I actually do usually use a merchant in my starting party, cuz of the benefit of getting extra money after each battle. It makes grinding money for new equipment much easier, early game. By the time I reach Alltrades Abby, I don't really need the extra cash anymore, so I'll just reclass them into something else.
I actually felt like using a merchant with the intent on turning her into a thief and I totally agree! She's given me at least 100 extra coins after all the grinding I did, and this early on every single coin matters.
This will come in handy for when the remake comes out. Never played it before but I want to. And since a remake was announced, I’m going to wait until then.
Oh, man! Not that long ago I was thinking about how some of the classes in Dragon Quest III were just never going to be used. This was both useful AND entertaining, but the icing on the cake was that you used the class pictures from the NES version’s instruction manual. I remember reading that all the time back in 6th Grade. Keep up the good work, chief!
The class system in this game is so good. Looking forward to the remake. I also wish they would do this again, and/or let you have more than 4 characters.
To me, due to the class change system it's never been about which individual class is "best" but rather which classes give what utility upon class change, since I like to change everyone once if not twice. Usually, that's one change at Garuna Tower when getting my first Sage, and a second at Rimuldar to their final classes, since those are the two big power leveling spots and it's not difficult to get class changed characters back up to speed.
I NEED to play this game once again. I LOVE this game as it was the first DQ game I've played. I love using Warriors and such, but my all time fave is the Sage. I always have to have a magic user on my team in any game; including this one.
Beat the GBC version not too long ago. Started with a Soldier, Pilgrim and Mage. Eventually turned the Pilgrim into a Sage and levelled up a Goof-Off into a Sage and that became my party from Baramos onward.
I start with a pilgrim, wizard, thief team. The thief becomes a sage asap (level 20), while the pilgrim & wizard wait until all the best spells are acquired before changing to fighter & soldier classes
This game also has a special place in my heart. Not only is it an amazing game in its own right, it's also the first game I managed to invent my own Game Genie code for. Back in those days the Game Genie was a cheat device for mostly action games, stuff like "take no damage" and "infinite lives", but it also worked on any game provided someone could come up with codes for it. Galoob really took their time doing so, so in the meantime during a rental weekend I fired up my GG and tried hammering out some codes for the game. It was all random guesswork - for example I started coming up with combinations of letters based on what happened to be around me - but sometimes that can yield results. I tried using the word "Papers" because there happened to be some in front of me on my desk. Somehow that got changed to "Papess" (I think maybe because the GG didn't use the letter R, I don't recall) and was astonished that the code worked. What happened was that upon entering the code and starting the game, you could go into a sort of phantom inventory of your characters and take any item out of it to give to yourself. The items were semi-random but included everything. I remember taking Pepper, Seeds of Life, even the Sword of Kings, right there in the first few minutes of the game, and "giving" them to my main character. It was so fun and exciting and made me love DW3 that much more. I wonder if the "Soldier / Pilgrim / Wizard" combo was especially popular, that's what I usually went with back then as well.
A long time ago, on Twitch, I tried to beat the entire game with 3 goof-offs and no upgrading to Sages or any other class. I got pretty far, but eventually it became apparent that I'd need absolutely crazy high levels (which would take forever to grind), or to kill off my Goof-Offs and level the Hero up to max level, which seemed against the spirit of the challenge. I never finished that challenge, and it was one of the hardest, most boring I ever attempted.
Recently completed DQ & DQ2 on mobile from Google Playstore, and only just purchased DQ3. Thanks for the comprehensive list. I beat DW3 on the NES but still can't wait to play the remake.
man i remember as a kid my first time doing the golden claw quest in the pyramid, what a nightmare that was haha. the fighter will always be my favourite class
I have always loved Dragon Warrior III! It is the quintessential DQ in my book! And it was my first game where I could truly play around with a Job system! I love making a roster full of dual-classers: like a spell-blasting 'Mage-Soldier', a healing 'Mystic Monk', or even a Jack of all trades Merchant who previously dabbled in both schools of magic!
Just got my Warrior change into Gadabout as of now. Will try my luck with this class. For the rest of my units: Priest > Martial Artist Mage > Merchant maybe? Hero > Thief if possible
I only ever played the original NES version. My feelings are nearly identical to David's about DQ3's class hierarchy. When I played it as a kid I loved the soldier for it's awesome stat growth and equipment availability. I knew about the Fighter's critical hit rate, but it only seemed like it really mattered when you were grinding exp against metal slimes/babbles since the tanky nature of the soldier was so much more desirable for 95% of the game's situations. My ideal party was; Hero, Soldier, Pilgrim, Wizard (who I turned to Sage at Dharma). Are you guys excited for the Dragon Quest remakes in the Octopath style?
My go to party is ALWAYS Hero, Fighter, Thief and Merchant Merchant becomes a sage around mid game and during postgame, Thief becomes the sage and the old sage becomes a warrior. It's a job combo and progression that never ever fails
Fighter, hero, 2 sages was usually my end game party. The fighter can be swapped with a soldier. My sages were usually an ex wizard and a goof off that I leveled AFTER reaching the shrine. NES playthrus.
@@Gamerdude535 After the first short while the hero can cover healing. I don't remember but I might used a pilgrim until I reached the shrine then switched him out for a goofoff.
Really good video, David! My only experience with DQIII was buying it from a retro game shop that briefly appeared within walking distance of my house during high school, and returning it for a worse game, that I returned... No wonder they didn't stay in business! After DQI, I was always more of an FF girl, so it is cool to see what I missed and what I need to go back to.
The Goof Off did have one additional bonus going for them. They had higher luck than all the other classes, meaning that later when you changed their class to something like the fighter, you would have a much higher crit chance. I think even Nintendo Power recommended that combination back in the day.
Thanks for this video, very useful. As for my team I would go with Hero, Cleric/Pilgrim, Thief and Martial Artist. Although I personally would love to have Monster Tamer in the party, my guess is that I can replace Thief with Monster Tamer. The only reason I would get Merchant is to be able to open a shop in the world, maybe I might change a class to Merchant later on. Also, the other reason to have Monster Tamer in the party is to be able to do more things in the game like saving certain monsters and using them in Monster Arenas. If anyone played the Japanese version of Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D or an early version, let me know if there is a better party to start with the game, and/or what classes to change into with certain party members.
Found the merchant a little better than the solider. Why? He levels up the swiftest and with his no-mp abilities (in later remakes) you can then swap him over to a fighter for high crit chance or a soldier for just higher hP with the benefits of the merchant from before. So his utility is best used and then swap him to a fighter or solder later. This is why I put him higher on the list I also enjoy the thief's find treasure ability. I thus usually start the game now with a Merchant, Thief (for those spells and better drop chances), and .. either a goof-off (to get a second sage and a bit of a challenge) or a wizard for earl DPR. Then when I;'m around lv.25 everyone.. usually swap all jobs around. Thief and good off usually become sages (if I chose a goof off) or the wizard becomes a sage (if no goof off), the merchant becomes solder (for that agily boost to his class and now reaping those HP numbers) and the thief becomes a fighter (for that tasty crit) The hero is on heal duty till job class change and that's fine, and gets those herbs lots of use let's face it. :)
Ironically, of the four original NES titles, I played 1, 2, 4 and then finally 3 when I found a copy later on. I absolutely loved this game and love all the many callbacks to it over the years in subsequent titles.
I usually include one or two thieves in my party, not only due to their amazing speed, but also an ability to steal items such as seeds. Change classes from a Thief to a Soldier/Warrior, and you got a formidable fighting machine.
I really hope that the remake adds a new class or maybe give some classes some abilities. Just think how useful the Goof-off would be with Hustle Dance or the Warrior with Helm Splitter.
Exactly then again Warrior/Fighter really needs their DQ6 or 7 skills for the HD/2D remake especially Warrior for the critical hit or miss skill to kill the metal slimes if they don't run away before it hits. As for Hustle Dance I'd rather have the HD/2D remake add the Luminary/Dancer class to use it since Goof Off/Jester at high lvs is pretty much useless in this game making Hustle Dance worthless if you can't control them.
Honestly, just making Resilience boost Defense instead of Agility would already do numbers. Warriors are bad because their defense is entirely dependant on new armours, while Thieves are surprisingly bulky. Having Wisdom affect Magic Damage like in 8 would also be a huge boon to make Wizard better (until you get a Sage at least).
Don't under value "Dig". It finds whatever monsters drop. So, if you "Dig" in an area with Metal Babbles, you will find shoes of happiness. This works for any monster drops. Even Sage books.
Dig IMHO is crap I never had it give out bthe GOOD items those Happiness shoes are CRAP 1 EXP per step is worthless when the ENEMIES you KILL for them give out 10,00 exp per enemy the Sage books on anything but the NES game NO monsters EVER drops them.
I finally started playing the Switch version of this game for the first time yesterday, intending to just set up my party then stop but I ended up level grinding everybody up to 8 because I was saving up for all the best equipment. After careful consideration I decided to go with a warrior, a pilgrim and a merchant. My intention is to turn the warrior into a fighter, the pilgrim into a sage and the merchant into a thief. So far I have had no problems, the merchant has pretty decent stats in this version and when I learn all the skills possible I will not hesitate to upgrade to a thief. Honestly, she has given me at least 100 extra gold coins so far and this early on every single coin helps especially when the best weapon currently available is 320 coins.
When you factor in Job CHanges and the mechanics therinn the classes get a little different. My favoe trick was to start with a soldier, a FIghter and A Pilgrim, and then conver the soldier into a fighter. The FIghter into a soldier, and the Pilgrim into a Wizard.. This basically gave you a FIghter with higher strength an HP, A Solider that's a bit faster. And a Virtual Sage.
One of the best things about this game was that it had so many job classes, and you could recruit or drop members at will. I love being able to take or leave who I want. FF3 and FFV let you swap job classes at will, which is cool, but I think that is just too much flexibility. How is it reasonable that a fighter can start practicing black wizardry, then summoning, and then every single possible job class? It doesn't make sense. I loved the experience of picking a class and being locked into it (like FF1), but also being able to swap out and train up a character if you want to try something different.
That over-flexibility is a big part of why I didn't like FF6 and FF7. It severs the connection between the story and the gameplay. Instead of using characters effectively, you're using rocks effectively while you watch a soap opera.
I would take 2 thieves and a merchant get them to where they knew the "spells" that they're able to learn, switch them to 2 merchants and a thief, learn the spells, then switch to 3 goof-offs, learn their 1 spell and switch to all sages
We would rent this game from the video store every once in a while. I remember there was a saved game on the cartridge that was pretty far along with 2 soldiers in the party.
Nice list. I do think the soldier is in the top 4 though simply because I wouldn't want to be without one. They absorb damage the best, deal the greatest damage, and can wear some of the best equipment. I didn't think about the fact that the support spells were moved to the Pilgrim in the remakes. I agree the weapons that damage groups of enemies kind of makes the wizard unnecessary. Interesting!
Like the video. I haven't quite gotten there before, but from what i understand, in the post-game added in the GBC, it's often fighter-heavy comps. I'm not sure exactly why.
Yeaaah I used to play with two Sages but a second sage is hardly necessary lol. Now I like to start with Male Hero and a classic style party. With a Male or Female Thief, a Cleric/Priest opposite gender of what I pick for my Thief, and Female Mage party. Thief changes to Martial Artist, Cleric/Priest changes to Warrior, and the Mage becomes my one Sage. Mainly relying on my Hero and Sage for most of the spell casting aside from my Warrior-Cleric doing some support here and there.
I like to start with a hero and 3 thieves. The thief with the highest speed becomes a cleric then a fighter. The one with the most MP becomes a sage, and the one with the best attack becomes a cleric and then warrior so all my party members can do healing and all my party members can do both magical and nonmagical damage. Then I just grind til I have a super OP party. Makes my hero look weak.
If you're playing the switch version, and you have the computer set to auto-play, it actually really sucks to have a sage. If you have a cleric and your party is hurt, they'll heal you. If you have a wizard, they will always be doing damage. If you have two sages... good luck. They'll forget to heal when you need it, they'll heal when you don't. You might be saying "then put them on manual mode." Few things. First, it's kind of nice to only worry about the hero. Second, it makes you feel like you're part of a team. They gain their own personality when you let them act on their own. It can be fun to have them win (or lose) a game for you because... "darnit, Victoria, stop casting insta-death! It's accuracy is horrible!" Third, they cheat for you. They literally decide what they're going to do on their action. What do I mean? Traditionally, you decide what your entire team is doing without really knowing who's going to go before who. When the computer controls a character, it doesn't decide what that character is doing until it is actually their turn to act. This means that heals and revives happen exactly when they need to, and single target spells are used over mass target spells if there's only one enemy left... ... ... except when you have a party of sages. For some reason, sages step all over each other. And they never heal.
What I think is fascinating about this game is how much the class mechanics were clearly inspired by early western dungeon crawlers like Wizardry. If you know what you're looking for it's kind of shocking actually (but in a great way -- DRPGs are my favorite subgenre).
I hope The Hero gets a somewhat expanded spell list for the Hd Remake. There’s no reason they shouldn’t get some buffs, the rest of the Frizz spells, Kasizzle, and maybe Bang. Maybe Woosh type spells considering Ortega learned those and give the Sword of Kings some other effect for its use function. Anyway my favorite combination now adays is Male Hero, Either Male or Female Thief, later becoming a Martial Artist Cleric/Priest opposite gender of whatever I pick for my Thief. Later changes to Warrior. Have also considered A Thief to Warrior and Cleric/Priest to Martial Artist combo. And Female Mage later becoming a Sage.
Not that it should change their spot, but goofs do get better actions as their levels grows. I enjoy bringing one with me for the long haul just to see their antics. Plus, you can get by with 3 and a half party members just fine! ;)
I had one for my first play through and he was the heart of the party. I made him a sage in the dark world and it was like a whole character arc watching him go from a useless level 50 to a useless level 1 sage, to literally saving our asses when he finally caught up in power lol
I knew the sage would be number 1. I took my sweet time with this game in part so that I could re-class into a sage from thief->merchant->goof-off (w/ whistle for grinding).
Goof off have the whistle skill that attracts monsters which help grinding level. Its very useful when you are grinding where metal slimes around. And he does have although random, 1 shot metal monster skill.
I’ve actually added a goof off later in the game to get 2 sages. If you’re willing to do old school level grinding, it can be very handy to have 2 sages.
I play the SNES version on a cartridge and played a Merchant last time. Dig may suck most of the time, but I did find 2 cat suits WAY early in the game, which made the pyramid much easier!
It finds whatever monsters drop. So, if you "Dig" in an area with Metal Babbles, you will find shoes of happiness. This works for any monster drops. Even Sage books.
@@willh1655 I had absolutely no idea! I play this game once a year, so I will definitely remember this for next time and have a blast with it. Thanks for the advice on a 34 year old game, 2 years later! This is what the internet was meant for lol
Regarding the fighter, one advantagement not mentioned is I believe base defense was like 1/2 your agility so the fighter would wind up with better defense than the soldier even with the soldier's better equips. I believe that was the case at least in terms of the NES version.
You should do a video of best classes to switch from the original class. I know that the temple not just change the party's classes but also allow the stats,ablities, and or magic spells to be kept to the changed class person. Like for example the fighter is high algity (in terms of melee class) but he or she could keep the stats of high algity over time after they changed into warrior. This makes the newly changed warrior have high agility. The catch that any changed class party member starts at level one and that it is preferable to make the original party member to have a high level before changing classes epically wizards and clerics.
Just beat the game for the first time played the snes version with a party of hero, monk, mage and cleric turned sage one of my favorite rpgs now on to dq4
I would have put thief at number 3,cause they can use assassin dagger/poison needles and the falchion late in the game,making them good metal slayers as well,but other then that I agree.
I'd personally have rated fighter higher. Absolute beast of a class, absolutely on par with hero and sage. I otherwise pretty much agree with you though! My go to party for a low level completion run is Hero, Fighter, Goof-Off -> Sage, Pilgrim -> Sage. Early game is a bit slower, though not too hard with this setup; and by mid game encounters become a joke.
How were you introduced to the series? I was a HUGE dbz fan in my early school years and i would've KILLED to know that the animator for dbz helped make the chars for DQ. it would've saved me so much effort and money from having to get my PlayStation modded and purchase imports of the 3 dbz games on psx... Considering that dq is an RPG it would've been even more satisfying as a kid since that was my preferred game style... I just simply never knew and apparently neither did friends or family members
Just started a new run with a Merchant, who is fine in the early part of game b/c of decent early equipment selection, with the plan of turning them into a Sage. Why Merchant->Sage over Warrior->Sage? The Merchant levels faster so they'll be ready for the class change sooner and in the remakes, they earn MP, so the Sage will start with greater MP than if they had started off as a Warrior. (I'll also be cross classing Priest and Mage into Thief and Fighter as well, not sure which into which.) I did once try the 3 goof-off challenge, but I turned all of them into Sages and the game was a breeze from there.
Another reason the Fighter is amazing: In Dragon Quest III the Defense Stat is ENTIRELY determined by Agility. What job gets tons of Agility? That's right, the Fighter. So while the perception of Fighters taking more damage? Not at higher levels. High level fighters end up having MORE Defense stat that Warriors, with just a bit less HP and a TON more Crit. Party composition? I generally go 2 Fighters, Hero and whatever I feel like after (generally a Warrior or Thief) with the hero being the early Healer. MP eventually runs out, fists don't and herbs are cheap. Fighters into Sages back into Fighters gives some GREAT utility.
The remakes have so many spell casting items. You can get two sage stones by the end, imo it makes the squishy mages inferior to any class with good armor
when i look back at how i use to play and probably still would i really underutilized the wizard and all its potential. i would "save my magic" for some unknown event i might need it, and sometimes it killed me lol
Hey Dave, I think u should change your avatar. Instead of Sabin, from ff6. How about Zack from ff7 or auron from ffx.Balthier he’s the man. I CANT WAIT 4 the super Mario rpg remake.👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
NOT now but once the remake Nov 14th this year gets a release it will be time for ANOTHER video the only reason I NEVER use Fighter/Warrior IS because of a Lack of their DQ6 and 7 skills that WILL change for the Remake of it.
I've already beaten Dragon Warrior 3 on the NES but the Android remake looks SOOOO MUCH better than the original. Plus, no Mini Medals on the NES version. I only wish that I could've experienced the Monster Medal & Pachisi Tracks side quests. They should've put it in the Android/IOS remake
@orelas167 1 second ago I'm afraid I must agree on both Thief and Hero. Wizard used to be the fastest hit-all in the game--Sage+Wizard FTW. Hero's Lightning and Healusall are awesome get out of jail free cards and sub-par final boss tricks, but that's it until their MP costs lower in later games. Uh, but soloing only works in the remakes, unless you like grinding to Lightning for Kandar 2?
In the GBC version, there actually is a huge difference between the female and male fighters. Female fighters can equip better equipments than males, and because of that, they can rank hits better than male fighters. The GBC version is the definitive version of you want to play it before the Switch Octopath style. The SNES translation version isn’t bad either. They play a lot like Alena from DQIV, and she was so OP in the NES version of DQIV that I banned myself from using her in that game to make the battles tougher. She was great in the DS version, but not as OP.
7:00 "What about Bacardi casters?" Man, Dragon Quest, and RPGs in general, really need a drunkard job/class. Not a character of any class that likes their alcohol, but a class based around drinking. Spit fire (like Sylvando), great resilience, reckless, maybe slow and low aim for ranged weapons, poor defense but high physical power.
Lol I think you mis heard him. But also I wanna say didn’t D&D have supplementary material with a Drunken Master class at one point that’s in some ways like that?? Lol
I just went back and rewatched this in preparation of starting DQ3HD tonight. Will you be doing any new guides or coverage? I was an early 90s FF kid and was a FF fanboy until they became a dumpster fire but thats another topic. I would love some DQ insights from someone with a ridiculously similar gaming history and tastes.
Do the Blue Beaks, Belisha Beakons on Android, also drop the Book of Sotori like on the NES version? On Android, The Book of Sotori is called Words of Wisdom. Just wondering if I can obtain an extra Book of Sotori/Words of Wisdom in the Android remake?? Also, the Android/IOS remake has the Mini Medal side quest but not the Monster Medal nor the Pachisi Tracks, unfortunately. Current run I turned my Lvl 21 Thief into a Sage. Keeping my Priest so she can learn the highest Lvl Heal spells, also keeping my Martial Artist (Fighter) to max levels. Gold Claw's curse only happens while actually in the Pyramid of Isis. Once out of the Pyramid, the curse goes away. Martial Artists are awesome in the remakes
It's no surprise that the sage would be number 1. With all those spells it's fun to have one or even two. Also the pixel remake should rebalance the Merchant and the Goof Off and hell it might even add in a new class as well.
When you play this, and do the job changes, how do you avoid getting gimped bad stats per level up? what should you do to try to manipulate getting better stats on level up, especially after the class changes? And does it mess up your stats to be switching jobs around a lot before the main job is a really high level?
I'd actually reclass the Fighter to Sage, and the Pilgrim to Fighter. Even if you do it at level 20 that lets your new Fighter have Midheal and the status-curing spells.
Still one of the greatest JRPGs of all time. I play through it every few years.
Got it on my phone, I have the gameboy version (saves don’t work). And my Nintendo switch is gonna have the remake as soon as possible
@@jordenfrost2329 can't wait for the HD 2D Remake
@@jordenfrost2329 what emulator do u have? My emulator has most of the systems and save slots?
@@chrisyoung3146 I have the Gameboy cartridge but the internal battery is dead so it can’t load a save.
Would you say I should continue playing it even though it’s not the best version (switch) and an HD2D remake is on the way?
I actually do usually use a merchant in my starting party, cuz of the benefit of getting extra money after each battle. It makes grinding money for new equipment much easier, early game. By the time I reach Alltrades Abby, I don't really need the extra cash anymore, so I'll just reclass them into something else.
I actually felt like using a merchant with the intent on turning her into a thief and I totally agree! She's given me at least 100 extra coins after all the grinding I did, and this early on every single coin matters.
This will come in handy for when the remake comes out. Never played it before but I want to. And since a remake was announced, I’m going to wait until then.
Now the remake is out. Hope you pick it up!
Oh, man! Not that long ago I was thinking about how some of the classes in Dragon Quest III were just never going to be used. This was both useful AND entertaining, but the icing on the cake was that you used the class pictures from the NES version’s instruction manual. I remember reading that all the time back in 6th Grade. Keep up the good work, chief!
Thank you!
The class system in this game is so good. Looking forward to the remake. I also wish they would do this again, and/or let you have more than 4 characters.
Gonna have to run through the series again when they get those Octopath style remakes out I guess.
To me, due to the class change system it's never been about which individual class is "best" but rather which classes give what utility upon class change, since I like to change everyone once if not twice. Usually, that's one change at Garuna Tower when getting my first Sage, and a second at Rimuldar to their final classes, since those are the two big power leveling spots and it's not difficult to get class changed characters back up to speed.
I NEED to play this game once again. I LOVE this game as it was the first DQ game I've played. I love using Warriors and such, but my all time fave is the Sage. I always have to have a magic user on my team in any game; including this one.
Favorite party was two sages and a fighter with knowledge of pilgrim with wizard. Have a great weekend David 😀
Lol! “Useless bi***” is what you called the Goof Off. 😂🤣 He must be pretty bad! I want that sage class though!
Not me using retro achievements to 100% this game and having to get the goof off to level 40
Beat the GBC version not too long ago. Started with a Soldier, Pilgrim and Mage. Eventually turned the Pilgrim into a Sage and levelled up a Goof-Off into a Sage and that became my party from Baramos onward.
To clear any potential confusion, here's what I mean.
Starting Party: Hero, Soldier, Pilgrim, Wizard.
End Party: Hero, Soldier, Sage, Sage.
I start with a pilgrim, wizard, thief team. The thief becomes a sage asap (level 20), while the pilgrim & wizard wait until all the best spells are acquired before changing to fighter & soldier classes
This game also has a special place in my heart. Not only is it an amazing game in its own right, it's also the first game I managed to invent my own Game Genie code for. Back in those days the Game Genie was a cheat device for mostly action games, stuff like "take no damage" and "infinite lives", but it also worked on any game provided someone could come up with codes for it. Galoob really took their time doing so, so in the meantime during a rental weekend I fired up my GG and tried hammering out some codes for the game.
It was all random guesswork - for example I started coming up with combinations of letters based on what happened to be around me - but sometimes that can yield results. I tried using the word "Papers" because there happened to be some in front of me on my desk. Somehow that got changed to "Papess" (I think maybe because the GG didn't use the letter R, I don't recall) and was astonished that the code worked. What happened was that upon entering the code and starting the game, you could go into a sort of phantom inventory of your characters and take any item out of it to give to yourself. The items were semi-random but included everything. I remember taking Pepper, Seeds of Life, even the Sword of Kings, right there in the first few minutes of the game, and "giving" them to my main character. It was so fun and exciting and made me love DW3 that much more.
I wonder if the "Soldier / Pilgrim / Wizard" combo was especially popular, that's what I usually went with back then as well.
A long time ago, on Twitch, I tried to beat the entire game with 3 goof-offs and no upgrading to Sages or any other class. I got pretty far, but eventually it became apparent that I'd need absolutely crazy high levels (which would take forever to grind), or to kill off my Goof-Offs and level the Hero up to max level, which seemed against the spirit of the challenge. I never finished that challenge, and it was one of the hardest, most boring I ever attempted.
Recently completed DQ & DQ2 on mobile from Google Playstore, and only just purchased DQ3. Thanks for the comprehensive list. I beat DW3 on the NES but still can't wait to play the remake.
Keeping this video on hand for when I get around to playing through DQ3.
I'm even more hyped for the 2DHD remaster! :D
man i remember as a kid my first time doing the golden claw quest in the pyramid, what a nightmare that was haha. the fighter will always be my favourite class
playing this game for the first time after playing the first two all on switch and this commentary is gold.
I have always loved Dragon Warrior III! It is the quintessential DQ in my book! And it was my first game where I could truly play around with a Job system! I love making a roster full of dual-classers: like a spell-blasting 'Mage-Soldier', a healing 'Mystic Monk', or even a Jack of all trades Merchant who previously dabbled in both schools of magic!
The character art from the manual was so nostalgic. I haven't seen that since probably 1993 or so, and it feels like I just did.
Do you know who designed them?
Just got my Warrior change into Gadabout as of now. Will try my luck with this class.
For the rest of my units:
Priest > Martial Artist
Mage > Merchant maybe?
Hero > Thief if possible
Did... did I see this correctly? Did you really name one of your characters Tom Servo?
I forgot about those challenge cards.
I only ever played the original NES version. My feelings are nearly identical to David's about DQ3's class hierarchy. When I played it as a kid I loved the soldier for it's awesome stat growth and equipment availability. I knew about the Fighter's critical hit rate, but it only seemed like it really mattered when you were grinding exp against metal slimes/babbles since the tanky nature of the soldier was so much more desirable for 95% of the game's situations. My ideal party was; Hero, Soldier, Pilgrim, Wizard (who I turned to Sage at Dharma). Are you guys excited for the Dragon Quest remakes in the Octopath style?
My go to party is ALWAYS Hero, Fighter, Thief and Merchant
Merchant becomes a sage around mid game
and during postgame, Thief becomes the sage and the old sage becomes a warrior. It's a job combo and progression that never ever fails
Fighter, hero, 2 sages was usually my end game party. The fighter can be swapped with a soldier. My sages were usually an ex wizard and a goof off that I leveled AFTER reaching the shrine. NES playthrus.
No Cleric/Priest?? That had to have been a stressful start lol.
@@Gamerdude535 After the first short while the hero can cover healing. I don't remember but I might used a pilgrim until I reached the shrine then switched him out for a goofoff.
Really good video, David! My only experience with DQIII was buying it from a retro game shop that briefly appeared within walking distance of my house during high school, and returning it for a worse game, that I returned... No wonder they didn't stay in business!
After DQI, I was always more of an FF girl, so it is cool to see what I missed and what I need to go back to.
Still alive, baby. I love you and your community! I really liked the video, and the Seventh Saga video. I remember when I got it for my birthday
The Goof Off did have one additional bonus going for them. They had higher luck than all the other classes, meaning that later when you changed their class to something like the fighter, you would have a much higher crit chance. I think even Nintendo Power recommended that combination back in the day.
Thanks for this video, very useful. As for my team I would go with Hero, Cleric/Pilgrim, Thief and Martial Artist. Although I personally would love to have Monster Tamer in the party, my guess is that I can replace Thief with Monster Tamer. The only reason I would get Merchant is to be able to open a shop in the world, maybe I might change a class to Merchant later on. Also, the other reason to have Monster Tamer in the party is to be able to do more things in the game like saving certain monsters and using them in Monster Arenas.
If anyone played the Japanese version of Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D or an early version, let me know if there is a better party to start with the game, and/or what classes to change into with certain party members.
Found the merchant a little better than the solider. Why? He levels up the swiftest and with his no-mp abilities (in later remakes) you can then swap him over to a fighter for high crit chance or a soldier for just higher hP with the benefits of the merchant from before.
So his utility is best used and then swap him to a fighter or solder later. This is why I put him higher on the list
I also enjoy the thief's find treasure ability.
I thus usually start the game now with a Merchant, Thief (for those spells and better drop chances), and .. either a goof-off (to get a second sage and a bit of a challenge) or a wizard for earl DPR. Then when I;'m around lv.25 everyone..
usually swap all jobs around. Thief and good off usually become sages (if I chose a goof off) or the wizard becomes a sage (if no goof off), the merchant becomes solder (for that agily boost to his class and now reaping those HP numbers) and the thief becomes a fighter (for that tasty crit)
The hero is on heal duty till job class change and that's fine, and gets those herbs lots of use let's face it. :)
Ironically, of the four original NES titles, I played 1, 2, 4 and then finally 3 when I found a copy later on. I absolutely loved this game and love all the many callbacks to it over the years in subsequent titles.
I usually include one or two thieves in my party, not only due to their amazing speed, but also an ability to steal items such as seeds.
Change classes from a Thief to a Soldier/Warrior, and you got a formidable fighting machine.
I really hope that the remake adds a new class or maybe give some classes some abilities. Just think how useful the Goof-off would be with Hustle Dance or the Warrior with Helm Splitter.
I agree 100% that would breathe new life into this classic
Exactly then again Warrior/Fighter really needs their DQ6 or 7 skills for the HD/2D remake especially Warrior for the critical hit or miss skill to kill the metal slimes if they don't run away before it hits.
As for Hustle Dance I'd rather have the HD/2D remake add the Luminary/Dancer class to use it since Goof Off/Jester at high lvs is pretty much useless in this game making Hustle Dance worthless if you can't control them.
Honestly, just making Resilience boost Defense instead of Agility would already do numbers. Warriors are bad because their defense is entirely dependant on new armours, while Thieves are surprisingly bulky.
Having Wisdom affect Magic Damage like in 8 would also be a huge boon to make Wizard better (until you get a Sage at least).
Don't under value "Dig". It finds whatever monsters drop. So, if you "Dig" in an area with Metal Babbles, you will find shoes of happiness. This works for any monster drops. Even Sage books.
Oh wow!! I had no idea!!
@@davidvinc I found 4 shoes in 15 minutes. I'm guessing I was very lucky though.
Dig IMHO is crap I never had it give out bthe GOOD items those Happiness shoes are CRAP 1 EXP per step is worthless when the ENEMIES you KILL for them give out 10,00 exp per enemy the Sage books on anything but the NES game NO monsters EVER drops them.
I finally started playing the Switch version of this game for the first time yesterday, intending to just set up my party then stop but I ended up level grinding everybody up to 8 because I was saving up for all the best equipment.
After careful consideration I decided to go with a warrior, a pilgrim and a merchant. My intention is to turn the warrior into a fighter, the pilgrim into a sage and the merchant into a thief. So far I have had no problems, the merchant has pretty decent stats in this version and when I learn all the skills possible I will not hesitate to upgrade to a thief. Honestly, she has given me at least 100 extra gold coins so far and this early on every single coin helps especially when the best weapon currently available is 320 coins.
When you factor in Job CHanges and the mechanics therinn the classes get a little different. My favoe trick was to start with a soldier, a FIghter and A Pilgrim, and then conver the soldier into a fighter. The FIghter into a soldier, and the Pilgrim into a Wizard.. This basically gave you a FIghter with higher strength an HP, A Solider that's a bit faster. And a Virtual Sage.
Holy shit Nintendo Power Cards! You're literally the only person I've ever seen mention them.
I loved those things growing up! It was like trophies before they became a thing
@@davidvinc I cut them out and put them in card sleeves with the rest of my nerd cards.
I've watched your DQ IV characters ranked a half dozen times while I make my way through the game 😂 So I'm excited to watch this!!
One of the best things about this game was that it had so many job classes, and you could recruit or drop members at will. I love being able to take or leave who I want. FF3 and FFV let you swap job classes at will, which is cool, but I think that is just too much flexibility. How is it reasonable that a fighter can start practicing black wizardry, then summoning, and then every single possible job class? It doesn't make sense. I loved the experience of picking a class and being locked into it (like FF1), but also being able to swap out and train up a character if you want to try something different.
That over-flexibility is a big part of why I didn't like FF6 and FF7. It severs the connection between the story and the gameplay. Instead of using characters effectively, you're using rocks effectively while you watch a soap opera.
I love how you named your goof-off TOM SERVO.
I would take 2 thieves and a merchant get them to where they knew the "spells" that they're able to learn, switch them to 2 merchants and a thief, learn the spells, then switch to 3 goof-offs, learn their 1 spell and switch to all sages
We would rent this game from the video store every once in a while. I remember there was a saved game on the cartridge that was pretty far along with 2 soldiers in the party.
Oh and the Jester aka Goof-Off Aka Gadabout is good for one thing.
Being able to become Sages without the Book of Satori/Zen Scroll/Words of Wisdom.
Four white mages? It'll never work!
That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea for this game considering their equipment selection isn't terrible.
👉 Final Fantasy challenge! 👍
@@ThomasMHead That's the only challenge I could remember on those challenge cards.
That and its actualy doable Thwack actually does work on some LATE final FINAL dungeon enemies just not All of them.
Nice list. I do think the soldier is in the top 4 though simply because I wouldn't want to be without one. They absorb damage the best, deal the greatest damage, and can wear some of the best equipment.
I didn't think about the fact that the support spells were moved to the Pilgrim in the remakes. I agree the weapons that damage groups of enemies kind of makes the wizard unnecessary. Interesting!
I mainly used a soldier because I hated wasting all the equipment that dropped for him.
Like the video. I haven't quite gotten there before, but from what i understand, in the post-game added in the GBC, it's often fighter-heavy comps. I'm not sure exactly why.
This game is amaaaaaazing. Although the grind is real the absolute gorgeous pixel graphics and backgrounds make up for it.
Goof off is entirely worth it as you can have 2 sages. Leveling one post Dharma isn't hard at all. And 2 sages almost makes the game trivial.
Yeaaah I used to play with two Sages but a second sage is hardly necessary lol.
Now I like to start with Male Hero and a classic style party.
With a Male or Female Thief, a Cleric/Priest opposite gender of what I pick for my Thief, and Female Mage party.
Thief changes to Martial Artist, Cleric/Priest changes to Warrior, and the Mage becomes my one Sage.
Mainly relying on my Hero and Sage for most of the spell casting aside from my Warrior-Cleric doing some support here and there.
I like to start with a hero and 3 thieves. The thief with the highest speed becomes a cleric then a fighter. The one with the most MP becomes a sage, and the one with the best attack becomes a cleric and then warrior so all my party members can do healing and all my party members can do both magical and nonmagical damage. Then I just grind til I have a super OP party. Makes my hero look weak.
If you're playing the switch version, and you have the computer set to auto-play, it actually really sucks to have a sage. If you have a cleric and your party is hurt, they'll heal you. If you have a wizard, they will always be doing damage. If you have two sages... good luck. They'll forget to heal when you need it, they'll heal when you don't. You might be saying "then put them on manual mode." Few things. First, it's kind of nice to only worry about the hero. Second, it makes you feel like you're part of a team. They gain their own personality when you let them act on their own. It can be fun to have them win (or lose) a game for you because... "darnit, Victoria, stop casting insta-death! It's accuracy is horrible!" Third, they cheat for you. They literally decide what they're going to do on their action. What do I mean? Traditionally, you decide what your entire team is doing without really knowing who's going to go before who. When the computer controls a character, it doesn't decide what that character is doing until it is actually their turn to act. This means that heals and revives happen exactly when they need to, and single target spells are used over mass target spells if there's only one enemy left... ... ... except when you have a party of sages. For some reason, sages step all over each other. And they never heal.
What I think is fascinating about this game is how much the class mechanics were clearly inspired by early western dungeon crawlers like Wizardry. If you know what you're looking for it's kind of shocking actually (but in a great way -- DRPGs are my favorite subgenre).
I hope The Hero gets a somewhat expanded spell list for the Hd Remake.
There’s no reason they shouldn’t get some buffs, the rest of the Frizz spells, Kasizzle, and maybe Bang. Maybe Woosh type spells considering Ortega learned those and give the Sword of Kings some other effect for its use function.
Anyway my favorite combination now adays is
Male Hero,
Either Male or Female Thief, later becoming a Martial Artist
Cleric/Priest opposite gender of whatever I pick for my Thief. Later changes to Warrior. Have also considered A Thief to Warrior and Cleric/Priest to Martial Artist combo.
And Female Mage later becoming a Sage.
Not that it should change their spot, but goofs do get better actions as their levels grows. I enjoy bringing one with me for the long haul just to see their antics. Plus, you can get by with 3 and a half party members just fine! ;)
I had one for my first play through and he was the heart of the party. I made him a sage in the dark world and it was like a whole character arc watching him go from a useless level 50 to a useless level 1 sage, to literally saving our asses when he finally caught up in power lol
I knew the sage would be number 1. I took my sweet time with this game in part so that I could re-class into a sage from
thief->merchant->goof-off (w/ whistle for grinding).
Can't wait to play this game one day and see more of the remake.
Goof off have the whistle skill that attracts monsters which help grinding level. Its very useful when you are grinding where metal slimes around. And he does have although random, 1 shot metal monster skill.
I’ve actually added a goof off later in the game to get 2 sages. If you’re willing to do old school level grinding, it can be very handy to have 2 sages.
I play the SNES version on a cartridge and played a Merchant last time. Dig may suck most of the time, but I did find 2 cat suits WAY early in the game, which made the pyramid much easier!
It finds whatever monsters drop. So, if you "Dig" in an area with Metal Babbles, you will find shoes of happiness. This works for any monster drops. Even Sage books.
@@willh1655 I had absolutely no idea! I play this game once a year, so I will definitely remember this for next time and have a blast with it.
Thanks for the advice on a 34 year old game, 2 years later! This is what the internet was meant for lol
@@chriskoschik391 Dig works this way on the Switch Version. I haven't tested it on the snes.
I played this last month and as I see my party was pretty bad. I'll use this rank to think my party for the remakes, thank you!!
Regarding the fighter, one advantagement not mentioned is I believe base defense was like 1/2 your agility so the fighter would wind up with better defense than the soldier even with the soldier's better equips. I believe that was the case at least in terms of the NES version.
One of the greatest JRPG's of all time. From the very series that Spearheaded the genre.
You should do a video of best classes to switch from the original class. I know that the temple not just change the party's classes but also allow the stats,ablities, and or magic spells to be kept to the changed class person. Like for example the fighter is high algity (in terms of melee class) but he or she could keep the stats of high algity over time after they changed into warrior. This makes the newly changed warrior have high agility. The catch that any changed class party member starts at level one and that it is preferable to make the original party member to have a high level before changing classes epically wizards and clerics.
Just beat the game for the first time played the snes version with a party of hero, monk, mage and cleric turned sage one of my favorite rpgs now on to dq4
Hopefully the upcoming 2.5D version will have some tweaks to the classes. 😃 Then you can make another video!
I think... I came first:3
I would have put thief at number 3,cause they can use assassin dagger/poison needles and the falchion late in the game,making them good metal slayers as well,but other then that I agree.
This makes me even more excited for the remake!
Thief is a top tier class. For end and post-game.
I'd personally have rated fighter higher. Absolute beast of a class, absolutely on par with hero and sage.
I otherwise pretty much agree with you though!
My go to party for a low level completion run is Hero, Fighter, Goof-Off -> Sage, Pilgrim -> Sage. Early game is a bit slower, though not too hard with this setup; and by mid game encounters become a joke.
Would love to see a video ranking the jobs of DQ6
How were you introduced to the series? I was a HUGE dbz fan in my early school years and i would've KILLED to know that the animator for dbz helped make the chars for DQ.
it would've saved me so much effort and money from having to get my PlayStation modded and purchase imports of the 3 dbz games on psx... Considering that dq is an RPG it would've been even more satisfying as a kid since that was my preferred game style... I just simply never knew and apparently neither did friends or family members
Same looking back its obvious kinda with some of the character's but man i didnt have a clue
Love your content this is my fav RPG ever ty so much
Just started a new run with a Merchant, who is fine in the early part of game b/c of decent early equipment selection, with the plan of turning them into a Sage. Why Merchant->Sage over Warrior->Sage? The Merchant levels faster so they'll be ready for the class change sooner and in the remakes, they earn MP, so the Sage will start with greater MP than if they had started off as a Warrior. (I'll also be cross classing Priest and Mage into Thief and Fighter as well, not sure which into which.)
I did once try the 3 goof-off challenge, but I turned all of them into Sages and the game was a breeze from there.
Another reason the Fighter is amazing: In Dragon Quest III the Defense Stat is ENTIRELY determined by Agility. What job gets tons of Agility? That's right, the Fighter. So while the perception of Fighters taking more damage? Not at higher levels. High level fighters end up having MORE Defense stat that Warriors, with just a bit less HP and a TON more Crit.
Party composition? I generally go 2 Fighters, Hero and whatever I feel like after (generally a Warrior or Thief) with the hero being the early Healer.
MP eventually runs out, fists don't and herbs are cheap. Fighters into Sages back into Fighters gives some GREAT utility.
A fighter with the meteorite armband is all kinds of ridiculous.
My party was a fighter and 2 goof offs. I just endured the early game, got to Dharma, got Sartori and went the rest with we 3 sages.
The remakes have so many spell casting items. You can get two sage stones by the end, imo it makes the squishy mages inferior to any class with good armor
I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hope they add new classes for the HD-2D Remake
when i look back at how i use to play and probably still would i really underutilized the wizard and all its potential. i would "save my magic" for some unknown event i might need it, and sometimes it killed me lol
Thanks 4 the info Dave
Hey Dave, I think u should change your avatar. Instead of Sabin, from ff6. How about Zack from ff7 or auron from ffx.Balthier he’s the man. I CANT WAIT 4 the super Mario rpg remake.👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
NOT now but once the remake Nov 14th this year gets a release it will be time for ANOTHER video the only reason I NEVER use Fighter/Warrior IS because of a Lack of their DQ6 and 7 skills that WILL change for the Remake of it.
I have that Dragon Warrior 3 card!! I hate that it has a picture of DW1 though lol.
Great game. I still have it on several systems.
My fave party in DQ III Gameboy Color is One Hero, Three Sages. lol.
DW 4 is the best NES release IMHO but 1a is this one. You really don't lose with either.
I've already beaten Dragon Warrior 3 on the NES but the Android remake looks SOOOO MUCH better than the original. Plus, no Mini Medals on the NES version. I only wish that I could've experienced the Monster Medal & Pachisi Tracks side quests. They should've put it in the Android/IOS remake
I'll be waiting for the 2D HD version tyvm.
@orelas167
1 second ago
I'm afraid I must agree on both Thief and Hero. Wizard used to be the fastest hit-all in the game--Sage+Wizard FTW. Hero's Lightning and Healusall are awesome get out of jail free cards and sub-par final boss tricks, but that's it until their MP costs lower in later games. Uh, but soloing only works in the remakes, unless you like grinding to Lightning for Kandar 2?
In the GBC version, there actually is a huge difference between the female and male fighters. Female fighters can equip better equipments than males, and because of that, they can rank hits better than male fighters. The GBC version is the definitive version of you want to play it before the Switch Octopath style. The SNES translation version isn’t bad either.
They play a lot like Alena from DQIV, and she was so OP in the NES version of DQIV that I banned myself from using her in that game to make the battles tougher. She was great in the DS version, but not as OP.
7:00 "What about Bacardi casters?" Man, Dragon Quest, and RPGs in general, really need a drunkard job/class. Not a character of any class that likes their alcohol, but a class based around drinking. Spit fire (like Sylvando), great resilience, reckless, maybe slow and low aim for ranged weapons, poor defense but high physical power.
I think he said "What about a party of casters?"
@@eviltrollface647 I think that's true, but I really hear "Bacardi". LOL English is not my natural language, that must explain it.
@@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898 I understand, the subtitles also said "Bacardi casters"
Lol I think you mis heard him. But also I wanna say didn’t D&D have supplementary material with a Drunken Master class at one point that’s in some ways like that?? Lol
@@Gamerdude535 I would not be surprised, 80s and 90s D&D had all kinds of stuff! I will write a Drunkard class for Labyrinth Lord, I guess.
Id always take mage and two pilgrims and then transform the mage into warrior and the pilgrims to fighters for fast heals
I just went back and rewatched this in preparation of starting DQ3HD tonight. Will you be doing any new guides or coverage? I was an early 90s FF kid and was a FF fanboy until they became a dumpster fire but thats another topic. I would love some DQ insights from someone with a ridiculously similar gaming history and tastes.
Yup!
So basically Hero, Fighter, Thief, Pilgrim... find book, turn Pilgrim in to Sage... cool Thanks.
Do the Blue Beaks, Belisha Beakons on Android, also drop the Book of Sotori like on the NES version? On Android, The Book of Sotori is called Words of Wisdom. Just wondering if I can obtain an extra Book of Sotori/Words of Wisdom in the Android remake??
Also, the Android/IOS remake has the Mini Medal side quest but not the Monster Medal nor the Pachisi Tracks, unfortunately. Current run I turned my Lvl 21 Thief into a Sage. Keeping my Priest so she can learn the highest Lvl Heal spells, also keeping my Martial Artist (Fighter) to max levels. Gold Claw's curse only happens while actually in the Pyramid of Isis. Once out of the Pyramid, the curse goes away. Martial Artists are awesome in the remakes
Not likely you can't even get those books to drop on the PS4 version Japan on the English Switch version.
Dealer is okay to start as a base & turn into a Martial Artist
It's no surprise that the sage would be number 1. With all those spells it's fun to have one or even two.
Also the pixel remake should rebalance the Merchant and the Goof Off and hell it might even add in a new class as well.
they could add some of the classes from 7 :) always loved the Sailor, Pirate & Shepherd classes.
i had the goof-off bunny girl...wasn't so bad. i kinda had fun with her antics...that and she was a digital waifu as well hahhahhaah
When you play this, and do the job changes, how do you avoid getting gimped bad stats per level up? what should you do to try to manipulate getting better stats on level up, especially after the class changes?
And does it mess up your stats to be switching jobs around a lot before the main job is a really high level?
So, I'll go for a Fighter, Thief and Pilgrim/Sage when I decide to play this game.
I'd actually reclass the Fighter to Sage, and the Pilgrim to Fighter. Even if you do it at level 20 that lets your new Fighter have Midheal and the status-curing spells.
Fire emblem classes rank next?