Dragon Warrior III/Advanced Party Analysis


 * See the player classes page for information on each class.

You start out with only the Hero, but you will almost immediately gain three more members, who can be from among six different classes (seven in the remakes). This leaves you with a lot of options, most of which will leave your party horribly unbalanced. Unless your doing a challenge run, (no magic, magic users only, low level, etc), there are only a few combinations worth using. You need a proper balance of physical attacking, speed, offensive magic, buffs, debuffs, and healing. While the Hero does have very good physical prowess, he is fairly slow. In addition, he possesses very little MP, levels up slowly in the early game, and takes a relatively long time to learn most of his most useful spells (aside from Sleep). He cannot cover everything on his own.

Further complicating things are the radical differences between the NES version, and all the Remakes after it. The difficulty is 'significantly' lower in the Remakes, for a variety of reasons...


 * 1) The bag allows you to carry x99 Herbs at a time (the NES version does not have a bag).
 * 2) The Remakes are littered with new items in almost every town and many dungeons; many of which sell for a lot of money.  Buying equipment is significantly easier, for that reason.
 * 3) Many of these new items, such as the Magic and Dragon Shields, have resistances that you could not easily get in the NES version.
 * 4) The personality system, as well as the new seed distribution option at Ruida's Tavern/Patty's Party Planning Place, allows one to exploit the stat formulas in a way you never could in the NES.  For example, giving the Tough personality (140% Vitality) to all of your created characters gives them obscenely high HP.
 * 5) The encounter rate has been radically decreased, especially in dungeons.
 * 6) The Thief's Padfoot ability can drive this down even further; to the point where one can get through caves like the "Cave of the Necrogond" with only two encounters.

For this reason, the recommended party composition for the Remakes is very different from the one recommended for the NES.

Recommended Party Composition for the NES
The NES does not have a lot of the conveniences that the Remakes, and money is extremely hard to come by. In addition, all bosses regenerate HP; killing them is literally impossible if you cannot do enough damage. You will want the Bikill spell to put them down; and it can only be learned by the a Wizard and Sage classes. Finally, there's only one class that's fast enough to consistently outspeed enemies. This is the Fighter; and you will want at least one to help kill troublesome enemies before they can move.

For these reasons, your party should consist of:
 * 1) The Hero
 * 2) A Fighter (a fast physical attacker that requires almost no equipment)
 * 3) A Pilgrim (a healer who also provides valuable buffs, debuffs, and status ailments)
 * 4) At least one Bikill user (borderline mandatory for bosses in the NES version)

The last slot does not need to be filled until about 40-50% of the way into the game; so there are roughly three choices on how to acquire it. Firstly, one could always include a Wizard into the initial party, and gain Bikill naturally. However, the Wizard only shines in the mid-game. They start off with single digit HP and almost no spells; getting them into anything resembling fighting shape takes a good amount of time in the NES version. Then, after a while of being helpful in the midgame, they then decline once again in the endgame. Enemies will start spamming spells and breath attacks that hit every person in the party; meaning that the Wizard will have an extremely hard time surviving there as well. Finally, it's high damage spells start to become eclipsed by the healing spells, crowd control spells, and instant-death spells of the Pilgrim. Therefore, it is often preferable to class change the Wizard into a Sage later, once they learn Bikill.

However, Wizards are not one of the pre-requisites needed for class changing into a Sage. All one needs to do is get the item known as the "Book of Satori". Get that, and you can use it to change anyone but the Hero into a Sage. So one could also simply fill the 4th slot with someone more helpful in the early game (such as a Soldier, or another Fighter), change them into a Sage later, then grind them up to LVL 21 and learn Bikill that way. You could even just change your one Pilgrim into said Sage, though the Sage levels slowly enough that you'll be lacking some crucial Pilgrim spells if you don't grind later on.

So, there are multiple valid choices for the 4th slot, depending on your play style. If you want the best balance between safety and efficiency, choose a 2nd Fighter. If you want a harder early game in exchange for what is arguably the most efficient party (as-in, it can beat the game the quickest), choose a Wizard. Finally, a Warrior makes for an incredibly easy early game, in exchange for a slightly harder mid-game.

A Warrior will allow you significantly better defense, and a far easier time during the early game; however, you will suffer later in the game for lack of access to the Bikill spell; a spell that doubles a person's attack. In the NES version, each boss in regenerates a range of HP every turn. Killing them will become literally impossible if you cannot do enough damage per round. Besides that, you will also find it hard to hit groups of enemies with AoE spells (such as Firebane, Iceblast, and Boom).

Some of the mid-tier offensive spells can be used via magic-casting equipment); but you'll never have access to the highest tier spells wiiut a magic user. In addition, Bikill cannot be used unless you class change someone into a Sage (which is recommended, especially for beginners).  One Bikill user will be enough if this is the way you choose to go; just be aware that Sages level more slowly than any other party member.  They will not gain access to the higher level Cleric and Wizard spells without a lot of grinding.

On the other hand, a Wizard will afford you significantly better offense at the cost of durability. Wizards have extremely low HP growth, and they don't gain access to a lot of their most useful spells until the mid-game. Additionally, most bosses have high resistances to most every kind of magic attack; so pure Wizards will also run into the same HP Regeneration issues as a party without Bikill would.

However, Wizards can also be class changed into a Warrior or Fighter later on. In effect, you will be getting a second physical attacker that can also cast Bikill, Increase, and whichever offensive spells you want to use. So if one decides to class change the Wizard at LVL 21, then change their Priest into a Sage, they will gain two Bikill and offensive magic users without sacrificing the durability of their party.

Such a party is arguably the most efficient for clearing the mid and late-game; but it is also harder to use in the early game. Choose wisely.

Hero, Soldier, Pilgrim, Wizard

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Soldier
 * 3) Pilgrim
 * 4) Wizard >>> Sage


 * Pros - High defense, good attack, access to all possible spells, moderate cost to equip
 * Cons - The Wizard's very low defense, speed of the Soldier, costs a lot of MP to heal
 * Overall - 8/10

This is the classic party, and the one recommended by the game designers. However, it does have it's weaknesses.

First of all, you'll have to grind a while to get the Wizard into something resembling fighting shape in the early game. Secondly, the Fighter is the only class fast enough to consistently outspeed enemies without the help of the Starry Ring/Meteorite Bracer. Thirdly, the Fighter is also incredibly powerful in the early game, meaning that he is immensely useful for killing troublesome enemies (such as Hunter Flies, Demon Toadstools, King Froggores, and etc). Fourthly, the Fighters have a higher chance of scoring critical hits than the other classes; meaning that Metal Slimes and Metal Babbles will be slightly easier to kill. Finally, money is extremely tight in the NES version. You will almost never have the money needed to buy everything you would want to buy. Fighters are extremely inexpensive to equip compared to the other classes; put one in your party, and you're basically paying for three party members rather than four.

Without a Fighter, this party will take more damage, and be more expensive to equip in the beginning. The Warrior does eventually overtake the Fighter in usefulness right before the final dungeon, as that's when the Fighter's poor equipment pool finally catches up to it...but until then, the Soldier will never be able to handle troublesome enemies the way the Fighter can. It can provide some added safety against physical attacks; but there's nothing it can do about the multitude of multi-target breath and spell attacks that various enemies can use.

That said, the end result still isn't too bad. The Wizard will at least allow you to learn Bikill early on. Class change said Wizard into a Sage, and you'll have two party members that can still pre-emptively disable enemies at least some of the time. Besides that, the Soldier does have stratospherically high HP, and magic resistant armor that the Fighter cannot wear. You'll still take more damage overall for most parts of the game; but the Soldier himself won't be in any danger of dying. If nothing else, this is a great party for defeating the final boss.

Hero, Fighter, Pilgrim, Wizard

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Fighter
 * 3) Pilgrim
 * 4) Wizard >>> Sage


 * Pros - Very fast, good attack, access to all possible spells, low cost to equip
 * Cons - Both the Wizard and Fighter's defenses may cause problems
 * Overall - 9/10

This is very similar to the first setup; but the switch to Fighter is advantageous for all the reasons previously discussed. While the Fighter is more frail than the Soldier, this does not matter much. All of this game's most dangerous encounters involve enemies that target all members of your party, not just the two people in the front. The Soldier's high HP and Defense won't make a bit of difference against a Hologhost with Defeat, an Archmage with Explodet, or a Salamander "breath[ing] gales of fires". All of your weaker party members will be hit just as hard by those as they would have if a Wizard had been in the 1st slot instead.

Hence, a truly "defended" party is one that can take out said enemies before they can do their worst; and the Fighter helps do exactly that. Even as you draw near to the endgame, you can have him use the Staff of Thunder to cast Firebane for free. That may not be enough to offset it's equipment selection at the very end; but it is more than enough for the rest of the game.

Finally, this party can also change it's Wizard into a Sage like the other party can.

Hero, Soldier, Soldier, Pilgrim

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Soldier
 * 3) Soldier >>> Sage
 * 4) Pilgrim


 * Pros - Very high defense and offense
 * Cons - Speed and cost of equipment
 * Overall - 8/10

This is an incredibly powerful party, however it is also incredibly slow. While you can absorb a lot more damage, you're going to need to since the enemies will often all get to attack before your team. This is also one of the most expensive parties to keep up to date, but having one Soldier using second-tier equipment won't be too much of an issue. If you go with this party, late in the game you might want to turn one of the Soldiers into a Pilgrim and then back to a Soldier so you can distribute the healing a bit more.

Hero, Fighter, Fighter, Pilgrim

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Fighter
 * 3) Fighter >>> Sage
 * 4) Pilgrim


 * Pros - Very high offense and speed, low cost to equip
 * Cons - Defense
 * Overall - 10/10

As with any party lacking a Soldier, it leaves the Hero on the front to absorb most of the damage. You'll also have a problem healing after enemies use magic and abilities that hit all four members of your party at once. On the other hand, this is a ridiculously fast team so you may be able to defeat most non-boss enemies before they can deal too much damage. It is also one of the cheapest teams to equip since none of the Fighters' equipment costs more than a few grand.

Hero, Soldier, Fighter, Pilgrim

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Soldier >>> Sage
 * 3) Fighter
 * 4) Pilgrim


 * Pros - Speed, defense, offense, pretty much everything
 * Cons - Just a lack of attack magic
 * Overall - 9/10

This team is pretty much the best of the two previous ones. You have two heavies (Soldier and Hero), two fast attackers (Hero and Fighter), and two healers (Hero and Pilgrim). With any given stat, even the character with the lowest isn't that low.

Hero, Soldier, Pilgrim, Pilgrim

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Soldier
 * 3) Pilgrim
 * 4) Pilgrim >>> Sage


 * Pros - Healing, fairly good defense and offense
 * Cons - Not much
 * Overall - 6/10

Healing will certainly be a non issue as the only character that can't heal themselves can usually wait a round to be healed by another. While not as strong as parties with two attackers, it is much stronger than parties with a Wizard, especially once you get the ship.

Hero, Fighter, Pilgrim, Pilgrim

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Fighter
 * 3) Pilgrim
 * 4) Pilgrim >>> Sage


 * Pros - Healing, fairly good defense and offense
 * Cons - Not much
 * Overall - 7/10

Again, not much different than the previous party; you just have more speed and less defense. However, with three healers available, even the Fighter can afford to take a lot of damage.

Hero, Merchant, Pilgrim, Fighter

 * 1) Hero
 * 2) Merchant >>> Sage
 * 3) Pilgrim
 * 4) Fighter

This party starts out almost as good as a Hero, Soldier, Fighter, Pilgrim party.
 * The Merchant is able to wear almost everything the Soldier can wear, and thus is able to take front-line duty. He also generates extra gold, which can be used to keep him, the Hero, and the Pilgrim well equipped.
 * Simultaneously, the Fighter provides the advantage of a cheap party, allowing the Merchant gold to be a genuine advantage. If you try a similar party that starts with a Soldier instead of a Fighter, you will find that the equipment needs eat up the extra gold advantage and that the Merchant and the Soldier are redundant in terms of what role they play.

The Merchant also has one of the better Intelligence progressions, making him a good Sage, though it does not get MP each level. Upgrading the Fighter to a Pilgrim provides a Pilgrim with good Strength and Agility, and between him and the Sage make up for the absence of a Soldier and will round out the lack of MP.

Meanwhile, the Pilgrim has the freedom to go Wizard, allowing for a "total bounce/vivify/beat" party similar to the one below (though the "beatdown" technique is less useful than indicated in an earlier game when comparing the NES variant of the party suggested below; still, having the entire party able to cast Vivify is very useful).

Both of the original rear-liners switch to weapon attackers in the end, allowing for a ridiculously robust and versatile party. Additional details necessary to describe end-game viability for this party.

The absence of an early wizard is both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, you'll spend a lot less time running back and forth to resurrect the wizard again. On the other hand, once you start running into crab monsters, there's a bit of grinding necessary to get to the point where you can damage them without the help of offensive magic.

Hero, Merchant, Thief, Pilgrim

 * Combat - 6/10
 * Offensive Magic - 4/10
 * Healing - 7/10
 * Speed - 9/10
 * Defense - 7/10
 * Overall - 7/10


 * Pros - High gold accumulation, great for item gathering.
 * Cons - No heavy hitters, Hero will take the brunt of the damage.

This is an alternate party configuration that is only available in the remakes. It features a Thief who will boost the speed of the party as well as make it easy to find all those stubbornly hidden treasures and stealing items from enemies. That along with the extra gold found by your Merchant, will ensure that you'll be flush with cash throughout the lifetime of this party. Although the Merchant can wear a good deal of armor, for those who find the defense in the party lacking, the Merchant can be replaced with (or change professions to) a Soldier. Alternatively, replacing the Merchant with a Fighter will make your party even faster, and allow you to deal more damage. Merchants level up faster than most classes, so their short comings should be made up for by their faster rate of growth.

Hero, Fighter, Merchant, Jester

 * Combat - 5/10
 * Offensive Magic - 2/10
 * Healing - 3/10
 * Speed - 7/10
 * Defense - 8/10
 * Overall - 5/10


 * Pros - High gold accumulation, extremely inexpensive, set up for fast Soldier and two Sages at Dhama.
 * Cons - Your Hero is the only healer, extremely little magic support, Jester may not cooperate.

This is a party that only experts should attempt to start with. It makes some aspects of the early game easier, but many aspects of the later game much harder. For one thing, with no Pilgrim, your only healer is the Hero, and the Hero does not get a tremendous amount of magic points, so you'll need to stay at an Inn much more frequently, or stock up on Medical Herbs. Fortunately, this is a cheap party to buy equipment for (the Fighter needs very little, and the Jester can't use much). In addition, the Merchant will be finding extra gold after almost every battle. Naturally, this party has all the problems inherent with including a Jester. They aren't likely to do what you ask for in battle. The only purpose for the Jester is to level them up to 20 and turn them into a Sage. Furthermore, with the Book of Satori, you can turn the Merchant into a second Sage. The Fighter should become a Soldier when you create the two Sages (or after the Sages have leveled up a little).

Hero, Thief, Jester, Pilgrim

 * Combat - 6/10
 * Offensive Magic - 4/10
 * Healing - 7/10
 * Speed - 9/10
 * Defense - 7/10
 * Overall - 7/10

Class Changes
Ideally, you would end up with two Sages and a Fighter-turned-Pilgrim-turned-Wizard-turned-Soldier. This is, however, incredibly time consuming and often not worth the effort.

Sage
Regardless of which setup you use, you're probably going to be better off turning your weakest character into a Sage. Wizards will not only be able to heal but gain considerable strength in defense, attackers will lose a bit of offense but gain magic, and Pilgrims will basically remain the same but have offensive magic. The only thing is that you're going to need to level your Sage back up before you can continue on with your adventure. If you wait until you reach the Necrogond, it won't take very long to level up.

Two Sages
As the saying goes, why get one when you can have two for just twice the price? In order to have two Sages, you'll have to ditch one member and replace them with a Goof-Off. Get the Goof-Off up to level 20 and then have two characters become Sages at the same time. Chances are you'll end up converting your Pilgrim(s) to a Sage, so you'll be lacking in healing for a while. If you do this right when you reach Dhama, then you'll have to spend a lot of time level grinding. If you wait until you reach the Necrogond, it'll probably take under an hour to get your levels back up to what they need to be.

Overkill
This strategy involves moving your attacker back and forth between a Fighter and a Soldier a couple of times so you end up with a Solider that is as fast as a Hero. You'll also want to create two Sages, but that's just a matter of converting your other two allies into Sages whenever you feel like it and then just leaving them as Sages. For your attacker, have them swap classes when you reach Dhama (level 20), then again when you reach the Necrogond (level 25 or so). Once you finish most of the game and just have the final castle, have them swap again and then back again (you'll need to do a lot of leveling at this point anyway, so it doesn't take too much time). If you have the patience, have the attacker turn into a Pilgrim for a while (probably until you learn the Healus spell). So, if you started with a Soldier it would go Soldier->Fighter->Soldier->Pilgrim->Fighter->Soldier. In addition to the speed and power, this results in all four characters knowing all four of the healing spells.

A Different Approach
This is a party that allows to defeat Divinegon/God Dragon (Game Boy Color/SNES exclusive boss) with an average level lower than 40, and to use all the character classes in one game:

It starts out as a very traditional party. By the time Dharma Temple (where classes can be changed) is reached, most of the characters will be at level 20. Change the class of only one character at a time, and continue to quest. Come back to Dharma Temple whenever the last character who changed class catched up with the level of the others and change the class of a different character. You can absolutely continue traveling without stopping for leveling up.

Change the class of the Pilgrims only after they learn Vivify and Beat, and change the class of the Wizards only after they learn Bounce. This way, every character will have good healing and support abilities.

A Merchant is useful until the end of the game because he/she can tell you what an item is for and who can use it. If you don't have a merchant at end game, you'll have to guess how to and who can use the last items you find. He/she also tells whether an item is cursed. Moreover, at end game you'll have enough money to pay the services from the "YellHelp" spell, especially the expensive inn that heals everyone. The Thief before the Merchant makes the latter faster than normal. On the other hand, a Thief at end game will make almost impossible to collect all the Monster Medals necessary to clear the Ice Cave and meet GranDragon, therefore this class is best in the intermediate stages of the game.

It's great to have all the characters casting Bounce on the first turn, and then watch powerful spellcasting enemies defeating themselves! If that's not enough, every character is able to heal and protect him/herself, thus bypassing the drawback of the Bounce spell. Another effective tactic is a shower of Beat spells from all the characters, that can very likely decimate the enemies in few turns.