Dragon Quest

Dragon Quest (A.K.A. Dragon Warrior in the old days) is a role-playing series that has been around for a while, and gained notice by many in one way or another. Regardless of its status in various circles, this page is meant to provide tips/tricks, info, and suggestions on various games of the series, most particularly when dealing with different versions, such as NES/SNES originals versus DS updates. Spinoffs and info on them are also allowed to be posted here (Such as Monsters, Slime, and Swords). (If necessary, this page may be split into a slight few more entries.)

Dragon Quest I
-Handy Items to Find-

Dragon Scale: 20G in stores, Raises defense just a tiny bit. Great early on, and who'd turn down extra Defense?

War Ring: Found in a Dungeon. Has been up for debate a while. It's generally agreed it makes you a little stronger, but it has also been noted to ward off weaker enemies and also make Critical hits easier to pull off. Whether these last two are true or not needs verification, per version and in general.

Choker and Devil Belt: Found in Dungeons. Curse you, so don't equip them. Instead, sell them for 180 (choker) and 1200 (belt) gold respectively. May respawn in the chests they were found in from time to time.

''' -Search All You Can! (Remix only)- '''

If you've ever played an RPG, you should know that there are hidden goodies all over the place. In the Remixes of 1, 2, and 3, you're now allowed to search suspicious areas for these. Some are less useful such as clothes, which are only good for selling, but some are invaluable, such as the stat-boosting seeds. In the Originals and Remixes, this is the only way to find the Loto/Erdrick gear and the Pixie Flute. Now, it's pointless to search on the overworld for stuff (The sole exception being the Loto/Erdrick token, which should be done only after getting the Lora's Love item), so only go out of your way in towns with dressers, pots, and suspiciously bare patches of grass.

-Personal Challenges-

So, you beat DQ1, eh? How about seeing if you can beat it with a challenge? Choose or mix any of the below.

1) Don't buy anything from stores except keys (otherwise, you couldn't win). Only use what you find!

2) NO SLEEPING AT INNS. There's no time to sleep on the job, that world needs rescuing! Saving your game is allowed though.

3) FISTS ONLY. FINAL DESTINATION. Beat the game using your fists and no other weapon. Can you do it? Magic is allowed, but not to deal damage.

Dragon Quest II
-Slot Bonanza-

There's 3 prizes specifically you'll want to get out of this.

The Best: Gold Card: Lowers costs of anything you buy witha 25% price cut. Very handy early on and even better later. Notes: It does not effect money you get from selling stuff and having multiple cards does NOT layer discounts.

2nd Best: Wizard Ring: You'll find some along your quest for sure, but why not have some as back up? You'll want to get these last though.

3rd Best: Wizard Wand: +27 Attack in the remix makes this a very nice weapon for Sumaltria/Cannock and Moonbrooke early on. Try and win at least 1 at the first slot machine you find. 2 if you can.

-Falcon Sword versus Iron Spear (Original only)-

If you're playing the original, Cannock's Prince has a limited weapon range. While the Iron Spear has more base power, consider that the Falcon sword has much higher attack in the long run, since you hit twice with it, which is better for 3 things: 1) Metal slimes 2) Critical hits 3) Getting a hit in general on fast monsters. If you have the spare cash, especially if you have the gold card, then go for it. If not, stick with the Iron Spear. In the Remix, it's generally agreed that the Light Sword is Cannock's best weapon. Still, if you want to hunt some Metal Slimes or Metal Babbles, the Falcon Sword is great for getting extra hits in on them (Since, unless you critical hit, you'll only do 1 damage anyway, regardless of your weapon).

''' -Gold Orc Hunting- '''

Gold Orcs leave the most cash per death, but they are among the stronger enemies in the game. Not only are they tough, but they can heal themselves and allies too. Be sure you've mastered Explodet before taking them on, since it can turn the tides. Lesser magic does do some damage, but it can usually be healed up by them, rendering their effects null.

Dragon Quest III
 -Character Building- 

Well, there's no sense in just randomly picking out allies. Let's get acquainted with them in the following notes.

Starting Out:

Unless you decide to attempt a solo run (NOT recommended for a first playthrough), you'll want to have some allies. In the original, your allies all start with preset stats, even when custom-made. In the remix, you can give your allies seeds to boost their starting stats. Obviously, you shouldn't give INTseeds to non-casters, but do consider giving seeds to cover some weaknesses amongst classes. For example, Soldiers are naturally strong and durable, but do not get very fast, so give them some AGLseeds. Another important factor in the remix is the personality system, which affects your stats, some personalities more than others. You will find accessories to alter personalities while worn and books which permanently change the base personalities (but can still be altered by accessories).

Class Descriptions:

In all honesty, it's best to just have three main allies to the Hero(ine) and build upon those 3. If you really want to, consider having 3 more as backup for alternate specialties, but only consider doing this after you can level them up rather easily. Before you decide on your party though, it's best to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each class:

+The Warrior is a physical powerhouse. Good strength and stamina, and can equip alot of powerful gear. It tends to stay alive longer than anyone else. However, it tends to be slow, often going last in a fight and typically is only able to hit one enemy at a time. In addition, it can be kind of hard to keep up with the expensives of keeping it well-armed, as their heavy-duty gear can cost alot.

+The Fighter is a more offense oriented Warrior. High strength and agility assures that they'll move first, get critical hits, and dodge more often than nearly anyone else. However, their equipment options are lacking, which can make it hard for low-level Fighters to survive magic attacks until they get some more HP and better gear later on. On the bright side, they don't take as much gold to keep supplied.

+The Mage is pretty much the typical caster. Physically pathetic in stats and gear options, but an ace at offensive magic, especially when many of its spells hit several enemies. On top of that, it learns some very handy buffs, such as TwinHits/Bikill, which doubles an ally's offense and Increase, which boosts the party's defense. Very handy for beginners, and never really very expensive either.

+The Cleric, unlike the Mage, is fair at combat, and being able to equip quite abit of gear helps, too. Its spell range is rather versatile as well, not only including healing and curing ailments, but also has some wind spells, buffs, and debuffs. Sadly, the Cleric becomes lessening handy at combat later on. It's still an invaluable ally though, early on, especially to avoid paying for herbs and antidotes.

+The Dealer is an oddjob. It's fairly good at combat, and can equip some decent gear. They also find extra gold in battles. Early on, this is extremely helpful to get better gear. Later, it's not as handy, but at consider class changing to or from a dealer, as they learn the very useful YellHelp at Level 17, which summons an Inn, Church, or Shop on the overworld. It really is as helpful as it sounds.

+The Thief is only in the Remix. It has fairly impressive stats all around, especially with an INT-centric Personality, which may boost their MP skyhigh. It can equip alot of handy gear and has some helpful treasure hunting skills, along with randomly stealing (often great) stuff from enemies. Consider class changing from one early and to one later on, especially if changing different units to and from.

+The Jester is a joke. Pathetically weak, and has a limited gear selection. As it levels up, it will ignore fights more often and goof off. However, it does have a huge Luck stat, which is very helpful for finding dropped loot from foes. However, it is the sole class that doesn't need a special item to become a Sage. Not recommended for beginners, though, unless you know what you're getting into.

+The Sage is perhaps the best all-around class. It learns the spells of Clerics and Mages, can equip some pretty good gear, and has above average stats and is the best at magic. Do note that you can only class change into a Sage and only with a special item unless using a Jester. There are ONLY TWO of said items (you can't even steal any, supposedly), so make sure you do not waste them.

Spell Mastery:

Depending on how you want to play, you may have very different plans in party formations than someone else. However, consider the Dharma Temple before you declare a final party. Any ally (except the Hero(ine)) can class change at minimum of Level 20. They start at level 1 with half of their stats from before, and all of their spells and skills. If you do not want to use it, that's fine too. However, it might be best to change once you reach the second world if you have not done so ahead of then. In general, if a class learns any skills/spells learn all of them before changing, that way, you keep your stats fairly high and have a better variety of spells and skills versus doing so at Level 20, especially since you would have to start BACK AGAIN at Level 20 to learn the skills you didn't get before changing. Also, note that learning is bound to a class. A Cleric that became a Fighter won't keep learning Cleric spells at 21+, etc. However, if a Warrior becomes a Mage, it will of course learn Mage spells. Lastly, Sages only learn spells they do not already know. Say if a Cleric became a Sage, it would learn Mage spells, but not its already known Cleric spells. It will learn the Cleric spells it did not know though. All of these examples are of course with regards to the respective levels of spell/skill learning of course.

 -Parties and Planning Ahead:- 

With regards to a Final Party, if you decide to class change, you may want to start with different classes than those you want to end with. For example, perhaps start with a Warrior or Fighter, then later clas change them into a Mage or Cleric, that way, it is easier for said caster to survive in combat, while still having the benefits of spell learning. The Sage example aside, you can class change an infinite number of times, but remember to be aware of what your stats will look like from doing so, especially if you often class change at Level 20. Here are some general recommendations for changing to and from classes, along with some suggestions for specialty parties, if not your final parties.

Class Change Paths:

One final note before listing some class suggestions, I personally DO NOT recommend trying to make some sort of "Super-Badass" catch-all class that can do everything of every class. It takes WAY too long to do, even at Level 20, unless you're really patient and really good at hunting Metababbles. Here's some class change recommendations, along with some nicknames, given their specialties:

+"Battle Master": Warrior -> Fighter (or Vice Versa); This is perhaps the simplest and most purely physically powerful options you can consider. Not only do you balance the weaknesses of one class with the strength of the other, the longer you wait to change, the better the effect it will have. Just be sure to make a final choice between the two eventually, if you change multiple times.

+"Combat Medic": Cleric -> Warrior, Fighter, or Thief; While the you may be lacking in MP and INT unless you class change much later on, as long as you learn HealUs and Revive, you can have a very handy force on your hands. If you go Warrior, you won't usually end up dying before anyone else. If you go Fighter or Thief, you'll often go first and heal early, which is great after a harsh attack.

+"Ninja": Mage -> Thief (or) Thief -> Mage -> Thief (NES: Replace Thief with Fighter); While Mages lack physical power, their buffs and skills can go a long way in faster, stronger hands. While the end result will not be as magically-strong as a Mage or Sage, the versatility makes up for it. Especially if using a weapon that strikes many foes. Buff up with Bikill, and you can see where this is headed.

+"Lucky Charm": Jester -> Dealer -> Thief (-> ?) (NES: Just remove Thief); Not be an easy choice for beginners, but if you're confident enough, you can get a character with good Luck, have some excess cash mid-game (along with YellHelp), and some nice stuff from stealing. If you choose to go beyond Thief, the best option might be going Sage (preferably with an item instead of re-Jestering)

+"Super Sage": Mage -> Cleric -> Sage; While trying to raise all of your stats to be high up is ridiculously time-eating, making a balanced Sage is far less so, but still takes a while. Essentially, learn all as Mage before going Cleric, and Cleric before going Sage. The Mage adds a nice inital boost to MP and INT and the Cleric has faitly good stats all around, which gives the Sage an extra edge all-around.

+Wouldbe Hero(ine)": Mage -> Cleric -> Warrior or Thief; Like "Super Sage", but more balanced and less magical. If you're playing NES, go Warrior, if only for the great gear. If you're playing the Remix, by all means go Thief. You can still gain MP, be a great combatant, cover the magic bases better, AND steal some nice stuff. You won't have every skill or stat mastered, but you'll still be great

Starting Party Recommendations:

When it comes to choosing parties, pairing up allies from some of the paths mentioned above is a fairly good idea. However, let's get a little more detailed than that. Assuming you don't double up:

Warrior+Mage+Cleric: The party you're "given" to start with. Pretty good, just don't use those allies, and instead seed up some custom ones instead (in the Remix, of course). A good beginner party, but can be a bit pricey at times. At the very least, you shouldn't end up getting wiped out too often.

Fighter+Mage+Cleric: This is my personal recommendation for a beginner party. The Fighter is much more inexpensive than a Warrior, and generally better when it comes to speed and critical hits. The sole negative versus using a Warrior is that he might take damage more often and can't utilize various "magical" equipment that can be used as items, but you won't notice until roughly mid-game.

Fighter+Thief+Cleric: This is what one could consider an "Intermediate" party. It's generally a little bit of everything. The weaknesses are obvious, especially without a Mage or defense-friendly ally. However, it's good enough to get through to Dharma temple if you are careful. Best used if you have a good feeling on what you'll be class changing into. Consider a Dealer or Jester for the NES.

Dealer+Thief+Jester: BIG MONEY, BIG PRIZES, I LOVE IT. Or I would if this party wasn't so vulnerable. Not an easy party to start with, and NOT for beginners. Still, you might use this party to comb through some safer areas for easy money from selling often-dropped loot. Or just grind a bit until they can survive going from place to place. Definitely consider Class Chaning later though. Remix only.

Or your own choice, of course. Definitely have a plan though, assuming you class change, which, again, you really should after entering second world if you haven't done so already.

-Beware the Pachisi Glitch!-

Only available in the remix. A glitch exists while playing the Pachisi board mini-game. Occaissionally you'll find a character's level to glitch and drastically shoot up, sometimes to level 99. HOWEVER, their final stats will actually be much lower than if they got their by naturally leveling up. With any other character, it's no big deal, as they can just class change and start anew, however, if your Hero(ine) was playing, THERE IS NO WAY to return them to normal without external modifications (cheating devices, etc.). This is very bad post game, so if you do decide to play Pachisi with a Hero(ine), save first, or you'll find out the hard way just how bad this glitch can be for him or her.

''' -Metal Babble Beatdown- '''

While Metal Slimes give some nice Experience Points, their Babble-based cousins give around TEN TIMES as much. However, they are also a bit craftier and tend to run more often. They show up before the second world around the town of Sioux (or that town with the Tribal dressed people), but in limited quantities, and you'll need a boat to get to it. In the second world, they show up more abundantly, specificially around the Rimuldar town area (town surrounded on all sides by water). By then, you should have learned the BeDragon spell. This is a real must-have when fighting these critters. Now, the attack doesn't always work on them, but if it does, you can take out a good chunk more than one in a single breath blast if you're lucky. This makes it easy to rake up experience mighty fast. Utilize this area and the Dharma temple to really boost up your party members.

Dragon Quest IV
''' -"Which final party to make?" Original versus Remake- '''

Original:

In the original Chapter 5, the AI of your allies can be rather unreliable at times. As such, unless you feel like taking a chance, it's best to stick with this set up: Hero(ine), Ragnar, Taloon, and Alena. Why use Taloon? Alot of reasons, mostly those that have to do with his random actions. The most valuable of these is his ability to steal items. He won't always do it, but if he nabs something handy, then who's complaining? This is the only legit way to get more than one Metal Babble Helmet, unless you're really lucky when you beat them. Another handy skill is calling merchant fighters. This does a triple hit to enemies, AND if Taloon is equipped with the Sword of Miracles, he gets the HP healing from all 3 of those hits! Very nice. Among others, he's quite helpful when he isn't slacking.

If you want to have a secondary caster outside of the Hero(ine), though, consider replacing Taloon with Nara to use healing and offense and later Cristo once he learns HealAll and Revive. Just be warned, unless you have your tactics as more defensive, Nara's wind attacks don't always work on stronger enemies and Cristo likes to cast Beat and Defeat, which tend to miss. Otherwise, they'll get the job done. Brey is a third option, but you might not want to use him until you can get him some good defensive gear and some of his better spells.

Remake:

Now that you have full control of your allies, you can really utilize their talents. In general though, it might be easier to use this setup: Hero(ine), Kiryl, Borya, and Alena or Ragnar. Ragnar can use the Sword of Miracles to stay alive longer than Alena might, and his extra armor and HP also keep him sturdy. Alena on the other hand, is much faster, stronger, and can critical hit much easier. Equipping the Falcon Knife Earrings is less of a boon here than it is in the original game, but it's still quite handy considering she'll usually get a critical hit with at least one strike of two quite often. Using Borya may also turn some heads, but buffs and debuffs are much handier in this series than most. Sleep can also work well too, depending on what you're fighting. In general, the women allies (Heroine excluded) are far better for offensive parties, which is best utilized when traveling around, tearing through a dungeon, or trying to rush a physiclaly weak boss.

-Alena: Fire Claw versus Falcon Knife Earrings-

Once again this problem arises. Oddly enough though, it's a real no contest situation. Alena has such a huge strength stat and high rates for critical hits, there's pretty much no reason to want to use the Fire Claw unless you just want raw damage boosted, and even then, it isn't that notable versus the earrings. Still, you may consider the Fire Claw for random battles, then switch for tougher foes and bosses.

Dragon Quest V
 -Play that T'n'T! (DS version only)- 

Traps and Treasures (or something like that) is the new name for the "Pachisi" boards from the older games. Added for the DS release, these seemingly silly little board games can hold some valuable treasures in them; And not only in the chests throughout the chest/jar/drawer panels or the victory trove at the end, but also in the shop panels. Some of these items are purely exclusive, and can't be found anywhere else (or for some, at least not without excessive effort). Don't bother putting them off until post-game or anything like that, as they can really give you a leg up on foes early on.

 -Monsters You'll Want and Why (+Where and When to Find Them Earliest)- 

You are unable to recruit monsters as a child. So, let's skip ahead to when you can. The monsters listed below aren't the only ones you should recruit (filling up your wagon is the best way to survive, after all), but if you can get them, then you'll be defintely be playing with power.

Obtainable 2nd Generation (Pre-children):

Slime Knight- Coburg area (Reason: One of the best all-around-ers that may ever be in your party. It's usefulness can even last long enough to fight the final boss!)

Healslime- Fortuna area (Reason: One of the earliest to know Multiheal, along with a variety of other helpful spells. Lags later, but great to keep your party healthy early on.)

Obtainable 3rd Generation (Post-children):

Golem- Lofty Peak area (Reason: This thing is a TANK. Not only does it have huge HP and DEF, but its power and skills are great too. One use of its Meditation at low HP and it's good to go!)

King Cureslime- Stairway to Zenithia (Reason: While Healslime can overpower him MUCH later on, the King has better stats and spells for when it counts: NOW.)

Great Dragon- Precaria area (Reason: Has excellent stats, resistances, and attacks. Unfortunately, it takes a while to level up. Be patient though, because it will pay you back with its raw power.)

Killing Machine- Precaria area (Reason: Has resistances out the ass. Damn near no spells will hurt him and his physical stats can be quite the cut above the rest. He can use some nice gear, too.)

Post-Game:

Barbatos- Estark's Labyrinth (Reason: Has some of the most powerful spells, good stats, and can equip great gear. Be warned, it can take a LONG time to get one.)

Starkers- Gotten after beating the Stark Raving Mad T 'n T board. (Reason: Gets some great skills and stats. Eventually one of the strongest monsters in the game, if not THE strongest.)

ReBjorn- Get Starkers and return to the Pothold to get him (you may need to talk to a turban'd NPC in Mostroferrato first). (Reason: Almost as good as Starkers, provided you can raise him with 8 HP...)

-A Weapon for Deborah (DS version only)-

As you might have known by now, the fabulous Deborah is the new 3rd marriage candidate. She has exclusive gear of her own and is something of a Support-Fighter. She isn't up to say, Alena's power potential, but she can hold her own pretty well. If you choose her, the two generally-agreed-to-be-best weapons for her to equip are the Diamond Akillics, which let her hit twice for nice damage, and the Hela Hammer, which only hits half the time, but always criticals. Realistically speaking, you probably won't get the Gringham Whip anytime soon (but if you can, do so then), due to its 250000 casino token price tag, and as for the Miracle Sword or Faerie Foil, she doesn't tend to have enough strength to take advantage of either. You won't get any of her better gear for a while, so just stick with her normal Akillics until you get that Hela Hammer.

Dragon Quest VIII
 -Figure Out Your Skill Paths EARLY- 

Skills are all sorts of cool, but unless you've got good luck at finding/stealing seeds of skill, they can take a long time to get. So let's analyze some of the characters and figure out some of the easier and more advanced paths to take.

+Hero+

Mandatory:

100 in COURAGE. You get some handy spells from it, such as Zoom-ing back to town, the Zap family of spells, and one very handy one: OMNIHEAL. This is crucial for hard battles later on. But what's best is leveling this skill up eventually reduces the MP costs of ALL the hero's spells to half! If you chose Spears, this means you could use Lightning Storm at 11 MP! Gigathrow can't even compare, no matter how cheap it gets! If you level up Swords and this to 100, GigaSlash becomes GigaGash, doing massive damage to one foe instead of a group, but at least Kazap (100 courage) will still hit multiple monsters, so it evens out.

11 in FISTICUFFS. This nets you the Defending Champion skill, which reduces physical damage the hero takes on his turn to 10%! Very handy if he's about to die or you aren't sure what an enemy may use next. Beats guarding anyday.

DON'T MAIN BOOMERANGS. It's not a good idea, trust me. Even at their best, Boomerangs really lose out to other weapons for later single strong foes/bosses except Fisticuffs, which 'rangs are superior to for the Hero (since he can't quite match Yangus' raw strength). You can naturally use Boomerangs as a sub-weapon. However, it is NOT a good idea to put any more than 18 points in them. The later "throw" skills are not worth the precious points you might put into them at all.

Beginner:

100 in SWORDS. Swords are pretty much your best friends throughout the journey. They come in abundance and are easily the best weapons for your hero quite often. One of the best swords you can get, Uber Falcon Blade, when combined with the Falcon Slash skill, lets you hit 4 TIMES. Combine that with tension and attack boosting spells and items and you'll see high single-foe damage very often. Metal Slash is good early on, but sucks on stronger metal foes, even with the UFB. Flame slash is good on stronger foes and Dragon Slash is great for the somewhat common lizard-ish foes you may face (occurs more later on). Miracle Slash is okay, but best used with the Miracle Sword or an auto-healing armor. Gigaslash is of course, excellent, just be aware that it changes to GigaGash after you master Courage. If you go with Swords, you should consider Boomerangs as a secondary and only apply 18 points to it for Power Throw. The overall damage will be less, but you won't lose damage per each consecutive foe hit like normally.

Advanced:

100 in SPEARS. Spears have much more versatility than swords and 'rangs in skills, period. However, it's a bit harder to get them, and they can be a bit weaker than swords as a result. So why use them? Well, for starters, they are THE fastest-to-learn skillset to level that the Hero has. So you'll have every spear skill except the last at 77 as opposed to high 80's and 90's for others. Their skills are pretty much all good too, but technical. Mercurial Thrust assures you'll strike first, but at lessened damage. It's handy for any healing or reviving monsters that pop up or aren't dead, and its allies are ready for restoration. Thunder/Lightning Strike is THE skill to kill stronger Metal Monsters with. The hit rate may be a dodgy 50%, but an insta-crit is far better than minor damage. Multistrike is good for a small group of foes or single strong enemies due to it's extra hits. However, if you encounter a single large group (say 5-8 or so), then by all means go with Clean Sweep, even if, like whips, the damage is lessened per consecutive foes. Better to weaken them all then only kill a few. The ultimate skill of Spears, Lightning Storm, is a doozy, costing 25 MP per shot, BUT it does 190-220 BASE damage to all foes, as in WITHOUT TENSION (and can even be boosted by it!). Worth the wait? Well, it's up to you, but quite a few think it's great if you can survive the Spear drought (some can't). Hero Spear is even better than Uber Miracle Sword, despite that it can take more time to get, but it is well worth it.

+Yangus+

Mandatory:

66 in AXES, but no more than 82. Yangus' axes are just excellent. His first skill, Helm Splitter, can reduce enemy DEF and can even work on bosses. Hatchet Man/Executioner are just as good as Thunder/Lightning Thrust. Paralax's handy effect of paralyzing a foe and dealing roughly 50% more damage is very nice. Finally, Axes of Evil's group assault makes him more versatile, even if it does come a bit late. Typhoeus' Maul comes way too late to be handy and is pointless when you have Paralax which does roughly the same damage anyways. Most foes you face probably won't even get the Beast family damage it offers either. Other than that, Main Axes and never look back.

Supplimentary, yet helpful:

100 in FISTICUFFS. Fists are roughly akin to the Hero's Boomerangs, but better because these stay free and Yangus soon gets physically strong enough to take advantage of not equipping a weapon, especially with his later great skills. Knuckle Sandwich is pretty much the only one that sucks later on and you'd be better off using a weapon than that. Do what you can to get 42 points in Fisticuffs for Thin Air. Not only is it cheap, but it can be boosted with Tension and doesn't reduce in damage for each consecutive foe hit. Padfoot is only really helpful if you want to evade battles on the way to a town, otherwise, it's better to stick it out for the sake of mastering fists at least. Multifists is only really "decent". Once again, you're better off with a weapon versus a single foe. But, against a small group, this can be a bit better than Grim Reaper at times. Boulder Toss is absolutely BADASS though. Hitting all enemies for 4 MP at pretty good damage that can be Tension'd is VERY nice. You should stick with it over Thin Air once you finally get it.

70 in SCYTHES minimum. Scythes are pretty much mandatory late and post-game to horde rare items and Seeds of Skill. Before that, they are fairly decent, though not great. Wind Scythe is pretty decent when you want to cause some direct damage to a foe, but don't expect much at anytime, even with Tension. Grim(mer) Reaper is roughly the same as Axes of Evil, however it can occaisionally insta-KO some of the enemies it hits. It's a pretty low chance though, but hey, you might as well try. Stainless Steal Sickle is the only skill you should bother stealing with. The steal rate is LOW, but it can be boosted if you paralyze an enemy or put it to sleep before use. Note that Tension ONLY increases damage dealt, not the chance of stealing. Big Banga is the final skill learned at 100 points, but it's worth depends on how drained your allies' HP and MP is. Only if Yangus has MP to spare, and the enemy party only has roughly an average of 160 HP left, should you want to bother with it. Otherwise, it's way too pricey if you can hold out to use 2 or 3 Boulder Toss-es for roughly the same damage at a much lower MP price.

Noteworthy:

DON'T USE CLUBS. Heart/Mind Breaker don't work enough to justify and Paralax does the same thing, but with better damage. As for Penny Pincher/Gold Rush, Why bother stealing pocket change when you could steal much more valuable ITEMS (even though the rate is lower)? The Monster Masher/Devil Crusher is also pointless, because once again, Paralax does roughly the same damage boost anyways.

SAVE HUMANITY FOR LAST. Heal and Midheal aren't that effective when he gets them, as he's better off using items or a Sage's Stone if you have a spare. WarCry/UnderPants Dance aren't that effective, and you effectively waste a turn by dealing nothing if a foe evades it, not to mention neither work on bosses. Kerplunk is VERY situational, and Yangus is MP-less and dead afterwards anyways, which lessens his helpfulness once revived. Still, if he's the last ally left and everyone else can finish the job where he can't, go for it. Kabuff on a second user helps quite a bit, but you may not need it if you get the staff that can cast it for free when used as an item. Golden Oldies is eventually good, but takes a good while to get there (Level 50 or so) and can't be boosted by tension, so don't even bother with that.

+Jessica+

Mandatory:

23 minimum in WHIPS, but 68 maximum. Jessica's whips are surprisingly useful. Twin Dragon Lash, which you get at 23 points, is generally agreed to be FUCKWIN for her, especially against bosses. Whiplash's chance of inflicting paralysis is decent but you may not feel like bothering until it upgrades to Lashings of Love at 55 points, the extra damage really helps along with the better rate of paralysis. Lady's Thong is okay, but Queen's Thong is NOT worth the upgrade, which is why you should stop at 68, which is the final attack bonus for whips. Serpent's Bite sucks. Plain and simple. Lashings of Love is better, if only for the added paralysis, not to mention it is cheaper as well.

31 minimum in STAVES. For 31 points, she gets some great spells. Acceleratle bumps the party's speed up, and is very handy against fast enemies and Metal Slimes. Kasap is good for groups of high defense and HP foes, especially if they like to defend (but stick to the normal version for single opponents). Bounce reflects ALL spells (harmful and helpful) back to the caster, so be aware of that before you use it. However, it's great for strategies and magic-spamming enemies, especially if they use the Thwhack-family of spells. Magic Barrier reduces spell damage, but also reduces the chance of having negative status/ailments inflicted on the party as well. Should you decide to continue with Staffs after 31 points, do so after you've gotten Whips mastered. Caudeceus is helpful for exploring when you don't want to use too much Midheal or Items, and it even boosts with Tension. MP Recovery is also handy for enduring harsh new areas or long fights. Kazing, despite the Hero and Angelo getting it, is always useful, but you do have to consider that Jessica may die before them, so yeah. Note that the MP boosts are ONLY effective when she equips a staff. The best way to take advantage of this is to equip a staff before you crash at an Inn and use the extra MP on your way to the next area you'll venture to.

Variable:

18 minimum in SEX APPEAL. "Charming" enemies works notably better than attempting to stun them for a turn with skills like Warcry. She can first be able to do this at 18 points with a 1/16 chance of stunning a foe struck. It may not seem impressive, but given how many foes she can hit with whips, this can be very handy, especially against groups of spell-spammers. The next upgrade is REALLY late at 78 points, but doubles the rate (and it can be further increased with sexy clothing (noted when she changes appearance in towns and party talk)). Fuddle is lame unless you're up against enemies with high power that can smack around their buddies easily. Kasnooze is kind of pointless though, especially given the advantages of charm attacks. Don't even bother with the attack skills. They universally suck and are only for your amusement. The sole skill worth using from here is Hustle Dance, and that's only really worth it if you give other allies Sage's Stones. It can be increased by tension, sure, but taking 100 skill points to get can be pretty bothersome, especially if you go further than than 31 points with Staves. Unless you have a strategy that revolves around using this, don't go past 18 points.

POINTLESS:

DON'T USE FISTICUFFS. Jessica does not have the raw strength to make use of this set at all. On top of that, she ONLY gets the lowest tier skills from the fellas' fisticuffs sets. Increased Evasion is actually good, but she has to be weaponless to take use of it. Honestly, you'd just be better off casting Acceleratle. Magic Burst SOUNDS kickass, but it's not going to do anything more than take off a few rounds of fighting. On top of that, it leaves her without any MP. Unless you want to blow ALOT of time and money to get tons of Elfin Elixir, don't even bother. The worst thing is that it's her last skill, meaning you have to waste points on useless skills ahead of time. Fuck that shit.

DON'T USE KNIVES/SWORDS. Jessica has TWO skill-families she gets from this skill tree, and they both suck compared to whips. One is the Toxic Dagger/Sword, which does a little bit more damage and can poison an enemy. The thing about this is, by the time said enemy is poisoned, one of the guys is gonna smack the shit out of it anyways, so why bother? The other skill sounds good, but isn't. Assassin's Stab/Sudden Death can insta-kill an enemy, and Sudden Death does 50% more damage than normal attacks. Okay, but let's face facts: 1) Insta-kill never works on bosses. 2) Twin Dragon Lash hits twice, and does notably more damage. 3) Assuming you were going to use this on Metal Slimes, the Hero and Yangus have a far better chance of taking them out, and Angelo actually has skills that are better at insta-kills than a single slash chance. In addition to that, you have to focus your points on a weapon that's shitty for her compared to the usefulness of whips. All in all, Knives are a VERY close second at biggest waste of points for Jessica. Regardless of how effective swords can be, she just lacks the power for them.

+Angelo+ MANDAFUCKINGTORY:

76 in BOWS. HOLY SHIT. Pretty much everyone uses bows with him, and the reason is MULTISHOT. But before that, let me break some other stuff down first. Sandman's Arrow can be effective at times, but only if you're up against a high HP foe susceptible to sleep. It's best used in combination with Cherub/Seraph's Arrow, which recover Angelo's MP from some of the damage he deals. Have others defend while he jabs a sleeping enemy and he can restock quite easily. Needle Shot can insta-kill a foe, or do 1 damage if it fails. It's upgrade, Needle Rain, strikes 4 times in the same way. These SOUND good for Metal Slimes, but you're better off using Metal Slash with a Falcon Sword, since Needle Rain comes late at 100 points, and 2-4 damage is better than 1 from Needle Shot, since the insta-death chance is always pretty low. Now, MULTISHOT. 3-4 hits at 50% damage, on random enemies. Same as Multithrust right? Not quite! Angelo's bows are generally pretty damn good. Not only that, but you can use alchemy to get some pretty good ones early on. Because of this, adding tension to the mix makes this skill pretty much his trademark move. Depending on how you allocate your skills, you may or may not want to raise your bow points to 88 for Shining Shot. It's a 10 MP, strike-all-enemies skill that does roughly 110 base damage to all foes without reduction of damage with each consecutive foe hit. If you like Swords and want to level those skills to maximum, you may pass on it, since there's no other bow attack upgrades past 76.

Not as Mandatory, but still Mandatory:

13 minimum in CHARISMA, but 27 maximum. There's only 3 necessary things you get from this, and that's all you really need. They are: Squelch (de-poisons an ally), Divine Intervention (increases spell-damage you deal), and Sarcastic Snicker (lowers one foe's tension by a level). Fuddle is as iffy as ever and Angel Eyes is as useless as Jessica's Sex Appeal attacks. Well, what about Pearly Gates, the ultimate Charisma skill? DON'T BOTHER. It's almost as good as Lightning Storm, doing just a slight bit less at 5 points less, but here's the problem, it ONLY hits a group, instead of all enemies. For a spell that pricey, you might as well use something else. The other skills are pointless too. It's rare to see groups have tension, so Chilling Chuckle is pointless. Charming Look is as shitty as Angel Eyes when you finally get it. Kafuddle isn't that beneficial considering you'd only bother with Fuddle in general when all enemies are one large group or a strong one can help pound a smaller group. And Ban Dance? Tough luck. Real badasses ain't afraid to bust-a-move.

9 minimum in STAVES, but 65 maximum. Unlike Jessica, Angelo's bonus spells aren't quite as great, but are still pretty dang useful. Dazzle can be good for enemies who rely on physical strength, especially if they have any multi-attack skills. Fizzle stops enemies from using spells, so it's great against magic-spam, and even works on a number of bosses. Bounce works the same as Jessica's. After that, it's up to you on whether you want another Oomph caster to power up your attacks or not. Drain Magic is less effective than Cherub/Seraph's Shot, which also does damage while stealing MP. Caduceus is as useful as ever for exploring. Kathwack is the last offensive spell learned from Staves, but can clear out the entire battlefield of enemies! It's not too expensive either. The issue here is that they have to be vulnerable to it, and it's not always successful. Some or all enemies may be left standing so be cautious. The MP boost of holding a staff, along with MP Recovery isn't necessary at all, since you can just bow and arrow your MP back to speed when you drop low.

Hero-Dependent:

100 in SWORDS. Angelo learns everything the Hero learns in Swords except for Dragon Slash, and instead of Gigaslash, he learns Lightning Storm. As mentioned before, Lightning Storm is kickass at kicking enemy ass. However, you'll likely use it just a bit more sparingly with Angelo, since even with Cherub/Seraph's shot, he doesn't get an MP reduction boost like the Hero. Angelo can easily take on bosses with Multishot, so why bother with swords then? As the title mentions, depending on how you flow with your Hero, he may never even use swords once he gets a spear. If that's the case, why waster those blades that can be used by Angelo (because it's still not recommended for Jessica). Flame, Miracle, and Falcon Slash (especially the last) can be quite good on strong enemies you face, even though Bows are often better for bosses. A BIG advantage he has over the Hero's Sword mastery is that he learns his skills MUCH earlier (aside from Lightning Storm, of course). If you don't pump up Staves and Charisma past the recommended minimum, you may consider putting some points here as a supplement to Bows. Your call.

Fisting Failure:

DON'T USE FISTICUFFS: Like Jessica, Angelo doesn't have the raw strength to make up for being weaponless. He gets Evasion Up much earlier than Jessica, but he doesn't have the spell variety she does to utilize this. Plus, again, why bother once you've learned agility up spells? Like the Hero, he learns Defending Champion, but for roughly 50 points more! Too much to be useful, especially when it saps from your more useful trees. At 100 points, He learns Miracle Moon, which is a stronger Harvest Moon. Both hit all enemies, but the upgrade recovers HP. Here's the problem: the damage dealt is divided evenly between foes and a TENTH of that average is absorbed as HP. So not only is this 100 points skill weaker than Shining Shot and, more importantly, Lightning Storm, but the benefit is worse than Miracle Slash's which costs less points, provides more HP to boot, and has pretty much set you on the path for getting Lightning Storm anyways. Why waste your points on a huge stack of shit skills? Fuck that and stick with Bows and/or possibly Swords. You won't regret it one bit.

 -Early Helpful Alchemy- 

 -Notable Special Monster Teams- 

As you are journey to become gusto enough ragazzo to rise through the ranks of the monster arena, you might have noticed having certain monsters on your main team gives them a "title" of sorts. These "special duos" and "special trios" get bonuses from their buds, and as a result can be better for battling along with your party or in the ring at Morrie's place (though sometimes it's better to just use the best monsters you have). The following monsters teams stand out above others, so consider giving them a shot:

(will add in a bit)