Dragon Warrior III/Player classes: Difference between revisions

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== Hero ==
== Hero ==
[[File:DQ3 artwork Hero M.jpg|200x200px|left]][[File:DQ3 artwork Hero F.jpg|200x200px|right]]
[[File:DQ3 artwork Hero M.jpg|200x200px|left]][[File:DQ3 artwork Hero F.jpg|200x200px|right]]
The Hero is the main character, and there can only be one. In the original version, the Hero could be male or female, but the text would often refer to them as a "he" regardless. While the Hero may start off slow, he will quickly become one of the most powerful and indisputably the most versatile. The Hero can equip most of the weapons and armor that [[#Soldier|soldiers]] can and a few that they cannot, including the most powerful equipment in the game. The Hero learns a mix of [[#Pilgrim|Pilgrim]] and [[#Wizard|Wizard]] spells, often much later than those classes, and there are a few spells that only the Hero can learn. Generally the Hero will be an attacker, only using magic in emergencies or when the others run out of MP.
The Hero is the main character, and there can only be one. In the original version, the Hero could be male or female, but the text would often refer to them as a "he" or "son" regardless, <span style="color:green">but the remakes are more careful with this</span>. While the Hero may start off slow, he or she will quickly become one of the most powerful and indisputably the most versatile characters in the game. The Hero can equip most of the weapons and armor that [[#Soldier|soldiers]] can and a few that they cannot, including the most powerful equipment in the game. The Hero learns a mix of [[#Pilgrim|Pilgrim]] and [[#Wizard|Wizard]] spells, often much later than those classes, and there are a few spells that only the Hero can learn. Generally the Hero will be an attacker, only using magic in emergencies or when the others run out of MP due to a fairly low Max MP. The hero is a good candidate for Wisdom Seeds and Mystic Nuts, as dedicated casters will generally have more than enough MP already.


:''See also: [[Dragon Warrior III/Spells|Hero magic]]''
:''See also: [[Dragon Warrior III/Spells|Hero magic]]''
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# You cannot create [[#Sage|Sages]] from scratch: another class must be promoted to a Sage.
# You cannot create [[#Sage|Sages]] from scratch: another class must be promoted to a Sage.


Note that gender affects marginally any class's starting attributes, but it doesn't affect growth or available spells. There are a few [[../Weapons/]] and [[../Armors/]] that only women can use, but none that are significant.
Note that gender affects marginally any class's starting attributes, but it doesn't affect growth or available spells. There are a few [[../Weapons/]] and [[../Armors/]] that only women can use. The most significant value of these is that women of any class can use all but one of the female exclusive armors, making them useful for classes with limited armor options, and that many reduce the damage taken from magic attacks, an effect rarely seen otherwise.


See the [[Dragon Warrior III/Experience chart|experience charts]] for how many experience points it will take to raise each class and the [[Dragon Warrior III/Spells|spell lists]] for what magic each class can learn (if any).
See the [[Dragon Warrior III/Experience chart|experience charts]] for how many experience points it will take to raise each class and the [[Dragon Warrior III/Spells|spell lists]] for what magic each class can learn (if any).
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There are, however, a few restrictions:
There are, however, a few restrictions:
* The [[#Hero|Hero]] cannot change classe, and no one may become a Hero.
* The [[#Hero|Hero]] cannot change classes, and no one may become a Hero.
* If you change from a [[#Pilgrim|Pilgrim]], [[#Sage|Sage]], or [[#Wizard|Wizard]] into a non-magic user you will not learn anymore spells, nor will your Maximum MP increase.
* If you change from a [[#Pilgrim|Pilgrim]], [[#Sage|Sage]], or [[#Wizard|Wizard]] into a non-magic user you will not learn anymore spells, nor will your Maximum MP increase.
* With the exception of [[#Goof-Off|Goof-Offs]], you need the [[Dragon Warrior III/Items#Book of Satori|Book of Satori]] to become a Sage.
* With the exception of [[#Goof-Off|Goof-Offs]], you need the [[Dragon Warrior III/Items#Book of Satori|Book of Satori]] to become a Sage.
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* Main attribute: '''Agility'''
* Main attribute: '''Agility'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Strength'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Strength'''
Fighters have a lot in common with [[#Soldier|Soldiers]]: they are incredibly strong, have high HP and vitality, but cannot use magic. The major difference is that Fighters are incredibly fast, but cannot equip much in the way of armor. Fighters will take more damage than Soldiers, but since they almost always attack first the enemy may not live long enough to deal damage. Fighters allow you to play more offensively while Soldier are more defensive.
Fighters have a lot in common with [[#Soldier|Soldiers]]: they are incredibly strong, have high HP and vitality, but cannot use magic. The major difference is that Fighters are incredibly fast, but cannot equip much in the way of armor. Fighters will take more damage than Soldiers, but since they almost always attack first the enemy may not live long enough to deal damage. Fighters allow you to play more offensively while Soldier are more defensive. While Fighters have poor armor options, a female Fighter can still equip Female-Only armor, significantly increasing the quantity and quality of her armor options compared to a male Fighter. Due to their unique weapons, Fighters actually work well with a physically focused Hero, since unlike the Fighter there is no need to decide which of your two sword users gets the swords you find in dungeons and which is behind in gear.


In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Fighter should improve Agility, but not Luck.
In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Fighter should improve Agility, but not Intelligence.
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File:DQ3 figure Fighter F.jpg|Female fighter figure
File:DQ3 figure Fighter F.jpg|Female fighter figure
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=== Pilgrim/Cleric ===
=== Pilgrim/Cleric ===
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* Main attribute: '''Intelligence'''
* Main attribute: '''Intelligence'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Agility'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Agility'''
Wizards, known as mages in the remakes, learn incredibly powerful offensive spells and have enough MP to cast them more than enough times. They are not supposed to attack in physical combat; actually, they have access to numerous weapons that can be used to cast spells for free, instead of attacking physically. Unfortunately they are the weak link when it comes to defense. Since they have low HP and vitality, and cannot equip much armor, they will likely be the first to fall in battle. As such they are a prime candidate to turn into some other class which removes all of the disadvantages but keeps the Wizard's redeeming qualities.
Wizards, known as mages in the remakes, learn incredibly powerful offensive spells and have enough MP to cast them more than enough times. They are not supposed to attack in physical combat; actually, they have access to numerous weapons that can be used to cast spells for free, instead of attacking physically. Unfortunately they are the weak link when it comes to defense. Since they have low HP and vitality, and cannot equip much armor, they will likely be the first to fall in battle. As such they are a prime candidate to turn into some other class which removes all of the disadvantages but keeps the Wizard's redeeming qualities. This class suffers slightly in the remakes, as items that cast spells are more abundant, and whips/boomerangs that hit multiple enemies reduce the value of their multi-target spells. Aside from Sage this is the only class to get the Bikill/TwinHits spell, which ''doubles'' a character's offense, but this spell is not obtained till relatively late at Level 21.


In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Mage should improve Intelligence, but not Strength.
In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Mage should improve Intelligence, but not Strength.
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File:DQ3 figure Wizard F.jpg|Female wizard figure
File:DQ3 figure Wizard F.jpg|Female wizard figure
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=== Merchant/Dealer ===
=== Merchant/Dealer ===
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* Main attribute: '''Vitality'''
* Main attribute: '''Vitality'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Intelligence'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Intelligence'''
Merchants, known as dealers in the remakes, are useful through all the game. They have the special ability to find extra gold and items from enemies (in addition to what is normally dropped), which can come in handy in a few situations late in the game. If you are going to search for rare item drops, then it is a good idea to turn a high level [[#Goof-Off|Goof-Off]] into a Merchant. Merchants are a very useful support class, but not great fighters: they aren't able to use many equipment and their strength falls behind that of the [[#Hero|Hero]] and battle-oriented classes (Warriors & Fighters).  
Merchants, known as dealers in the remakes, are useful through all the game. They have the special ability to find extra gold from enemies (in addition to what is normally dropped), which can come in handy early in the game. Merchants also have the ability to appraise items, giving the player meaningful info when they examine items, but few items have abilities beyond attack/defense increases. Merchants are a very useful support class, but not great fighters. They aren't able to use many types of equipment, and their strength falls behind that of the [[#Hero|Hero]] and battle-oriented classes (Warriors & Fighters). Their Intelligence (and Maximum MP) is <span style="color:green">mostly</span> wasted without changing classes as they don't actually have any <span style="color:green">(or only one)</span> spells to use this MP with. Despite their flaws, Dealers have the fastest level growth in the game, both at early and high levels, requiring 67.58% as much experience as the Hero to reach level 20 and 93.33% as much to reach level 99.


In the remakes, Merchants are given a special set of spells that are exclusive to their class, including ''Excavate'' and ''YellHelp''.  The Merchant class is the key to a [[../Soo#Starting a new town|subplot]] later in the game, however you can just register one right before you need them.
In the remakes, Merchants are given a special set of spells that are exclusive to their class, including ''Excavate'' and ''YellHelp''.  The Merchant class is the key to a [[../Soo#Starting a new town|subplot]] later in the game, however you can just register one right before you need them.
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File:DQ3 figure Merchant F.jpg|Female merchant figure
File:DQ3 figure Merchant F.jpg|Female merchant figure
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=== Goof-Off/Jester ===
=== Goof-Off/Jester ===
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* Main attribute: '''Agility'''
* Main attribute: '''Agility'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Luck'''
* 2nd attribute: '''Luck'''
The Thief class is a new class that was introduced in the Super Famicom remake of ''Dragon Quest III''.  Thieves have high agility, and have the ability to steal during battle. Their few spells are all very helpful, from ''Smell'', which tells you how many treasures are left in the area, to ''TipToe'', which lowers your random encounter rate. They are also the only character class that can use some of the powerful whips in the game, which attack not only a single monster, but an entire enemy group.
The Thief class is a new class that was introduced in the Super Famicom remake of ''Dragon Quest III''.  Thieves have high agility, and have the ability to steal after battle (essentially a second chance at getting a dropped item, but with a chance that increases by level). Their small assortment of spells is very helpful. These range from ''Smell'', which tells you how many treasures are left in the area, to ''TipToe'', which lowers your random encounter rate. They are also the only character class that can use powerful whips in the game which attack not only a single monster but an entire enemy group making them able to handle the crowd control duties one normally uses a Wizard or the Hero's limited MP for. Despite what one would expect, a Thief in ''Dragon Quest III'' is actually rather durable against physical attacks due to the game using Agility to determine defense, though they have no particular defense against non-stats magic due to their relatively low Stamina/Max HP growth (a female thief can shore this up with female exclusive armors that reduce magic damage). Their increased chance of obtaining item drops is significant, and a moderate level thief can farm stat increasing seeds at a decent rate. Thieves also have a relatively fast experience growth rate, with only Dealers and (just barely) Jesters beating them to level 20, and only Dealers beating them to level 99.


In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Thief should improve Agility, but not Vitality.
In the remakes, a fitting [[../Personality/]] for a Thief should improve Agility, but not Intelligence.
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