Can someone explain to me how the Grotto map system works? After putting the game down for a few months I've been playing pretty regularly again and I thought as I would beat Grottos I would get higher level maps, but that hasn't been the case. Today I beat a level 38 map and got a level 24 map as a reward. Beat the level 24 and got a level 16 as a reward. All of these were done with a party all leveled in the low to mid 50's. Is it just random?
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Dragon Quest 9 |OT| Last chance* to shine
- Thread starter Aeana
- Start date
tim1138 said:
No, it's not totally random. You get maps based on the level of the map you just beat, plus the level of your main character, times the amount of times your main character has revocated (gone from level 99 back to 1). This gives you a number that determines in which "quality bracket" the next map will be in. Within this bracket (say, quality-points 80-120) you'll randomly get a map from, for example, levels 44-68, with enemies levels 4-8, chests levels 3-6 and bosses 1-5 (these numbers are just something I took out of my head). So you'll get maps with a higher or lower level than the one you just beat (within the bracket), but lower doesn't necessarily mean worse since you can still get harder enemies or better chests. There's a very detailed thread about this on Gamefaqs.
I think I was using the Bowhole well into the post-game.
If you use the 'spawn-camping' trick it's pretty painless, if a little dull.
This is a decent tool to see what you should be expecting in each grotto:
http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/gaming/dq9_grotto.html#Predict_H0_Netxc_I0_R0
If you use the 'spawn-camping' trick it's pretty painless, if a little dull.
This is a decent tool to see what you should be expecting in each grotto:
http://plumeria.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/gaming/dq9_grotto.html#Predict_H0_Netxc_I0_R0
Loving this week's shop theme, I've been able to buy the shield, sword, gauntlets, and sollerets. I've seen the helmet for sale two times but I already had one as a quest reward.
This morning I finally get a higher level Grotto map as well, I've been running a level 50 I got in tag mode from one the summers events and it finally spit out a level 53.
This morning I finally get a higher level Grotto map as well, I've been running a level 50 I got in tag mode from one the summers events and it finally spit out a level 53.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
So four hours in I just realized Patty provides new party members. :lol I just beat
alone.
This has made my curious; how possible is it to beat the game just using your main? If you only have one character do you earn exp faster? Aka if an enemy is worth 60EXP, do they gain 60 while in a group of four each would earn 15? Making generic party members isn't something I'm too excited to do, especially since they'll be starting at level 1 while my main is 16.
Morag
This has made my curious; how possible is it to beat the game just using your main? If you only have one character do you earn exp faster? Aka if an enemy is worth 60EXP, do they gain 60 while in a group of four each would earn 15? Making generic party members isn't something I'm too excited to do, especially since they'll be starting at level 1 while my main is 16.
It is possible to beat the game as one character. There's a guide on GameFAQ that gives suggestions of how to level up your character but the first suggestion is to play through the game once so you know what to be prepared for. I'd be tempted to try it if the game allowed for multiple saves.ICallItFutile said:
EXP is based on levels. I believe the formula for each member is ((total EXP/total of all levels)*individual's level)
I decided to run my lvl. 88 grotto at lunch today; it's water, rank A. It was pretty weak all around. Lots of MKSs on the first few levels, but not much to write home about beyond that. Good loot, and Fowleye at the end... again. I was hoping for a good drop to get me closer to Greygnarl, but the stupid thing dropped a lvl. 85. Ugh.
That'd be interesting, but I would much rather have the ability to dish out good damage and do things like heal and provide defensive spells in battle as well. I'm sure folks have done it, though; the critical path isn't difficult compared to past DQs. As generic as they are, I'm pretty attached to my party... more so than in some past DQs.ICallItFutile said:
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
BGBW said:
I guess I'll make party members, as not to make this game harder than it has to be. I'd blame the game for my misundertanding, but I assumed Patty was for setting up multiplayer. I realized my error when I returned to Stornway to find Pavo.
Well it also took me a while to realise I needed to make my party members as well so don't worry about it. After the first addition I thought more would be allowed after certain plot points rather than being allowed to add all three new members in one go.ICallItFutile said:
DLC Quest #125 Spoiler
Has anyone bothered making Patty a permanent member of their party?
someguyinahat
Member
Oxx said:
I know there are several recipes in the upper floors of the inn once you get 25 tags...did you get those yet?
BGBW said:
Here's an apparent list of the Stornway Inn recipes, I assume it's complete. I used this in conjunction with the recipe FAQ at Gamefaqs to fill in the holes in my alchenomicon. There's no way I'll ever get to the upper floors of the inn, either legitimately or by cheating.
http://www.woodus.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16269
Also, I believe it's 30 tags, not that that matters.
Oxx said:
Yeah dude. Catch up on your questing.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Ugh with such a huge level gap, it's going to take a long time to level up my new party members. :\ I wish I could just put my main aside to level them alone.
Oxx said:
I didn't really care for them either at first, but they kind of grew on me. What's nice is that where I am in the post-game, with nearly everything done that I can do at this point, I can usually solve each week's new quest really quickly, sometimes immediately if it depends on having a certain item.
I want to say three or four of the post-game quests released so far have each given me a new group of recipes.
I've now revocated every vocation once for all the medals, have my main up to at least level 40 for the class-specific quests I still need to do, and almost have everyone back up to 99 for their primary vocations. I'm pretty surprised that I'm not burnt out on grinding away MKSs all night long. I still get a thrill when Hatchet Man or Thunder Thrust connect! Anyway, it's finally time to get back into quests... I have a lot of catching up to do.
Anyway, it's finally time to get back into quests... I have a lot of catching up to do.someguyinahat
Member
DarthWoo said:
No, mainly because the steal item is different from the regular drops and usually isn't all that worth it.
Mockingbird
Member
someguyinahat said:
actually you can steal the rare 2% drops too.
One of my characters has now mastered every skill and is level 99 in every class so I've retired her for the thief behind the counter. I think what I'll do is try and max out all the recruitable story-related party members while I keep working on my main character (revocate 10 times for each class -- or until I get bored of the game).
Since before I finished the main storyline, I'd been wondering what exactly a Luminary was. Now I find they're basically glorified dancers with fewer spells than minstrels? I haven't gotten a grotto yet that will let me do the quest to unlock it, but are they at all worthwhile as a class?
someguyinahat
Member
Note to self: never play this game while tired.
Spent an hour grinding metal king slimes, found a gold bar in a chest, pondered a quick save but instead returned to Stornway where I deposited my money, went to the inn, and then turned off the DS without going to the church. What a waste.
Not really. Their coup de grace is pretty cool, though.
Spent an hour grinding metal king slimes, found a gold bar in a chest, pondered a quick save but instead returned to Stornway where I deposited my money, went to the inn, and then turned off the DS without going to the church. What a waste.
Not really. Their coup de grace is pretty cool, though.
Do The Mario
Unconfirmed Member
I was thinking about picking Dragon Quest 9 up. I have one quick question, as I have never played a DQ game before, how difficult is DQ9? I was hoping for some fairly difficult/strategic combat.
Apologies if the answer to my question is buried in the thread.
Apologies if the answer to my question is buried in the thread.
Do The Mario said:
Boss battles benefit a lot from strategic combat (versus pure grinding to raise levels and stats), and some of the post-game bosses absolutely require that.
Generally speaking, most of the battles with regular enemies are fairly straightforward, although you'll find the occasional element choice/buff or debuff/stat alteration etc. to be useful.
Do The Mario
Unconfirmed Member
Johnas said:
Thanks for that.
I just saw that Target has this game for a steal on Friday, and I have a friend who works there who I could get to buy me a copy possibly. How far into the game does one have to get to be able to tag? It's almost certain that I'll never find 30 people with this game to tag, but I'd like to expand the inn, and thought if I got a spare copy of the game, borrowed my friend's DS and just repeatedly created and deleted a file on the spare copy, that might be a good way to do it. After I'm done I could gift the game to my friend.
Edit: Just checked the DQVC for the day and got both the metal slime armor and sollerets. Sadly that's actually a duplicate solleret, but good to have another one I guess.
Edit: Just checked the DQVC for the day and got both the metal slime armor and sollerets.
Sadly that's actually a duplicate solleret, but good to have another one I guess.Fuck.
As soon as the legacy bosses learn how to attack three times in a single turn it's all over. I can't live with it. It goes from a simple 9 turn victory when they could attack twice, to a non-stop battle for survival.
Guess this is my cue to abandon the bosses and try some quests.
As soon as the legacy bosses learn how to attack three times in a single turn it's all over. I can't live with it. It goes from a simple 9 turn victory when they could attack twice, to a non-stop battle for survival.
Guess this is my cue to abandon the bosses and try some quests.
Oxx said:
Yes. I think I beat Estark once at three turns just to prove to myself that I could do it, but decided it was too frustrating to continue down that path. Since it's only like
Level 40
It'd be better if there was a way to prevent the spell that gets rid of all your bonuses.
Started working through my quest list again. I'm on #044 (A Climber for a Climber)... this is just an annoying one. I've gotten 3 99cm drops in nearly an hour and a half of trying. Stupid. The number of MKSs I could've killed instead of doing this is making me hate this quest even more. Hope I get the good drop soon.
I also had my DS canvassing all day today at Disneyland. Not a single tag even though it looked like every person living in the state was there, including a ton of tourists. Guess my only chance will be to hit a comic/anime/game con.
Might start filling out my alchemy completion list like Oxx, too.
I also had my DS canvassing all day today at Disneyland. Not a single tag even though it looked like every person living in the state was there, including a ton of tourists. Guess my only chance will be to hit a comic/anime/game con.
Might start filling out my alchemy completion list like Oxx, too.
ghibli99 said:
Did that until I got to 50%
figured there'd be an accolade