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Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

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LMAO! Well done on the Metal Slime Sword. As for the Blight Knight, it's literally the hardest/last monster to appear in an ice Grotto, so it'd be hilarious if you found one!

 

Just came across some Wight Knights. Next time though...

 

I got a mirrorstone in that grotto which reminded me, didn't I need one of those to alchemise some claws? Well, after some Googling, I got some info from guide4gamers.com. Combusticlaws are next on my claws list and its time to make them.

 

Step one: I need to alchemise a lucida shard

Step two: I need to use the lucida shard to make a sunstone

Finally: I can use the sunstone for the Combusticlaws!

 

I've now completed 2% of the Alchenomicon. :yay:

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Lucida Shards... trust me, I've made enough of them! :heh:

 

Lucida Shard = 3 x Brighten Rock + 3 x Evencloth

 

Brighten Rocks appear west of Wormwood and just north-east of Gleeba. Evencloth appears on the "Stonehenge" island just to the south-east of Gleeba and on the coastline to the left of Batsureg. You can steal Brighten rocks and even whole Lucida Shards from Cosmic Chimaeras.

 

Sadly, I knew that by heart. I've made hundreds and hundreds of them for the Agates of Evolution!

 

PS - Dragonlord up to 80...

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Can't believe you know all that. Well... I'd be the same if I'd been making such a killing as you with the alchemy so far. :heh: I'll get to it when the game isn't dangling so many other carrots in front of me!

 

What are the main things to buy from the shop this week? There's a Sage's Staff on it today as well but buying it would pretty much bankrupt me. Should I keep my cash for tomorrow or go for it?

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I wouldn't buy the Sage's Staff, as you can get it from Stornway. My advice is to prioritise the Rank 9 and 10 items, as you can get Rank 8 weapons in Grottoes before you've ever Revocated (I definitely got them in a level 68 Grotto, for example).

 

OK, so we've got...

 

Rank 10

Stardust Sword

Poker

Deft Dagger

Bright Staff

Gringham Whip

Knockout Rod

 

Rank 9

Metal Slime Sword

Metal Slime Spear

 

I would prioritise them as...

 

1. Stardust Sword

2. Metal Slime Sword

3. Knockout Rod

4. Poker

5. Metal Slime Spear

 

My logic there is that the swords are very useful for boss fights, rods/staves help with evasion (if you've maxed it out) and spears, whilst appealing, don't need to be the best for Metal Slime hunting. Yes, a Metal Slime Spear may connect better than others with a normal attack, but when hunting Metal King Slimes, you'd be using Thunder Thrust, which it's no more effective at. In those situations, absolutely any spear will do.

 

Just be aware that those Rank 10 weapons are very rare...

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Todays main items on the DQ VC are:

 

- Hero Spear 18,000G

- Wizardly Whip 22,000G

- Bright Staff 40,000G

- Knockout Staff 40,000G

 

I can only afford one of these. :hmm: Maybe two with some crazy grinding... but I could likely do with sleeping later instead. Then I'll have to grind for cash for whatevers up tomorrow. How should I prioritise?

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Todays main items on the DQ VC are:

 

- Hero Spear 18,000G

- Wizardly Whip 22,000G

- Bright Staff 40,000G

- Knockout Staff 40,000G

 

I can only afford one of these. :hmm: Maybe two with some crazy grinding... but I could likely do with sleeping later instead. Then I'll have to grind for cash for whatevers up tomorrow. How should I prioritise?

 

Don't bother with the Hero Spear, you can get them easy later. Either pick out of the 3 or risk waiting and see what comes up in the next 2 days. I don't have any of those 3 so I can't really recommend any myself.

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Grind for cash? :nono: You don't need to do that. Make some Ear Cosies (Fur hood (Slurry Quay), bunny tail (Porth Llaffan item shop) and lambswool (Batsureg) costing 970 each to make) and sell them (they sell for 1200 making a nice little profit on each. A stack of 99 costs 96030 and sells for 118800 ;)).

 

'Tis a tip I found out a while ago and has been really helpful, especially after some deaths against bosses and stupidly carrying my gold with me instead of putting it in the bank.

 

There are other things you can make for money (such as Golden Mails) but you'll only make considerable profit when you've got around 400,000 gold to put towards making them.

 

Anyway, hadn't played this in a little while so went back to it earlier in the week and progressed the post game story, allowing me to get control of the Starlight Express. Also picked up a few items on the DQVC (Stardust Sword, Metal Slime Sword, etc.) and I'll be off to the Tower of Nod to explore and do more grottos which I'm slowly working my way up in level (not legacy as I haven't got any of those maps yet).

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Todays main items on the DQ VC are:

 

- Hero Spear 18,000G

- Wizardly Whip 22,000G

- Bright Staff 40,000G

- Knockout Staff 40,000G

 

I can only afford one of these. :hmm: Maybe two with some crazy grinding... but I could likely do with sleeping later instead. Then I'll have to grind for cash for whatevers up tomorrow. How should I prioritise?

 

Assuming you mean the Knockout Rod (not being pedantic, I can't remember if there's a Knockout Staff), that. The Bright Staff is Rank 10 too, but it depends on how much you like using Wands. Put it this way: I often arm my Priest with a Knockout Rod (for the extra evasion), but I can't imagine I'd ever need to arm him with the Bright Staff in a tight situation.

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Dragonlord is duffed-up...

 

Dragonlord.jpg

 

ascantha2.jpg

 

ascantha.jpg

 

argonia.jpg

See the similarities between this and the MKS/Legendary Armour? very samurai.

 

I'd like to show you what the Liquid Metal Sword and Metal King Spear look like in DQVIII, but I alchemised them. Sorry.

 

 

So, that's the first six Legacy Bosses defeated. I think I've sussed this game now. Now I'm onto the harder bosses, which start with a 10% chance of an Orb drop. However, I think I'll have a break first and use my Thief Team. I feel like stealin' tonight, like stealin' tonight...!

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Grazza: :bowdown:

 

Another quick question seeing as you're the man in the know. Seeds! If I change vocation do I lose the additional seed boosts? Should I worry about who I give seeds to? Can stats be maxed out through revocation and thus seeds are needless in the longterm?

 

I've hoarded quite a few, I think its time I used em!

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Grazza: :bowdown:

 

Another quick question seeing as you're the man in the know. Seeds! If I change vocation do I lose the additional seed boosts? Should I worry about who I give seeds to? Can stats be maxed out through revocation and thus seeds are needless in the longterm?

 

I've hoarded quite a few, I think its time I used em!

 

Seeds are vocation specific, if you revocate the new class won't have the effects of the seeds, but if you change back you will still get the boosts on that class. If you give a Gladiator Seeds of Strength and switch to a Mage, you won't gain the boost in strength, but if you switch back to Gladiator you will still have the increased strength.

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Another quick question seeing as you're the man in the know. Seeds! If I change vocation do I lose the additional seed boosts? Should I worry about who I give seeds to? Can stats be maxed out through revocation and thus seeds are needless in the longterm?

 

I've hoarded quite a few, I think its time I used em!

 

Hoard them, hoard them!

 

Ike has explained about seeds, but be aware that some traits are much easier to elevate than others. You can't max-out any through Revocation (which doesn't boost your stats at all), but there are some that, if you've maxed-out everyone's skills and got every Revocation Medal, can take you enough of the way to get maximum (or near maximum) chance of Alchemiracle. I would include the following as such:

 

Agility (Martial Artist + Mercury Prize etc)

Deftness (Ranger + Medal of Freedom etc)

Magical Might (Mage + Magical Might-boosting gear)

Magical Mending (Priest + Magical-Mending gear)*

 

That's because those traits can be boosted by items/clothing. The ones you need seeds more for are:

 

Resilience

Charm

MP

HP

 

The highest Resilience you can get, for example, is with a maxed-out Warrior, but that's still only 600, which gives you a 20% chance of Alchemiracle. The problem is that extra armour only boosts Defence, not Resilience (Defence is calculated based on your Resilience + armour).

 

Charm is even worse, I think a maxed-out Luminary is only 400, giving you a 10% chance.

 

Strength is a bit of an inbetweener (maxed-out Gladiator has a decent chance of getting the Alchemiracles). Again, it's a bit like Resilience/Defence, in that Strength boosts your Attack, but not vice versa.

 

So, I would be very careful about using Seeds of Defence (and I would also say Strength) until you're sure about which characters are which vocations. It depends on how far you want to go. If you trust me on one thing, it should be that, fighting Dragonlord at Level 99, you'll need a Paladin and at least one Gladiator. So, I would give all Seeds of Defence to your Hero Paladin and, depending on whether you're interested in Alchemiracles (which are calculated based on your Hero's current vocation) or not, the Seeds of Strength to your Gladiator. With hindsight, I would have given all my Seeds of Strength and Resilienceto my Paladin for that purpose. On the other hand, there's no way you're not going to want a Gladiator in the boss battles, so they'd be quite a good candidate for Seeds of Strength and Deftness.

 

The two anomalous ones are Seeds of Magic and Life. Assuming you've got a Priest as your No.4, I would give all those to her (Priest's HP is only 720).

 

If you want to know my two recommended teams so far, they're:

 

Paladin, Gladiator, Sage, Priest

Paladin, Gladiator, Gladiator, Priest (absolutely needed that for Dragonlord)

 

Phew!

 

* Not 100% sure if that's right

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You can't max-out any through Revocation (which doesn't boost your stats at all)

 

Wait what? There was me thinking revocating was helping me make my party into real beasts but it must just be my imagination!

 

I'm currently running with a Gladiator - Paladin - Warrior - Martial Artist set up. The martial artist has been my favourite through out the game! The Warrior has healing spell duties.

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Wait what? There was me thinking revocating was helping me make my party into real beasts but it must just be my imagination!

 

Nah, there's been some real confusion about that. Revocating allows you to build up skill points again, but no more so than levelling to 99 in other classes. I still think it's better to Revocate, though, as it gets you higher quality Grottoes. It also gets you the Revocation Medals, of course.

 

I'm currently running with a Gladiator - Paladin - Warrior - Martial Artist set up. The martial artist has been my favourite through out the game! The Warrior has healing spell duties.

 

You could happily play the whole game as a Warrior, apart from the Legacy Bosses. Even then he/she'd be OK as your 3rd character. I would recommend a proper healer though - Sage or Priest - as your 4th character, as you're bound to need Multiheal sometime. For Legacy Bosses, you'll need a Priest, for an occasional Omniheal and Fullheal.

 

Sorry if my post last night was too complicated and incoherent. I was absolutely zonked.

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I still think it's better to Revocate, though, as it gets you higher quality Grottoes.

 

Does this apply to all characters or just your main?

 

you're bound to need Multiheal sometime. For Legacy Bosses, you'll need a Priest, for an occasional Omniheal and Fullheal.

 

Don't you worry, that warrior of mine has all those! :wink:

 

Sorry if my post last night was too complicated and incoherent. I was absolutely zonked.

 

It was perfectly easy to understand, don't worry.

Edited by darksnowman

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Does this apply to all characters or just your main?

 

Good question - just your main. I'd Revocate him and just change vocations for your others.

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Good question - just your main. I'd Revocate him and just change vocations for your others.

 

My mains not even my favourite character. Being a minstrel sort of put me off him! :laughing:

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Don't you worry, that warrior of mine has all those! :wink:

 

Er what? Omniheal and Fullheal are exclusive to Priests :P

 

Warriors aren't best suited to healing, Magical Mending and MP are too low, your Paladin (Kerplunk is amazing once you get it) would be better but not as good as a Priest/Sage. Sages also get Kazing, Zing is far too unreliable for grotto/legacy bosses.

 

I still actually have trouble against Greynarl sometimes if he spams Magic Burst then Apocalyptic Lightning, but I usually fight him using my Sage, I'm thinking a priest would be better just because of Omniheal.

 

 

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My mains not even my favourite character. Being a minstrel sort of put me off him! :laughing:

 

You don't have to keep him as a Minstrel! :heh: Even his Revocation Medal is the worst. Why not Revocate him as a Martial Artist? That's the fastest vocation to get to level 99, and also happens to be your favourite class!

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Er what? Omniheal and Fullheal are exclusive to Priests :P

 

Warriors aren't best suited to healing, Magical Mending and MP are too low, your Paladin (Kerplunk is amazing once you get it) would be better but not as good as a Priest/Sage. Sages also get Kazing, Zing is far too unreliable for grotto/legacy bosses.

 

Actually, I'm not sure what class my third party member currently is. I can picture the icon for it - its sort of a triangle. They either went from Warrior to Priest or the other way round. All I know is I have a metal slashing multihealer!

 

You don't have to keep him as a Minstrel! :heh: Even his Revocation Medal is the worst. Why not Revocate him as a Martial Artist? That's the fastest vocation to get to level 99, and also happens to be your favourite class!

 

I know. :heh: I left him as a Minstrel for the duration of the main story and a decent stint beyond before getting bored. He's a Gladiator nowadays and is making the most of it, finally acting like a man rather than a pansy boy Minstrel!

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Actually, I'm not sure what class my third party member currently is. I can picture the icon for it - its sort of a triangle. They either went from Warrior to Priest or the other way round. All I know is I have a metal slashing multihealer!

 

Sounds like your a priest then :laughing:

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This week is Armageddon Sale part 2, with more high rank weapons!

 

 

  1. Dragonlord Claws
  2. Critical Fan
  3. Bad Axe
  4. Groundbreaker
  5. Angel's Bow
  6. Meteorang
  7. Beast Claws
  8. Orichalcum Claws
  9. Friendly Fan
  10. Attribeauty
  11. Pro's Axe
  12. Ice Axe
  13. Heavy Hatchet
  14. Giant's Hammer
  15. Hela's Hammer
  16. Megaton Hammer
  17. Flametang Boomerang
  18. Pentarang
  19. Purblind Bow
  20. Oh-No Bow
  21. Fuddle Bow
  22. Mystifying Mixture
  23. Malicite
  24. Sage's Elixir
  25. Yggdrasil Leaf
  26. Saint's Ashes
  27. Astral Plume
  28. Lucida Shard
  29. Enchanted Stone
  30. Reset Stone

 

 

Got my eye on a Critical Fan, hope I get one (or more).

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The first six are, again, Rank 10. The others are Rank 8 or below (there are no Rank 9 in this sale). Whatever you do, buy as many Critical Fans as possible! I mean it! Well, four anyway.

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This week is Armageddon Sale part 2, with more high rank weapons!

 

Aww man, will I ever be able to put this game down? I'm prioritising Dragonlord Claws. Are the others worth buying for any alchemy I might wanna do later for the best claws? I see there are only two sets of claws after Dragonlord Claws.

 

The first six are, again, Rank 10. The others are Rank 8 or below (there are no Rank 9 in this sale). Whatever you do, buy as many Critical Fans as possible! I mean it! Well, four anyway.

 

The top six? Thanks for the heads up. MH Tri will have to wait another week.

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Aww man, will I ever be able to put this game down? I'm prioritising Dragonlord Claws. Are the others worth buying for any alchemy I might wanna do later for the best claws? I see there are only two sets of claws after Dragonlord Claws.

 

Dragonlord Claws are the absolute best you can buy or get out of treasure chests. The only better ones are the alchemised versions, specifically the 1-Orb, 3-Orb and Alchemiracle versions.

 

You might like to buy Beast Claws to alchemise into Beastmaster Claws, but only if you want to complete all the Quests. You can get them out of chests too.

 

But be aware that Critical Fans are the best weapon in the game, as in "pretty much the only way to beat high-level Legacy Bosses" good. They help trigger Coups de Grace. When one is waiting, that increases the chance of your other characters getting one, and then you can do a Co-op de Grace, such as the amazing Soul Asylum (everyone's invincible for three active turns, can't even be debuffed) and Haulellujah (sic), which gives you a much better chance of getting the rare Grotto Boss drops than just fighting them over and over again.

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