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[slaughterking]

200 hours.

Damn.

Damn indeed. I stopped at 70 hours some weeks ago, but I think I could go back for some more grotto farming.

 

[Jade Knight 08]

Dragon Quest IX:

I finally beat it Tues. night. Awesome game! I'm definitely not gonna do the post game since i have no desire to finish the extras stuff they put in it.



Now....

I just returned to DQ IV picking up where i left off. Now, i'm fighting Balzack in chapter 5. Man, I'm getting my arse handed to me 5 times now.

Good grief, this fracker just won't go down. My characters are between level 27 to 24. I must be doing sumthin' wrong here. Ah well....gotta go suck on more lemons though. :lol

 

[donny2112]

200 hours.

Welcome to the club!

Spoiler

Is there a club?

I'm definitely not gonna do the post game since i have no desire to finish the extras stuff they put in it.

:O The quests are sweet. Come back in a few months and tackle 20-50 of them. The Brigadoom ones are my favorites so far.

 

[donny2112]

Edit: Meant to edit previous post.

 

[Jade Knight 08]

Welcome to the club!

Spoiler

Is there a club?

:O The quests are sweet. Come back in a few months and tackle 20-50 of them. The Brigadoom ones are my favorites so far.

Okay, I'll give it a try once i get done with DQ IV.

 

[ghibli99]

A few coworkers and I started doing some MP stuff this week, which is actually pretty fun. I don't have too many gamer friends outside of work (and even fewer who are local), so I don't know if I would have been able to experience this aspect of the game otherwise.

 

[ExtraKr1spy]

Prince Princeton is the new Inn guest. Goofy clothes but his hat/head piece is cool Sahme guest clothes are useless post game.

 

[platypotamus]

You can get his hat? I only got his cloak thing.

 

[ExtraKr1spy]

You can get his hat? I only got his cloak thing.

Yep

For every guest you can get 5 items I think

Talk to them for the first time
Talk to them on your birthday
Talk to them when your the same profession as they are
Talk to them after completing one of the DLC quests(hasn't been released)
Talk to them after you have 30 tags(never gonna get this :/)

 

[platypotamus]

Yep

For every guest you can get 5 items I think

Talk to them for the first time
Talk to them on your birthday
Talk to them when your the same profession as they are
Talk to them after completing one of the DLC quests(hasn't been released)
Talk to them after you have 30 tags(never gonna get this :/)

!!

Totally didn't know this, glad I asked, as I would never have ventured back up to their rooms. Stupid June Birthday :\

Also probably will never get those 30 tags, but I've got 0 down, so just 30 to go!

 

[Oxx]

I've only bothered with the first encounter and the matching vocation one.

 

[Cheerilee]

!!

Totally didn't know this, glad I asked, as I would never have ventured back up to their rooms. Stupid June Birthday :\

You can change your in-game profile to say that any day is your birthday. There is no drawback. They don't get mad at you for lying to them or cheating or anything like that.

 

[Socreges]

How do you tell what their vocation is?

 

[zurra]

:O The quests are sweet. Come back in a few months and tackle 20-50 of them. The Brigadoom ones are my favorites so far.

the only thing stopping me from doing the post-game and DLC quests are that so many of them involve grotto farming... or am i being mislead? don't really have a ton of interest in that...

 

[Cheerilee]

How do you tell what their vocation is?

Memory of what they were like in previous games, trial and error, or having someone else tell you.

 

[donny2112]

the only thing stopping me from doing the post-game and DLC quests are that so many of them involve grotto farming... or am i being mislead? don't really have a ton of interest in that...

Definitely mislead. I think I've only had to do a grotto to complete a quest (post-game or not) like 5 times? I've completed like > 100 quests. Could be wrong on the exact number, but no, it's definitely not heavy into grotto farming.

Edit:
Maybe it's an item-specific thing, like an item only found in higher chests in grottos? (e.g.

Spoiler

Metal Slime shoes

) Not sure about that. I've done a ton of grottos, so if it's just having items from chests in grottos, I may not have noticed. Still not anywhere close to the majority, though.

 

[ElFly]

I was stuck for a week on a story-post-game-quest, because it demanded I beat a silver grotto.

The stupid thing didn't want to spawn. I had a lot of gold and bronze ones, but no silver. It finally appeared when I had beaten like 70 grottoes. A friend on another forum got worse luck, got even platinum grottoes and never a silver one.

So, it can get ugly with bad luck.

 

[Mockingbird]

I finally got The Dragonlord's map. Did not use any exploits either -- and I've yet to do so too! I don't think I want to do any cheating in this game. I'm going to try to make everything legit.

 

[zurra]

cool... the first batch of quests i picked up all wanted me to get an item from a grotto chest or a grotto monster. i'll have to give it another go. should have lots of time to farm grottos soon anyway.

 

[Oxx]

I finally found

Spoiler

Greygnarl

at the bottom of a grotto.

He doesn't drop another map?

 

[rpmurphy]

I finally found

Spoiler

Greygnarl

at the bottom of a grotto.

He doesn't drop another map?

His map drop is the rare drop.

 

[platypotamus]

So I THINK I'm running right up at the end of the main story

Spoiler

Storming Gittingham Palace

. I hit a boss fight

Spoiler

pretty early in there (probably meaning there's more than one)

.

I've lost on it twice. This is the first time I've ever wiped in the entire game. What level were you guys around this point? My part is average level 31, with a Thief (swords), Martial Artist (fans), Priest (spears), and Armamentalist (wands).

I'm thinking I should get everyone to 40 and do their next class quests before I come back? Did I end up severely underleveled some how? Haven't really had trouble elsewhere (even though I apparently went out of order doing

Spoiler

Swinedimples

before

Spoiler

Batsureg

)

 

[donny2112]

I apparently went out of order doing

Spoiler

Swinedimples

before

Spoiler

Batsureg

)

I did Alltrades before Port Llafen and Batsureg before Gleeba. Made the latter much easier in both cases. :lol

Don't know about levels for the end area. Maybe figure what element they're weak to?

 

[MrPliskin]

I did Alltrades before Port Llafen and Batsureg before Gleeba. Made the latter much easier in both cases. :lol

Don't know about levels for the end area. Maybe figure what element they're weak to?

I'm fairly certain you're actually supposed to do Alltrades before you do Port Llafen, at least the layout of the maps suggest it.

But man, you must have been really lost to do Batsureg before Gleeba :lol I love it. Seems like it would have been an intense battle though.

 

[donny2112]

I'm fairly certain you're actually supposed to do Alltrades before you do Port Llafen, at least the layout of the maps suggest it.

The boss seemed a lot harder in Alltrades, otherwise I'd agree.

But man, you must have been really lost to do Batsureg before Gleeba :lol I love it. Seems like it would have been an intense battle though.

I knew people kept telling me to go to the desert, but I wanted to see what I could find. Got to Wormwood Creek really early due to that mentality, as well. Couldn't do anything there, though.

 

[platypotamus]

I knew people kept telling me to go to the desert, but I wanted to see what I could find. Got to Wormwood Creek really early due to that mentality, as well. Couldn't do anything there, though.

Yeah, I found Wormwood before I found any of the other places, but it didn't do anything but give my Priest the lvl 15 quest. Wouldn't even sell me anything, the jerks.

 

[Mockingbird]

I finally unlocked all the non-DLC Legacy bosses. Yay! Now to level them up to level 99....boooooo. Such a pain in the ass man. You have to fight a legacy boss at least 98 times in order to get it to level 99! WTF! Oh, plus, you don't even get to keep the experience!

 

[Johnas]

I finally unlocked all the non-DLC Legacy bosses. Yay! Now to level them up to level 99....boooooo. Such a pain in the ass man. You have to fight a legacy boss at least 98 times in order to get it to level 99! WTF! Oh, plus, you don't even get to keep the experience!

I'm currently working on

Spoiler

Dhoulmagus

, level 31 at the moment.

You don't really have to level them up that high unless you just want to. I'm periodically referring to that drop chart just to make sure I don't miss any items, but so far I haven't had to stop leveling them up, I have multiple of every item since my main has Thief's Theory in his possession.

I can understand wanting to do it purely for challenge, though.

 

[Giolon]

I'm about 20 hours in now, at Dourbridge (around Level 21), and I'm loving it! It's a little grind-heavy, but so far I am not minding it too much because you're always making measurable progress. It helps that each level up makes such a noticeable difference in your performance.

I have a couple questions as a complete noob to Dragon Quest in general:

Does Tension affect spells?
What are the best vocations to learn together? I'm wondering if it's worth it to make basically all my characters pick up at least 12 levels of Martial Artist for Psyche Up.

So far I've been venturing out with a Minstrel, Warrior, Thief, Mage team without too many issues. I took my Warrior down the Martial Artist path up to Level 12 so she could learn Psyche Up, and when paired with my Minstrel egging her on she now does shittons™ of damage.

 

[donny2112]

You don't really have to level them up that high unless you just want to.

For the map ones, no. However some of them have equipment all the way up. I got

Spoiler

Estark

up to 41. Then

Spoiler

the three attacks per turn he was getting

was just way overpowering. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. :/

Does Tension affect spells?

Absolutely. It affects healing ability, too.

What are the best vocations to learn together? I'm wondering if it's worth it to make basically all my characters pick up at least 12 levels of Martial Artist for Psyche Up.

The stat bonuses are worth leveling your characters up for in each job. It's greatly beneficial to have access to a MKS grotto to do so, though. As to whether Psyche Up specifically is worth it, you need to examine your play style. All the battle stat increasers are a trade-off, since it takes a turn to enable them. Psyche Up is only good for one turn, but it's what I had to use to beat

Spoiler

Darkonium Simes

when I first met them. Couldn't really hurt them, otherwise. :/

 

[Johnas]

For the map ones, no. However some of them have equipment all the way up.

Nothing unique at level 99 is what I meant. Most of them have their last item available at

Spoiler

level 69 or 81

.

Spoiler

Malroth, at level 91

, is an exception.

I got

Spoiler

Estark

up to 41. Then

Spoiler

the three attacks per turn he was getting

was just way overpowering. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. :/

How'd you get that map already? Tag event, or are you using an action replay or something similar?

I did the same thing as you with

Spoiler

Dhoulmagus

a while ago, up to level 43. It really starts getting difficult with

Spoiler

three turns

, as well as the occasional disruptive wave.

So I decided instead for the moment to revocate and level some more. I really want to get some more metal equipment.

 

[donny2112]

How'd you get that map already? Tag event, or are you using an action replay or something similar?

Best Buy. Got one user tag plus the NOA4 tag with that map.


On a side note, I finally got a Level S Water Grotto (Lvl. 84 Ruby Waterway of Regret), so I've now filled out the non-boss monster list. I like the

Spoiler

Pale Whale

and his "Eye of Trouble" description.

 

[platypotamus]

So after finishing the lvl 40 quests for my four classes, that boss that was giving me trouble right at the beginning of the end went down like nothing. No one on my squad even turned yellow.

 

[Oxx]

I think I might be done with the game (for now).

I'm actually hankering for some portable Fire Emblem right now. I hope the second DS one makes it over and isn't sacrificed as Nintendo focus on Pokemon BW and 3DS next year.

 

[Mockingbird]

I think I might be done with the game (for now).

I'm actually hankering for some portable Fire Emblem right now. I hope the second DS one makes it over and isn't sacrificed as Nintendo focus on Pokemon BW and 3DS next year.

You just reminded that I've yet to beat Fire Emblem DS =(

But I just can't stop playing this game until I've done everything! I'm approaching 300 hours. I think because I can use the tag feature everyday -- though I don't always get tags -- adds longevity to the game.

 

[someguyinahat]

I was stuck for a week on a story-post-game-quest, because it demanded I beat a silver grotto.

The stupid thing didn't want to spawn. I had a lot of gold and bronze ones, but no silver. It finally appeared when I had beaten like 70 grottoes. A friend on another forum got worse luck, got even platinum grottoes and never a silver one.

So, it can get ugly with bad luck.

I know what you mean. I haven't found a silver grotto, or even a water grotto. The quests just sit there like lumps...it's frustrating.

 

[donny2112]

I think I might be done with the game (for now).

I'm nearly there. Just a few more things to do before just putting in the game on Fridays for the new quest downloads and maybe some days in the week. Glory of Heracles to follow, and then either Ace Attorney Investigations or Mario & Luigi 3. Probably AAI, to take a break from RPGs for a bit. :lol

 

[Oxx]

I can't escape! I just spent about an hour running around doing some of the download quests.

(Mario and Luigi 3 is fantastic. Second-best DS RPG of 2009).

 

[Johnas]

Best Buy. Got one user tag plus the NOA4 tag with that map.

On a side note, I finally got a Level S Water Grotto (Lvl. 84 Ruby Waterway of Regret), so I've now filled out the non-boss monster list. I like the

Spoiler

Pale Whale

and his "Eye of Trouble" description.

How many times did you revocate your main? I'm working on that now, I guess I'm aiming for +6 or +7. Currently a level 25 martial artist +3. I don't have an all-metal-anything grotto, but I have a water grotto with a halfway decent number of king metal slimes.

On quests, I've completed every one so far available except for #59 (Runny Bunny, which I know what I need to complete it) and #122 (Bert's Birfday, which I also know what I need there). I did cheat on the ones where you have to wear certain combinations of equipment, I'm sorry but those are fairly ridiculous when you have an asinine amount of equippable items, and consequently one bajillion possible combinations. Also on the ones that require

Spoiler

recipes found in Stornway's inn

, as it's impossible for me to obtain those the required way.

I really liked the subtle hints that a lot of them gave you, I didn't find any of the other ones to be that obtuse in description.

Also really enjoying the post-game story quests much more than the main game's story, possibly due to the way they're doled out slowly, which feels a little more mysterious I guess.

 

[Oxx]

Also really enjoying the post-game story quests much more than the main game's story, possibly due to the way they're doled out slowly, which feels a little more mysterious I guess.

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the

Spoiler

Brigadoom

quests. They're an especially nice change of pace after running around grottoes for hours. I had almost forgotten what the game's story was all about.

Edit: FFFFUUUU! I had been walking around in the Magmaroo so much that I somehow managed to glitch through the floor and ended up walking around on the lava backdrop.

 

[donny2112]

How many times did you revocate your main?

8, and I have a Lvl. 99 Minstrel just sitting there to help get higher maps.

Tip for revocation with MKS floors:
* Bring only one other character, and make sure they are a newbie with only Thunder Thrust as a bonus.
Reason:
EXP is divided by the number of team members, so fewer team members means more EXP per.
EXP is also divvied out by proportion of total levels. If you're a Lvl. 90 and your partner is a level 10, you'll get 90% of the EXP this battle. Therefore, the lower you can keep your partner (

Spoiler

Jack's Knack

) the more EXP you get.
Boosting up your partner's stats also gives someone to watch over you when you revocate.

#122 (Bert's Birfday, which I also know what I need there).

I've been buying Birthday cakes from DQVC since the first one I saw. Didn't know what they'd be used for, but it sold for what it cost, so I figured it couldn't hurt. :lol

Also really enjoying the post-game story quests much more than the main game's story, possibly due to the way they're doled out slowly, which feels a little more mysterious I guess.

Yep. Post-game quests are quite fun.

Edit:

I had been walking around in the Magmaroo so much that I somehow managed to glitch through the floor and ended up walking around on the lava backdrop.

Pics?

 

[Johnas]

8, and I have a Lvl. 99 Minstrel just sitting there to help get higher maps.

Tip for revocation with MKS floors:
* Bring only one other character, and make sure they are a newbie with only Thunder Thrust as a bonus.
Reason:
EXP is divided by the number of team members, so fewer team members means more EXP per.
EXP is also divvied out by proportion of total levels. If you're a Lvl. 90 and your partner is a level 10, you'll get 90% of the EXP this battle. Therefore, the lower you can keep your partner (

Spoiler

Jack's Knack

) the more EXP you get.
Boosting up your partner's stats also gives someone to watch over you when you revocate.

That's a great idea, I never considered that. I had of course noticed the experience scaling and all since I've done quite a bit of revocating already, but I hadn't figured out exactly how it worked.

I don't have an all MKS floor, but I can still do that.

 

[platypotamus]

Beat the game today! Onward to the post game content I go. First stop: Following that

Spoiler

fygg that fell near the port on Newid Isle

. I have a hunch that it might mean a reunification with someone(s).

 

[Oxx]

Pics?

Afraid not.

I was too concerned that my cart might be ready to explode to consider such a move.

 

[botticus]

8, and I have a Lvl. 99 Minstrel just sitting there to help get higher maps.

Geez, you had a much more productive 300 hours than I did. I think I revocated 3 times, but for different classes to help the rest of my party get all the revocation items.

Hopefully the remaining post-game quests will help me get my wardrobe percentage over 80, to catch up to the rest of my stats.

 

[donny2112]

I have a hunch that it might mean a reunification with someone(s).

It's really sad when you go to a

Spoiler

Blue Tree to the observatory

and it says something like

Spoiler

Sorry, this part of your life has past. Embrace your new life in this world

.

 

[Oxx]

Nice.

Just as I finally catch up with all the post-game story quests it's time for the next weekly installment!

 

[Oxx]

(Apologies for double post).

FUCK!

With my deposits in the bank approaching the 1 million gold mark I decided to go on a trip to every shop in the game and buy everything I didn't already have. Then I went through all the alchemy recipes I hadn't used before.

As a result of this lunacy I raised my completion percentages for the wardrobe, item list, and alchenomicon by abaout 30% each.

And I now have over 200 accolades.

At least I can have some fun playing dress-up now that I have so much more clothing to look at...

 

[donny2112]

Finished all Normal quests (except for weapons I have no interest in) and all current extra quests. Even hit the max on # of maps you can carry (

Spoiler

100

) and had to delete some I didn't want to go through. 'Bout time to pick back up Glory of Heracles again...

 

[Oxx]

The legacy bosses represent the worst of the games number grinding distilled into bite-sized chunks.

I've beaten the first one 37 times and I have very little to show for it. Apart from a ton of mini-medals, of course.

It's always these limited drop things that sap my enthusiasm for the game. I'm surprised I have lasted this long with the post-game.