It’s remarkably difficult to pick the worst classes in Dragon Quest IX, because it’s undoubtedly one of our favourite games of all time. We’ve spent literally thousands of hours playing around with each and every class the game has to offer, and on every occasion we’ve had a great deal of fun. Still, having detailed those that we think are best, and indeed putting together a full class tier list, we’ve decided to take another look and really pull out those that we think are the least powerful and/or useful. As always, we’ll preface this by saying that pretty much any class can, with enough effort, be made to work in DQIX. Well, with the possible exception of one…
3. Minstrel
We are loathed to pick this particular class, we really are. Mainly because It’s obvious that the start of a Dragon Quest game necessitates a certain amount of support, after all you cannot throw huge, monster filled sections of map at the player without at least giving them ways to both deal and heal damage. For this purpose, and indeed the first tenth of the game or so, the Minstrel does its job well enough by throwing out healing, physical attacks and the occasional spell to keep things going.
Upon leaving this beginning section however, things start to fall short. The class is clearly designed to do a little of everything, and when classes come around that do a lot of the very same things better the perception must shift, never to return. After the extended introduction is completed and Alltrades appears on the horizon, there is no longer any need for a class offering middling damage and weak single target healing spells. By the advent of the mid game, the mere thought of a Minstrel in the party is one that most will never approach, so the best that we can say about this class is that it does its job. No records were broken, no onlookers impressed, but the on ramp was smoothed and that’s all we really needed.
Class Features
- Essentially an introduction class, featuring enough damage and healing to propel the party through the first tenth or so of DQIX.
- Good weapon selection will let the hero lead into other, more powerful classes.
- Can provide some good spell damage support, should you decide to stick with it into the mid game.
- Will eventually lose out to other, more pointed classes in every single case.
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2. Martial Artist
Technically speaking, you’d be hard pressed to find a class that does more damage than the Martial Artist in the early portions of DQIX. You’ll also be very hard pressed to find a class that acts faster than the Martial Artist at any point within DQIX. Why then, do we find it sitting at number two in our list of absolute worst classes in the game?
In short, there are lots of little problems with this class that hold it back. To start with, their choice of pons isn’t the best; we like the Fan and the Claws can do a good deal of single target damage, but none of these transition into the late game very well, nor do they feature anything that’ll help deal with high level Metal Slimes. Adding to this is their lack of Shields, which are a defensive piece so powerful in DQIX that they cannot be ignored, and their skill tree focuses primarily on the Agility stat which, whilst being useful to act before others in battle, isn’t necessary and is easily replaced by a quick Acceleratle cast. The class can perform quite well when it comes to damage output, but their equipment and skill choices make them feel somewhat out of place, almost detached from other options.
Class Features
- Technically the class can deal some good amounts of physical damage.
- Unfortunately, their equipment choices mean this damage will start to fall behind others in the late game.
- Their focus on Agility, which makes them act quicker in battle, is rendered a little useless thanks to buff spells.
- Outside of some self sustainability, they lack any real singular benefit outside of speed. We’d perhaps suggest you level as a Martial Artist to make your party members act quickly, but not before grabbing every other stat first.
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1. Luminary
Whilst it does feel odd to put an undoubtedly comedy class first in our list, it is the one that’ll take the most time to unlock, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was some kind of ‘ultimate’ class for the hero. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be farther from the truth, because what the Luminary actually does is… Charm things, occasionally?
At this point we would usually elucidate on the good things that a class does, to give the section a bit of balance before we jump into the nitty gritty of their failures, but we’re really struggling to identify any here. We could perhaps argue that their choice of Fan, Whip and Boomerang gives them some relatively good attacking options, but the base stats of the class are so bad that you’ll do very small amounts of damage. The spell list is bereft of anything useful too, consisting of two single target heals and the same damaging spells that the Minstrel already had access to.
Yes, the class does offer a tremendous amount of Charm in its skill list, and it can be quite funny to combine this with equipment to see how many enemies that you can bemuse, but outside of this it’s functionally useless. We’re almost always in favour of novelty in Dragon Quest titles, but it’s rare that an entire class is devoted to it, especially in a title so focused on hard, post game challenge dungeons.
Class Features
- Technically it features a lot of the Charm stat, which will occasionally render opponents bemused and unable to act. This does technically work on a few bosses, but others will be immune and besides, you will be reliant on RNG for it to activate.
- The class has a pitiful selection of spells, featuring two single target heals and some weak group damage spells.
- We could argue that Disco Stew, which is it’s ultimate ability, does good damage to all enemies, however by the time you reach this class better options are available.
- Technically it’s quick to level up, giving you easy access to more points… Which are better spent elsewhere on other classes.
- Only available after the storyline has been completed, after which we would hope to have access to something powerful…
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Categories: Dragon Quest IX