngel]

Equinox is way too strong for you when you first get the map.  The enemies in the grottos don't resemble the boss at all in toughness.

The warrior is tougher but I don't like him because he has no spells.  The armamentalist always had a perfectly fine attack for me and he gets good abilites and spells, its also easy to unlock.  I never picked one but a lot of people like the gladiator.  I think its attack might be the highest.

[DAaaMan64]

It is the highest, gladiator is all about attack and thats it. He can't carry a shield and he won't learn any spells, he only has abilities.

[SixthAngel]

I like that every class has its own upsides and downsides. 
The locked classes aren't really better than the unlocked ones (maybe the luminary is, I haven't used it yet).  They get an advantage like spells but lose some attack and defence compared to a no spell class.

gladiator- warrior with no defence
paladin - warriors defense plus some priest spells (priest/warrior combo)
armamentalist- warriors attack plus some mage spells (buffs/debuffs) (warrior/mage combo)
Sage- mage/priest combo
Ranger- This one is tough.  Its kind of a priest/thief combo but its weapons don't match up.  It has a thiefs deftness, shittier armor wearing ability and some healing spells.  I really hate this class but I made it my thief's secondary class because it gives huge bonuses in deftness.

I learned not to listen to other websites about the best classes because they generally seem to talk about characters who are level 70+.  They max out multiple weapons and abilities like shield and and sword so they can use them with any other class.  Most people won't do this and if they do they certainly won't pick there characters based off their 40th hour they play after they beat the final boss.

[Caliban]

http://dragonquest.nintendo.com/#/downloads/

Just found this.

And I just got this item for one of my characters to carry around, and I'm hoping that will cope with the Thief's lack of skill for thieving...

[TheFleece]

Today I completed an extra quest where I had to dig up a character's past and then meet a ghost. After that the person I did the favor for joined my party with a fairly high level and stats, but no skills. After a few level ups I was able to dish out skill points. They had over 50 points and I was able to really flesh out their skills. I'm sure I could have changed their vocation and made a very different fighter, but I was still able to gain access to skills that would take a very long time to reach. I could use more quests like that.

[Halbred]

I just beat the pig guy in the prison. He was surprisingly tough because of his (very) cheap entire-party physical attack that did between 50 and 60 damage to everyone involved. I think I need to grind a little more. My highest-level characters are both Lv. 36.

I really can't stand grinding for money. I'm afraid to sell any equipment because I know it'll come in handy for Alchemy. Meanwhile, the next-best swords costs like 25,000 or some crazy high number, and I only have 14,000. That turned me off in DQXIII, too. Afraid to sell anything, but there's no good way to get money quickly.

BTW, I stuck with my Minsteral. With good equipment and Oomph, she's actually quite good, especially against Dragons and Metal things.