Dragon Warrior III/Gameplay

Controls

• : Direct your character through the world, in towns, and in dungeons. When you have more than one character on the map, you only control the character in the lead. Also used to navigate and choose selections on any menu.
• : Bring up the menu or accept a menu option.
• : Close the menu or return to the previous menu.
• : Pause.

Windows

Condition Window

If you stand still momentarily, the Condition Window pops up on the left side of the Game Screen. In this window you will find, for each character in your party, the current conditions listed for the following:

Hit Points	Preceded with an H, your HP indicates how much damage you can withstand.
Magic Points	Preceded with an M, shows how much MP you have with which to cast spells.
Class and level	Preceded with a two letter abbreviation for you character's class (e.g. Hr for Hero,) followed by the level he/she has reached in that class.

Watch your Hit Points carefully. The HP indicates how much damage you can take. A character's class level rises with increases in Experience.

Command Window

By pushing , both the Command Window and the Condition Window open up. The Command Window and its options are used to perform actions. Within the Command Window are most of the commands you will use during the game. It is here that you choose to speak to a man in a shop, open a door, search an area, or view your status.

Talk	Listen to the people in castles and towns to help you learn rumors and secrets. The Talk command allows you to speak to anyone if you are facing them directly. Remember their words and use them to solve riddles.
Status	If you choose Status from your Command Window, a list of options will appear. You can look at Info on one particular character, see the Condition of each character, or change the Formation of your party.
Search	You won't know the contents of a treasure chest until you examine them. By choosing Search, you will be able to search inside a chest or the section of ground on which you are currently standing.
Spell	The magic spells you learn throughout the game can be used when you activate the Spell command. Once selected, you must choose which player you wish to cast spells. If he/she is capable of magic, a list of the spells that can be cast will appear. Some spells can only be used in battle. Sages alternate between Wizard spells and Pilgrim spells by selecting the "→" at the top of the list.
Item	Choose the Item option, and select a character's name to open a window showing all the items which that particular character has on his/her possession. Select an item in the list to use it on a character, or an object that you are facing, including keys on doors.
Equip	Choose Equip and then select a character to examine or alter which pieces of armor and weapons that character is currently utilizing. Weapons and armor will do you character no good in battle unless they are equipped.

Battle Screen

Throughout your quest, you will encounter an enemy or groups of enemies from time to time. When monsters appear, the Battle Screen will pop up. At this point you have a couple of choices, and those choices depend on the character whose command you are currently inputting. When choosing a course of action, you should take into account your HP and the strength of the enemy.

Fight	Select Fight when you want to attack the enemy with a character's currently equipped weapon. Then select one of the available groups of enemies to attack, and that character will randomly attack one of the enemies in that group.
Run	Only the lead character can select Run, which requests the entire group to attempt an escape from battle. If the Hero is asleep or dead, the next available character in the lead will be able to choose Run in place of Parry.
Spell	Pilgrims, Wizards, and Sages learn spells as they advance in levels. Spells can either help the party by healing them or protecting them, or they can be used to harm the enemies. Some spells, usually the more powerful ones, can affect more than one target at a time.
Parry	Instead of attacking an opponent you may choose to put a character in a defensive stance by selecting Parry. That character will not attack the enemy in any way, but if he/she gets attacked, he/she will take substantially less damage than normal.
Item	The final option during a battle is to use an item. When you select Item from the Battle Screen, a list of that character's current items will appear. Some pieces of equipment may be used in battle to trigger the alternate effects that they are capable of.

Status Window

The status of your Strength, Agility, and other characteristics appear when you select Info from the Status sub-menu, and choose a character to examine. Theses numbers increase as you defeat monsters, gain experience points and raise your overall level.

The type of weapon, armor and shield that you carry will affect your Attack Power and Defense Power. The Copper Sword, for instance, will give you an Attack Power higher than the Club.

Window I: Status

Strength	This number influences your Attack Power too.
Agility	Agility measures your speed. When facing a number of enemies, your agility will determine how quickly and in what order a character will get the chance to attack. It affects your Defense power as well (dodging).
Vitality	As your Vitality increases, so too does your maximum Health Points. Having a high vitality usually, but not always, results in characters who can withstand a lot of damage before succumbing to their wounds.
Intelligence	The more intelligent one becomes, the more Magic Points he/she will possess with which to cast spells. Spell casters of high intelligence may cast more spells before they run out of energy.
Luck	A catch-all characteristic that helps to manipulate the odds of things working out in your favor, such as finding a treasure chest after battle, or falling victim to status changing attacks.
Secondary attributes
Experience Points	As you defeat monsters, your party will collect a certain amount of experience points for the battle. The tougher the monsters, the more experience points you will earn. However, the higher in level you are, the more experience points you need to attain the next level of power.
Maximum HP	This statistic shows the maximum amount of health you possess. If one of your character's health is running low, the color of the text in the windows will change to green as a warning. If one of your character's health reaches zero, he/she will perish and the color of the text in the windows changes to red. Max HP increases according to a character's Vitality.
Maximum MP	This statistic shows the maximum amount of magic power you can store. Only those characters who belong to classes which learn spells over time can increase their Maximum MP with each new level. Max MP increases according to a character's Intelligence.
Attack Power	Attack Power determines the strength of your attack against enemies. Attack increases according to a character's Strength and equipped Weapon.
Defense Power	Defense Power is your ability to withstand the attacks of monsters. Defense increases according to a character's Agility and equipped Armor parts.

Window IIa: Current status

Class	The first listing indicates your character's current class.
Sex	The second listing indicates your character's gender.
Level	The third listing indicates your character's current level of experience.
HP	The fourth listing indicates your character's current number of health points.
MP	The fifth listing indicates your character's current number of magic point.

Window IIb: Equipment

Weapon	The first listing indicates your character's currently equipped weapon.
Armor	The second listing indicates your character's currently equipped armor.
Shield	The third listing indicates your character's currently equipped shield.
Helmet	The fourth listing indicates your character's currently equipped helmet.

Window III: Spells

Fight

A list of spells will only appear for any character who has learned combat skills at any point in his/her career. Spells are broken up into two categories: Fight and Command. Fight spells are spells which can be used in battle. These are the spells which will appear when you select the Spell command in a fight. If your character is a Sage, then two sets of Fight spells will appear, one for learned Wizard spells, and then another for learned Pilgrim spells.

Command

Command spells are spells that you can use anytime outside of battle, such as when you are standing on the overworld, in a town, or exploring a dungeon. Many spells are either only Fight spells or only Command spells, but some spells like Heal will appear in both lists. Once again, if your character is a Sage, you will see two Command listings, first for Wizard spells and then for Pilgrim spells.