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[Woo-Fu]

damn my materials haven't respawned in days.

Only the coagulant outside of Stornway is respawning.

It is a function of play time, not real time. If you want the rarer items to respawn just leave your ds on with the game loaded.

Doesn't take much effort to put half-inch on each member of your team and steal many of the reagents you need. You're going to have to get used to doing that for gold bars anyway. Making goddess rings and uber falcon blades I had to steal quite a bit of nectar and fresh water as the overland harvest points for both of those can be quite stingy.

 

[zigg]

Are level 30-45 characters good enough for the endgame? I've been grinding like hell the past day or two and my highest character is a 46 martial artist.

I did it with 40-42 (minstrel, martial, mage, priest).

 

[brandonh83]

I did it with 40-42 (minstrel, martial, mage, priest).

Hm, sounds good. Just got an uber falcon blade as well, that should help :lol

 

[Oxx]

Even Stella is taunting me for spending too much time leveling my characters.

 

[zigg]

Anyone thought of organizing an unofficial tag event in their area?

Yes, absolutely. In Grand Rapids (Grandville), Michigan, we're meeting at Rivertown Mall's food court area (chairs! were sorely needed at Best Buy) at 1 p.m. We'll at least have Zoma, Estark, Baramos, and Masayuki maps available, but we'll also be planning to play multi too, since that was so much fun at the official event.

I'm going to be writing an article for N-Sider about this for tomorrow and try to get it promoted so as many eyes see it as possible—when it goes up, maybe interested parties here can help, submit it to their favorite blogs or whatever?—but I would like to see people use Twitter to set these up. Just get some basic details, a Google Maps link, and tweet with #dq9 #meetup—then people looking for an event can just quickly search Twitter for those hashtags together (or just "dq9 meetup", that'll also work) and hopefully find one in their area.

 

[Synless]

Yes, absolutely. In Grand Rapids (Grandville), Michigan, we're meeting at Rivertown Mall's food court area (chairs! were sorely needed at Best Buy) at 1 p.m. We'll at least have Zoma, Estark, Baramos, and Masayuki maps available, but we'll also be planning to play multi too, since that was so much fun at the official event.

I'm going to be writing an article for N-Sider about this for tomorrow and try to get it promoted so as many eyes see it as possible—when it goes up, maybe interested parties here can help, submit it to their favorite blogs or whatever?—but I would like to see people use Twitter to set these up. Just get some basic details, a Google Maps link, and tweet with #dq9 #meetup—then people looking for an event can just quickly search Twitter for those hashtags together (or just "dq9 meetup", that'll also work) and hopefully find one in their area.

I live in that area as well, (Less then 15 min. when I leave from GVSU). I'm game for meeting up to get some of these tags.

 

[zigg]

I live in that area as well, (Less then 15 min. when I leave from GVSU). I'm game for meeting up to get some of these tags.

Cool, hope to see you there! In the extremely unlikely event we need to change the plans, I'll tweet changes (I'm zigg on Twitter.) But hey, even if I can't go, I know at least one other guy is—he has the first three maps I mentioned shareable.

 

[Chairhome]

That's awesome, man. If I can ask, how did you get word out or find people interested? I might try posting a thread on CAG or something. Maybe we can start a meetup thread separate from this one?

 

[Synless]

Cool, hope to see you there! In the extremely unlikely event we need to change the plans, I'll tweet changes (I'm zigg on Twitter.) But hey, even if I can't go, I know at least one other guy is—he has the first three maps I mentioned shareable.

When is this meeting happening? You guys are all older right? I would feel really weird if I walked in and everyone was like 15-16 years old.

 

[Oxx]

I love hoarding hundreds of skill points and blowing them all at once. It's just like Christmas.

 

[Android18a]

Almost OT, but not quite... I keep reading the title of this thread as Last Chance to Slime.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

My guess: Alchemy and doing something like grinding every class to level X, where X is 15-20ish, around the 6th or 7th fygg.

Spoiler

I'm at 120 hours and still have two fyggs left

I also completed multiple grottoes, all the open side quests, and stealing/dropping every rare and common drop from every enemy that appears pre-post game.

Edit: Also farming alchemy materials and grotto blue chests.

 

[Trojita]

Just finished the game. First time through

Spoiler

Corvus

kicked my ass because I wasn't prepared. The final boss one hit critted my priest right at the beginning. I was okay with having my characters resseruct at the church, I had forgotten that your gold gets halved when you die. I went from 100,000 to 50,000 gold

Anyways about the ending

Spoiler

I found the ending incredibly lame and the only saving grace was the fact that you can continue in the game world after the final boss is killed.

Aquila's death was incredibly anti-climatic.

I still don't understand the whole you need to turn into a mortal to fight Corvus, a fellow Celestrian. Playing through the game you are told that there is a rule that a Celestrian cannot attempt to injure a Celestrian Superior. It seems to be an innate characteristic in the Celestrian species, and not just a simple rule. The hero could not hit Aquila or Corvus in each of your fights. So why was Corvus able to attack the Observatory? It seems quite obvious that there would be someone on the Observatory that mentored Corvus and Apus Major is the oldest one on the observatory. Well the someone might want to answer with "He's not completely Celestrian anymore so he could do it", but that makes no sense since the character should have been able to attack him without turning into a mortal.

Why did Corvus lose his Halo but not his wings in Wormwood when he fell or whatever happened to him? Everyone could see him and the only thing he was missing was the halo.

What was Stella trying to say?

 

[levious]

I love hoarding hundreds of skill points and blowing them all at once. It's just like Christmas.

I can never make it past 50

 

[lordoftherink]

Anyway, since I'm already here.. fuck the metal slime quest

Don't know if this will help, but I
-Saved up skill points for Wizard Ward, switch to Mage at Alltrades, get that skill
-Switched to Thief, used swords, leveled up until enough skill points for Metal Slash
-Switched to Warrior, went into Quarantomb at level one, fought one enemy to get to level three (so they had enough MP to use Wizard Ward)
-Metal Slimes show up more often when you're a lower level (I think)
-First turn, all use Wizard Ward, second turn, all use Metal Slash, only took five minutes of actually looking for/fighting Metal Slimes in Quarantomb to finish the quest

 

[Princess Skittles]

I can never make it past 50

I use them as I get them, it's counterproductive to keep them.

 

[levious]

I use them as I get them, it's counterproductive to keep them.

I like taking time (or can't decide) in picking what skill path I want at a given time. Plus seeing multiple accolades at once is cool, and stuff like "Main Character's Strength increased yet again!"

 

[zigg]

That's awesome, man. If I can ask, how did you get word out or find people interested? I might try posting a thread on CAG or something. Maybe we can start a meetup thread separate from this one?

I'm still working on the getting the word out part, heh—this all just came together this week. When I get home I'll do a writeup, post the tweet, and start a meetup thread here too—good idea. And then tomorrow I'm hoping to get the article I'm writing promoted wherever I can, so that people can both come to the GR meetup as well as set up their own meetups in other cities.

When is this meeting happening? You guys are all older right? I would feel really weird if I walked in and everyone was like 15-16 years old.

Oops, forgot to mention the day! Saturday, August 14 at 1 p.m. If it's a success, we'll do it again, absolutely.

I'm in my early 30's, no problem there, heh. Our other attendee thus far is in his mid-20's. That said, man, there was one kid who must have been 14 or 15 at BB who was really good... but I'm betting most people will be at least 20, just judging from who showed up at the BB event.

 

[Koomaster]

Just finished the game. First time through

Spoiler

Corvus

kicked my ass because I wasn't prepared. The final boss one hit critted my priest right at the beginning. I was okay with having my characters resseruct at the church, I had forgotten that your gold gets halved when you die. I went from 100,000 to 50,000 gold

Anyways about the ending

Spoiler

I found the ending incredibly lame and the only saving grace was the fact that you can continue in the game world after the final boss is killed.

Aquila's death was incredibly anti-climatic.

I still don't understand the whole you need to turn into a mortal to fight Corvus, a fellow Celestrian. Playing through the game you are told that there is a rule that a Celestrian cannot attempt to injure a Celestrian Superior. It seems to be an innate characteristic in the Celestrian species, and not just a simple rule. The hero could not hit Aquila or Corvus in each of your fights. So why was Corvus able to attack the Observatory? It seems quite obvious that there would be someone on the Observatory that mentored Corvus and Apus Major is the oldest one on the observatory. Well the someone might want to answer with "He's not completely Celestrian anymore so he could do it", but that makes no sense since the character should have been able to attack him without turning into a mortal.

Why did Corvus lose his Halo but not his wings in Wormwood when he fell or whatever happened to him? Everyone could see him and the only thing he was missing was the halo.

What was Stella trying to say?

Spoiler

Maybe it was some loophole, like he could attack the Observatory, but never engaged any of his superiors directly in battle, and they couldn't reach where he was to do battle.

The only thing I didn't like about the ending is that when you go visit other towns, they have completely forgotten about the Celestrians. Even the guardian statues have the names erased. It's kind of sad after all the work the Celestrians did.

On the other hand it seems all the Celestrians cared about was getting to the Realm of the Almighty again, and were only collecting the Benevolence for that purpose, not for actual care of the people. Even after Corvus' defeat, the world is still full of monsters and people that need help/protection.

The only ones that seemed to care for the people ended up being Corvus (his love for Serena) and the Hero.

 

[Koomaster]

I use them as I get them, it's counterproductive to keep them.

After you get so many skill trees maxed out the extra skill points kind of become a pain. Because then you have to switch around jobs and find where you can invest them. So in that essence it's good to just save them up till you have a bunch, change jobs to the skill tree you are looking for, and dumping all the points in it and fill it up all at once.

 

[turnbuckle]

Yes, absolutely. In Grand Rapids (Grandville), Michigan, we're meeting at Rivertown Mall's food court area (chairs! were sorely needed at Best Buy) at 1 p.m. We'll at least have Zoma, Estark, Baramos, and Masayuki maps available, but we'll also be planning to play multi too, since that was so much fun at the official event.

I'm going to be writing an article for N-Sider about this for tomorrow and try to get it promoted so as many eyes see it as possible—when it goes up, maybe interested parties here can help, submit it to their favorite blogs or whatever?—but I would like to see people use Twitter to set these up. Just get some basic details, a Google Maps link, and tweet with #dq9 #meetup—then people looking for an event can just quickly search Twitter for those hashtags together (or just "dq9 meetup", that'll also work) and hopefully find one in their area.

I'm not far from there (Kalamazoo). Too bad I didn't know about it

After you get so many skill trees maxed out the extra skill points kind of become a pain. Because then you have to switch around jobs and find where you can invest them. So in that essence it's good to just save them up till you have a bunch, change jobs to the skill tree you are looking for, and dumping all the points in it and fill it up all at once.

You can see your skill point allocation in every class just by going through the attributes menu. Very helpful when trying to determine where to put your points next if you plan on upgrading a class or weapon outside of the one your character is maining.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I actually dump most of mine (actually, usually all of them...) into the unique skillset for whatever class I currently am (it's always the fifth one listed, and each class has its own). I do that for the overall stat boosts :lol

 

[Chairhome]

I'm still working on the getting the word out part, heh—this all just came together this week. When I get home I'll do a writeup, post the tweet, and start a meetup thread here too—good idea. And then tomorrow I'm hoping to get the article I'm writing promoted wherever I can, so that people can both come to the GR meetup as well as set up their own meetups in other cities.



Oops, forgot to mention the day! Saturday, August 14 at 1 p.m. If it's a success, we'll do it again, absolutely.

I'm in my early 30's, no problem there, heh. Our other attendee thus far is in his mid-20's. That said, man, there was one kid who must have been 14 or 15 at BB who was really good... but I'm betting most people will be at least 20, just judging from who showed up at the BB event.

Nice, I may pop into that meetup thread if you're making one to see if any Orlando GAF want to meet up. You're doing it at a mall? I may try that, or ask a friend of mine who owns a Play n Trade if he's okay with people meeting there.

 

[Trojita]

Spoiler

Maybe it was some loophole, like he could attack the Observatory, but never engaged any of his superiors directly in battle, and they couldn't reach where he was to do battle.

The only thing I didn't like about the ending is that when you go visit other towns, they have completely forgotten about the Celestrians. Even the guardian statues have the names erased. It's kind of sad after all the work the Celestrians did.

On the other hand it seems all the Celestrians cared about was getting to the Realm of the Almighty again, and were only collecting the Benevolence for that purpose, not for actual care of the people. Even after Corvus' defeat, the world is still full of monsters and people that need help/protection.

The only ones that seemed to care for the people ended up being Corvus (his love for Serena) and the Hero.

Spoiler

Oh yeah that was the part I forgot to mention. For all of their hard work the Celestrians become stars? That sucks.

If I could use indirect means to attack Corvus then I could have just had my party members lvl 50+ attack him for me. That's the other thing that doesn't make sense, I guess your hero told the party members he recruited at the inn that he was Celestrian and they would have to take his word for it until he disappeared completely into a train. They are never in the train which would explain why you wouldn't be able to have them attack Aquila, but how the hell did they find out where you were after you fell off the dragon? If you had never been to Wormwood before, they couldn't just chimera wing there. I know this is probably looking too much into a game such as this, but I like my plausibility.

I like how Corvus is just like my bad lol at least my most heinous crime didn't happen. If I was the hero I would have been like "Where the fuck are you going? People died because of you and you think you can just leave like nothing happened?" Besides how does death exactly work in DQ? If your heroes die you can go to the church or cast a spell to revive them but if someone else dies they die permanently?

Also I guess the Hero of the Heavens dragon is still alive based on the credits? I thought it was nice that they brought the alchohol to him even though he wasn't there anymore, but then I saw his shadow.

 

[Chairhome]

^fix your spoiler tag!

Never mind, you got it!

 

[Oxx]

I use them as I get them, it's counterproductive to keep them.

I just took the opportunity directly before the end-game to try and even out the levels of my chosen vocations and turn my party into unstoppable killing machines.

Probably a waste of time and resources, but the battle just outside

Spoiler

Gittingham Palace

was satisfyingly brutal.

 

[zigg]

I'm not far from there (Kalamazoo). Too bad I didn't know about it

Heh, I personally wouldn't drive out from Kalamazoo. I bet you could find some people in your area if you set one up, though.

 

[Echoes]

Geez, guys, this is not Final Fantasy Tactics or Planescape Torment. It's a very classic "quest" which doesn't have to have all the convoluted thoughts and reasons you think it does. I'm actually really interested in reading all your posts regarding the story and such but come on, it's never about the destination. I really didn't care about the story. Wanted everything to end quickly so that I can resume playing.

You're taking it way too seriously. Dragon Quest isn't like this.

 

[brandonh83]

Holy smee! I'm just hitting 180 hours today and I'm way into the post game. How'd you spend so long on the main game? :lol

I want to ask this as well.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Quick question for DQGAF:

My part is currently Minstrel, Arma, Warrior and Paladin (used to be a Priest), all around 30. I find the Kabuff spell really helpful from the Paladin but I get the feeling that multiheal from the priest will be very advantageous quite soon (just about to enter

Spoiler

the Gittish Empire

). Should I change my Paladin back to a Priest again? I think if I do this I might change the Warrior over to a Paladin (with 100 in swords). If a class isn't designed for swords, will their attack be that noticably lower?

 

[Lindsay]

Soooo has this game shined with its 100k sales o.o?

And how in the heck am I already at 20 hours and not feeling like I'm very far into the game? I thought the story length was supposed to be comparable to IV/V? I've only just come across my first metal baddies (medleys) for crying out loud x_x

 

[Koomaster]

Quick question for DQGAF:

My part is currently Minstrel, Arma, Warrior and Paladin (used to be a Priest), all around 30. I find the Kabuff spell really helpful from the Paladin but I get the feeling that multiheal from the priest will be very advantageous quite soon (just about to enter

Spoiler

the Gittish Empire

). Should I change my Paladin back to a Priest again? I think if I do this I might change the Warrior over to a Paladin (with 100 in swords). If a class isn't designed for swords, will their attack be that noticably lower?

Honestly, I didn't feel the need for a multiheal ability till the postgame bosses. However the bosses you're going to be encountering from now on like to use Disruptive wave, so expect any buffs to only last a few turns if you're lucky.

My advice is to just stick with the party/plan you've got and throw yourself at a boss. If you get pretty far in the fight before dying, keep trying. If he utterly destroys you, then start thinking about changing up your jobs/plan of attack.

 

[ReiGun]

Anyone have any tips for finishing the Elementary Training mission? This is so dumb.

 

[Koomaster]

Anyone have any tips for finishing the Elementary Training mission? This is so dumb.

Switch your whole party to mage and put skill points to wizard ward. Once you have it, switch everyone back to their regular jobs. Then go find the metal slimes.

Round 1: Everyone cast Wizard Ward
Round 2: Everyone attack.

Whoever kills it, it'll count for quest completion.

There are a bunch of quests like this, where they ask you to use one of the beginning skills of a job to perform a task. I find it easiest to spend 3-5 skill points on every character to get that skill, and everyone perform the task at the same time.

 

[Johnas]

Anyone have any tips for finishing the Elementary Training mission? This is so dumb.

I went to the Quarantomb to find metal slimes. I have minstrel, warrior, priest, and mage. In the first round, I had the mage cast Wizard Ward, and the warrior use Metal Slash on the metal slime, which takes away three or four HP. If it's still alive, just have the mage attack after that while everyone else defends.

My mage is equipped with an Assassin's Dagger, but I don't think I got an instant kill on either one. I'm not sure if an instant kill would count, but I don't see why it wouldn't, since technically it is a finishing blow.

 

[Trojita]

Soooo has this game shined with its 100k sales o.o?

And how in the heck am I already at 20 hours and not feeling like I'm very far into the game? I thought the story length was supposed to be comparable to IV/V? I've only just come across my first metal baddies (medleys) for crying out loud x_x

You must have missed the metal slimes in the quarantomb. It took me 70 hours to beat the game, but I always take my time.

 

[Aeana]

I would say the game is shining with 132k sold first month, yes. It's beaten the debuts of 8, 4 DS and 5 DS quite handily (and the lifetime sales of both 4 and 5). Hopefully it will continue selling and compete with 8's lifetime sales.

 

[ReiGun]

Thanks for the help guys. Gonna give it another shot tonight. I only wish the appearance rates in Quarantomb were a little higher. Takes forever for one to appear, and then half of them run. Such a lame quest.

 

[lordoftherink]

Thanks for the help guys. Gonna give it another shot tonight. I only wish the appearance rates in Quarantomb were a little higher. Takes forever for one to appear, and then half of them run. Such a lame quest.

I said it a few posts up, but I did what Koomaster said, only I didn't switch to my "main" and didn't use attack. Save up skill points for Metal Slash, switch to Warrior or Thief (whichever you haven't used before, so Level 1,) and do one battle to get to level 3 and have enough MP for Wizard Ward. In the Quarantomb, go forward, read the first stone sign, advance to the last (third) text box, and let the enemies spawn automatically without accidentally entering battles or running around. Because of your low level, Metal Slimes should appear a bit more frequently and have a less chance of running away, all you have to do then is hit A and run forward to initiate battle. After the first one you'll be about Level 9, which is still low enough that the Metal Slimes will appear with a bit more regularity. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Soooo has this game shined with its 100k sales o.o?

And how in the heck am I already at 20 hours and not feeling like I'm very far into the game? I thought the story length was supposed to be comparable to IV/V? I've only just come across my first metal baddies (medleys) for crying out loud x_x

132k sales are amazing, haha. Better than DQ8 and without an FF demo to boot.

And the story length estimate is based on going right from A to B. If you're trying to complete sidequests on the way, the game gets much, much longer. It's how some people can finish the game in 25 hours while most people end up with somewhere from 45-55 on the clock.

 

[Vamphuntr]

I think I will be done with this. Overall I played for 132 hours (65 of them in coop). Got 43 tags total (42 at the GS event). I killed the two legacy bosses that I got multiple times (Baramos and Zoma). The only thing I'm missing are the rare weapons/armors from the chest in dungeons and the ones you use the orbs from the legacy bosses to make. Maybe I will come back later for the DLC quests as long as they are not terrible kill x monsters under these specific conditions quest because I absolutely hate those.

 

[Lindsay]

Aaahhh I think I've gone way outta my way! I briefly glanced at a faq and saw I've missed like 6 parts! I'm at Wormwood Creek right after having done the Bad Cave >_<; Why do I always get lost in DQ games??

You must have missed the metal slimes in the quarantomb.

Oops! Nope I never ran into any there since I rushed through it cause the baddies I did see weren't giving much exp! Now I'm compelled to go back and beat up a couple.

I would say the game is shining with 132k sold first month, yes. It's beaten the debuts of 8, 4 DS and 5 DS quite handily (and the lifetime sales of both 4 and 5). Hopefully it will continue selling and compete with 8's lifetime sales.

132k sales are amazing, haha. Better than DQ8 and without an FF demo to boot.

Thats better then nothing!

And the story length estimate is based on going right from A to B. If you're trying to complete sidequests on the way, the game gets much, much longer. It's how some people can finish the game in 25 hours while most people end up with somewhere from 45-55 on the clock.

Hmmm I haven't been going out of my way to do quests. I guess I've just done an especially large amount of grinding! That and I did fall asleep with the game on twice...!

 

[JKTrix]

I'm not far from there (Kalamazoo). Too bad I didn't know about it

Is it bad that I thought you were talking about a Dragon Quest location :lol

 

[matmanx1]

I'm at 48 hours in and I just got my final Fygg. I spent 8 hours on Tuesday (not all at once, I did it in several sessions) class changing and grinding mobs right outside of Wormwood for skillpoints. Mobs there are pretty easy and you can hit mid teens to twenty fairly quickly and make a ton of cash while you are at it. My Martial Artist now has Shield to go with his maxed Claws. My main switched to Paladin (from Armamentalist) and now has maxed Virtue and Swords, my Warrior maxed her shield, switched to Gladiator and now has Fistocuffs maxed and about 40 points in Guts.

The Swinedimples boss was an absolute pushover with this team (38 MA, 38 Priest, 29 Paladin, 22 Glad) and I'm loving multifist on the Glad. 0 points to use, 4 hits and even at her low level it's hitting about 50x4 normally or as much as 80x4 if she doubles up. I've heard that in the late game weapons will pull ahead of Fist for all out attack power but right now I'm loving it.

 

[ReiGun]

I said it a few posts up, but I did what Koomaster said, only I didn't switch to my "main" and didn't use attack. Save up skill points for Metal Slash, switch to Warrior or Thief (whichever you haven't used before, so Level 1,) and do one battle to get to level 3 and have enough MP for Wizard Ward. In the Quarantomb, go forward, read the first stone sign, advance to the last (third) text box, and let the enemies spawn automatically without accidentally entering battles or running around. Because of your low level, Metal Slimes should appear a bit more frequently and have a less chance of running away, all you have to do then is hit A and run forward to initiate battle. After the first one you'll be about Level 9, which is still low enough that the Metal Slimes will appear with a bit more regularity. Hopefully that helps.

Ah, didn't see your post. Thank you so much.

 

[Lost Fragment]

So is there an equipment list anywhere out there that lists bonuses and effects? I just used a lucky pendant to make something that is worse than what I already wear

 

[Forkball]

I got rocked by

Spoiler

Atlast

. I now have three grottos that I'm nowhere near beating thanks to the boss. I need to find some metal king slimes badly and get better gear.

 

[Vamphuntr]

I got rocked by

Spoiler

Atlast

. I now have three grottos that I'm nowhere near beating thanks to the boss. I need to find some metal king slimes badly and get better gear.

That's the orange pallet swapped troll right? What is your team? Kabuff x 2 should do the trick so he won't kill you quickly. If he knocks you out quickly simply switch your characters to paladin and learn his passive abilities tree which gives resilience bonuses. 100 can be gotten quickly if you use point from classes you don't care toward this. You can level to 20 quickly using metal slimes. Level up two jobs to 20 and use the points in the paladin.

 

[Forkball]

That's the orange pallet swapped troll right? What is your team? Kabuff x 2 should do the trick so he won't kill you quickly. If he knocks you out quickly simply switch your characters to paladin and learn his passive abilities tree which gives resilience bonuses. 100 can be gotten quickly if you use point from classes you don't care toward this. You can level to 20 quickly using metal slimes. Level up two jobs to 20 and use the points in the paladin.

I have a gladiator, martial artist, priest, and mage in the high 40s. I don't have kabuff. I'm trying to turn my priest into a sage, but he's only around level 20 right now. Maybe instead of grotto hopping I should be trying to diversify my team a bit by trying out different classes and leveling up my sage. Grinding is a pain though, and I haven't seen a single metal king slime in Tower of Nod.

 

[Vamphuntr]

I have a gladiator, martial artist, priest, and mage in the high 40s. I don't have kabuff. I'm trying to turn my priest into a sage, but he's only around level 20 right now. Maybe instead of grotto hopping I should be trying to diversify my team a bit by trying out different classes and leveling up my sage. Grinding is a pain though, and I haven't seen a single metal king slime in Tower of Nod.

Mages are worthless in the post game IMO. In high levels grottoes some monsters are immune to magic... I beat all of the grottoes bosses (and some legacy bosses) with my friend in Coop and we had Armentalist, Warrior, Sage x 2. We had mastered some trees from other classes using the strategy above. Mastered the paladin passive skills for the Sages. Thief too for the increased agility. Had the warrior mastered the gladiator passive tree and the paladin passive tree.

Sage are awesome because they get Kazing (revive that always works), Multiheal, Kabuff, Right as Rain (Regen effects on everyone), can Equip Bows (Rain of Pain skill all the way ), can Equip Shields (Defending, Champion, Back Atcha, Magic Mirror). They also get Boom and Kaboom (and -le). Only downside is that they only get dark elemental attack magic and they are never multi target spells. If Boss is strong against darkness, at least you can spam rain of pain. I think it's time for big changes in your team if you want to beat the remaining bosses. The main problem is that Mage and priest can't do much outside of their vocations. Their attacks sucks ass and their defense too. Sage can heal, buff, use attack magic and so on. Get the Celestial Raiment using alchemy, the emperor vest or the female equivalent. Meteor Bracers and Phantom masks so that your healers always play before the bosses.

In 132 hours of play I never met I King Metal Slimes in my treasures maps and I have 8 pages worth of maps. Grind at the liquid metal slime (Bow hole, Angel fall cave using the train).

To get a good armor for the sage get the robe for bringing 80 mini medals to the medal guy. You can get medal quickly in the fountain at the inn (they have a high spawn rate there from my experience, you need 30+ tags to unlock it in the basement) and in treasure maps. Update that robe to the Xenlon robe.