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

[Halbred]

I mean, I'm in the Realm of the Mighty. I know that I've still got Corvus' two forms and Barburus.

My current lineup:

Minsteral: Lv. 43
Mage: Lv. 41
Priest: Lv. 42
Martial Artist: Lv. 43

I generally approach every boss fight the same now: Use Oomph on my Minsteral and Martial Artist, then Buff up each party member and Accelerattle as I go. Unfortunately, my Priest doesn't know Kabuff, so it's a slow process. I've also taken to the idea of using two rounds to fully raise the tension on my Martial Artist with a combination of Egg On and Psyche Up.

Another irritance is that Zing only works like 10% of the time, so it's basically useless in a boss fight.

[that Baby guy]

You could easily switch the Minstrel to something else and have him or her be a lot more effective as a party member, perhaps even at level 20 or 30.  Minstrels have wide stat spread that they're not really effective in the game, even compared to some classes of lower levels.  Try a Gladiator if you've maxed your shield skill or a Paladin if you have not, and you'll find he's more effective that way.

[greybrick]

You could easily switch the Minstrel to something else and have him or her be a lot more effective as a party member, perhaps even at level 20 or 30.  Minstrels have wide stat spread that they're not really effective in the game, even compared to some classes of lower levels.  Try a Gladiator if you've maxed your shield skill or a Paladin if you have not, and you'll find he's more effective that way.

I agree, switching out the Minstrel is the first thing you should do- but if you were going to use him as a paladin, he really wouldn't be effective until he is in the 30s. The amount of damage you can take in those end bosses is fantastical, so if your pally has a low hp you're screwed.

Depending on what you leveled with your Minstrel, I would suggest making him a Gladiator and just going for as much damage as possible.

[Halbred]

I might do that, although I leveled up the Sword and Shield skills, and I don't think the Gladiator can use a Shield.

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Once you've leveled up the Shield 100%, your character can used shields throughout all the vocations.

[Halbred]

Interesting.

I beat Purrvis pretty easily yesterday, more or less on a fluke. He didn't kill anybody outright, which helped enormously.

I blew through Corvus' first form and Barburus this morning. I'm gonna give Corus v.2 a shot, but maybe after escaping and saving my game first. Although, honestly, his first form and Barburus were so easy that I'm not really concerned about not being strong enough. Here's why:

Within two turns, I can get my Martial Artist to full Tension with Egg On + Psyche Up. She did 1500 damage to Barburus with Hard Claw using this method. He was dead soon after that. Seriously, as long as Corvus doesn't have like a million HP, I think this is gonna be doable.

[Mop it up]

I heard that this game was originally planned to have real-time combat instead of turn-based battles. I think if it had ended up that way, this may have been the first Dragon Quest game I'd have a chance of enjoying.

[greybrick]

I blew through Corvus' first form and Barburus this morning. I'm gonna give Corus v.2 a shot, but maybe after escaping and saving my game first. Although, honestly, his first form and Barburus were so easy that I'm not really concerned about not being strong enough

Go save Zach, you don't want any nasty surprises.

@ Mop it up, it was supposed to be more action oriented, but the general understanding is that the game was changed back to turn-based to appease the Japanese player base.

[Halbred]

I got slaughtered.

[greybrick]

I got slaughtered.

Did you go back to heal up and save, as was suggested?

[Halbred]

Yup. I'm gonna go grind and build up my funds and level, maybe visit a Grotto and beat a boss. Get some more armor on my party from Upover. Get everybody up to Level 45, you know. For kicks.

Disruptive Wave sucks. Just sayin'.

[greybrick]

It sure does, but DQ really does push you towards relying on buffs- which is why they give bosses that spell. In games that let you choose skills (like Etrian Odyssey) I usually try and put as many points as I can into plain stats like strength, defense, etc.

That way I can divorce myself from using MP on long runs, and not have to worry about buffing.

[SixthAngel]

It sure does, but DQ really does push you towards relying on buffs- which is why they give bosses that spell. In games that let you choose skills (like Etrian Odyssey) I usually try and put as many points as I can into plain stats like strength, defense, etc.

That way I can divorce myself from using MP on long runs, and not have to worry about buffing.

Baramos just learned disruptive wave in my game.
I'm scared to fight him now because I know hes going to destroy me as all kabuffs,oomph,casterangers, icefource, magical barriers will go poof soon after I cast them.

[greybrick]

It sure does, but DQ really does push you towards relying on buffs- which is why they give bosses that spell. In games that let you choose skills (like Etrian Odyssey) I usually try and put as many points as I can into plain stats like strength, defense, etc.

That way I can divorce myself from using MP on long runs, and not have to worry about buffing.

Baramos just learned disruptive wave in my game.
I'm scared to fight him now because I know hes going to destroy me as all kabuffs,oomph,casterangers, icefource, magical barriers will go poof soon after I cast them.

If the buffs improve your party to the point where you can just let one member sit and buff for the whole battle, disruptive wave can work to your advantage. Not only do you get the obvious benefit of pumping your characters up, a disruptive wave turn is a turn where your team isn't taking damage. Some enemies seem to get very worried after three or so buffs are cast- which means you can get the benefits of whatever you have buffed for several turns, and can count on the enemy effectively wasting a turn very often.

My party configuration didn't afford me such a character, so I didn't do as much buffing in battles where I needed to shell out tons of damage.

[Halbred]

Whooo! What a different a few levels (and an Eldrich Sword) make! I took Corvus down with very little effort last night. The only worry spot was when he put my healer to sleep, but I had a Yggrisil Dew in case of emergency. Post-game content, HERE I COME!

[greybrick]

Whooo! What a different a few levels (and an Eldrich Sword) make! I took Corvus down with very little effort last night. The only worry spot was when he put my healer to sleep, but I had a Yggrisil Dew in case of emergency. Post-game content, HERE I COME!

Congrats! I was kinda dumb and immediately made a new file to see if I could solo the game. Which is dumb because:

a) you only get one file so no post game for me for a while

b) this is crazy difficult

[TheFleece]

This is the only DS game I've played since the Summer. I'm almost up to leveling my characters to lv100. Greybrick, are you still playing solo? How is that coming? The extra quests are really keeping me busy, I'm particularly enjoying the drama unfolding in Stornway.

[TJ Spyke]

For anyone in the New York City area, Nintendo will be at New York Comic Con and will have the Dragonlord and Mortamor maps available to download.

[Nemo]

I finally found a grotto with metal king slimes. I was very time inefficient with this game, but I've been having lots of fun. I just hit 200 hours!

[TJ Spyke]

For anybody still playing the game, Best Buy will be holding special events for Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation on February 26 and March 5. They will be giving out a special map for Dragon Quest IX at these events.

[that Baby guy]

For anybody still playing the game, Best Buy will be holding special events for Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation on February 26 and March 5. They will be giving out a special map for Dragon Quest IX at these events.

Weird. My Best Buy told me they wouldn't be getting any copies of the game in.  Perhaps they were mistaken?

[TJ Spyke]

Maybe, this info came from a Nintendo newsletter. It says to contact your Best Buy about times, so maybe yours won't be doing it?

[that Baby guy]

Maybe, this info came from a Nintendo newsletter. It says to contact your Best Buy about times, so maybe yours won't be doing it?

I just checked the Best Buy item locating thing for in-store pick-up. It seems like the person who told me that was incompetent, as the Best Buy website says that store now has the game.  Oh well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/

Dragon Quest IX Tops 5.3 Million Worldwide
This is a bit of a random number to be announcing, but Square Enix said today that Dragon Quest IX has topped shipments of 5.3 million units worldwide. The figure was reached at the end of December.

DQIX is the first DQ game to top the 5 million mark and the best selling DQ game ever. The series as a whole has topped shipments of 57 million units.