Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - For Liquid Metal we would Slime!

[quote name='bvharris']Even though the dress she gave me is a downgrade for my female characters, I equipped it anyway.[/QUOTE]
Speaking of which, I refuse to wear clothing that looks awful. I want my heroes to look rad.

(Except for my Mage. I pegged him as a closet gay so he wears all those awful looking clothes. If he had his way, he'd probably wear the Wonder Pants for his torso too.)
 
I must be the only one here who uses the crit or miss attacks from spears and axes to take out metal slimes on all my characters. The chances of hitting are fairly decent and sometimes I'm able to kill four on the first turn.


I also never found a metal king when I scaled the Tower of Nod. Still trying to get my grottos back up to the 50's so I can find them and finish my damned Luminary quest.
 
I don't have anyone using axes, spears or hammers, so that would be way too many points to spend for that purpose. It'll take me long enough just to get the skills I actually want!
 
I got my first treasure map last night.. the grotto was really, really easy to navigate. I was one-shotting 75% of the enemies in the place.

THEN I got to bad horse, or Equinox as he calls himself, who stomped me with his doom hooves.. I can still hear his death whinny... The guy used his breath attack every round... 3 of my party died in the first two rounds, while my hero - who was using falcon slash with a miracle sword - lasted a surprisingly long time. I may have gotten close to killing him (google tells me he had 1800 HP, i must have done 1500 or 1600), but I'm not going to give him another try until I'm a higher level.
 
Well I tripled my leveling speed or so by adding axes or spears on every character, which is really nice. The place for lots of metal slimes post-game is great, but sometimes it's really difficult to see liquid metal slimes in the trees and occasionally they take a while to spawn. I'd probably say it's worth it post-game, especially since it takes too much effort dish out 7-8 damage on liquid metal slimes with the exception of a few other methods.


[quote name='BattleChicken']I got my first treasure map last night.. the grotto was really, really easy to navigate. I was one-shotting 75% of the enemies in the place.

THEN I got to bad horse, or Equinox as he calls himself, who stomped me with his doom hooves.. I can still hear his death whinny... The guy used his breath attack every round... 3 of my party died in the first two rounds, while my hero - who was using falcon slash with a miracle sword - lasted a surprisingly long time. I may have gotten close to killing him (google tells me he had 1800 HP, i must have done 1500 or 1600), but I'm not going to give him another try until I'm a higher level.[/QUOTE]


Wait until you meet Atlas. :p
 
[quote name='Draekon']I must be the only one here who uses the crit or miss attacks from spears and axes to take out metal slimes on all my characters. The chances of hitting are fairly decent and sometimes I'm able to kill four on the first turn.
[/QUOTE]
My husband does this, I haven't tried it yet since I've only encountered 1 LMS at a time thus far (haven't tried leveling in the post game yet, probably will tonight once I get off my ass and unlock more classes to train in). Flailing Nails (claw skill)+Metal Slash with Falcon Sword equipped=lolz.
 
I've got one guy on spears, my main on sword (this is an JRPG after all, come on) and my other damage dealer with claws, but I usually switch her to a Falcon Blade for metal grinding.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I've got one guy on spears, my main on sword (this is an JRPG after all, come on) and my other damage dealer with claws, but I usually switch her to a Falcon Blade for metal grinding.[/QUOTE]

The claws wielder should use Flailing Nails, IMO, not Metal Slash. Give the sword to someone else who doesn't have a metal killer like that. Metal Slash is pretty easy to get since it requires little points.
 
Well, I found my first legacy treasure map. It was Baramos.

It starts at level 1 and the only floor was the boss, who is also at level 1. When you beat him, you have the option of taking the experience or giving it to the boss and letting him level up, which will obviously make him stronger.

To obtain this map you need to be post game and
be able to fly. Then you can go and complete the quest on the island north of Swinedimples Academy. Quest is fairly straight forward on what to do.

Difficulty wise, the first two turns were cake and caused me to underestimate it. He went for my healer who was dead through five full turns with my armamentalist somehow living through five turns (thank god he kept attacking my paladin who kept healing himself with an uber miracle sword...) until my Zing worked. Also guess it helped that my paladin was able to coup during this time to play the "I'm invincible bitch." card as he crit several times that would have landed for 350'ish damage each as he took out my Gladiator with a 400 damage crit at some point. So yeah, lesson learned... carry Ygg leaves.

One of his rarer drops is another legacy boss treasure map once he hits level 16+.
 
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What's the distance on tag? Curious 'cause I'd much rather just drive by Gamestop than actually have to walk in.

EDIT: Wow, the only two in my area are a fair distance away. I may just wait for the DLC quest to get the map.
 
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I just
killed the giant spider boss
, and already have my main's fisticuffs at maximum, its ridiculous how much damage he does now unarmed. All of my characters have pretty decent fisticuffs skills, they're all rangers, ATM.
 
My main guy uses swords, Miracle but with 2x Life Bracers will be a Uber Miracle Sword.
Just switched him to Thief so I can finish his Swords Skills and he has just 2 more left to max it, though I have no clue how to get to that island surrounded my rocks.

I have just one fygg left to get in Baserg which I tried once and got whooped.
Maybe my Fire shield may help I hope.

Gonna unlock the Paladin next.
FYI- GameFAQs has updated a lot of theirs FAQs and infos.
 
Just completed the main story and have a question about Stella.

Anybody have a clue to what she was trying to say about what she really wants to be or something like that?
 
I'm likely making very slow progress towards getting the Luminary. Gotten up to a level 29 grotto, but I don't consistently get a higher level map afterwards so now I'm back to 24.

This will take a long time. But at least the bosses are much easier now than the first time I fought Equinox. Shogum tried to cause me some trouble, but Multiheal fixed that right up.
 
Im hoping to learn Multiheal soon.
Been working on Skill Points and my minstrel will be maxed out next level up.

MY shop was all items and the best I got was a Dragon Scale.

For people looking to get items from beast as drop, may i suggest use the Thief. Once he hits 10 skill points on his main skill he can swipe items from beasts. It's the only way I managed to get 8 grubby bandges from the Mummy Boy to get 2 Ballisticks. I also got lots of cool items like Wixards Staff, Magic Shield and cool stuff for alchemy. It may take a few turns but if you know what your looking for and use Snooze from the Priest you should be good. Also his Coup de Grace makes it so after the battle you 100% will get a item drop.
 
[quote name='Draekon']Well, I found my first legacy treasure map. It was Baramos.

It starts at level 1 and the only floor was the boss, who is also at level 1. When you beat him, you have the option of taking the experience or giving it to the boss and letting him level up, which will obviously make him stronger.

To obtain this map you need to be post game and
be able to fly. Then you can go and complete the quest on the island north of Swinedimples Academy. Quest is fairly straight forward on what to do.

Difficulty wise, the first two turns were cake and caused me to underestimate it. He went for my healer who was dead through five full turns with my armamentalist somehow living through five turns (thank god he kept attacking my paladin who kept healing himself with an uber miracle sword...) until my Zing worked. Also guess it helped that my paladin was able to coup during this time to play the "I'm invincible bitch." card as he crit several times that would have landed for 350'ish damage each as he took out my Gladiator with a 400 damage crit at some point. So yeah, lesson learned... carry Ygg leaves.

One of his rarer drops is another legacy boss treasure map once he hits level 16+.[/QUOTE]

He owned me the first time I tried him. Like you I was lulled into a false sense of security by the first few turns. Once he started instakilling my characters for the sport of it I couldn't recover since I didn't have enough Ygg leaves (do you know a good way to get more). My backup revive plan right now is having my Paladin carry the Zing Stick book and switch to a wand if he needs to revive my sage.. Somewhat inelegant.

I decided to hold off on him until my Sage is a high enough level to cast Kazing.
 
[quote name='Demon Soul']Just completed the main story and have a question about Stella.

Anybody have a clue to what she was trying to say about what she really wants to be or something like that?
[/QUOTE]

From what she was saying I thought she said
nail artist
though I could be wrong. :lol:

Alchemy week does fucking suck. Got a mini medal and a birthday cake (even though it's not my birthday for 4 months) though.
 
Had to chime in on this amazing game. Right now my party is Minstrel, Fighter, Mage, Priest and I'm just allocating most of the skill points to their job skill, swords, wands, and shields. Is there anything I'm missing by not changing job classes (at level 30) or focusing on those specific skills? I ask because I worry the game will get super difficult late game and my specs won't allow for a proper strategy. I still remember getting my ass stomped after crossing a bridge in the NES Dragon Warrior. Haunts me to this day :)
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']
Alchemy week does fucking suck. Got a mini medal and a birthday cake (even though it's not my birthday for 4 months) though.[/QUOTE]

The downloadable quest from Friday requires a birthday cake and party poppers to complete. If course I've had 3 birthday cakes in my store and not a single party popper, so who knows when I'll complete it.

All alchemy again for me today, not even a mini medal or anything. Oh well.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Once he started instakilling my characters for the sport of it I couldn't recover since I didn't have enough Ygg leaves (do you know a good way to get more).[/QUOTE]

One Ygg Leaf spawns every couple hours I think on the island in the east. That's the easiest way is to quickly make a trip there every time you play and let them accumulate.
 
[quote name='Draekon']Well I tripled my leveling speed or so by adding axes or spears on every character, which is really nice. The place for lots of metal slimes post-game is great, but sometimes it's really difficult to see liquid metal slimes in the trees and occasionally they take a while to spawn. I'd probably say it's worth it post-game, especially since it takes too much effort dish out 7-8 damage on liquid metal slimes with the exception of a few other methods.





Wait until you meet Atlas. :p[/QUOTE]

With Multifists used by every character its really easy to do a lot of damage to metal enemies.
 
[quote name='bvharris']The downloadable quest from Friday requires a birthday cake and party poppers to complete. If course I've had 3 birthday cakes in my store and not a single party popper, so who knows when I'll complete it.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah I knew that, already went to that guy. Wonder where I can get the poppers.
 
I have nearly a dozen poppers, but not a single cake. Kinda wish I could trade with others for a cake, lol.

Finally getting back into the level 30+ grottos again. I hope to god that when I beat these that I don't end up back at level 10-30 again. Want to find those damned Metal King Slimes already so I can work up to Platinum Jewel Kings.
 
I've been on a nice grotto run today, every one I cleared bumped me up levels, up to around level 45 now, hoping to start seeing some good returns soon.

I also have managed to get Erdrick's Sword and Shield, working on the helmet once I get a few more mini metals.

Oh, and I managed to beat the first legacy boss. Good day overall.
 
Don't be surprised to have you grottos go back to low level ones again. I have like 8 pages full of low level grottos and one or so full of 35+.

EDIT: Oh shit, another 'of Gloom' treasure map. This could get really difficult... At least it's not Doom/Death/Evil/Ruin.

EDIT 2: fuck, it's Atlas.

EDIT 3: Whew, wasn't so bad this time.
 
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My grammar/spelling nazi senses are getting really annoyed by this game. I know spelling colour, honour, favourite, and defence that way is a British thing and the world of DQ is largely British, but that doesn't excuse the poor localization with such easy corrections that appear a lot in the menus and in dialog.

Other than that, I just started this yesterday and I'm enjoying it despite the slow start with the whole guardian thing. I'm looking forward to playing some more, though I'm not putting much effort into this Gamefly rental since I'm not going to pay to keep this.
 
Finally got to the last dungeon and unlocked Sage. Haven't trained her yet though (I'm making my priest the sage).

Dumb ?, but what do you mean by grottos? Is that the treasure maps? Is there anyway to get them other than tags? I got the first one in a quest, but that boss paddled my ass like 10 levels ago.
 
So I'm a little to the DQIX party, but I made it.

Do all the weapons kinda function all the same compared to DQ8? As in, get Fisticuffs for the AoE and then go do something else, or is there some better "path" in this game? Granted, it looks like you could just spend the rest of however long you want just maxing out all of your characters...

Even with that in mind, I'm level 11 and still haven't spent any points. xD
 
Alright, WAY too many pages to read through here. I am about to start this on a plane trip this week. Since I'll be going through some airports, I wanted to ask this: this game has some sort of DS sleep mode sharing dealie, right? Anyone think it is worth trying that while going through airports? Any chance I'll pick anything up, and is there anything worth getting that way? And what is it? I know absolutely nothing about this game (though I did play the crap out of DQ VIII). Oh, also, would I have to start the game and get to a certain point or could I turn that on without even having started the game yet? I might not be able to start it before I leave.
 
[quote name='Gden']With Multifists used by every character its really easy to do a lot of damage to metal enemies.[/QUOTE]

The downside to it is too big in my opinion to really make it worthwhile as a viable leveling tool post-game since I fight many enemies at the same time whether they're all metal or not (with 4 enemies minimum per fight with the exception of a couple that have 2 or 3 on rare occasion).

Pros:
- Hits up to 4 times

Cons:
- Hits enemies at random, which is useless when fighting many metal slimes/enemies at once.

[quote name='2DMention']Dumb ?, but what do you mean by grottos? Is that the treasure maps? Is there anyway to get them other than tags? I got the first one in a quest, but that boss paddled my ass like 10 levels ago.[/QUOTE]

Grottos are those places you find in treasure maps. A few quests give them as rewards, but completing a normal treasure map will net you a new one that's based on a few factors.

[quote name='io']Alright, WAY too many pages to read through here. I am about to start this on a plane trip this week. Since I'll be going through some airports, I wanted to ask this: this game has some sort of DS sleep mode sharing dealie, right? Anyone think it is worth trying that while going through airports? Any chance I'll pick anything up, and is there anything worth getting that way? And what is it? I know absolutely nothing about this game (though I did play the crap out of DQ VIII). Oh, also, would I have to start the game and get to a certain point or could I turn that on without even having started the game yet? I might not be able to start it before I leave.[/QUOTE]

In order to get to tag mode you need to:

- Play prologue
- Get to the first town and complete the quest that sends you to a dungeon.
- Get to the second town and complete the quest for the inn (I think?)

At which point you can begin canvassing (aka tag mode). It takes a few hours to make it that far for sure. As for the success you'll have with tag mode? It's really difficult to say as the game doesn't have quite the same effect here as it does in Japan. Now if you're flying to Japan then god yes, you want to have tag mode by the time you get off that plane.

What tagging nets you is experience points for the inn (Not sure what they unlock, but I still have inaccessible areas in my inn post-game) and possible treasure maps that other people send with their characters in tag mode when they begin canvassing too.


EDIT:

[quote name='bvharris']I also have managed to get Erdrick's Sword and Shield, working on the helmet once I get a few more mini metals.[/QUOTE]

Where are you getting the Orichalcum to craft those? Blue grotto chests I guess? I'm having no luck getting that but instead Densinium.
 
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Got Party Poppers in my shop today. Now I just need to get money to get them and save for way later in the game.
currently at Porth Llaffan, about to go find the girl
 
Just unlocked the Paladin finally and maxing out my mages Wand skill. Im really loving the Thiefs skill of stealing stuff, I may teach all my guys it as Ive scored a lot of cool lot.

Im past Upover
Bout to break out of prison.
May level up to 40 and do the class quest b4 moving on. Still mad that I can't get to that island so I can do the sword quest as i have mine maxed out. Doing shield next so I can max it out so I can switch to Gladitor or Ranger.

Store was crap again. Bout to make the Uber Miracle Sword as soon as I go get some more nectar.
 
[quote name='Draekon']
Where are you getting the Orichalcum to craft those? Blue grotto chests I guess? I'm having no luck getting that but instead Densinium.[/QUOTE]
I'm fairly certain I got one as a drop from a later boss.

Way too many level 38 maps. :/
 
[quote name='Draekon']
Where are you getting the Orichalcum to craft those? Blue grotto chests I guess? I'm having no luck getting that but instead Densinium.[/QUOTE]

One dropped from a late boss (one of the lieutenants maybe?) I'm pretty sure I got the other one in a grotto chest like you said, but I'm not sure. I have the Rusty Helm now as well, so I'm looking for another piece myself. Apparently some people have seen it in the DQVC. I only get Royal Soil. :roll:
 
[quote name='botticus']I'm fairly certain I got one as a drop from a later boss.

Way too many level 38 maps. :/[/QUOTE]

Well, I have one Orichalcum and the only three things that drop it are Metal King Slimes, Gem Slimes, and one of the grotto bosses (#12).

And too many 38 maps, eh? I had way too many pre-30 maps. Most of mine seem to be upper 40's now and finally hit another 50+ when I killed a boss with a nice 4000 damage hit. While it was a Platinum map, it's a damned crypt which means no Metal King Slime again. ;(
 
I only have Treasure Map 1 at the moment. I don't know how to get anymore, and I don't even know how to finish the one I have.

I did a couple of quests today, which allowed me to unlock a new class. I'm going to get my party to level 25 before I fight the next boss
and get the 5th Fygg
.
 
Can anyone help me out?

For the level 30 Shield quest, you have to block attacks, right? Well I blocked 9, faced the final boss and blocked two more, and at the end of the battle it said I had a total of 6?

What? Any ideas? Was I just imagining I had 9 previously?
 
You probably miscounted or didn't remember how many you had going into battle. Anyhow, it's easiest to go against easy enemies that don't run but cast AoE stuff and just defend like mad.


That said, woot, I finished my Luminary quest at last! Also finally obtained my Dragon Robe and Cap'n's Curtsy!
 
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[quote name='Draekon']You probably miscounted or didn't remember how many you had going into battle. Anyhow, it's easiest to go against easy enemies that don't run but cast AoE stuff and just defend like mad.


That said, woot, I finished my Luminary quest at last! Also finally obtained my Dragon Robe and Cap'n's Curtsy![/QUOTE]
I've surrendered the Luminary to the grotto boss that finally posed a challenge one-hitting my spellcasters. In another level 38 map.

At this point I'll probably hop on and download weekly quests and the like as I remember it, but I don't think the quests or maps are going to be much more than timekillers when I'm bored. Really not enough substance there to keep me interested. I'm sure I'll miss awesome DQVC stuff as soon as I stop checking it.
 
[quote name='botticus']I've surrendered the Luminary to the grotto boss that finally posed a challenge one-hitting my spellcasters. In another level 38 map.

At this point I'll probably hop on and download weekly quests and the like as I remember it, but I don't think the quests or maps are going to be much more than timekillers when I'm bored. Really not enough substance there to keep me interested. I'm sure I'll miss awesome DQVC stuff as soon as I stop checking it.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, I'm more or less just passing time with DQIX. Once Starcraft 2 hits I'll probably only touch this for store updates a majority of the time. I'm not much of a min/max type of person.

I shouldn't really be playing this to begin with as I have a couple computer guides to write that'll probably end up being fairly large. Not to mention a couple other things I need to write too, one of which I have a deadline of July 31st. :cry:
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']My grammar/spelling nazi senses are getting really annoyed by this game. I know spelling colour, honour, favourite, and defence that way is a British thing and the world of DQ is largely British, but that doesn't excuse the poor localization with such easy corrections that appear a lot in the menus and in dialog.
[/QUOTE]

In the hour or so I played, the one that really stuck out for me was "The enemy are defeated" :roll:
 
I'm currently alternating between grinding through my highest level grotto (57) and doing runs on Baramos (currently got him up to level 7). The latter is a very good way to grind mini medals, since if you manage to steal one from his as well its a guaranteed two per battle.

I've finally got a couple grottos with enemies which aren't severely underpowered, which is nice. Trying to run past way underleveled enemies was the most tedious part of grotto grinding. I kind of wish there was a better guarantee of loot though.. Spending 30 minutes going through a grotto opening every chest and then beating the boss only to get nothing good out of chests and a lower level map happens way too often. I kind of wish they'd put in a boss chest or something in the higher level grottos which is guaranteed to have a nice item.
 
Family photo time! This is about 75 hours in, trudging through the endgame, finally starting to get some elite equipment.

I'm spoiler-tagging this in case people don't want equipment spoiled for them:
[IMG-L=5866]16835[/IMG-L]







Lash - Level 58 Gladiator - At this point I'd estimate he does about 75% of the damage to the enemy, even more during boss fights. My party is very much geared around damage prevention, but Lash packs a serious punch. He's also pretty much unhittable thanks to the shield, getting a shield on a Gladiator is almost unfair. As you can see he has two pieces of Erdrick gear and the makings of a 3rd, once I find the item I need to turn the Rusty Helm. Mostly in battle he uses the Uber Falcon Blade though, and with Double Up and Falcon Slash he can do 4 attacks a turn for about 850 total damage to legacy bosses. Not bad.

[IMG-L=5866]16836[/IMG-L]







Juliet - Level 42 Sage - Her Magical Mending is so high at this point she can basically insta-heal the whole party at the drop of a hat. I don't use the attack spells of Sage much (One of my RPG idiosyncrasies is I usually avoid attack magic if I can help it, don't ask me why), but she also has a lot of buffs. She's also got pretty much an unlimited well of MP thanks to the Goddess Ring. It's mostly redundant though, since her base MP is around 400, her reserves are never in danger.

[IMG-L=5866]16837[/IMG-L]







Damien - Level 48 Paladin - One word: Untouchable. This guy is pretty much impossible to damage at this point his defense and blocking are so high. I've basically turned him into the ultimate tank, since one of the later Paladin skills allows him to absorb attacks for the whole party. Combined with his Coup de Grace against bosses it basically gives me 3 turns where I can't possibly be hit, which is pretty sick. He's also my back-up healer (not that I ever need one) and has some nice buffs. Oh, and check out that boss halo. :D

[IMG-L=5866]16838[/IMG-L]







Titania - Level 52 Thief - She has one mission in this world: Steal shit. And she does it very well. Grinding for alchemy items its basically required that you have a good thief, and she is one. I'm about to switch her over to Ranger to level up her Deftness to increase her stealing even further. I've got her wielding a sword now, but in truth I've mismanaged her weapon skills a bit since she spent a while in Claws. If I've got the points, I might switch her over to Boomerangs at some point, we'll see. She doesn't usually wear Alena's gear, I just put it on for the photo cause it looks nice. ;)


As you can see there's still some pretty pedestrial equipment on each of them even at this point. It seems more difficult to get good leggings, shoes, etc, though I suppose that's not surprising. Oh, and it should go without saying they're all pretty high leveled in other vocations as well, I've switched around a lot to get skills/stats.
 
Get fources and learn what bosses are weak against. It can up damage significantly. I've had turns where I was dishing out over 2500 between two characters easily.
 
[quote name='RchrdJ']In the hour or so I played, the one that really stuck out for me was "The enemy are defeated" :roll:[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's English grammar and you'll see a ton of that that kind of grammar, phrases, and even some other dialects in Zere that seem to either be Scottish or Irish that makes it kind of hard to read.

I understand keeping an English flavor to the dialog and all that, but it should still be grammatically correct for each region rather than just doing one version for the UK and using it in the US, too.
 
[quote name='Draekon']Get fources and learn what bosses are weak against. It can up damage significantly. I've had turns where I was dishing out over 2500 between two characters easily.[/QUOTE]

Is there a list somewhere or was it just trial and error for you? I have all of them up to Gale Fource on my Sage already.

Edit: Just occurred to me to just use the opposite fource of whatever spells they cast. Duh.

Edit 2: Great, I just leveled Baramos to Level 8 and as thanks he learned Disruptive Wave, easily the most annoying spell in the game. :bomb:
 
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