So im playing Dragon Quest 8 and I have been wondering what other people did for allocating the characters skill points. I’ve been having trouble deciding what might be the best to learn, especially with Yangus. Plus I thought it might just be interesting to see what other people chose to have there characters learn.
I made a thread on this a while back. Since then, I’ve taken various suggestions to heart, and I’m happy with what I’ve gone with.
Hero - Swords/Courage. Swords are ultimately more powerful than spears in the long run, and by maxing out both Swords and Courage you can get Gigagash. Courage is just a no brainer. You can cast spells with HALF the required mana, not to mention Omniheal. Hero is the only one who can learn it, and it heals everyone for all of their health.
Yangus - Axes before anything else, at least up to Executioner. Executioner turns Yangus into a metal slime killing machine. I’ve found Scythes to be useless (stealing almost never works), so I just pump extra points into Nature when I’m done with Axes. It’s up to you though, as long as you have Executioner.
Jessica - Staves up to 100, while using whips as weapons. She receives great spells, and the 100-point skill is actually worth it. Kazing, which guarantees resurrection. Angelo is the only other one who learns it, and having two people who can resurrect without a 50% chance of helpful is incredibly helpful. Other than that, I usually point 68 points into Whips for attack power, and then just put everything else into Sex Appeal. Charm Monster is fantastic, but maybe I’ve just gotten lucky. >.>
Angelo - Maxing out staves with Angelo gives him great spells and makes it almost impossible for him to run out of mana because he’ll always recover it every turn. Aside from that, there’s no huge advantage between bows or swords that I’ve found.
thanks man, would you say scythes are worth maxing out for big banga or is it just a waste?
A big Waste.
Axes are stronger, and more useful. You have Executioner (which is necessary for metal slimes, which you’ll need for leveling fast enough), the first Axe tech works on almost everything AND reduces Defence, which works wonders, Paralaxx is nice, and Axes of Evil has it’s uses every now and then. With Scythes, you don’t get much other than Reaper Man and Wind Sickles, which aren’t really necessary or life saving. As for other points for Yanugs, you might want to put four points into Humanity to get Whistle, which instantly starts a battle (great for grinding.) Other points, put them Fisticuffs so you get Thin Air. Using Mallets and Scythes when Axe is your primary = redundant.
Hero: Lances, Lances, Lances. Lances = Power. Power = love. You’ll have to do a bit of work to get lances, especially the good ones, but ALL of the lance abilities are useful and do a damn good bit of damage. Oomph + Tension + Multithrust = Shit dies. Especially on single targets. Swords are nice (Metal Slash, Falcon Slash), but Lances are superior IMO. Getting the +5 in boomerangs at the beginning of the game can help the progression of the game for a while, since your Boomerang (And Razor Edged or whatever is next in the weapons tree) will be stronger than most weapons you get for a while. Any other points you get, consider putting them in to Courage, so you can get the MP Usage Reduction (and a few nifty things.) With the MP Reduction, Summoning your monster team only costs 5 MP, and Lightening Storm (Spear 100) costs less, too. Also… Uber Heal. Enough said. You can’t lose with this combonation.
Jessica: If you really really REALLY want magic, get her on staves. Consider a fisticuffs secondary so you can get Magic Burst (All MP converted to Damage/Tensionable). Otherwise, don’t do ANYTHING but Whips UNTIL! you get the +25 damage bonus. Queen’s Thong isn’t that great or beneficiall on it’s own, and you can do better things in battle other than Serpents Bite. DO, however, put three points in to Staves so you can get Accellerate, which is ESSENTIAL against slimes and later bosses. The only other good staff bonus IMO is the revive, but that comes later in the game. Secondarys: Sex Appeal so you can get the random chance to paralyze an enemey for a turn (it’s nice) or Fisticuffs so you can get Thin Air (GREAT for Jessica) and/or Magic Burst.
Angelo: He. Will. Level. His. Skills. SLoooowwllyyy. However, if you work with him, he can be a good secondary hard hitter. Swords are EXCELLENT with Angelo, especially if you have Hero on Spears. Bows are nice, too, especially with a tensed up Cherub’s Arrow that can restore a good bit of your MP for casting/healing. Multishot is alright, and the second to last Bow tech is ok for groups. If you’re antsy with MP, go for bows. I highly prefer Swords, though, as if you play your game alright and don’t overuse your MP, you won’t need to recharge between inns as much. I didn’t benefit with putting him on Staves, and Fisticuffs is just about useless on him, I have discovered. When you get further into the game where Angelo starts gaining more skill points per level, put 13 points into Charisma to get his tension debuffing skill. IT. WILL. SAVE. YOUR. ASS.