Beginners Quickstart Guide

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Revision as of 03:26, 14 November 2023 by Doublesoul (talk | contribs)
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Introduction

Welcome to the wonderful world of Dragon Quest X! If you’re new, you’re in the right place. Dragon Quest X is an MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online role-playing game, not unlike Final Fantasy XIV or RuneScape. However, the difference is that DQX is very much a Dragon Quest title with online components, instead of an online game that happens to be Dragon Quest. You will be navigating through the story, saving the world and unlocking greater power as you progress, just like in any other Dragon Quest title.

For MMO veterans: DQX uses a “turn-based” command system, where commands can be selected approximately every five seconds, with a higher Agility granting faster turns. There are no hotkeys for spells, so get used to memorizing where certain abilities are! You can remove unnecessary spells and skills from your battle menu, or reorganize it entirely. (Main Menu > Misc > Settings > Character > Battle Commands)

For Dragon Quest veterans: In DQX, you can move on the battlefield during combat, so positioning is important. Furthermore, you can shove enemies (and this is a genuine combat mechanic) to keep them from assaulting your backline. Larger enemies require more people or a specific Vocation to shove properly.

Below we’ve got a route to take to get you set up for success in DQX. This is not the only route, and you may do things out of order if you wish, but this route is optimized for those looking to hit all of the key points on their way through the game.

Getting Started

First and foremost, if you have not registered an account or downloaded the game, do that first. DQXAbbey has a very good, very precise guide that you need to follow to get setup. If you do not speak/read Japanese, it is highly recommended that you install DQXClarity as well for live translation.

This guide assumes that you have bought the game and are no longer a trial player. If you are a Trial player, you can still follow this guide, but be aware that you will be unable to progress or participate in certain quests or objectives.

Second, be aware that DQXClarity uses DeepL to live-translate the game, and machine translators are inherently kind of bad at translating Japanese to English. While there are some excellent hand-translated pieces courtesy of the DQXClarity team (primarily story quests, menu items, and phrases like “This quest has been transgressed with finesse!”), some parts of the game will lack the standard polish you’d find in a normal Dragon Quest release. This is not the developers fault, nor is it DQXClarity’s fault either — translation and localization are difficult and AI cannot do it at the level actual human translators can, so always keep a wiki tab open if you get lost.

Useful Links

The wiki websites you should be aware of, aside from Ethene, include:

  • Dorakue10 — A Japanese wiki. This has pretty much any and all info you could ask for…in Japanese. If you cannot read Japanese, you will need an addon for your browser that translates Japanese to English.
  • Draquex — A Dragon Quest X database. Use this for finding weapons, armor, and which monsters drop what.
  • DQJP Ten — Another Japanese wiki. This one was recommended specifically for questing, as the guides on it tend to be more precise than others.
  • DQ10 IKE — Another Japanese wiki. This one has more pictures and images if that’s more your speed, but also can be outdated.

Finally, be aware that as this is a Japanese online MMO, some things will be expected of you as an overseas player — never forget that you are a guest, as this game is not intended for overseas audiences. Do not spam local chat or party chat with English phrases — in fact, it’s probably better not to speak English in public at all. There are dedicated English “Teams” (guilds, free companies, etc.) that have no problem with English in Team Chat, but other JP players may find you annoying if you cannot communicate in Japanese.

Thankfully, there is a nifty text injection tool called “SendToChat” that you can use to cover the most basic of phrases, such as “Good luck” and “Thank you!” if you get invited to JP groups. This tool is also handy for clearing a few quests that require you to type out a phrase in-game, so it’s recommended you grab it.

If SendToChat is too much, you can also edit your common phrases using Hiroba, which is Dragon Quest X’s version of a Mogstation. Specifically, their Emote Preferences page (requires log-in.) Again, you’ll need a translation tool to navigate around, but once here you can edit things to your liking. Ask in the Discords for a list of common phrases to add.

With all of that said, let’s get into it! Your journey awaits!

Tutorial: The Hidden Village of Ethene

If you’ve never played Dragon Quest X before, we highly recommend completing the intro tutorial. It sets the stage for the rest of the game’s story, and also teaches you the basics of navigation, battle, and so on. It will run you approximately one hour to complete, and gives you an excellent feel for what the rest of the game will be like.

When you create your character, you must spell your name in Japanese. We recommend running your screen name through a Japanese tool and then selecting the appropriate kana — if you mess this up, you will have to pay 1100 yen to change your name via a paid service. If in doubt, ask in the Discords — someone may be willing to help!

Do not worry about grinding levels in this tutorial — your level will be reset at the end of it, and you will lose items you acquired (they’re all beginner items anyways, so no loss.) You only need to be around level 8 to 10 to clear the final encounter.

Version 1: Tale of the Five Awakened Races

How To Use This Guide // Basic Info

  • If a section header is in red, that means that the section is important and/or mandatory. You should read the section carefully for more information on what you should be doing.
  • If a section header is in green, that means that the section is optional at this stage of the game. It’s still recommended you read through the information and decide if it’s something you are interested in.

Race/Vocation Selection

After you complete the tutorial, you will be asked to select your chosen race from a list of five: Ogres, Weddies, Elves, Pukulipos, and Dwarves. This racial choice is final, but your choice ultimately matters little. Pick whichever race you like the most.

If you like Human the most, you will regain access to that form in short order, so don’t worry.

Once you’ve customized your race’s appearance, it will prompt you to select one of six Vocations (classes, jobs) — Warrior, Priest, Mage, Martial Artist, Thief, and Minstrel. These are the starting six Vocations, but you will eventually unlock the other 16 as you play.

You will be playing all of these Vocations at one point or another to level them up. This means that your initial selection matters little, so pick whichever one you like most — except Priest. Priests in particular have a rough time starting things off due to low offensive options — and in particular will struggle with enemies that have high Defense.

If you are looking for an easy way into the game, Thief, Minstrel or Warrior are solid first picks. Thief and Minstrel are good all-rounders, both having access to Heal, while Warrior has enough bulk to not eat dirt when fighting bosses (and also allows you to really give the shove mechanic a go.) Again, however, this matters extremely little, so pick whichever you like except Priest.

For those who are more endgame-minded, most Vocations, including the starting six, can be used in endgame content. As with most MMOs, this is not equal and some are clearly more prized than others, but generally speaking you will find a place in the party for your main Vocation (unless you are a Gadabout or Thief).

Server Selection, Tutorial Village

Once you have finalized your appearance, you will be booted back to the main menu. Select your character — the game will prompt you to select a server as well. Select either server 9 or 10, the ones marked New/Returning Players. Playing on either server 9 or 10 allows you to participate in Rookie Metal Slime Invasions, which are an excellent source of exp for alternate Vocations (more on this later.)

Upon entering the game and watching the opening cutscene, you will find yourself in your starting race’s village. Paths between the five races will converge soon enough, so for now explore your starting village at your leisure. Let’s take this time to get familiar with some core concepts of the game.

First off, NPCs with a pink name offer important information for you, while NPCs with a purple name offer a quest (these also appear on your map as an exclamation mark.) Be aware that sometimes NPCs with white names can still be important for quests. NPCs with a yellow name offer an important game mechanic, and talking with them will reward a mini medal the first time you talk to them.

Second, take a look at your map, and you should see some symbols. Get familiar with these symbols, as they highlight important shops and businesses in towns. This directory below will label them for you.

<image to come soon>

Main Story Quest and Progression

When you have had your fill of exploration, bring up your Main Menu (Square/X on controller, V on keyboard) — at the bottom of your menu, you should see a window that says “Walkthrough”:

<insert image here>

This is your primary story (Main Story Quest) and will be how you progress through the Episodes. With your Main Menu open, press the Triangle/Y button on controller, and this will show you your next destination on the map. If you are not currently on the same map as your objective, it will ask you if you wish to warp nearby — you can do this even if you haven’t visited the area yet. This will be known from now on as a Walkthrough Warp.

Be aware that as you progress further through the game, you will stop being offered warps if you haven’t been there yet and must navigate there on your own, so get used to reading the map and charting a course.

First Quest: Find a Zoomstone! (Level 1~10)

Your first quest involves recovering a Zoomstone. We’ll talk more about these later, but for now, that is your primary objective.

Before you leave your starting village, locate the Hat Clerk and Vehicle Clerk NPCs!
  • The Hat Clerk grants you the Angel Slime Cap, which gives triple exp up to level 99 so long as you wear it. Put it on and get used to it, you won’t be unequipping it for a while. The more recent Vocations (in terms of release date) are unable to benefit from this, so be aware!
  • The Vehicle Clerk gives you a Dolboard, which is DQX’s version of mounts. This is a rental, but you will eventually unlock one of your own. Dolboards can be summoned by holding the L1 button while in a field or dungeon, but not in cities or towns. You can engage or be engaged by monsters while riding a Dolboard, and upon exiting combat, you will immediately remount.

While you’re heading towards your quest objective, take out a few Slimes and gain some levels. You don’t need to go wild here, but try to get level 5. Now is a good time to talk about the Rookie Metal Slime Invasions.

Rookie Metal Slime Invasions

Every five hours, Rookie Metal Slimes will join all random encounters on servers 9 and 10. This event lasts 30 minutes. These Rookie Metal Slimes function like any other Metal Slime, in that they take zero spell damage, have 3 HP, and have high defense and evasion. They can run away, so focus them down immediately. They give approximately 1850 EXP per kill (with the Angel Slime Hat on), and is primarily how you will level alternate Vocations up to level 30.

If the Rookie Metal Slime Invasion is going on at any point during your playthrough, immediately drop what you are doing and go kill some Metal Slimes until your Vocation is level 30. You will receive a 10-minute warning prior to the event starting, and you can sign up for a reminder alert via the Dragon Quest X Worldwide Discord Server. If you do not wish to use Discord to track the timer, Hiroba has a schedule (scroll to the bottom.)

Treasure Chests and Items

While you murder Slimes with reckless abandon, or go off exploring the land, you may discover a Treasure Chest. If you are in a party, each party member will see their own Treasure Chest and can open it themselves, so there is no fighting over Chests.

There are several types of Treasure Chests, so familiarize yourself with their benefits below:

  • Brown Treasure Chests drop from monsters periodically upon defeat. They often contain crafting materials, but these do not often sell for much Gold. Considered the “Common Drop” chest.
  • Silver Treasure Chests drop from monsters periodically upon defeat. They contain upgraded gear — however, this gear cannot be sold or dismantled. You can, however, pick up the gear to add it to your Armor Encyclopedia, which can ultimately grant you a pose for filling it in. If you have the book icon for a piece of gear already, however, leave it or delete it from your inventory.
  • Blue Treasure Chests appear randomly on the map in fields and dungeons, and will spawn and de-spawn over time in different locations. These often hold Mini Medals, Gold, useful items, or even can contain a Cannibox!
  • Purple Treasure Chests drop from boss encounters. These are one-time drops and become sort of a weekly or daily reset reward from content like the Magic Maze or Book of Bosses.
  • Red Treasure Chests are found in the environment in set places. These are opened once for loot.
  • Jade Treasure Chests are found in the environment in set places. These require a Jade Key to open, and there are 25 Jade Keys total. Jade Keys can be found in a number of locations, such as the Mini Medal King, the Fish Trader, and the Casino. This is absolutely worth doing in your spare time, as finding all of the green chests will grant you a Zoomstone (more on this later.) Bear in mind that, in order to find all of the Jade Keys, you will need the Thief’s Key. You cannot meaningfully clear Jade Treasure Chests without clearing Version 2.
  • Black Treasure Chests are found in the environment in set places. These require the Thief’s Key to open. (obtainable at level 40+ from completing Quest 37: The Keymaker’s Box.)
    • You can check the total Red, Green and Black Treasure Chests discovered via Main Menu > Records > Treasure List.

Your Item Bag can only hold 30 items to start, and your Equipment Bag can only hold 25 items to start. You can expand these later, but for now be aware that inventory space is at a premium. In general, sell materials or equipment you no longer need.

Skill Points

As you level up, you will gain Skill Points. These can be put into any skill for your Vocation to become more proficient in that skill — those who invest in Swords, for example, will find their attack power greatly increased while wielding a Sword.

For all Vocations, place your points into the bottom skill on the list. For example, Thieves’ bottom skill is “Acquisitiveness”, Warriors have “Courage”. The reason is that some passives in this tree (labeled like “Natural Agility”) grant bonuses to your entire character, not just your Vocation! This means that if you level this bottom skill up in every Vocation, whatever your main Vocation is will have greatly increased stats — enough to put you on par with a Version 3 character!

To stress how important this is, the extra stats you get from putting all skill points for all Vocations into the bottom skill are:

  • 200 HP | 160 MP
  • 140 Magical Might | 90 Magical Mending
  • 80 Strength | 110 Resilience
  • 230 Agility | 190 Deftness | 150 Charm

Starting out, your Skills will cap at 100 points per skill. Eventually, you will complete quests that will grant you baseline skill points, and you can invest your earned points into something else, up to 200. Until then, focus on that bottom skill!

Continue on your quest to find and acquire your first Zoomstone. Once you have obtained it, head to the Church and bind the Zoomstone to your starting village.

Zoomstones

Zoomstones function similar to a Hearthstone or Home Point from other MMOs, except there is no cooldown for teleporting using them. As such, it's very important to keep your Zoomstones bound to locations you visit often. Be aware that you cannot use Zoomstones in interior spaces, such as shops or dungeons — basically anywhere with a ceiling. It is funny to see you hit your head though!

Since you do not need to manually save your game like in other Dragon Quests, Churches serve primarily as home points to bind Zoomstones. You can also bind Zoomstones to Crystals in the wilds, and sometimes Priests will camp out near a field or dungeon, so if you know you’re going to be around an area for a while, bind your Zoomstone! You will eventually unlock multiple Zoomstones, but for now, keep your single one bound to the starting village.

The Intercontinental Train Pass, Mark of Adulthood, and Support Companions

Continue following the main quest until you reach the boss (you may wish to grind to around level 8 on the monsters just outside the boss fight.) Set the boss fight to “easy” when prompted (you will lose some experience but for these early levels, it doesn’t matter.) You have 20 Medicinal Herbs in your inventory, so don’t be afraid to heal when you need to.

Upon completion of the fight and cutscene, you will find yourself at or around level 10. Use your Zoomstone or Walkthrough Warp to head back to your village, and turn in the quest. You should end up with a new key item, the Intercontinental Train Pass! This is your primary way of traveling around the five islands, but you first have to reach a town that has a Train Station.

You will also receive the Mark of Adulthood, a key item that allows you to talk to “important people”, and three Support Companions.

Support Companions are computer-controlled allies that fight according to your orders, such as “Fight Wisely.” The ones you receive from completing your starting village are fine for now, but eventually you will want to replace them — in fact, almost immediately upon reaching your first city. Follow the in-game Adventure Guide to do so — when you arrive at your starting city (Orphea, Julet, Mount Gatara, Wind Town Azlan, or Glen Castle), get ready to do some serious side-quests.

Travel Instructions to First Major Cities

Remember, to progress the main quest, open your Main Menu, hit the Triangle or Y button, and accept the Walkthrough Warp if offered. If not, you will have to manually find your way — your starting city is not more than a few maps away from your starting village, however, so you shouldn’t get lost!

Once you reach one of these major cities, you will be able to travel by train to the other four.

  • Ogres — To reach Glen Castle from Langao Village:
    • Langao Mountains > Lion Gate > Glen East > Glen Castle Town
  • Weddies — To reach Julet Town from Lane Village:
    • Colt Region > Lenam Fields > Lower Jule Island > Muse Coast > Julet Town
  • Dwarves — To reach Mount Gatara from Agrania Town:
    • Raniakka Fault Zone > Mogarim Highway > Gatara Fields > Mount Gatara
  • Elves — To reach Wind Town Azlan from Tsusukul Village:
    • Tsusukul Plains > Kirika Steppe > Azlan Region > Wind Town Azlan
  • Pukulipos — To reach Orphea from Pukulet Village:
    • Pukulet Region > Popola Region > Orphea Region East > Orphea

Checkpoint #1

This guide will utilize Checkpoints for you to verify your progress. Optional items will be marked in green text and labeled as optional, however, everything else listed is mandatory, and marked in red.

  • Achieved ~Level 10
  • One Zoomstone
  • Mark of Adulthood and Train Pass
  • Arrived at first major city

The First Key Emblem (Level 10-25)

Reminder: if Rookie Metal Slime Invasions are active, drop whatever you are doing, head to the nearest field, and start killing things!

Upon entering your starting city (Glen Castle, Julet Town, Wind City Azlan, Mount Gatara or Orphea), you will get a cutscene with a fairy who grants you the Yellow Diary. From now on, you will see NPCs with yellow names — talk to them for a free Mini Medal and, more important, one free Zoomstone!

Join a Team, No Seriously, Do It Now

There are a ton of things for you to take care of, but first and foremost is joining a Team. If you’re reading this, you are likely unable to read Japanese, so you should pick one of the fantastic English communities listed on DQXAbbey and ask for a Team invite. They’ll need your ID and Player Name, which you can find via Main Menu > Stats. Be aware that your “translated” Player Name will not work — they need the kana specifically.

While waiting for a Team invite, head to the Post Office, indicated by a letter icon on your map. If you bought the All-In-One edition and input the code during registration, you should have received a welcome package in your mail. Retrieve it. There should be 10 Golden Petals in your inventory now. Head to the nearest item shop and sell these for a whopping 100,000 Gold a piece. You now have enough Gold to get you through the majority of the story.

  • If you are not on a Vocation that has Evac innately, buy some Evac-U-Bells from your nearest Item Shop. I recommend around 50, since you never know how many you will eventually need, and they’re cheap. If a quest takes you deep into a dungeon, you’ll be glad you had these instead of having to backtrack!
  • We also recommend buying a full stack of 99 Treasure Land Eye items, if you are interested in checking off every Treasure Chest as you play, so you don’t have to backtrack later.

Head to the Church and bind one of your Zoomstones to the city. You can hit up the Weapons and Armor shop to update your gear if you wish, but this is not necessary.

Important Side Quests

  • First, head to any Material Shop in your city. These are denoted by a “gem” icon on the map. Accept Quest 129 - Sweat, Tears and a Material Store’s Hat. This is the one time you will (temporarily) swap out your Angel Slime Hat, as it requires you to equip the Hat and kill 10 enemies near your level.
  • Before you head out of town, accept Quest 30 - The Love and Trust Depository! to unlock the ability to bank items in your Storage! Bubble Slimes are found in each of the regions connected to your starting city, but it may take some hunting/roaming until you find where they spawn. The maps they spawn on are Glen East, Azlan Region, Mogarim Highway, Lenam Fields and Orphea Region East. Remember to keep your Material Hat on until you’ve defeated 10 enemies near your level.
  • Turn both quests in once completed. Re-equip your Angel Slime Hat!
    • Consider putting most of your Gold into Storage, just in case. Death without being resurrected by a party member will result in a 50% loss of your Gold. We highly recommend putting 90% of your Gold into Storage. Accidents happen, and you’ll be glad you did!
    • While not important now, Sweat and Tears Gems are used in Crafting. If you obtain some of these, you can either shove them in storage or sell them on the Traveller’s Bazaar.

It’s time to get your first Key Emblem. Follow the main story quest, which should run you about 15~30 minutes. Do not forget that you can Walkthrough Warp near each objective by opening your Main Menu and hitting the Walkthrough Warp button (Triangle / Y on controller // map key on keyboard). Your Support Companions should be able to carry you through the entire adventure.

Checkpoint #2

  • Achieved ~Level 15 - 20
  • Two Zoomstones
    • One bound to your starting city (Glen Castle, Julet Town, Mount Gatara, Orphea, or Wind Town Azlan)
  • Joined a Team
  • Registration gift claimed from Post Office, Gold Leaves sold for 100k Gold a piece
  • Some Evac-U-Bells purchased (recommended: 50)
  • Some Treasure Land Eye items purchased (recommended: 99)
  • Quests 129 and 030 completed.
    • This unlocks your Storage and Sweat and Tears Gems
    • Put 90% of your Gold into Storage
  • Completed Main Story up to earning your first Key Emblem

Once you have your first Key Emblem, you may be tempted to continue to follow the main story — and you totally can — but since you are around level 15~20, there are some things you should do first.

Mandatory Side Quests

  • Head to the nearest Tavern. You will need to clear Quest 31: Welcome to the Tavern, Adventurer! to unlock the ability to recruit Support Companions. Upon completion, talk to the Tavernkeeper and remove your Support Companions that arrived with you from the starting village. Let’s find some good party members, shall we?
    • Select Party Search. At the bottom, where it says “Target”, switch this to “From Team”. Hit “Begin Search.” It’s important to recruit from your Team as much as possible, as the gold cost is halved. If you add Team Members as friends, you can recruit “From Friends” and reduce the gold cost even further — to zero!
      • You will see a number of members from the Team you are currently in. Their levels will vary quite a bit, but generally, anyone level 100 or higher is plenty strong enough to carry you through Version 1 and 2. You do not need to necessarily worry about gear — if they have a weapon and a couple of pieces of armor, they’re fine.
      • Recruit three members. Generally, you want a healer/hybrid support (Priest, Druid, Minstrel), a frontline fighter (Warrior, Paladin, Guardian, Demon Swordsman), and whatever other high-level character you can find that isn’t a Priest or Minstrel. When you recruit a member, make sure you set the time for the longest, which is 168 hours. This ensures that you have plenty of time to get what you need done.
  • Next, visit the nearest Inn and complete Quest 32 - A Concierge to Accompany You On Your Journey. This one is super simple, just step outside your city and kill a She-Slime until it drops Astolnium.
    • This unlocks the Concierge, which unlocks a lot of nice benefits. First off, you will start banking “Charge Hours”, which you can spend on EXP Items. It is generally advised to spend your Charge Hours on Metal Maze Express Tickets.
    • You will receive a weekly set of tickets for the Casino, which we will cover later on in the guide. Make sure to grab these before Friday every week!
    • You also unlock the ability to get free rewards based on your Fame Level every Friday (Japan time). Speaking of…
      • Fame is your level of renown, which you earn from completing quests, defeating monsters, and more. The higher the Fame level, the more weekly “support gold” you get from the Concierge, the more titles you can earn, and you gain access to certain quests as well. You can only level Fame up when you rest at an Inn.
  • Next, head to your nearest Train Station, locate a Slime NPC named Adventurer Seminar. Accept and complete Quest 443 - The Rosy Life of an Adventurer Begins! This does not have a wiki page on Ethene (yet), but essentially this quest has the Slime NPC teleport you to a quiz room, where they ask basic questions about the game. Completion of this quest grants you a hat you will never wear and some Gold.
    • You can talk to this NPC after this quest and go through four additional categories for further rewards, including the real reason you’re doing this quest — a new Zoomstone!
  • Next, hop on the train towards Luckland Island to accept and complete Quest 33 - The Medal Owner’s Regret. This takes a bit of walking to get done, but it’s worth it — for a measly 3 Mini Medals you can get another Zoomstone! Do not leave without it! You should now have four Zoomstones.
  • Find an NPC near the gates of your city named something like Strike Force <name>. These NPCs will offer you a daily quest to go kill things for a nice EXP and Gold reward, with yellow options offering better rewards for their difficulty. With your three Team members, you should have no problem accepting the option worth the most EXP, but if you haven’t yet, I’d still put the majority of your Gold into Storage just in case you die.
  • Finally, if you are at least level 20, head to the Tavern and unlock the ability to change Vocations by completing Quest 34 - Abbey Trials. This will require you to visit Glen West, which is accessed via Glen Castle Town. If you didn’t start as an Ogre, you can reach this by going to the Train Station and selecting Glen Castle Town as a destination.
    • From this point forward, you should isolate a “main” Vocation from the ones you have unlocked. Even if it’s not the one you want to play long-term, pick one to focus on for clearing the story. If you are undecided, Warrior is perfectly serviceable.
      • During Rookie Metal Slime Invasion, if your “main Vocation” is level 30 or higher, you should swap to a level 1 Vocation and start gaining levels in it. Remember to dump all skill points into the bottom skill! Don’t worry, your high-level teammates will carry you and revive you if you die.
    • Death is a big deal when you’re starting out. If none of your party members have the ability to Zing you back to life, you will lose gold upon warping back to town — a whopping 50% of Gold you’re currently carrying on you! If you wish to protect your Gold, hit up the Storage facility and deposit however much Gold you want to save.
      • There is an item that you can earn (much later on) that will negate Gold loss on death permanently, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
    • It’s entirely possible to level two Vocations to 30 during one round of Rookie Metal Slime Invasion (Angel Slime Hat + Bonus Orb) if you can find a few Rookie Liquid Metal Slimes.
    • Once RMSI is over, swap back to your “main” Vocation and continue with the guide.

When you’ve knocked these out, you should be approximately level 25. A little higher is fine, a little lower means you need to go murder some more things or do some side quests.

Checkpoint #3

  • Achieved ~Level 25 in at least one Vocation
  • Completed Quest 034 to unlock Vocation Change
    • Settled on a "main" Vocation to take through the story (this does not mean you will only play this Vocation forever.)
  • Completed Quests 032, 443 and 033
    • This unlocks the Concierge and more Zoomstones.
  • Four Zoomstones
    • Bind these however you see fit for now, but we recommend keeping one bound near a Train Station somewhere. Consider binding one at Mount Gatara for some upcoming side quests.
  • Completed Quest 031 and recruited three high-level Team members

Key Emblem Roundup, Additional Sidequests, Vocation Quests (Level 25-50)

At this point, all of the five races should have converged in the story. From here, you will be traveling to each of the race’s islands and completing the “story” of their starting city to earn more Key Emblems. The Walkthrough Warp (again, Main Menu > Triangle/Y or map key) will guide you through this part. Each story will take about 15-30 minutes, so you can expect to spend around 2 hours to finish gathering your first five Key Emblems.

  • With your party members composed of level 100+ murder machines, you should set the boss difficulty to Strong for all of these boss fights and get some extra EXP.

There are technically another five Key Emblems, and you will eventually need to get them all for a total of 10, but for now, it’s quickest if you head to Megistris City (located on Pukulipo’s Island) and complete that storyline for your sixth Key Emblem. However, if you wish to travel to other major cities, instructions are provided below:

  • To reach Megistris City:
    • Train to Orphea > Orphea Region West > Windmill Way > Megistris Territory > Megistris City
  • To reach Gartland Castle:
    • Train to Glen Castle > Glen East > Gert Strait > Landonfoot > Zama Pass > Gartlant Territory > Gartland City
  • To reach Verinard City:
    • Train to Julet Town > Upper Jule Island > Kyuarana Coast > Verinard South > Verinard Castle Town
  • To reach Royal Capital Kamiharmui:
    • Train to Wind Town Azlan > Azlan Region > Inamino Highway > Kamiharmui South > Royal City Kamiharmui
  • To reach Dolworm Kingdom:
    • Train to Mount Gatara > Gatara Fields > Chaldea Mountain Road > Goble Desert East > Dolworm Kingdom

Regardless of which city you choose, we recommend binding one of your Zoomstones there. Upon riding the next train you will be given your mission of defeating the Dark Lord who blanketed your home in evil mist. But first...time for another side-quest bonanza!

  • First, take the train to Port Town Lendor. Head to the Northern section of the city and locate Majirik (C-5). If he does not have a quest for you, ensure you are on a Vocation that is at least level 24.
  • Head to Mount Gatara — you are looking for an NPC by the name of Menme (D-4). Accept and complete Quest 199 - Ride On, Dolboard! This will unlock your personal Dolboard forever.
    • If you are at least level 30, also accept and complete Quest 219 - Dolboard Tuning! Bind one of your Zoomstones to Dolworm City when you arrive to save time, as future quests will require you to visit here a lot. This quest doubles your Dolboard’s timer capacity.
  • Head to any Storage facility on a Level 28+ Vocation. Accept and complete Quest 216 - A Plan For My Dream Warehouse!.
    • With your wealth, you should have no problem buying these items — the Strong Medicines can be bought via the Traveler’s Bazaar. You now have an additional 50 Storage slots.

By this point you should have achieved level 30 in at least one Vocation. It’s time to talk about Vocational Quests (or Class Quests).

Vocational Quests

Vocational Quests are quests that unlock for a certain Vocation upon reaching a specific level. The starting six Vocational Quests unlock at level 30. Not only do these quests give decent gear for your level, they give an absolutely bananas amount of experience and experience scrolls — enough to get you most of the way to Level 50.

You also earn up to 100 free points in all of your Skills by completing the questline — freeing up Skill Points to advance beyond 100 (once you unlock the feature, at least.) Furthermore, you will unlock your “coup-de-grace”, which is a special skill that has a random chance to be selectable on your turn. These are often powerful skills — Warrior gets Critical Claim, which guarantees a critical hit on all enemies within a cone in front of them, for example.

Upon completion of the final quest in the series, you will unlock a “Proof”, which is an accessory that provides substantial power at this stage in the game. For example, the Warrior Proof will allow you to occasionally repeat an attack for free — including Skills.

Needless to say, this is worth the time spent to complete, on as many Vocations as possible.

Follow each questline to their conclusion (five quests total per Vocation), spend all of your Experience Scrolls, and you should be approximately level 50, or at the least level 45.

  • Your Equipment inventory is probably getting a little tight with all this gear coming in, so it’s time to fix that. Head to Luckland Island and go up to the second floor. Talk to Sasalana and accept and complete Quest 93 - Bag Organization Techniques. Your Equipment Bag can now hold 50 items.

Just in time too, because guess what? It’s time to unlock some more Vocations!

Unlocking More Vocations

There are a number of additional Vocations, and as mentioned earlier, most of them are feasible all the way through to the endgame. All of them, however, are worth unlocking and leveling, so you might as well get started on that now. You can do as many or as few as you wish, but the time spent unlocking and leveling these Vocations will pay dividends later, so it is highly recommended you put a pause on things to get this done.

  • Battle Master can be unlocked via Quest 177 - Hop to it, Battle Master!
    • This will require you to set your party members to “Leave it to me!” so they don’t kill your target. (Main Menu > Misc > Support Party)
  • Paladin can be unlocked via Quest 098 - Paladin Tips
    • You will need “Whipping Boy” from the Warrior’s “Courage” skill tree.
  • Armamentalist can be unlocked via Quest 144 - The Royal Palace Magic Warriors
    • You will need “Magic Ward” from the Mage’s “Spellcraft” skill tree.
  • Ranger can be unlocked via Quest 099 - The Ranger Association.
    • You will need “Half-Inch” from the Thief’s “Acquisitiveness” skill tree.
  • Sage can be unlocked via Quest 178 - Gate to the Sage.
  • Superstar can be unlocked via Quest 145 - Welcome, Rising Star!
    • This will require some way of increasing your Tension to maximum. The easiest way is to do this on Martial Artist and use Psyche Up.
  • Monster Master can be unlocked via Quest 273 - How About A Monster User?
    • You need at least 30 different species of monsters slain.
    • Ensure that the book you purchase is for Monster Masters and not Item Masters. You can purchase this ahead of time if you wish.
  • Item Master can be unlocked via Quest 303 - Birth of an Item User.
    • This quest requires you to have Version 2 purchased. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.
    • Ensure that the book you purchase is for Item Masters and not Monster Masters. You can purchase this ahead of time if you wish.
  • Dancer can be unlocked via Quest 393 - Dancing Conditions.
    • This will require you to set your party members to “Leave it to me!” so they don’t kill your target. (Main Menu > Misc > Support Party)
  • Fortune Teller can be unlocked via Quest 431 - Urgent Recruitment for an Apprentice Fortune Teller!
    • This quest requires you to have Version 3 purchased and installed. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.
    • This Vocation requires a lot of time, effort, money and planning to get stable, so be warned.

There are a few other Vocations, but they are not obtainable quite yet — you must be at least Level 50 in one other Vocation and for Demon Swordsman, must have started Version 2, which we’re not quite there yet.

As with all of your previous Vocations, if a Rookie Metal Slime Invasion occurs, stop what you are doing, switch to a low-level Vocation, and get them leveled to 30, putting those points into the bottom skill category. Once you have unlocked all of these Vocations and got them to level 30, start completing their Vocation Quests.

You should be at least level 46 in one Vocation if you completed your Vocational Quests and have used your Experience Scrolls. You’re approaching your limit, and it’s time to break through them.

Limit Break

Once you hit 46+, this is a priority. You should do this prior to hitting level 50 for those sweet EXP rewards, but ultimately it matters little, as you can retrieve quest EXP rewards from the Concierge.

  • Head to Sunset Meadow (B8) and speak to Chamimi. Accept and complete Quest 097 - Those Who Aim High. Congratulations, your Level Cap is now 55.
  • From now on, when you are within four levels to your Level Cap, you should continue the Goddess’ Will & Liberation Limit Break questline. That means your next quests will be at level 51+, then 56+, 61+, 66+, 71+, and 76+.
  • Your Level 100+ Team Party Members can carry you through these no problem.

If you are level 50+, there are some more Vocations for you to unlock...

  • Gadabout can be unlocked via Quest 544 - The Trendy Gadabout.
    • This quest requires you to have Version 4 registered to your account. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.
    • Gadabouts are notoriously difficult to play properly due to their eccentric skills. You will likely not find endgame groups on this Vocation unless you have friends who are very cool, funny, and good-looking too.
  • Druid can be unlocked via Quest 485: Thunder Rolls In The Sky
    • This quest requires you to have Version 4 registered to your account. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.
  • Death Master can be unlocked via Quest 603: Twilight Death Master.
    • This quest requires you to have Version 5 registered to your account. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.
  • Pirate can technically be unlocked via Quest 694 - Pirates Wanted!, but only if you complete the Gartland story and obtain the Gartland Key Emblem. This is something you will eventually have to do, so might as well, right?
    • Additionally, you also need Version 6 registered on your account. If you bought the All-In-One during the Installation guide, you are good to go.

Checkpoint #4

  • Achieved ~Level 46-50 in at least one Vocation
    • Completed your “main Vocation” Vocational Quests for big EXP and decent gear for your level.
    • You should do this on as many Vocations as you can, but it’s not mandatory.
  • Completed Limit Break Quest, increasing your level limit to 55.
  • Five Zoomstones
    • Completed Quest 035 for your fifth Zoomstone
    • One bound to Dolworm City, one bound to Megistris City
  • Complete Quest 199 for your own Dolboard
  • Complete Quest 036 and 216 for expanded Inventory and Storage.
  • Unlocked additional Vocations
    • It must be stressed that every Vocation you unlock and level adds to your character’s power. This is extremely worth doing, but it is not mandatory at this point in the game.
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