Talk:Dragon Quest

Serious props on this page. - MFGreth1 21:18, September 28, 2010 (UTC)

DQ8 Breakdown of Skill Tree Paths
Hero

Swords + Come in abundance (over 20) and often quite strong, with a few having extra bonus effects.

++ Falcon Blade + Falcon Slash = 4 HITS. (Note: Uber FB isn't worth it. The normal one is enough. Save those damn Meteorite Bracers!)

+ Nice skill set to do strong damage versus single targets. Also, GigaGash is quite strong against groups (when you get it).

- Takes several points to get the best skills, and can potentially take a while to get a Falcon Blade.

- Not very effective versus large crowds of foes (thus a convenience for keeping boomerangs)

- Kind of expensive for buying/alchemising them, often needing lots of cash or really good ingredients

Spears + Skill set allows versatility versus single targets and groups of enemies (and later all enemies with Lightning Storm, which makes Metal Slimes a breeze to kill.)

+ Skills are obtained quickly. All skills obtained by 59 points (except Lighting Storm).

+ No real need for Boomerangs after 45 points in (Clean Sweep hits groups), which lets you sell Boomerangs for easy cash.

? Not as strong or as common as swords (there's 9 TOTAL), less available in stores, but cheaper to buy/easier to alchemise thanks to easier-to-get ingredients.

? Some have good weapon-bonuses (Demon, Holy, Sandstorm), but Hero Spear and Metal King Spear take extra effort to get. '''You likely won't get HS until end-game. MKS can't be gotten until post-game.'''

Sword Level 9: +14 SP Sword 6, Courage 8 (Heal, Squelch, Evac)

Level 12: +9 SP Sword 15, Courage 8 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz)

Level 15: +15 SP Sword 15, Courage 12, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz)

Level 20: +25 SP Sword 40, Courage 12, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle)

Level 25: +27 SP Sword 52, Courage 27, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle)

Level 30: +27 SP Sword 52, Courage 54, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing)

Level 35: +33 SP Sword 52, Courage 87, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

Level 40: +39 SP Sword 78, Courage 100, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +33 SP Sword 100, Courage 100, Fisticuffs 11, Spears 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

Spear Level 9: +14 SP Spear 7, Courage 7 (Heal, Squelch, Evac)

Level 12: +9 SP Spear 15, Courage 8 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz)

Level 15: +15 SP Spear 19, Courage 8, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz)

Level 20: +25 SP Spear 25, Courage 27, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle)

Level 25: +27 SP Spear 45, Courage 34, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle)

Level 30: +27 SP Spear 50, Courage 56, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing)

Level 35: +33 SP Spear 57, Courage 82, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

Level 40: +39 SP Spear 78, Courage 100, Fisticuffs 11 (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +33 SP Spear 100, Courage 100, Fisticuffs 11, 11 in Whatever (Heal, Squelch, Evac, Sizz, Midheal, Sizzle, Fullheal, Zing, Kasizzle)

Yangus

Axes + Good for debuffing damage and grinding with Executioner

+ Easy to alchemise to a high degree

- Not "too" common without alchemy

- Lacks a solid final skill like most weapons

Scythes + Mandatory for mid-game onward to steal and horde rare items and seeds of skill

+ Nice skills for magic and dealing magic damage, also potentially insta-kills

- Only Stainless Steal Sickle is worth stealing with. Steal chance can be boosted if you paralyze an enemy or put it to sleep before use. Tension ONLY increases damage dealt, not the chance of stealing.

- Not too solid a weapon choice before mid-game, due to being somewhat rare

Level 9: +24 SP Axe 13, Fisticuffs 7, Humanity 4

Level 12: +19 SP Axe 19, Fisticuffs 20, Humanity 4

Level 15: +25 SP Axe 22, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Level 20: +19 SP Axe 41, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Level 25: +14 SP Axe 55, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Level 30: +29 SP Axe 66, Sickle 18, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Level 35: +39 SP Axe 66, Sickle 57, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Level 40: +33 SP Axe 66, Sickle 90, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

(Post-game) Level 45: +25 SP Axe 81, Sickle 100, Fisticuffs 42, Humanity 4

Jessica

Knives/Swords + Knives and swords are again, quite abundant, and several knives also have extra bonus effects as well (and Knives are found/bought/alchemised easier than swords)

+ Falcon Blade/Knife + Poison and/or Insta-kill is very useful for certain tough enemies and even some bosses (except the insta-kill on bosses that is)

? Not too effective for causing love-struck enemies due to instakill, which can be a good and/or bad thing, but depends mostly on the enemy/boss

- Lack of skill variety and no "super" final attack like some skill trees. Then again, none of Jessica's skill trees have such a thing, unless Hustle Dance counts (no really, Magic Burst blows and there is NEVER a time when you would want to use Magic Burst. EVER.).

Whips + Skill set strikes several foes at once and when coupled with Sex Appeal's love-struck bonus, can be VERY handy against enemy swarms (and even bosses!).

+ Twin Dragon Lash is probably Jessica's best attack skill. Hurts foes well, and bosses nicely too! As long as you boost whips' attack rating, have the best whip you can at the time, and have a strength accessory on her, it can sometimes even out power the attacks of other allies, even without tension!

+ No real need for Boomerangs after 45 points in (Clean Sweep hits groups), which lets you sell Boomerangs for easy cash.

? No point in leveling past 68 points. Which is good in a way. If you really want Queen's Thong, it IS somewhat helpful, but not quite as handy as you'd hope. Serpent's Bite is fucking TERRIBLE though. Even Twin Dragon Lash is better than that shit. If you level past 68, stop at dead at 82. Zero purpose to Serpent Bite.

- Takes a while to find the best whips, so you have to put some extra points in them early on to get the weapon attack boosts.

- Not as strong or as common as knives/swords. Scourge and Gringham Whips ARE stronger than a majority of swords and weapons in general, but take a lot of effort to get. They all also lack the effect bonuses of knives and swords as well.

Knife/Sword Level 12: +26 SP 4 Knife, 6 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze)

Level 15: +19 SP 9 Knife, 20 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang)

Level 20: +22 SP 20 Knife, 31 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle)

Level 25: +23 SP 30 Knife, 44 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle)

Level 30: +37 SP 41 Knife, 70 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle)

Level 35: +34 SP 45 Knife, 100 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle (Event at around Lv35: Kasizzle, Kacrackle))

Level 40: +46 SP 91 Knife, 100 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle, Kasizzle, Kacrackle)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +27 SP 100 Knife, 10 Whip, 100 Staff, 25 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle, Kasizzle, Kacrackle)

Whips Level 12: +26 SP 10 Whip, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze)

Level 15: +19 SP 23 Whip, 6 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang)

Level 20: +22 SP 32 Whip, 19 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle)

Level 25: +23 SP 43 Whip, 31 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle)

Level 30: +37 SP 43 Whip, 68 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle)

Level 35: +34 SP 45 Whip, 100 Staff, 16 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle (Event at around Lv35: Kasizzle, Kacrackle))

Level 40: +46 SP 68 Whip, 100 Staff, 39 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle, Kasizzle, Kacrackle)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +27 SP 68 Whip, 100 Staff, 66 Sex Appeal (Frizz, Sap, Crack, Evac, Sizz, Snooze, Bang, Crackle, Oomph, Sizzle, Frizzle, Boom, Insulatle, Kaboom, Kafrizzle, Kasizzle, Kacrackle)

Angelo (Holy fuck, have I got a mouthful about this asshole.)

Bows + Bows are pretty easy to alchemise and sell pretty well too. The best one (Odin's Bow) can be made by alchemy and is one of the strongest weapons in the game!

+ Many strong and helpful attacks skills. Sleep, damage+MP refill, magic strike-all, multiple hits, insta-kill, and even multiple hits of insta-kill.

? However, they are quite expensive to buy, so try to avoid doing so. Which means waiting for a weapon often, but often a really good weapon. If you're patient enough, you'll be rewarded. If not, I hope you have some deep pockets.

- Needle Shot/Rain have pretty shit insta-kill chance and do shit damage otherwise, which is why it's better to leave insta-kills to the other allies. Needle Rain can be beneficial, and I've personally had it work enough to justify using it, but it's pretty much all luck with shit odds, so I can understand why you wouldn't.

Staffs

+ Staffs in themselves provide some nice bonuses

? Along with Bows, Angelo will be providing more support thanks to his Staff's strong sub-weapon presence and giving him more spells and skills to help with. Depending on the kind of ally you want him to be, this can be great or good and slightly inconvenient, since he won't be doing as much damage as he potentially could be. It mostly depends on how you want to play. Personally, I find the game to go smoother with this path, as opposed to going all out in offense, but that's just me.

? Staffs take pretty much 100 points to be REALLY good, but when you get there, they're fucking great. What sucks is the slog to get to 48 points, when you finally get Caduceus. This is mostly a problem because Angelo has such shitty SP gain, versus Jessica who takes 57 points to learn it, but has Skill Points to spare.

? For Swords, they take much longer to raise as your concentration isn't on magic support until end game, but then you only need 65 versus the full 100, as you have Cherub's Arrow for MP-refilling needs.

Swords + Aside from Dragon Slash and Gigaslash/Gigagash, Angelo gets every sword skill the Hero gets, and gets them FASTER, too. I find this to be one of the best reasons to set Angelo on swords, if you prefer him to deal more physical damage. Lightning Storm is arguably better than the Giga-skills as well. Even if it does less damage than Gigagash, it still hits every foe, a huge factor in over the Giga-skills in end-/post- game.

+ As long as you have Cherub's Arrow to refill your MP, spamming Lightning Storm will clear out damn near any non-boss foes in your way.

++ Falcon Blade + Falcon Slash = 4 HITS. Even if he is a tad weaker than the Hero, I can't imagine ever giving this up. Some people have Hero and Angelo (and even Jessica with her Toxic/insta-kill skills) all using Falcon Blades (or Twin Dragon Lash with Jess), but I find that to be overkill/Babby-Easy-Modo. Again, that's just me.

? Angelo's inability to use some swords just fucking mystifies me. Mercury's Rapier, Fallen Angel Rapier, and Shamshir of Light(saber) are all damn cool though, so I guess it's not that much of an issue unless you're obsessed with exploiting enemy weaknesses.

- Angelo's Swords skill tree has no goddamn multiple-target attacks until Lightning Storm so it's all or nothing. Unless you seriously WANT to be stuck with those shitty Wind spells of his, in which case, GODSPEED, because those things suck as much as they'd imply, and NOT in the good way. No, really, nobody uses those fuck-awful spells.

- Swords-Angelo won't be providing much support with spells and skills due to few Staff points until post-game. I'd like to form this tree in a better way, but he gains so few skill points, it's damn near impossible unless you're a mathematician. And if you are, get the fuck off this page and go help the world with that brilliant brain of yours.

Bow Level 15: +10 SP 4 Bow, 3 Staff, 3 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal)

Level 20: +19 SP 7 Bow, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing)

Level 25: +18 SP 25 Bow, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal)

Level 30: +26 SP 51 Bow, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal)

Level 35: +32 SP 75 Bow, 17 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)

Level 40: +40 SP 75 Bow, 57 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +42 SP 75 Bow, 99 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)

Sword Level 15: +10 SP 4 Sword, 3 Staff, 3 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal)

Level 20: +19 SP 7 Sword, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing)

Level 25: +18 SP 25 Sword, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal)

Level 30: +26 SP 40 Sword, 11 Bow, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal)

Level 35: +32 SP 65 Sword, 18 Bow, 9 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)

Level 40: +40 SP 100 Sword, 18 Bow, 14 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)

(Post-Game) Level 45: +42 SP 100 Sword, 18 Bow, 56 Staff, 13 Charisma (Heal, Woosh, Buff, Zoom, Tingle, Kabuff, Midheal, Whack, Swoosh, Zing, Thwack, Fullheal, Multiheal, Kaswoosh, Kazing)