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Dragon Quest 9 |OT| Last chance* to shine
- Thread starter Aeana
- Start date
Hours Left
Member
I see. Well, I can personally confirm they spawn near the Lonely Coast, not very often though. I tried between the Djust Desert and Urdus Marshland too like the guide suggested, but I haven't ran into any there.Mejilan said:
Thank you all for the help, but nevermind. After nearly 100 battles, tons of Whistles, and way too many of my 65 hours, I've given up on this stupid quest and cheated my way through completion. The first DQ9 quest to break me, and I don't feel even the slightest bit guilty about streamlining it.
My endgame party:
Clocked 80 hours before I decided to take down the final boss.
I just took back
. Now I just need to find a way to connect my DS >.<. Grinding on Slime hill is much more boring than I thought, guess I'll just crawl in some grotto. During the main quest I did a level 8 grotto with Equinox, it gave me a Dragontail Whip which was way better than any other weapon I had access to. Too bad none of my character was using it >.<
Clocked 80 hours before I decided to take down the final boss.
I just took back
the Starflight Express
lordoftherink
Member
This part of your post was already answered, but I'll just add that while it is simplistic compared to other modern RPGs, the different jobs and skills make it much more varied than the previous DS entries in the series.Socreges said:
There are islands you can find that have hidden items etc. that the story does not direct you to at all. The game is definitely not direct. The main story is quite open ended, there were quite a few posters, myself included, that discovered after the fact that we did part of the game out of order, and there is nothing stopping you from doing nothing but exploring, experimenting with jobs etc. for as long as you want. I beat the main game in 54 hours, I saw others beat the game in 30, 80, 100 so there is definitely room to do whatever you want in the game, story progression or otherwise.
Just passed the 100-hour mark last night (I know to some dudes here that's weaksauce 
).
Am I correct in assuming that in order to get the highest-level grottoes, you have to have experience levels close to that? I can't seem to produce grotto maps above the high fifties, which is also where my levels are at the moment.
).Am I correct in assuming that in order to get the highest-level grottoes, you have to have experience levels close to that? I can't seem to produce grotto maps above the high fifties, which is also where my levels are at the moment.
Johnas said:Just passed the 100-hour mark last night (I know to some dudes here that's weaksauce
Am I correct in assuming that in order to get the highest-level grottoes, you have to have experience levels close to that? I can't seem to produce grotto maps above the high fifties, which is also where my levels are at the moment.
Grottos are determined by your main character's level, how many times you revocated, and the level of the grotto you just completed. Adding those numbers up give you a quality ranking, which determines what types of monsters, treasures, and bosses you encounter. More info can be found here.
And this site is extremely useful about telling you what you may find in grottos.
Anyways, I too am getting a bit tired of grotto hoping with little or no reward. My characters are in their 50s, and leveling up is a chore. God I just wish I had a Metal King Slime map or floor or something.
I generally don't mind the grottoes, but now needing to find specific grotto types or names for quests is starting to wear on me. If out of 50 grottoes I have no water or Silver grottoes, what likelihood do I have of getting one in the next 50?
I am starting to get into higher-ranked grottoes in general though (my newest is Steel Maze of Bane Lv. 72) so perhaps a better chance of getting grotto-specific treasures will keep me interested.
I am starting to get into higher-ranked grottoes in general though (my newest is Steel Maze of Bane Lv. 72) so perhaps a better chance of getting grotto-specific treasures will keep me interested.
The DQVC screwed up and gave my brother all the quests from 121 to 178 the other day. Yesterday I played some multiplayer with him, and the game said I "brought some quests back with me" from his world, so the game (not the DQVC) gave me access to all of them too. I haven't even beaten the game yet.Docpan said:
I'm not sure if you were joking because of how I phrased it.Gaming Truth said:
For Alena and Angelo...
- All you have to do is simply speak to them, and they will give you (a duplicate of) their top.
- If you speak to them while your in-game profile indicates that it's your birthday (you can lie), they will give you their hat/hairstyle.
- If you speak to them after your Inn has been maxed out because you have tagged 30 unique people, they will give you their gloves.
- If you speak to them while your hero is in the same job as they are, they will give you their pants (Alena is a Martial Artist and Angelo is a Priest).
- DLC will supposedly give you their shoes, but I haven't gotten that far yet.
Ashlynn is a Mage, but when you approach her as such, she gives you her shoes, not her pants, and (assuming you filled the other requirements) tells you that her outfit is complete, meaning that there is no DLC for her.
jaundicejuice
Member
Main quest completed
Time spent playing: 75:49
Time spent in multiplayer: 14:32
Battle victories: 2286
Times alchemy performed: 114
Accolades Earnt: 62
Quests Completed: 28
Grottoes Completed: 4
Guests Canvassed: 36
Lvl 35 Warrior (main character)
Lvl 44 Martial Artist
Lvl 43 Gladiator
Lvl 43 Priest(ess)
I always intended to switch up my parties jobs more often, my main character learned a number of vocations (Minstrel, Thief, Aramentalist, Martial Artist, Priest and Warrior) but the rest of my party only changed jobs once, and that team build sort of steam rolled through half the game. Psyche Up, Attack and Multiheal seemed to be all I needed for most bosses, none really required any sort of finessing, just brute force.
Time spent playing: 75:49
Time spent in multiplayer: 14:32
Battle victories: 2286
Times alchemy performed: 114
Accolades Earnt: 62
Quests Completed: 28
Grottoes Completed: 4
Guests Canvassed: 36
Lvl 35 Warrior (main character)
Lvl 44 Martial Artist
Lvl 43 Gladiator
Lvl 43 Priest(ess)
I always intended to switch up my parties jobs more often, my main character learned a number of vocations (Minstrel, Thief, Aramentalist, Martial Artist, Priest and Warrior) but the rest of my party only changed jobs once, and that team build sort of steam rolled through half the game. Psyche Up, Attack and Multiheal seemed to be all I needed for most bosses, none really required any sort of finessing, just brute force.
Do you want to know what level chests are in your grotto? Do you want a way to farm those chests for alchemy ingredients or some sought after item? Here's how:
Note: Before I begin, I should mention a few things. Once you get the hang of this, it isn't as difficult as my long instructions may indicate, but it is not trivial, so you may find that it is not worth your while or that you don't enjoy exploiting the game to this degree. Also, I did not discover any of this information or make any of these tools. I'm only passing the information along since, to my knowledge, it hasn't been collated into one complete set of instructions.
Oh, one more note, I haven't tested these sites very much, so I have no idea how extensive the grotto databases are. Your grotto may or may not be in the database.
1) To determine what chests are in your grotto:
First, go to this website: http://dq9.ffsky.cn/maplocation.htm
and determine the location of your grotto. Make a note of the alpha-numeric value assigned to your grotto. For example, if my grotto was just south-east of Angel Falls, it would be 01. Now, go to this website: http://www20.atpages.jp/dq9tools/tmape.cgi
Enter all of the information pertaining to the name of your grotto. In the last pull down menu, enter the location of your grotto that you noted above. Press the button. More information about your grotto will be displayed including the Boss, the starting rank of the monsters, how many floors it has and how many S, A and B rank chests it contains. Pay special attention to the text before the 'MAP' link (it should be something like '6926-L', but the specific numbers and letters will be different based on your grotto). You will need this information in the next step. Click on the 'MAP' link. This will show you where every treasure chest in your grotto is and what rank it is (in order to view the map properly, you need to change the encoding to Japanese (Shift-JIS)).
2) To determine the time table of your chests:
Go to this website: http://www20.atpages.jp/dq9tools/from_site.html
Enter the code you found on the previous site (e.g. 6926-L) into the box (If you are still confused about the location of this code, this website provides sample screen shots above the text box). Click the button. You should see a long table. Below the table are two drop-down menus. In the first menu select the option that has 'PC' in it and press the button. You should be directed to a new page. On this new page click on the first link (amongst the Japanese text should be the level of your grotto). You should now see a table that lists every chest in the dungeon and the timing for every item that can be found in each chest. The one issue is that every item is in Japanese. As a reference, you can visit this site: http://dq9.org/dq9_takara2.html
By toggling between the Google translation, you should be able to find the Japanese name of the item you are looking for without too much difficulty.
3) Making use of the time table:
Let's say that you've found the item you are looking for and the table says that it spawns at 23 seconds. How do you open the chest at 23 seconds? First you are going to need a stopwatch. I've been using this: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/. Then, you need to enter your grotto and go down to the location of the chest that contains your desired item. Quick Save. When you restart your game you will get the quicksave message. When you select "Load quick save data" start the stopwatch at the exact same time. As your game loads, press the b button to get past the grotto text and immediately press select to enter Stella's screen. Stay on this screen until the timer reaches the desired value (23 seconds, in our example). Then press b to cancel out of the screen and open the chest. If all went well, you should now possess that great item or alchemy ingredient.
Note: Before I begin, I should mention a few things. Once you get the hang of this, it isn't as difficult as my long instructions may indicate, but it is not trivial, so you may find that it is not worth your while or that you don't enjoy exploiting the game to this degree. Also, I did not discover any of this information or make any of these tools. I'm only passing the information along since, to my knowledge, it hasn't been collated into one complete set of instructions.
Oh, one more note, I haven't tested these sites very much, so I have no idea how extensive the grotto databases are. Your grotto may or may not be in the database.
1) To determine what chests are in your grotto:
First, go to this website: http://dq9.ffsky.cn/maplocation.htm
and determine the location of your grotto. Make a note of the alpha-numeric value assigned to your grotto. For example, if my grotto was just south-east of Angel Falls, it would be 01. Now, go to this website: http://www20.atpages.jp/dq9tools/tmape.cgi
Enter all of the information pertaining to the name of your grotto. In the last pull down menu, enter the location of your grotto that you noted above. Press the button. More information about your grotto will be displayed including the Boss, the starting rank of the monsters, how many floors it has and how many S, A and B rank chests it contains. Pay special attention to the text before the 'MAP' link (it should be something like '6926-L', but the specific numbers and letters will be different based on your grotto). You will need this information in the next step. Click on the 'MAP' link. This will show you where every treasure chest in your grotto is and what rank it is (in order to view the map properly, you need to change the encoding to Japanese (Shift-JIS)).
2) To determine the time table of your chests:
Go to this website: http://www20.atpages.jp/dq9tools/from_site.html
Enter the code you found on the previous site (e.g. 6926-L) into the box (If you are still confused about the location of this code, this website provides sample screen shots above the text box). Click the button. You should see a long table. Below the table are two drop-down menus. In the first menu select the option that has 'PC' in it and press the button. You should be directed to a new page. On this new page click on the first link (amongst the Japanese text should be the level of your grotto). You should now see a table that lists every chest in the dungeon and the timing for every item that can be found in each chest. The one issue is that every item is in Japanese. As a reference, you can visit this site: http://dq9.org/dq9_takara2.html
By toggling between the Google translation, you should be able to find the Japanese name of the item you are looking for without too much difficulty.
3) Making use of the time table:
Let's say that you've found the item you are looking for and the table says that it spawns at 23 seconds. How do you open the chest at 23 seconds? First you are going to need a stopwatch. I've been using this: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/. Then, you need to enter your grotto and go down to the location of the chest that contains your desired item. Quick Save. When you restart your game you will get the quicksave message. When you select "Load quick save data" start the stopwatch at the exact same time. As your game loads, press the b button to get past the grotto text and immediately press select to enter Stella's screen. Stay on this screen until the timer reaches the desired value (23 seconds, in our example). Then press b to cancel out of the screen and open the chest. If all went well, you should now possess that great item or alchemy ingredient.
Okay, one complaint I have with the game is that there are some times when it's not so clear where to go next... even more so than other DQ games. Yeah, I am one of those people who appreciate actually talking to people to find out where to go, but after playing through Gleeba, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do next. Nobody in town would mention anything interesting, eventually I wandered around and discovered Swinedimples or whatever it's called, but that was just by exploration and not because it was pointed out to me. So yeah, 5 fyggs down, 2 more to go, about 22 hours in. Making slow and steady progress in the game since I only really play my portable during work.
It's pretty common in DQ that once you get the ship, the entire world (almost) is at your disposal, and since the regions are so unconnected, there's little reason why you should visit them in a specific order. It's a little window of non-linearity in a linear game.djtiesto said:
The man in the lighthouse after you get the ship seems to suggest that Gleeba should be your first stop (without really giving you a reason), but I never found Gleeba first myself. I found the 4th stop, then the 1st stop, then the 3rd stop, then the 2nd.
You've apparently found the 1st stop, then the 3rd.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
I finished the game off last night at about 50 hours, everyone at level 40. I think I kinda killed the game for myself in the end stages there, I became so obsessed with grinding that it's all I did for the past week or so. In the process I made my party totally badass but it had the unexpected effect of leaving the end section of the game really boring. I could kill all the enemies in one turn and the bosses were a cinch, so it really showed up the flaws in DQ's combat (attack, attack, attack...).
I understand entirely that this was my own fault but the job system is just so easy to game, and addictive too. I'm not sure if I really want to play on now though, I get the feeling I'm going to be very over-leveled for at least a few more hours yet so the game won't be much 'fun' I worry.
Also, this brings up my main issue with post-game content - what is the point? In the main game I'm always totally motivated to level up, get the best loot and explore everywhere because it all serves the story, I'm working towards an epic fight at the end (like the end of DQ5, my favourite so far, that boss was a bitch). Once the epic fight is over and I have saved the world I just lose most of my interest though. I could spend hours playing more and getting better armour and weapons, but what for? The big bad is dead, I would spend all this time playing but only for the sake of loot-whoring and leveling. I'm not sure that sounds fun.
I understand entirely that this was my own fault but the job system is just so easy to game, and addictive too. I'm not sure if I really want to play on now though, I get the feeling I'm going to be very over-leveled for at least a few more hours yet so the game won't be much 'fun' I worry.
Also, this brings up my main issue with post-game content - what is the point? In the main game I'm always totally motivated to level up, get the best loot and explore everywhere because it all serves the story, I'm working towards an epic fight at the end (like the end of DQ5, my favourite so far, that boss was a bitch). Once the epic fight is over and I have saved the world I just lose most of my interest though. I could spend hours playing more and getting better armour and weapons, but what for? The big bad is dead, I would spend all this time playing but only for the sake of loot-whoring and leveling. I'm not sure that sounds fun.
Jedeye Sniv said:
At first when I read about the postgame stuff I wasn't interested, but I spent some time with it and it's a lot of fun. I don't know how many DQs you've played, but you may have noticed that you never got the
ability to fly
legacy bosses and getting their cool rare drops
I'm having just as much fun with the postgame as I was the main game, if not more.
This is the best game.
I thought I liked DQVIII a lot. Now... now I know that Dragon Quest should always have been on handhelds.
I don't even know if I can go back to the GBC port of DQIII anymore. DQIX, you have spoiled me so!
My game is probably slowed down since I'm playing Etrian Odyssey-style - I have seven dudes including my hero. Each one has their ups and downs and skill paths and aksnflsksafnlsaknfdkslanf
DQIX manages to make constant fights actually fun and lootwhoring accessible to casual RPG players like me that don't like shifting through eighty +429 Blackswords of the Monkey Toe. And the QUESTS. The fact that there are no "kill x monsters" quests in sight is beautiful. I'm using spells I've never used in RPGs before just to do the quests. I love it.
I thought I liked DQVIII a lot. Now... now I know that Dragon Quest should always have been on handhelds.
I don't even know if I can go back to the GBC port of DQIII anymore. DQIX, you have spoiled me so!
My game is probably slowed down since I'm playing Etrian Odyssey-style - I have seven dudes including my hero. Each one has their ups and downs and skill paths and aksnflsksafnlsaknfdkslanf
DQIX manages to make constant fights actually fun and lootwhoring accessible to casual RPG players like me that don't like shifting through eighty +429 Blackswords of the Monkey Toe. And the QUESTS. The fact that there are no "kill x monsters" quests in sight is beautiful. I'm using spells I've never used in RPGs before just to do the quests. I love it.
rpmurphy said:
Yeah, I plan on getting all of it eventually. My levels are in the high fifties at the moment, and I haven't revocated anybody yet, so I've only killed him three times so far.
I could really use a map with an all MKS floor, grinding is starting to get a little old without one of those.
Yeah MKS floor grottoes are awesome.Johnas said:
In any case, he's not a particularly difficult boss since most of his attacks are spells during the lower levels, which can be dealt with with Magic Mirror or Bounce with Forbearance. Might get a little harder when he learns Disruptive Wave.
rpmurphy said:Yeah MKS floor grottoes are awesome.
In any case, he's not a particularly difficult boss since most of his attacks are spells during the lower levels, which can be dealt with with Magic Mirror or Bounce with Forbearance. Might get a little harder when he learns Disruptive Wave.
He's done more critical hits on me than anything else, which at the moment is just barely enough most times to knock out my two strongest party members.
I forgot all about leveling him up, ugh.
Then you gotta focus on getting the shield scroll first! It's invaluable in legacy boss fights.Johnas said:He's done more critical hits on me than anything else, which at the moment is just barely enough most times to knock out my two strongest party members.
I forgot all about leveling him up, ugh.
4 lv22 maps, always got another lv22 map with the exception of the last one, which gave me a lv 16 one (I know there's a margin for the map level you can get, but ALWAYS getting the same or lower sounds strange :lol btw I guess I'll just continue with the ones I have until they get better)Johnas said:
I've been replaying my level 72 map in the hopes of getting something better, but I've only gotten some level 50 maps as a result until my last run netted me a 66. Even though it's a useless fire map, I'll have to check it out to see what sort of treasures are involved.
I tried out the timing thing with the chests posted a page or two back but it wasn't working for me. Hard enough to translate the names (the characters on the grotto page don't exactly mirror the characters used on the treasure list page) and when I was sure I had the right thing, I was probably either a second early or late. So I think I'll just try my luck - once I get good enough grottoes, I'll randomly stumble upon the goodies I want eventually anyway.
In the meantime, my MC is leveling relatively rapidly, up to 86 now. Shouldn't be long before I'm looking at a revocation, but I'll probably take that opportunity to build up another class first so I don't lose all those levels in the calculation.
I tried out the timing thing with the chests posted a page or two back but it wasn't working for me. Hard enough to translate the names (the characters on the grotto page don't exactly mirror the characters used on the treasure list page) and when I was sure I had the right thing, I was probably either a second early or late. So I think I'll just try my luck - once I get good enough grottoes, I'll randomly stumble upon the goodies I want eventually anyway.
In the meantime, my MC is leveling relatively rapidly, up to 86 now. Shouldn't be long before I'm looking at a revocation, but I'll probably take that opportunity to build up another class first so I don't lose all those levels in the calculation.
BJK
Member
I'm sure this has been answered in the last hundred pages or so, but at what level should I start worrying about treasure maps?
I have 3 of them so far, one (Lv.1) that I received as a quest reward outside
, one (Lv.1) from the Nintendo-Best Buy event, and a higher-level map that I picked up via tag-mode at the Best Buy event.
My party is between level 25 (Minstrel/main character & my priest) and about Level 22 (Thief & Gladiator). Without looking, I have around 3-4 fyggs already, and have just completed the quest to have access to a
. I need to do some grinding to open up Ranger and to finish the Martial Artist Lv. 15 quest ('Cry Wolf' I think), but I'm curious what level would be appropriate to square off against the bosses.
- Around Level 10-15, I went to the Best Buy map, and the boss (the only enemy in the cave) one-shotted my entire party.
- Around Level 20-23, I went to the other Level 1 map, and made it all the way down into the dungeon, but couldn't do enough damage to wipe out the boss before he methodically wiped out my party.
Now that I have the materials to start putting together platinum weapons and armor....I am wondering whether I should give the Level 1 maps another shot....or if I'd just be wasting a few hundred gold in the effort.
I can't help but compare this game to the last two true JRPGs I first played on a handheld. In Golden Sun 2, I stopped playing because I felt like the game expected me to know what to do next. In an earlier DQ game (somewhere between 3&5 - played it back on the GBA years ago), I reached a point where I likewise lost any sense of direction. With this game - and I realize this may change - it seems like every town has it's own sidequest, it's own recipies, and its own quests, all of which can be done about the time you get them. It's so much less about 'what are you supposed to do' and more 'what do you want to do.' As a result, I'm enjoying this game way more than I expected to.
I have 3 of them so far, one (Lv.1) that I received as a quest reward outside
Stone Zere
My party is between level 25 (Minstrel/main character & my priest) and about Level 22 (Thief & Gladiator). Without looking, I have around 3-4 fyggs already, and have just completed the quest to have access to a
ship
- Around Level 10-15, I went to the Best Buy map, and the boss (the only enemy in the cave) one-shotted my entire party.
- Around Level 20-23, I went to the other Level 1 map, and made it all the way down into the dungeon, but couldn't do enough damage to wipe out the boss before he methodically wiped out my party.
Now that I have the materials to start putting together platinum weapons and armor....I am wondering whether I should give the Level 1 maps another shot....or if I'd just be wasting a few hundred gold in the effort.
I can't help but compare this game to the last two true JRPGs I first played on a handheld. In Golden Sun 2, I stopped playing because I felt like the game expected me to know what to do next. In an earlier DQ game (somewhere between 3&5 - played it back on the GBA years ago), I reached a point where I likewise lost any sense of direction. With this game - and I realize this may change - it seems like every town has it's own sidequest, it's own recipies, and its own quests, all of which can be done about the time you get them. It's so much less about 'what are you supposed to do' and more 'what do you want to do.' As a result, I'm enjoying this game way more than I expected to.
Princess Skittles
Prince's's 'Skittle's
30ish.BJK said:
Woo-Fu
Banned
Mejilan said:
I found it a refreshing change from the step and fetch it false achievement quests that populate the majority of games this generation.
BJK said:
Level by itself is quite meaningless in this game. You can have a level one minstrel with 50HP... and you can have a level one minstrel with 350HP. The level of the class you're currently playing is really only half the equation, the other half is how many skillpoints you've invested in the other class skills, since that is where the passive benefits to all of your major stats come from.
I don't see much point in worrying about treasure maps until *after* you've completed the main story.
Princess Skittles
Prince's's 'Skittle's
thumbswayup.gifWoo-Fu said:
rpmurphy said:
Yeah, I've actually been putting points into Shield just the past couple of days (I assume it's related to that).
Grampasso said:
I did quite a few before I started getting into halfway decent stuff (decent is a relative term there), probably about fifteen or so. I'm really looking forward to revocation, since that makes a definite difference in the formula.
Leveling really does get boring without frequent LMS battles though.