Choosing the right equipment, accessories or otherwise, is crucial in any Dragon Quest game. In IX this takes on even more importance, thanks to it’s big selection of diverse classes, or vocations as they’re known. All told there are 12 classes on offer here, ranging from dedicated healers to all out attackers, hybrid damage dealers to full on buff machines. The game also features a great deal of equipment slots, one of which is reserved for accessories, which begs the question: Which accessories should you use with each class?
Minstrel
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
- Sorcerer’s Ring (Magical Might +15, Max. MP +15)
- Mager Achievement (Mage Award, Magical Might +50, Defence +3)
The Minstrel tends to fall into somewhat of a strange situation, especially as Dragon Quest IX progresses into it’s mid and late game. The class itself is very useful in the early game, mainly thanks to it’s reasonable all round statistics and spell list that includes both damage and healing, but as the mid game shows in your rear view mirror, things begin to change. More dedicated classes automatically begin to perform better in their given roles, however if you really enjoy the Minstrel and want to keep it around, you’re best either leaning into the damage portion of it’s skill set, through accessories like Sorcerer’s Ring or Mager Achievement, or giving it a blast of Agility through the Meteorite Bracer. The latter will help to ensure that it’s spot heals hit before the enemies take their turn, and even help boost it’s accuracy and evasion to boot. All of these easily outclass the Minstrel’s award item, which simply allows the user to wear equipment otherwise locked into the opposite gender.
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Warrior
- Soldier’s Medal (Warrior Award, Attack +20, Defence +3)
- Mighty Armlet (Attack +12)
The Warrior class of Dragon Quest IX is a remarkably simple one. Sure, it might have some slightly interesting skills, but this is a class that’s all about using your weapon of choice whilst taking very small amounts of damage. This makes it an ideal transition class, specifically for any party member aiming to take on a physical damage dealer during the latter portions of the game. Hell, it’s even good for spell casters to get some passive defensive statistics. All that said, it’s best to simply add as much damage as possible to the Warrior, at least whilst you inhabit it. Mighty Armlet and Soldier’s Medal are the best choices here, though you’ll likely just take the latter with you onto your next class.
Thief
- Honour Among Thieves (Thief Award, Doubles Half-Inch Success Rate)
- Medal Of Freedom (Ranger Award, Deftness +100, Defence +3)
- Utility Belt (Deftness +25)
Stealing is rarely more important than in a Dragon Quest game, especially one filled to the brim with Alchemy recipes, which is the case here in DQIX. In order to maximise your ability to craft this vast amount of items, you must prioritise the Deftness statistic on your Thief. Half-Inch’s success rate scales with the Deftness stat, and as such you’ll want to prioritise this on as many pieces of equipment as possible. The only exception to this rule is the Thief Award item, Honor Among Thieves, which doubles the success rate of Half-Inch. No matter your level of Deftness, this accessory will always increase your steal rate more than any other. There is a small possibility that you didn’t max out Thief before becoming a Ranger, in which case their Award item would be better, but a great success rate can be accessed through the Thief, so we’d wholly recommend this instead.
Priest
- Lifesaving Medal (Priest Award, Magical Mending +50, Defence +3)
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
- Monarchic Mark (Magical Mending +10, Magical Might +10, Defence +4)
As you might imagine, the general rule for a Priest is to throw around as much healing as possible whilst staying alive. Technically speaking, they should never have any real trouble with the former, however it’s worth making note of a breakpoint that you may hit during the late game: Omniheal, which is a spell that fully heals the entire team. Now, it may cost a whopping 128 MP, however the fact that it fully heals does render any amount of Magical Mending obsolete, so we’ve included the Meteorite Bracer for the late and post game, where some grotto bosses will necessitate this massive amount of healing. Other than this, we like to pick up anything that increases Magical Mending and Defence, for which the Priest Award item is excellent, and we’d nod our hat at Monarchic Mark too, for the mid game.
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Mage
- Mager Achievement (Mage Award, Magical Might +50, Defence +3)
- Sorcerer’s Ring (Magical Might +15, Max. MP +15)
Thanks to spells like Oomph and Sap, the Mage of Dragon Quest IX is actually quite a robust and adaptable class. Despite this however, the class will invariably be used to deal a large amount of magic damage, so the only real statistic that they’re concerned with is Magical Might. To that end, the very best option available is the Mager Achievement, followed a fair distance behind by the Sorcerer’s Ring. We’d be remiss not to mention that, in Dragon Quest IX specifically, physical attackers tend to perform much better on single targets, so transitioning into a Sage is highly recommended, since it too features powerful attacking spells but pairs them with heals.
Martial Artist
- Soldier’s Medal (Warrior Award, Attack +20, Defence +3)
- Mighty Armlet (Attack +12)
- Mercury Prize (Martial Artist Award, +100 Agility, Defence +3)
The Martial Artist vocation sits in a very strange position in Dragon Quest IX. Yes, it’s technically possible to deal a good amount of damage with the class, but it’s limited by prioritising Agility over pure attack power, and weapon choices can leave you limited in the post game, meaning it’ll likely be out-damaged by a well grown Gladiator. They’re technically a little better at taking damage, mostly because they can dodge things a bit better, but in most cases we prefer to simply boost their attack as much as possible. Technically the Mercury Prize is best for some boss battles, and it can be nice to go first when farming groups, but otherwise we’d stick to either the Soldier’s Medal or Mighty Armlet.
Paladin
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
- Legion Of Merit (Sage Award, Max. Mp +60, Defence +3)
- Spirit Bracer (Max. MP +30, Defence +4)
Using a Paladin in DQIX, something we wholly recommend by the way, is an exercise in caution. Not in a defensive aspect, because this class is likely to take the least damage of almost any class in the game, and not from a damage perspective either, because they’re terrible at dealing any. Rather we’re talking about your tiny MP pool, and the cadre of buff spells that you’re likely to want to cast. Some of the very best defensive party buffs are accessible by the Paladin, so you’ll want to maximise the amount of times that you can use them by increasing your MP total. Either that or counter their terrible speed through the Meteorite Bracer, though we’d argue that it’s nigh on impossible to get a Paladin’s Agility anywhere near high enough to act first in a round.
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Armamentalist
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
- Spirit Bracer (Max. MP +30, Defence +4)
Don’t let the lack of choices here confuse you; we love the Armamentalist class, specifically due to the buffs that it casts, like Oomph or the Fource options. It’s also due to these buffs that you’ll want the Armamentalist to act before other party members, so opting for something like the Meteorite Bracer is an excellent choice. Other than this, you’ll mainly be looking for your Armamentalist to survive and keep providing said buffs, so something like the Spirit Bracer and it’s +4 Defence will serve you well. Do not fall for their Revocation Award, the Combat Action Medal. It provides a paltry 3% more chance for Coup-de-Grace to activate, which is functionally useless and not something you want to rely upon in important battles.
Ranger
- Honour Among Thieves (Thief Award, Doubles Half-Inch Success Rate)
- Medal Of Freedom (Ranger Award, Deftness +100, Defence +3)
- Utility Belt (Deftness +25)
Technically speaking, the Ranger class has a great selection of spells and skills to offer. For the majority of the story at least, the Ranger is a serviceable damage dealer that also offers some utility, party buffs and even a reasonable selection of heals. That said, as the late and post game roll around, they’ll essentially transform into a better Thief. This is because they have the highest Deftness in the game, and once this is combined with the Thief Award accessory, you’ll have the best possible unit for stealing items. Some may argue that a Ranger with high Deftness is great for damage through critical strikes, however the actual chance of criticals landing in DQIX is rarely higher than 10 – 15%. If you’re opting for damage then this is a reasonable way to achieve some more, but opting for the sky high thieving rate always wins out for us.
Sage
- Lifesaving Medal (Priest Award, Magical Mending +50, Defence +3)
- Mager Achievement (Mage Award, Magical Might +50, Defence +3)
- Legion Of Merit (Sage Award, Max. Mp +60, Defence +3)
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
Given that the Sage is mostly a combination of the Mage and Priest, albeit with some slightly different spells and a guaranteed resurrection spell, the accessories almost pick themselves. Depending on the role of your particular Sage, you’ll want to prioritise either Magical Might or Mending, for which the very best options are the Mage and Priest Award items respectively. The Legion Of Merit, which is the Sage Award item, is a reasonable option if you cannot access the other two, but we’d give a special nod to the Meteorite Bracer, because it’ll often ensure that your Sage gets to heal before some late game opponents get a turn.
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Gladiator
- Soldier’s Medal (Warrior Award, Attack +20, Defence +3)
- Mighty Armlet (Attack +12)
Were it not obvious thanks to the weapon choices, complete lack of MP and damaging skill selection, the Gladiator is all about dealing as much physical damage as possible. It does this at the expense of its own defence, and whilst this would normally suggest that you want to plug the gap with a defensive accessory, in our experience this isn’t really worth it. With one or more Gladiators in the team, it’s the remaining members’ job to keep them alive, leaving them to focus on dealing as much damage as possible. To that end, we like to keep the Soldier’s Medal on them as much as possible, with the Mighty Armlet being a reasonable backup. Do not fall for the trap of their Award item, the Critical Acclaim; it only increases our critical chance by 4%, which isn’t worth it at all.
Luminary
- Mager Achievement (Mage Award, Magical Might +50, Defence +3)
- Meteorite Bracer (+100 Agility)
- Spirit Bracer (Max. MP +30, Defence +4)
Should you actually feel the need to use the Luminary, which we must say is categorically the worst class in Dragon Quest IX, then you’re likely using it as a supportive damage dealer, thanks to it’s small but offensively natured spell list. Technically the class has access to some interesting skills too, albeit not the best selection compared to more focused classes. All told, you’ll either want to optimise magical damage through the Mage Award, or ensure that they act quickly with the Meteorite Bracer. Whatever you do, don’t opt for the Luminary Award – ‘Noscar’ – it just increases Charm by +50, and whilst it’s nice to stun random enemies, this isn’t a viable tactic versus late game bosses.
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Categories: Dragon Quest IX