DQ9 EncyclopediaDragon Quest IX guides and answers
Every article of the encyclopedia and every players' question, each with its answer, read from the game's code.
Party
- Spending skill points: the community's advice (Dragon Quest IX)
Shield to 100 points for everyone: every vocation can then carry one. Courage, Guts, Virtue, Enlightenment for everyone: their bonuses (HP, resilience, MP)…
- Dragon Quest IX spells and abilities: effect, MP, who learns them
The 61 spells learnt by levelling up and the 147 abilities from skill lines, with the game's help text and MP cost read from the action records.
- Dragon Quest IX vocations: how to unlock each one, growth, skills
The 12 vocations, read from the game's ROM and code: stats level by level, spells, skill lines, book, coup de grâce and revocation medal. Pick a vocation in…
- Warrior in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max HP (rank 2), Strength (rank 2), Resilience (rank 1). Weaknesses: Max MP (rank 10), Agility (rank 11), Charm (rank 10). Skill…
- Priest in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max MP (rank 3), Mag. mending (rank 1). Weaknesses: Max HP (rank 11), Strength (rank 10), Resilience (rank 10). Skill lines: Spear…
- Mage in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max MP (rank 2), Agility (rank 3), Deftness (rank 3), Mag. might (rank 1). Weaknesses: Max HP (rank 12), Strength (rank 12)…
- Martial Artist in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max HP (rank 3), Strength (rank 3), Agility (rank 1). Weaknesses: Max MP (rank 12). Skill lines: Claw Skill, Staff Skill, Fan Skill…
- Thief in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Agility (rank 2), Deftness (rank 2). Weaknesses: Charm (rank 12). Skill lines: Knife Skill, Sword Skill, Claw Skill, Fisticuffs Skill…
- Minstrel in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Deftness (rank 3), Charm (rank 2). Skill lines: Sword Skill, Whip Skill, Fan Skill, Shield Skill, Litheness. 9 spells, from Heal…
- Gladiator in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max HP (rank 3), Strength (rank 1), Resilience (rank 3). Weaknesses: Max MP (rank 11), Agility (rank 10). Skill lines: Axe Skill…
- Armamentalist in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max HP (rank 3), Mag. might (rank 2). Weaknesses: Deftness (rank 10). Skill lines: Bow Skill, Sword Skill, Wand Skill, Shield Skill…
- Paladin in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max HP (rank 1), Resilience (rank 2). Weaknesses: Agility (rank 12), Deftness (rank 12). Skill lines: Hammer Skill, Spear Skill, Wand…
- Sage in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Max MP (rank 1), Charm (rank 3), Mag. mending (rank 3), Mag. might (rank 3). Weaknesses: Resilience (rank 11), Deftness (rank 11)…
- Luminary in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Charm (rank 1), Mag. mending (rank 2). Weaknesses: Strength (rank 11). Skill lines: Fan Skill, Whip Skill, Boomerang Skill, Shield…
- Ranger in Dragon Quest IX: how to unlock it, skills and spells
Strengths at level 99: Deftness (rank 1). Weaknesses: Charm (rank 11). Skill lines: Boomerang Skill, Axe Skill, Bow Skill, Fisticuffs Skill, Ruggedness. 11…
Mechanics
- Dragon Quest IX battle formulas: damage, critical hits, fleeing, turn order
Damage: about (attack − defence ÷ 2) ÷ 2, give or take a sixteenth. Against a very sturdy monster: 0 or 1. To hit harder: tension (×1.5 to ×6), critical hits…
- Dragon Quest IX RNG explained: the game's three random tables
The game has three streams of random numbers, the “tables” A, B and C. Table A: monster spawns, ordinary loot, blue chests, furniture… The treasure map menu…
- How to level up fast in Dragon Quest IX: make metal slimes appear (map method)
Make a metal slime (or better) appear for sure, to level up fast: Put a treasure map last in the map menu. The quest 15 map (Upover) is enough to start. Go…
- Dragon Quest IX rare drops with the map method: seeds and more
With the map method, the treasure map menu sets the monsters' randomness (table A) to a known value. End-of-battle drops come from that same randomness, so…
Collection
- Party tricks: all 31 and how to learn them (Dragon Quest IX)
16 party tricks are known from the start; the other 15 are learnt from a character, through a quest or from Cap'n Max Meddlin (80 mini medals). Knowing all…
- Every Dragon Quest IX accolade and how to earn it
444 accolades: Feats 21 · Miscellaneous 122 · Skill certificates 260 · Revocation 12 · Story completion 29. Each row gives the exact condition read from the…
- Dragon Quest IX full outfits and style
The 44 full outfits that give an accolade when every piece is worn, and the six styles (each piece's points read from its record; the game adds up those of…
Help
- Dragon Quest IX players' questions, answered
The questions you ask while playing, with a short answer and where it comes from: Code = read in the game's code or texts, Measured = tried in game…
- Frequently asked questions (Discord FAQ) (Dragon Quest IX)
Gold fast: early on, make gooey gear (garish garb bought in Coffinwell + 3 slimedrops) and sell it; later, quest 29 (Gleeba). Levels fast: metal slimes, then…
- Glossary: game and site terms (Dragon Quest IX)
Infinite / Unique: an infinite item can be obtained as often as you like; a unique one a limited number of times per game. Rate “1/8”: a 1 in 8 chance that…
- How to play Dragon Quest IX on PC with melonDS
To play Dragon Quest IX on a Windows PC you need two things: the ROM (your cartridge's contents, a file ending in .nds) and an emulator, the program that…
- Dragon Quest IX DQVC at home, offline
The game's Wi-Fi shop, Sellma's DQVC at the Quester's Rest in Stornway, closed in 2014. The small program on this page brings it back on your PC, offline: it…
- Dragon Quest IX online content (DLC): frequently asked questions
One connection unlocks all 64 Wi-Fi quests and the 23 special guests at once. Today: the AltWFC fan server on DS and 3DS (one connection a day), or on PC…
- Dragon Quest IX multiplayer: playing together, online?
Together: up to 4 consoles side by side, no internet. The guest follows the host's adventure; experience goes up by 10% per extra player. Over the internet…
- Dragon Quest IX local multiplayer with melonDS
DQ9's multiplayer was never online: it links consoles sitting side by side. melonDS imitates it by running two consoles on the same PC, each in its own…
- Dragon Quest IX: differences between the Japanese, US and European versions
The Japanese version (Hoshizora no Mamoribito, July 2009) and the American version (July 2010) compared in their two ROMs: every data file and every function…
- DQ9 Encyclopedia: all of Dragon Quest IX read from the game's code (items, monsters, quests, grottoes)
The DQ9 Encyclopedia gathers all of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Nintendo DS), read straight from the game's code: 1,176 items with every…
- Dragon Quest IX websites compared: which site for what?
To follow the story step by step: Almar's Guides, StrategyWiki or the GameFAQs walkthrough. To know where to find an item, exact rates, grottoes and…
- Sources and credits (Dragon Quest IX)
Everything is decoded from the game ROM (US release, which contains the official English and French texts) and then checked in its code. But many leads come…
- Legal notice (Dragon Quest IX)
Legal notice (Dragon Quest IX).
Items
- Dragon Quest IX sparkly spots and the Stornway fountain
Sparkles come back after a delay counted in minutes of play (30 min, 1 h…), from the last pick-up. For 24 spots and the inn fountain, the items depend on…
- Dragon Quest IX shops: what every shop sells
An item almost always sells back for half price: the buying price is 2 × the selling price. The Gortress and the Dourbridge trader (post-game) charge five…
- Dragon Quest IX alchemy: every Krak Pot recipe
22 recipes for ultimate equipment can yield a better item. The chance (10 to 40% for most) rises with one of the hero's base stats, from 300 to 999; below…
- Dragon Quest IX quest rewards: every quest
44 quests can be repeated. The first-time reward can differ from later ones (quest 28: platinum ore, then a silver platter); the table gives both.
- Story and gifts (Dragon Quest IX)
Characters' gifts, items found on the spot and events, in story order. Quest rewards are on the Quests page. The table also lists gold, maps and party…
- Dragon Quest IX pots, barrels and wardrobes: what is inside
Each piece of furniture has a level (1 to 20). Its contents are rolled from its level's table each time you enter the room until you open it, and all…
- Dragon Quest IX monster drops: items and drop rates
Each group of identical monsters gets one chance to drop an item, whether you beat one or eight: the rare item first, otherwise the common one. To get more…
- Dragon Quest IX chests: what is in every chest
Red chests: fixed contents, once per game. Blue chests, pots, barrels, wardrobes: until opened, their contents are rolled each time you enter the room…
- Dragon Quest IX revocation medals: each vocation's medal
The first revocation in each vocation (going back to level 1 from level 99) earns its medal, once per game.
- Recruits (Dragon Quest IX)
Gear worn by each companion when they join: inn recruits, guests, and companions created at Patty's (the weapon depends on the vocation, the outfit is…
- The inn’s special guests (Dragon Quest IX)
By canvassing other players (multiplayer, console closed), you bring guests back to the Stornway inn, which grows from rank 1 to rank 6 (30 guests). The 23…
- Dragon Quest IX DQVC: every Wi-Fi shop item, week by week
⚠ Shut down by Nintendo in 2014, revived since late 2018 by fan servers (today AltWFC): the site's rarity does not count the DQVC as a source; items only…
- Dragon Quest IX equipment: stats and effects of every weapon and armour
A weapon's effects (sleep, poison, death…) have a fixed chance on each hit: sleep 21%, death 11%, poison 13%… The monster's resistance only matters if it is…
Grottoes
- How grottoes work in Dragon Quest IX (treasure maps)
A treasure map hides two numbers, a quality (2 to 248) and a seed: the whole grotto follows from them, always the same. The quality of the next map depends…
- Best Dragon Quest IX treasure maps: single-monster floors (liquid metal slime, metal king slime)
Every map in the game sifted through (12 ranks × 32,768 seeds), except those no base quality gives. “Show” opens the whole map: layouts, chests and their…
- Dragon Quest IX legacy bosses: maps, levels and loot
A legacy map leads straight to the boss (no floors). Its location is random when you receive the map. After the win, the boss asks for the battle's…
Adventure
- Dragon Quest IX post-game: what to do after the ending
What opens up after the end of the story, in the order the game offers it: the post-game steps, then each step's quests, then the rest (grottoes, legacy…
World
- World map (Dragon Quest IX)
Towns, dungeons and other places where they are in the world (entrances read from the game's mini-maps). Click a name to open its page; the 150 grotto…
Reference pages
- Spells and abilities
All 208 Dragon Quest IX spells and abilities: effect (game text), MP, damage or healing, who learns them and at which level or tier.
- Skill lines
All 26 Dragon Quest IX skill lines: every tier from 1 to 100 points, the abilities and bonuses, the vocations that have them.
- Best equipment
Every Dragon Quest IX weapon and armour category ranked, the accessories, and the best equipment for each vocation, with the simplest way to get each item.
- All items
All 1176 Dragon Quest IX items, each with every way to obtain it, read from the game's code.
- All monsters
All 307 Dragon Quest IX monsters: drops and rates, locations, stats, weaknesses, read from the game's code.
- All places
All 109 Dragon Quest IX places: chests, shops, monsters, sparkly spots, quests, with the game's own maps.
- All quests
All 184 Dragon Quest IX quests, with where to take them, when, the solution and the rewards.
Players' questions
- Which monster on which roll? Pick a place (or a grotto floor table) and the seed of the last map on the menu page. The seed is the 2nd part of a map's ID, for example 0032 in…
- Can you play together over the internet? Not on DS or 3DS: multiplayer links up to 4 consoles side by side, with no internet. On PC, melonDS links two consoles on the same computer or the…
- What happens if the whole party dies? Code: you lose half the gold you carry; gold left at the bank is safe (the bank's text says you can travel without fearing to lose half your fortune…
- How many games per cartridge? Code: one. To start another, the title screen asks you to erase the previous log. A quick save is erased as soon as you resume from it.
- Where can I save? With a priest, in churches. A quick save (Misc. menu) lets you stop anywhere, once.
- What is the console clock for? Code: the hero's birthday (gifts from the celebrities), connecting to the shop (once a day, until 8:00 GMT the next day) and how long holy water…
- Is the game in English and French? Yes: the European and American versions both contain English and French.
- On which consoles? DS, DSi, 2DS and 3DS (the game runs at the same speed), and on PC with melonDS: Playing on PC.
- Can different versions play together? Community: American, European and Australian together; the Japanese one only with Japanese. What differs between them: Game versions.
- How do I level up fast? With metal slimes, which you can make appear for sure: Manipulations.
- How do I make gold? Early on, gooey gear (garish garb bought in Coffinwell + 3 slimedrops in the Krak Pot) sells for 2,650 G; then quest 29, then grottoes: Discord FAQ.
- How do I unlock the advanced vocations? Each one opens when you complete its quest: Vocations.
- Where do I find an item? Type its name in the search at the top: its card gives every way to get it.
- Why does the in-game monster list show “?????????” as a habitat? Measured: a defeated monster's entry names a place of its habitat as soon as you have visited that place, even if you never defeated that monster…
- Can you get 100%? Yes, with the shop's 52 weeks: DQVC at home gives them all; details in the Discord FAQ.
- Do the Wi-Fi quests and the shop still work? Yes, thanks to fan servers, or offline on PC: Online content.
- What is BQ (base quality)? Code: the quality of the treasure map a grotto boss gives = the hero's highest vocation level (99 at most) + 5 × the highest revocation count (10 at…
- Fast gold? Code for the figures: early on, gooey gear (garish garb, 660 G in Coffinwell, + 3 slimedrops) sells for 2,650 G: 1,990 profit. Then quest 29 “Fool's…
- Level up fast? Community: metal slimes in the Quarantomb, then the metal and liquid metal slime manipulations; the map from quest 15 “Collapsus's Call” (Zere Rocks)…
- How much gold for a 100% Alchenomicon? Code for the prices: each agate of evolution needs 1 chronocrystal (50,000 G at the Lonely Coast, post-game). Community: about 190 chronocrystals, so…
- Farming agates of evolution? Community: maps above BQ 221, chests on B3 (ethereal stone) and B9 (sainted soma) with quick saves.
- Does revocating past +10 do anything? Code: not for maps, quality caps at 10 revocations; nothing else reads it higher. Community: revocation does not raise stats.
- 100% on all four Battle Records? Corrected: they are the defeated monster list, the wardrobe, the item list and the Alchenomicon (not accolades). Both lists count the 1,176 numbered…
- Turn order? Code: agility × random(0.51; 1) for each. See Battle.
- What does deftness do? Code: pre-emptive strikes (deftness × 0.05 + 2%), stealing, critical hits (above 150), fleeing (10 + 5% of the best one's deftness).
- Tension damage? Code: ×1.5 / 2.5 / 4 / 6 (5, 20, 50, 100) + 1 to 4 × (1 + level ÷ 10) for the party; monsters ×1.3 / 2 / 3 / 4.5. From 50 to 100: one chance in two.
- At 100 Tension, immune to status effects? Code, tested in game: yes to sleep, paralysis, confusion, poison and lose-a-turn effects (War Cry, Sultry Dance…), except Roaring Tirade and Disco…
- Why different damage caps? Code: each action has its own (1, 999, 1999, 2570, 2999, 4017, 9999 for the party; healing items 40 to 599). See Battle.
- Spells against metal monsters? Community: no damage. Code: metal monsters have a flag that brings every hit down to 0 or 1 and makes Whack useless.
- Half-Inch chance? Code: the item's rate × 2 (deftness ≤ 51) to × 6 (deftness 999), in a straight line over 948 points; ×2 with honour among thieves; 50% at most; the…
- Is the mirror armour reflect chance fixed? Code: yes, one spell in four (mirror armour, catoptric armour, twinkling tuxedo, shimmering dress).
- Can battle RNG (crits, dodges) be manipulated? Code: no, table C is reseeded every battle from the console's counter. See The game's randomness.
- Do A / B manipulations work the same on cartridge and emulator? Code: same code, same rolls. Measured: the first monster after an arrival can land one roll later depending on the machine (melonDS finishes loading…
- How do bosses pick targets? Community: a 2 to 4 turn “grudge” against whoever angered them, otherwise by position (front, back).
- When does a boss use Disruptive Wave? Corrected: when its slot is drawn (Fowleye: about 1 time in 10 per action), but “careful” bosses (Fowleye, Corvus, Nemean, Murdaw, vermil lion…) skip…
- The cookie-cutter boss strategy (up to legacy level 60-70)? Community: 3 Gladiators and 1 Priest. Turn 1: the Priest casts the right Fource (Armamentalist's Album), the 2nd fastest Gritty Ditty (Minstrel's…
- Best team, which vocations to seed first? Community: no single answer; Gladiators, Paladins, Priests and Sages for the post-game, Minstrel and Ranger for specific cases.
- Do sea monsters depend on the location? Corrected: yes, but in 4 zones (centre, ring, edges, corners), not 3. See Ocean.
- Canvass the same map back and forth between two cartridges? Code: yes, by sending the guest away with the guest register between sessions: the game only compares with the 30 guests present. See online content.
- Do the versions talk to each other? Community: American, European and Australian together; Japanese only with Japanese; read in the code: a character's record is laid out differently…
- Are the Wi-Fi quests still available? Yes: online content.
- Manipulate quest items? Community: not worth it, normal play is faster.
- Combine several challenge runs? Community: server-specific challenges; yes if they meet all the rules.
- What does a connection give? All at once: the 64 Wi-Fi quests (no. 121 to 184) and the 23 special guests, plus 6 items in the shop and Sellma's news. Nothing to pick. The quests…
- How to get it today? DS or 3DS: the AltWFC fan server. In the game's Wi-Fi connection settings (title screen, not the 3DS settings): “Auto-obtain DNS” to No, primary DNS…
- Only one connection a day? Yes: the game keeps the date given by the server and refuses a new connection before the next day, 8:00 GMT (code read, overlay 31). Nothing to do on…
- Does the shop change? On the fan server, no: it always serves the same sale, “Second-Chance Exclusives” (week 42), the only file kept from Nintendo's servers. Each…
- New game: connect again? Yes. What the connection unlocks is stored in the save, and the game resets the DQVC when a save is created (code read). A new game starts with no…
- Special guests: are 30 canvassed guests needed? For one piece only per celebrity. Each gives their outfit in five parts: on arrival in the royal suite, on the hero's birthday (console clock date =…
- Must the 30 guests be different? Yes. The game refuses a guest already among the 30. It recognises them by an ID drawn at random when the save is created (date, time, console address…
- Which site for what? Following the story step by step: Almar's Guides, StrategyWiki or the GameFAQs walkthrough, until our story step by step is complete. Finding an…
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