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Dragon Quest 9 |OT| Last chance* to shine
- Thread starter Aeana
- Start date
I received the girl's Santa outfit this morning (Santa's Little Helper), but not much else. Finally finished the Bad Karmour quest and am slowly making my way through a few more of them.
Slowing down again w/ this game... I'm starting to feel like that aside from leveling up the Legacy Bosses, the game provides almost no challenge at the moment and I'm collecting stuff just to collect. Definitely a sign that I'm reaching the end of the DQ9 road.
That being said, it's most certainly my GOTY.
Slowing down again w/ this game... I'm starting to feel like that aside from leveling up the Legacy Bosses, the game provides almost no challenge at the moment and I'm collecting stuff just to collect. Definitely a sign that I'm reaching the end of the DQ9 road.
That being said, it's most certainly my GOTY.
Finished the main quest not long ago, and got the whistle from the one quest. I've been going through Grottos, doing assorted quests that I can knock out without too much trouble. and trying to fill in the Alchenomicon where I can. Right now I'm a level 45-46 mix (2 and 2 I think), Minstrel main plus Warrior, Priest, and Mage. I've unlocked the ability to use Sage and Armamentalist. Is there something in particular I should be doing, or should I just keep going through Grottos till I get to something of worth? I have the first 4 bosses but haven't hit the other two yet. Other than that, I have yet to see I single grotto-unique enemy :| I think my latest grotto is in the low 30s or something. Also, one of the biggest hindrances I've ran into is my lack of stealing ability. So many grubby bandages I need, so many. Should I create a thief now, or wait and change one of my mains to one after I max them? I think I also currently have a cave for Zoma or something, got it in a tag at a con a while back, and then found out it was impossibly hard and haven't tried again. Should that come first, or that tower in the upper part of the map that requires the train?
Little Green Yoda
Member
Just did the Puff-Puff sidequest.
What. The. Fuck.
If you're really in need of pilfering items, just change to a Thief, learn Half-Inch, and change back. IIRC it takes 10 skill points to learn it. Best to put it on characters with high deftness but it doesn't hurt to give it to all your characters to improve your success rate.
What. The. Fuck.
Mank said:
If you're really in need of pilfering items, just change to a Thief, learn Half-Inch, and change back. IIRC it takes 10 skill points to learn it. Best to put it on characters with high deftness but it doesn't hurt to give it to all your characters to improve your success rate.
Yeah, anytime a quest requires the use of some specific skill, I make sure my entire party knows it. So if I'm stealing items, I put points into all 4 characters to learn Half-Inch. That way, my odds - at least in terms of how many chances I'm getting per round - are quadrupled. There are several really annoying quests like that, but having the freedom for any character to use that skill is really helpful.
In terms of what I did post-game, I spent a lot of time in grottoes until I found a water one with Metal King Slimes. From there, I ground and ground, revocating quite a few times (at least once per vocation to get all the medals... some are way more useful than others). That improved the future quality of my grotto maps. I then did the vocation-specific quests to get all the tomes/books, which further augmented my characters. When I started to fade, that's when I started using tools like the Hoimi Table. There's no way I'd be as far as I am or with the gear I have without it.
In terms of what I did post-game, I spent a lot of time in grottoes until I found a water one with Metal King Slimes. From there, I ground and ground, revocating quite a few times (at least once per vocation to get all the medals... some are way more useful than others). That improved the future quality of my grotto maps. I then did the vocation-specific quests to get all the tomes/books, which further augmented my characters. When I started to fade, that's when I started using tools like the Hoimi Table. There's no way I'd be as far as I am or with the gear I have without it.
Despite spending so much time with the game I'm always reticent to dish out too much advice because I know that I didn't exactly have an optimal play-through. I played hard, but I didn't exactly play smart.
That said, I'll echo the idea that it's worth investing in certain skills for all party members. Half-inch is a good one. Teaching everyone Thunder Thrust (a spear skill) turns Metal King grinding from a chore into a relatively painless process.
Edit: Woo hoo! 5 second quest!
That said, I'll echo the idea that it's worth investing in certain skills for all party members. Half-inch is a good one. Teaching everyone Thunder Thrust (a spear skill) turns Metal King grinding from a chore into a relatively painless process.
Edit: Woo hoo! 5 second quest!
RPG_Fanatic
Member
Finally was able to pick up a pair of Santa's Slacks today. Once I finish catching up to the quest, I'll focus on collecting grotto maps and finding the 11th grotto boss.
I finally ejected my DQ9 cart from my DS yesterday in favor of the new Mario vs. Donkey Kong. It was almost like learning how to play the system all over again w/ the touchscreen controls and non-RPG gameplay. Felt refreshing, though, to finally start playing something else, and I think I've finally broken free from the chains of this game. That didn't stop me from popping it back in this morning to check DQVC and such, though. LOL
So, I'm thinking I'm not going to ever get canvas mode tags.
At this point, I really like the game, and who knows if I'm going to be insane enough to go for 100% all, but I'm the sort of person who generally does that sort of obsessive compulsive thing, even if it means putting the game down for months at a time and coming back to it over several years (hell, that was the only way one could beat some games prior to widespread faqs - fuck you, Hexen).
How can the canvas mode be manipulated for people that are unlikely to run into other players?
Is it as simple as two DS's, two copies of the game, and you just create new characters 30 times and tag them and put them in your suite? Is it cartridge specific, instead, such that you'd have to buy 30 extra copies (I'm not doing this, :lol). Is it simpler than that such that there is a faster way?
I mean, I already plan on buying a 3DS, so if that'll work, I'll just buy an extra copy of the game; the wife will probably like the game, but she won't be OCD enough to worry about the tag mode cameo items, unlike myself.
At this point, I really like the game, and who knows if I'm going to be insane enough to go for 100% all, but I'm the sort of person who generally does that sort of obsessive compulsive thing, even if it means putting the game down for months at a time and coming back to it over several years (hell, that was the only way one could beat some games prior to widespread faqs - fuck you, Hexen).
How can the canvas mode be manipulated for people that are unlikely to run into other players?
Is it as simple as two DS's, two copies of the game, and you just create new characters 30 times and tag them and put them in your suite? Is it cartridge specific, instead, such that you'd have to buy 30 extra copies (I'm not doing this, :lol). Is it simpler than that such that there is a faster way?
I mean, I already plan on buying a 3DS, so if that'll work, I'll just buy an extra copy of the game; the wife will probably like the game, but she won't be OCD enough to worry about the tag mode cameo items, unlike myself.
Cool. I imagine I'd be sick of the Hexagon after round 12 or so, though.
Next set of stupid questions...
You check DQVC every day to refresh the available items, but all Cameos and all Quests are unlocked for everyone at the same time, right?
Or is it, instead, say, you check DQVC 12 days, and then Ragnar appears?
Am I also correct that if I were to not buy all the Christmas items now, I would have to wait until next year before they'd become available again? Is there a calendar for these things?
Next set of stupid questions...
You check DQVC every day to refresh the available items, but all Cameos and all Quests are unlocked for everyone at the same time, right?
Or is it, instead, say, you check DQVC 12 days, and then Ragnar appears?
Am I also correct that if I were to not buy all the Christmas items now, I would have to wait until next year before they'd become available again? Is there a calendar for these things?
JayDubya said:
Per region, yes. Not sure if EU and U.S. are in synch, since EU launched a couple of weeks after U.S.
JayDubya said:
Probably. Sometimes the same item will appear on different theme lists, but these items seem kind of specific to December.
JayDubya said:
Don't know of one for DQVC. The Quests are known ahead of time, though.
Yes, but you have to play through the first 2 hours each time. That's sixty hours, total, of the same boring, slow, unskippable dialogue. People have tried it. Some people may even have completed it. I wouldn't recommend it.JayDubya said:
Probably the only tolerable way to do it on your own would be illegal.
My wife and I found a meetup at a mall less than an hour away. If you can't find one, maybe you could set one up. It's more fun, anyway.
You can buy an R4 (if you don't already have one) and load 30 ROMs of DQ9 to it, paired with 30 different save files you've downloaded from the Internet. Tag one. Reset, change ROMs, tag the next one. And so on.JayDubya said:
Just so you know, with a fully expanded inn you get a couple of alchemy recipes you can very easily duplicate by looking at an FAQ, a spawn point for a few measly low-grade alchemy items, and the most valuable thing you get is that it allows you to complete the wardrobe collections from your guests, although you can still get those items from events like shoe sales on the DQVC.
Same here... aside from checking DQVC, I haven't played at all since Friday. I might be close to finally closing out this DQ chapter.
And slightly OT, I have to express my excitement once again about the DQ6 announcement.
I think I have time to replay DQ4 and DQ5 in preparation for its arrival!
And slightly OT, I have to express my excitement once again about the DQ6 announcement.
I think I have time to replay DQ4 and DQ5 in preparation for its arrival!Oh man was this ever not the game to get for my apparent RPG OCD.
Everytime I encounter a new type of metal slime I stop what I'm doing, grind until one kill no longer results in a level up, change jobs, and repeat, spending skill points on passives and slime skilling weapon skills. Up to LMS in the Bowhole, currently. 60 something hours?
Every few hours in between I do an alchemy item run. I'm being neurotic as hell and having fun doing it. :lol
Of course, what this means is that story mode bosses are stupid easy. Poor Graygnarl - only one action per turn and his physical attacks did single digit damage on my mage.
I'm finding that I still keep running out of alchemical items and gold very, very, very quickly.
Everytime I encounter a new type of metal slime I stop what I'm doing, grind until one kill no longer results in a level up, change jobs, and repeat, spending skill points on passives and slime skilling weapon skills. Up to LMS in the Bowhole, currently. 60 something hours?
Every few hours in between I do an alchemy item run. I'm being neurotic as hell and having fun doing it. :lol
Of course, what this means is that story mode bosses are stupid easy. Poor Graygnarl - only one action per turn and his physical attacks did single digit damage on my mage.
I'm finding that I still keep running out of alchemical items and gold very, very, very quickly.
someguyinahat
Member
JayDubya said:Oh man was this ever not the game to get for my apparent RPG OCD.
Everytime I encounter a new type of metal slime I stop what I'm doing, grind until one kill no longer results in a level up, change jobs, and repeat, spending skill points on passives and slime skilling weapon skills. Up to LMS in the Bowhole, currently. 60 something hours?
Every few hours in between I do an alchemy item run. I'm being neurotic as hell and having fun doing it. :lol
Of course, what this means is that story mode bosses are stupid easy. Poor Graygnarl - only one action per turn and his physical attacks did single digit damage on my mage.
I'm finding that I still keep running out of alchemical items and gold very, very, very quickly.
I can't wait to hear what your end-game accolade was. Mine was "Monster Masher" and I didn't put in nearly the grinding you have.
Oxx said:
Sadly my ranger character has no equipment that provides better defense than the Santa's Little Helper Suit and Santa's Slacks.
Trying to get better treasure maps is getting annoying. I'm up to a Gladiator +2 lv.99, and I've been repeatedly doing a level 87 map, but I keep getting 50s level maps in return. I also finally did get some maps with different suffixes than normal, but they ended up being the same bosses I'd already killed. I'll have to start discarding maps pretty soon.
Since I haven't really played for several days now (and am not feeling any real urge to go back), I think I'm going to call it quits for now. I'll keep up w/ the thread, and I'm sure I'll come back to it from time to time when I want to work on more Alchemiracles and quests, but for now, farewell DQ9... up next, finishing Mother 3 and a replay of DQ4&5 before DQ6 drops.
"Final" stats:
Time spent playing: 252:20
Time spent in multiplayer: 05:17
Battle Victories: 5430
Times Alchemy Performed: 434
Accolades Earnt: 298
Quests Completed: 95
Grottoes Completed: 185
Guests Canvassed: 80
Defeated Monster List Completion: 96%
Wardrobe Completion: 54%
Item List Completion: 72%
Alchenomicon Completion: 31%
Main party:
Gladiator Lv. 99 +2
Martial Artist Lv. 99 +2
Mage Lv. 99 +2
Sage Lv. 99 +2
"Final" stats:
Time spent playing: 252:20
Time spent in multiplayer: 05:17
Battle Victories: 5430
Times Alchemy Performed: 434
Accolades Earnt: 298
Quests Completed: 95
Grottoes Completed: 185
Guests Canvassed: 80
Defeated Monster List Completion: 96%
Wardrobe Completion: 54%
Item List Completion: 72%
Alchenomicon Completion: 31%
Main party:
Gladiator Lv. 99 +2
Martial Artist Lv. 99 +2
Mage Lv. 99 +2
Sage Lv. 99 +2
Honestly, while I am enjoying this and I did hear there were accolades for doing a lot of grottoes and alchemy and such before the final boss, I know I am being grossly inefficient.
If I would just plug on to the end-game or post-game, mid-game rare alchemical items are going to become more common; xp is going to become more common; gold is going to become more common. Spending all this time to get the latest and greatest item via alchemy is not the best use of my game time. I'm not even just making sure everyone has high agility and 100 spear first, like I should be if I just wanted to grind like crazy on LMS and the kings.
This only gets worse if there are post-game or secret shops where you could buy, say, sunstones or whatnot.
If I would just plug on to the end-game or post-game, mid-game rare alchemical items are going to become more common; xp is going to become more common; gold is going to become more common. Spending all this time to get the latest and greatest item via alchemy is not the best use of my game time. I'm not even just making sure everyone has high agility and 100 spear first, like I should be if I just wanted to grind like crazy on LMS and the kings.
This only gets worse if there are post-game or secret shops where you could buy, say, sunstones or whatnot.
Around level 76 or so now, and I'm starting to get better grottos, finally starting to run into Grotto specific enemies. Still no MKS yet, though. Also, I really feel like I need to get myself some better armor, as normal high depth enemies are now doing, like, 150+ damage per attack to my party members, which is a tad dangerous...
Is it fairly common for Meteorite Bracers to be on sale throughout the year? I just bought my second and I've already created one through alchemy.
Assuming another one were to come up, 25000 gold is a lot of money to me at this point; between those and the santa gear I'm all spent.
Assuming another one were to come up, 25000 gold is a lot of money to me at this point; between those and the santa gear I'm all spent.
Depending on how far into the game you are, 25,000G on a Meteorite Bracer is a waste given how easy the ingredients are to obtain later. If it's still early, though, I think it's possibly a good buy. Good if you want to use them and alchemize an Uber Falcon Blade too (my favorite weapon). I think the only other situation you'd want to outfit your entire party with them (plus the Mercury Prize) is for high-level Legacy Boss fights, where I've heard high agility can make or break you.
Thus far, re: the MB...
The mats for creating are unobtainable (that I know of, gold bars??? will I get a recipe to make these?), and the utility has been notably very high for killing LMS before they can run away.
I did get the recipe for uber-falcon and I noticed that I'll have to use a MB to make them, and that's also a factor.
The mats for creating are unobtainable (that I know of, gold bars??? will I get a recipe to make these?), and the utility has been notably very high for killing LMS before they can run away.
I did get the recipe for uber-falcon and I noticed that I'll have to use a MB to make them, and that's also a factor.
someguyinahat
Member
Yes, you absolutely will, but they'll come in chests later.
From looking at the skill trees online, it really looks like for all purposes I should grind until at least the sage class opens up, but it's hard to keep my eye on the prize. I just reached L40 on my Martial Artist, so I had to do her quest, and I'm trying to do all these weapon quests, and grind, and then I have to go get mats, and so on. :lol
Being able to use Hatchet Man / Thunder Spear more often due to loads more mana and reduced cost means I should save up 100 skill points on all characters and then just rush hard to the sage class. I'm about to give Grimgaryl some ale and then... well, I don't know, but I've run out of other areas to go through. I'm guessing the dragon will either be the game's "airship" or this'll be some event that'll get me to one of the walled off by cliffs and/or rock areas.
Light-spoiler question: Am I anywhere close to the sage class? I'm thinking I should get all the alchemical items available and then just go before the mats all repop.
Being able to use Hatchet Man / Thunder Spear more often due to loads more mana and reduced cost means I should save up 100 skill points on all characters and then just rush hard to the sage class. I'm about to give Grimgaryl some ale and then... well, I don't know, but I've run out of other areas to go through. I'm guessing the dragon will either be the game's "airship" or this'll be some event that'll get me to one of the walled off by cliffs and/or rock areas.
Light-spoiler question: Am I anywhere close to the sage class? I'm thinking I should get all the alchemical items available and then just go before the mats all repop.
Seriously, the meteorite bracers combined with teaching all of your characters instaslimekill physical attacks (Thunder Thrust, Hatchet Man, Assassin's Stab) will make grinding on metal slimes much easier and less frustrating than it was for me. IMO, you want lots of agility as early as possible.
Agility is also key for one particular miniboss in the penultimate dungeon who can either be a cakewalk or destroy your party in a handful of turns.
Agility is also key for one particular miniboss in the penultimate dungeon who can either be a cakewalk or destroy your party in a handful of turns.
Agility has always been pretty darn important in these games, but the sheer length of this game's content and the necessity of using the metal slime family to grind to 100% completion means that your characters are going to need high agility no matter what their level, whether natural or through items, because that job is going to switch around a lot.
So, yeah, I think maxing out the Martial Artist job skill (Focus?) is a must, for everyone, too. There's other good stuff in it, too, but huge agility boosts.
At first I didn't really care about what my Guardian's agility or mana was because I focused on the Paladin vocation for him, and most of those skills are free and it doesn't matter when his turn comes up because, say, Forbearance is active whether or not the animation has gone off yet. However, as the character leveled up and gained Kabuff and Magic Barrier (and my Priest didn't), I really wanted him to get these buff spells off earlier so that he would only have to use Forbearance for a round here and there to cover the Priest's healing... which works out well, because thanks to all the other passive boosts, he hits decently hard and may as well join in the dpr.
So, yeah, I think maxing out the Martial Artist job skill (Focus?) is a must, for everyone, too. There's other good stuff in it, too, but huge agility boosts.
At first I didn't really care about what my Guardian's agility or mana was because I focused on the Paladin vocation for him, and most of those skills are free and it doesn't matter when his turn comes up because, say, Forbearance is active whether or not the animation has gone off yet. However, as the character leveled up and gained Kabuff and Magic Barrier (and my Priest didn't), I really wanted him to get these buff spells off earlier so that he would only have to use Forbearance for a round here and there to cover the Priest's healing... which works out well, because thanks to all the other passive boosts, he hits decently hard and may as well join in the dpr.
Finally found Metal King Slimes, and boy are they nice. Like, two of them equals a level even in the high levels. And seeing how it's a water grotto with plenty of room, it's fairly easy to find them
Now my Warrior (not my MC) is 99, so I have to decide what to do next. Might revocate, might try out some new classes. Definitely need to spread around thunder spear, though, as I've only got it on my Priest.
Now my Warrior (not my MC) is 99, so I have to decide what to do next. Might revocate, might try out some new classes. Definitely need to spread around thunder spear, though, as I've only got it on my Priest.
Nice! Yeah, finally getting a water grotto w/ MKS was one of those key moments in the game that made leveling a relative joy, rather than a chore. Totally blasted the possibilities wide open, and allowed me to get every class high enough to hit all the class-specific quests. Congrats!Mank said:Finally found Metal King Slimes, and boy are they nice. Like, two of them equals a level even in the high levels. And seeing how it's a water grotto with plenty of room, it's fairly easy to find them
Now my Warrior (not my MC) is 99, so I have to decide what to do next. Might revocate, might try out some new classes. Definitely need to spread around thunder spear, though, as I've only got it on my Priest.
Loving the Metal King, though I took a SMALL break back to the hill in order to get thunder spear on two more of my characters and start to flesh out some fresh classes.
God do I love leveling up so hard from a single battle that I get, like, 15 skill points in one shot
(Also, the game knows that I'm hunting metal slimes, haha. Stella referenced my cruelty towards their species last time I went into the battle records)
God do I love leveling up so hard from a single battle that I get, like, 15 skill points in one shot
(Also, the game knows that I'm hunting metal slimes, haha. Stella referenced my cruelty towards their species last time I went into the battle records)
Little Green Yoda
Member
Higher level Legacy bosses give out more experience, right? I just beat the first Legacy Boss and leveled it up. The level 2 version took my team out in a flurry of crits so I'm wondering if it was a mistake not to take the experience for myself. :lol
Paladin/Priest/Mage/Warrior team is in the low-mid 50s at the moment. Haven't maxed out a single skill yet. <_<
I have a "MKS grotto" too but it takes forever for them to spawn for me. Too many Moai Minstrels and Slugly Betties chasing my team around in the meantime. :[
Paladin/Priest/Mage/Warrior team is in the low-mid 50s at the moment. Haven't maxed out a single skill yet. <_<
Mank said:Finally found Metal King Slimes, and boy are they nice. Like, two of them equals a level even in the high levels. And seeing how it's a water grotto with plenty of room, it's fairly easy to find them
I have a "MKS grotto" too but it takes forever for them to spawn for me. Too many Moai Minstrels and Slugly Betties chasing my team around in the meantime. :[
ExtraKr1spy
Banned
Little Green Yoda said:
Level up Ranger and learn Vanish
Though its useless when those fucking big monsters spawn in small corridors.
I am at like, 95 hours now, and I still have so much left to do. I think I need to place some sort of goal or something on myself and then stop till, say, all the downloadable quests are out, or I'll destroy myself. I'm thinking of just going for as many quests as I can knock out right now...
I'm at 90ish hours myself and I'm pretty sure this is the last of the game, though there's still this giant tower and all these islands surrounded by rocks.
Still, I just got all these alchemy recipes and I want to make the stuff, can't find damn Sorcerer Stones or a Sorcerer's Ring for anything.
All these high end alchemy items require gold bars or multiple monarchic marks or silme crowns; I've farmed the hell out of monsters and the spawn points, but there's just too much to gather / buy and the respawn isn't fast enough.
I can see how this has become a 200-300 hour game for many.
I also think I'm just going to have to cheat to get the recipes that I can't get for not having 30 friends with the game.
Still, I just got all these alchemy recipes and I want to make the stuff, can't find damn Sorcerer Stones or a Sorcerer's Ring for anything.
All these high end alchemy items require gold bars or multiple monarchic marks or silme crowns; I've farmed the hell out of monsters and the spawn points, but there's just too much to gather / buy and the respawn isn't fast enough.
I can see how this has become a 200-300 hour game for many.
I also think I'm just going to have to cheat to get the recipes that I can't get for not having 30 friends with the game.