Having written at length about the weapons that each character should prioritise, we wanted to take some time to detail those that should be avoided. Unlike some other Dragon Quest games, there really aren’t too many options here, after all even niche picks like the Scythe can have a real benefit in certain builds. There are, however, two particular weapons that really don’t hold up well at all, and are completely overshadowed by other options available to their characters. Investment in the following will almost certainly produce a weaker character as the game progresses.
Knives
- Jessica, Red
Players coming from a modern title in the series, Dragon Quest 11 in particular, may have high expectations for Knives, thanks to the spectacular damage available to Erik in particular. Sadly, things aren’t quite so glamorous here in DQ8, where it struggles to keep up with its brethren in more ways than one. Our only concession here is that they’re significantly worse on Jessica than Red, but there are better options in both cases.
Regarding Jessica, the Knives are essentially used as a route for inflicting Poison or Instant Death. Neither of these are great in DQ8, and whilst the skill tree does allow her to equip Swords and access some great weaponry, they’re ultimately underwhelming, culminating in your eventual 100 point investment accessing a poor 130% attack with a chance at instant death. Given that Jessica has access to the excellent Whips and Staves, there’s little reason to pick the Knife at all.
Things get a little better when it comes to Red. Her 100 point skill is an 8 hit attack that deals 200% damage, Blade Cascade, which can be useful in single target battles. Outside of this they’re sadly restricted to more Poison and Instant Death attacks, albeit alongside a version of Miracle Slash. We’d categorise the Red version of this as a ‘mid’ level weapon honestly, and one that can work if you decide to go with it. Unfortunately for the Knife, her options of Whips, Fans and indeed her Roguery tree will completely eclipse it, making it ultimately superfluous.
Weapon Features
- Knives tend to focus on Instant Death and Poison attacks, neither of which are reliable or very useful in Dragon Quest 8.
- Weapon models too tend to have additional effects, and whilst these are nice to have, their stats are inherently weaker than other types.
- Ultimate skills on both characters aren’t fantastic, and whilst Red’s can deal a good amount of single target damage, the remaining skills aren’t worthwhile at all.
- They do offer the ability to unlock Swords on each character, however these do not come with the excellent high level skills that others would.
- For a regular story only run, they can be used without a great deal of issue. Just don’t expect anything spectacular from them, and prepare to feel some regret, especially since skill points cannot be reset in Dragon Quest 8.
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Clubs
- Yangus, Morrie
Once again we have a story of a weapon that performs very differently on two characters, and it’s clear that the developers understood that the Club was not a good weapon when they created the 3DS version of Dragon Quest 8. Again, things aren’t exactly helped by powerful alternatives being available to both characters here, but in one case at least, Clubs are pretty poor regardless.
We’ll start with Morrie, because his version of the Club is actually somewhat viable. He can reduce defences with Shattershield, has plenty of attack power increases and features Metal Slime slaying critical strikes. Now, we’re not a huge fan of the latter here, because a late joining character is very unlikely to be your reliable Metal farmer, but mainly because Morrie has two weapons that are much, much better, in Boomerangs and Claws. Both of these feature tremendously powerful attacks for single and multi target battles, and easily outclass the Club. In fact, in the hands of Morrie, the Club feels like an Axe, but without an epic ultimate skill to push it over the edge.
Yangus is a bit of a different story, because his version of the Club is almost worthless. It mainly features attacks that deal more damage to certain enemy types, like Material or Demons, that aren’t worth investing in at all. Other than this, it features two skills that allow you to gather more gold in battle. This sounds useful, however his Scythe skills allow him to automatically steal items, which are ultimately a great deal more valuable than plain gold. Plus, in the 3DS version at least, Red is much, much better at passively gathering money. Sadly, the Yangus Club is probably the single worst character and weapon combo in the game, especially when you compare them to the aforementioned Scythes, or indeed Axes and Fisticuffs.
Weapon Features
- In the hands of Yangus, the Club focuses on dealing more damage to certain monster types and generating cash, neither of which are too useful, or at least not enough to force over his powerful alternatives.
- Morrie, the other Club user, technically does better. His Clubs have Metal Slime farming critical skills, but unfortunately lack a super powerful ultimate skill. Plus, Morries Claws and Boomerangs are frankly epic, and cannot be ignored.
- One plus point for Clubs is that they’re very cheap in terms of MP costs, with no single skill costing more than 10 MP at a time.
- Whilst they have gold farming capabilities with Yangus, he’s much better off choosing Scythes to steal items on a grind run. Plus, in the 3DS version at least, Red does a much better job of both.
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Categories: Dragon Quest VIII