Tag Mode - Canvass for guests here!

Dragon Quest IX offers you the chance to interact with other players using a special function of your Nintendo DS system called “Tag Mode”. It means that you can get together with fellow fans and swap information, characters and treasure maps without even lifting a finger! This is called “Canvassing for Guests” in the game.

For a full tutorial on all aspects of Tag Mode click here!

Multiplayer mode

Multiplayer mode on Dragon Quest IX allows you to play together with up to three other people. There are two ways you can do this: You can host a multiplayer session that takes place in your game world and allows your game to move on as if you were playing yourself. Or you can visit another player’s game world as a guest and play in their Dragon Quest IX world – it’s up to you!

For a full tutorial on all aspects of Multiplayer Mode click here!

How do I enlist additional members for my party?

You start the game as a lone Celestrian but soon the opposition will get so tough that you’ll want to enlist the help of other heroes by forming a party. This is done at the Quester’s Rest (which is the inn at the castle town of Stornway) and there are two ways to go about it:

1. If you want to play together with your friends via Nintendo DS Wireless Communications, talk to Pavo at the inn’s counter. Select the option “Invite Friends From Other Worlds” if you will be the one hosting the multiplayer session. If one of your friends is hosting the multiplayer session instead, you still talk to Pavo but choose “Visit Another World” from the available options. You’ll soon be playing together!

2. If you’re playing solo – or don’t have enough friends at hand to complete a party of four – then forming a party works a little differently. At the Quester’s Rest, go to the counter and talk to Patty. There you can create companions from scratch or call up ready-made characters. Whichever you choose, their skill level will be quite low, but as soon as they join you during your adventure they will grow in strength just like you. You can add up to three party members at any point, but you can always drop them off again at the inn if you want to swap them for another companion.

You are of course free to go it alone instead - but take it from us, as soon as the King of Stornway sends you on a mission, you’re going to appreciate the strength in numbers!

Which vocations should I choose for my party?

First things first: you can’t really go wrong in such a way that choosing a certain combination would make it impossible for you to continue. Similarly, there is no perfect combination of party members either. You’re completely free, then, to choose as you see fit – although you may want to take some advice to heart.

Balance is important in any team. Your main hero or heroine starts off as a Minstrel, which is a pretty balanced vocation in itself. For your companions you’ll want to add some variety then. Add some muscle to your party with a Warrior or a Martial Artist, whose attack power will grow swiftly. A Mage can also learn some very effective attack spells! Thieves are pretty agile, which can be beneficial in some battles, but more importantly they will learn an ability called Half-Inch that gives you a chance to steal items from monsters during battle. Last but certainly not least, if you don’t want to worry about bringing enough healing items into battle, you will want to consider topping up your party with a Priest.

Don’t be afraid to make the wrong choice here – you can always swap out your party members later. Better yet, when you make it to a place called Alltrades Abbey, your current party members will be able to switch vocations – and that’s where the depth of the vocations system really starts to reveal itself… But more on that later, in our Advanced Tips!

I played a multiplayer session with my friends but when I returned to my own game it was like the story hadn’t progressed at all!

If you play a multiplayer session, the progress of the main story is only saved in the host’s game, but as a guest you still get to keep all the Experience Points you built up and any gold and items you picked up once you leave the multiplayer session and save in your own game.

My party was wiped out in battle and now half of my gold is gone!

Ah yes, this happens… If your entire party is defeated in battle you will return to your last save point, but half of the gold you had in your pocket will be gone. Any gold you stored at the Rainbow’s End Gold Bank at the Quester’s Rest in Stornway will be safe though, so you’d best make it a habit to deposit your hard-earned cash there regularly – or at least when you feel a big battle could be coming up…

Help! I’m facing an enemy I can’t defeat!

At various times during your quest you will face “boss” characters. They tend to appear at the culmination of a particular town’s main mission and you have no choice but to fight them if you want to proceed. These bosses are particularly strong and it will require lots of skill to defeat them!

Sometimes though, your party is simply not strong enough yet to defeat the boss. If you think this might be the case it could be a good idea to leave the boss alone for a while and focus on other things you can do.

You could look for townsfolk who have Side Quests for you to partake in, or travel the land in search for items that you can use in Alchemy. Along the way you’ll invariably meet smaller monsters to battle with, and while it’s possible to avoid some of them, you will miss out on gaining valuable Experience Points as well as gold if you do. So go out there, battle monsters and gain experience so you level up and grow stronger! Metal enemies especially have been known to yield lots of experience when defeated…

Also make sure that you use the gold you earn in battle to buy the best equipment available in the shops and don’t forget to equip your party members with the weapons and garments that provide the most benefits for them. Soon you’ll be in the right shape to take on the boss that seemed indestructible before!
Just one more tip for the battle ahead: you’ll be in big trouble if you don’t have a party member that can heal your companions, such as a Priest, or if you don’t bring any healing items along for the fight! You will take damage so you’d better make sure you can replenish some health mid-battle. Good luck!

What are Side Quests and how can I take them on?

During your travels you’ll often come across various folk who need your help. This is signified by a blue smiley-face above their heads. Talk to them to hear their tale and they will make a request, which is not necessarily related to the overall story. If you accept their request then you’re ready to take on the Side Quest. Fulfill the conditions stated in the request and then return to the person who you’ve been helping to reap your reward!

Some Side Quests simply provide you with a free item or some additional gold, while others can have far-reaching implications for your main quest and the world as a whole. You never know what you might get from helping others…

Some Side Quests can be completed quickly, while others take more time. Unless specifically stated, you don’t have to complete them in one go and are free to do something else along the way. Bear in mind though that you can only have 10 Side Quests activated at one time. It can be that in order to take on a new Side Quest you will have to cancel another one that you already activated. If that happens, choose wisely which Side Quest you cancel. You can always come back to reactivate the quest, but it’s not a good idea to cancel a Side Quest that you were halfway to completing already!

Finally, there are also new Side Quests to download via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection every week for one year from the game’s launch on 23/07/10. Talk to Sellma at the Quester’s Rest in Stornway and wirelessly connect to the Internet to receive all the downloadable Side Quests that have been released until that day. For more details, click here to visit the Side Quest Calendar at the official Dragon Quest IX website.

Confused by skills, skill points, abilities and vocations? Read on, the help you've been praying for is right here...

Vocation? What does this mean?

In very basic terms a vocation is a job that a character does: it won't be important in the earliest stages of the game when you're wandering around on your ownsome killing enemies, but very quickly you'll find strength in numbers to be a boon. The Quester's Rest Inn at Stornway (where new party members can be created from scratch or recruited) will be your first run-in with the vocation system which includes the categories Minstrel, Mage, Priest, Warrior, Martial Artist and Thief to start off - yet more vocations will become available in the course of your awesome adventures.

Vocation can make all the difference to a character: it determines the spells, abilities and traits they can learn and the armour, weapons or kit they can equip. Warriors can't equip wands like Priests and Mages do, whereas Minstrels and Martial Artists are vocations that allow you to use fans in battle. Martial Artists or Thieves wouldn't go near a shield with a barge pole and there's no way you'll find a Mage sporting heavy armour or a gigantic sword. It's easy to see what vocation can equip what type of kit from the icons in the menu, so shop according to your crew.

So vocations come with attributes… What do these tell me?

A character's vocation also decides the starting levels of some statistics that govern how good they are at things and what areas they receive bonuses in when they level up. Take a glance at the 'Attributes' screen found in the menu and you'll see numbers next to labels like Strength, Agility, Max. HP, etc – the higher the number the better your character is at that thing, or the more points they have before they run out. For example, Warriors start with high Strength and Resilience, whereas Mages have comparatively lower numbers in these areas from the offing, but of course there's a trade off: Warriors don't get the gigantic Magical Might or Max. MP that Mages get. When characters get stronger, they receive bonuses in the Attributes most relevant to their vocation.

Your character starts as a Minstrel, a balanced character type that can do a bit of everything but isn't superb at anything. That will soon change...

I levelled up and need to "Allocate Skill Points". What should I do?

As your character levels up you'll be awarded skill points that you can allocate to different areas - and each vocation has its own specialised skill set that can be improved. When you earn skill points a list will be displayed showing the areas you can allocate points to within your current vocation, but you can also access this list from 'Allocate Skill Points' in the Misc. part of the menu whenever you like.

Most skills are to do with weapons (sword, shield, fan, etc) but the bottom one is always a vocation-specific skill, such as Faith for a Priest or Spellcraft for a Mage. Assigning skill points into the different areas allows you to learn new Abilities or give bonuses to your character's Attributes, which are called Traits.

When allocating skill points, there are a few things to bear in mind so you can squeeze the most from your characters:

• The temptation is to put a little here and a little there, but your best bet is to concentrate on one thing that you want your character to be good at - there will be plenty of time (and points) later to put into other abilities. Don't spread the points too thinly - the more you put in, the more you get out.
• Any Abilities or Traits you gain by allocating points to a weapon skill will only take effect when you're using that weapon, and you may not always be able to use it unless you assign 100 skill points to reach the level of 'Omnivocational' use.
• Traits (like Natural Max MP+20, Natural Strength+20) that you earn by allocating skill points to a vocation-specific skill will be a permanent attribute bonus of your character from that point on, improving any vocation's basic attributes. So for example, if you put 18 skill points into your Mage's vocation-specific Spellcraft ability, he will gain the trait Natural Max MP+20. Now say you were to switch your Mage to a Priest, then he would still keep this trait and thus the additional 20 MP bonus!
• Abilities learned via skill point allocation are permanently unlocked and can be used regardless of  vocation, providing they're not tied to a specific weapon.
• While each vocation has its own skill set, there is a lot of crossover between vocations for weapon skills. So if you put a number of skill points into your sword skills for example, these will still be useful if you switch to a different vocation that also allows you to use a sword.
• Don't forget that you don't have to allocate your skill points all at once! Especially later on in the game, it may make sense to save up your points for a while. Simply press the B Button in the "Allocate Skill Points" menu to cancel skill point allocation. Your points will stay ready to be allocated whenever you want, even if you change vocation.

Allocating skill points wisely is an absolute goldmine for improving your characters when you combine it with changing your vocation.

When do I get to change vocation then?

Soon enough you'll reach a place called Alltrades Abbey, and once you've sorted out the fruity events there the Abbot will return, allowing you and your party members to freely change vocation at any time.

Switching vocation can seem disempowering if you go about it the wrong way, but it's the bees knees if you have an idea of what you're doing...

Why is it good to change  vocations?

First off, a vocation change puts you back down to level 1 in the new vocation and you will temporarily 'forget' any Spells you learnt in previous vocations. But there's no need for gloom - this is where the clever bit happens! You won't permanently lose the levels you've built up in other vocations, they remain there for you to come back to later; likewise with any Spells you might have learned. However, your current skill point balance, all Attribute bonuses and any Abilities you've earned by spending skill points carry over into your new vocation. (Again, providing they aren't tied to a weapon that you cannot use in your new vocation.)

Perhaps most importantly though, returning to level 1 allows you lots of space to level up all over again, earning tons more valuable skill points as you go and (thanks to the bonuses you'll have from skills) it will be easier this time since you're a lot tougher. Simply change vocation, head back to an area of the world where the monsters weren't quite so challenging and presto, you'll be raking in the points in no time.

And how do I discover new vocations?

At the beginning you'll only be able to choose from six vocations: Minstrel, Mage, Priest, Warrior, Martial Artist and Thief. You can unlock additional vocations by completing side quests which are dotted all over the world. Make sure you talk to everyone you can, especially the people at Alltrades Abbey. But trust us when we say you can come across new vocations in the unlikeliest of places...

Still confused? How about a few examples of quick fixes:

How do I carry on improving a certain weapon skill across vocations?

At Alltrades Abbey, take a look at the descriptions for each vocation and see which ones can use the weapon you like; swap between these, level up a bit and you can allocate skill points to that weapon while you use it. Alternatively, there's nothing to stop you switching to any other vocation, earning a great wodge of skill points, than swapping back to the job with the skill you've chosen and ploughing all your power into it!

My weakest character dies all the time, what can I do?

If they can't already, switch them to a vocation that can use a shield (e.g. Warrior, Minstrel, Priest) and put 100 skill points in the Shield skill so they become an "Omnivocational Shieldmaster". That way they will be better at defending / blocking and have a higher defense when you swap back to their original career - not to mention that they will be able to use a Shield in any vocation! Alternatively, switch to a vocation that gains bonuses in Max. HP (like Martial Artist, Warrior or Thief) and allocate points so they can take more damage before they drop.

Aargh, I changed vocations and my party is rubbish now: how can I get them up to speed asap?

One, metal slimes are slippery steely suckers, but give tons of experience. Hunt 'em down in places like the Quarantomb. Two, enemies that call for backup can be farmed for bounteous XP, head for Leafy Larrikins and the like...

Finally, don't get stuck on just one vocation forever, you'll be stronger and more versatile if you take the time to try a bit (or a lot) of everything that the game has to offer. Be directed in the early stages, then branch out when you have skill points to spare and the bad guys will be falling at your feet. Good luck!

What is alchemy?

While you won't be turning base metals into gold, alchemy in the world of Dragon Quest IX is a rather spiffy system that allows you to combine items together to make something even more powerful. Using alchemy you can cook up highly effective medicines from a bunch of fairly useless leaves, create clothing that gives you brilliant bonuses or augment your average armaments so they become superb slicers.

There's got to be a catch, right?

There's no catch! Through the art of alchemy you can make new items which are often far better than those in the shops. What's more, there's some (pretty stupendous) equipment that you can only obtain via the art of alchemy. The best thing about it? There's none of this 'percentage chance for failure of the process' twaddle: if you put in the right selection of ingredients success is guaranteed!

Where can I do it?

The Quester's Rest inn at Stornway's the place to be for alchemy! Fairly early on in the story you'll be introduced to a charmingly dapper little chap called Krak Pot who will see to all your alchemical needs. To indulge in some alchemy just talk to Krak Pot – he's the tubby little toff sitting on the Inn counter between Erinn (in the orange hat) and Sellma (the lady in green).

So I just shove a bunch of stuff in a pot and get something great?

Sort of - there are two ways to go about the business of alchemy and they're both easy peasy. If you have a chat with Krak Pot and agree to get cracking he'll bring you to a screen where you have the options to 'Use A Recipe', 'Try Your Luck' or 'Cancel' to exit.

'Try Your Luck' allows you to give Krak Pot a mix of ingredients and see if they happen to make anything. If they do then that recipe is unlocked in the Alchenomicon: the big alchemy recipe book.

Choosing 'Use A Recipe' means you can cook up a specific item from the Alchenomicon providing you have collected/discovered the recipe already. Handily enough, within the Alchenomicon you can view all the recipes in one big list or choose the type (e.g. Weapons, Armour) followed by the specific sub-type (e.g. Claws, Torso) of equipment.

On your chosen list you'll see that all the recipes you know are listed with their names in white text, whereas all those that are still a mystery will simply show '???' in grey. When you select a recipe the list of ingredients needed for it are shown on the top screen: if you have all the ingredients required they'll be listed in white; anything you're missing (or don't have enough of) will be greyed out. Once you have everything you need, press the A Button to confirm, tell Krak Pot how many to make and bam - new item!

What ingredients can be used for alchemy?

Anything and everything: shields, weapons, armour, accessories, medicines, flowers, bits of rock, lumps of ore, jars of oil and unguent, fabric, clothing, potions... Virtually every single item in your menu could feasibly be used to cook up brilliant new kit, assuming you're willing to part with it.

Which is why if you're planning on making use of alchemy you'd do well to hoard everything you can lay your hands on. Sure, you could sell your old equipment for gold at a shop, but take it from us, you'll be better off alchemising it. Wherever you see a sparkle on the ground as you're questing, forage! Sparkly finds are inevitably items that can be alchemised together to make something wonderful. And don't scoff at picking up cowpats or horse manure either - or you could be sorry later...

I don't know any recipes. What do I do?

It's amazing the things you can discover just by investigating your surroundings thoroughly.

You'll find recipes in books, and books live in bookshelves, which live in houses all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's your world or someone else's, just make a habit of delving into other people's literature whenever you get the chance. Don't be daunted by how long the Alchenomicon seems at first, it'll soon fill up: each time you find a recipe book you'll learn a handful of recipes.

You can also get useful alchemy instructions from Side Quests, so talk to anyone with a blue speech bubble above their heads – they may be thirsting for a certain item and even have an idea how to make it, if only there were a brave hero who could alchemise it for them. For instance, make sure you talk to the people of Stornway once you've got Krak Pot; say perhaps the old man next to the house behind the Inn. Just what is that man with the glasses doing loitering at the centre of town?

If recipes are so good, why bother with 'Try Your Luck'?

Because it's possible to discover new recipes – if you put together ingredients in the right amounts to match an existing recipe you'll make the item and 'unlock' the recipe in the Alchenomicon. Often the more powerful incarnations of items will use the less powerful versions of the same thing in their recipe, so you might be able to spot trends and cascades to discover better stuff.

Moreover, you lose nothing by trying; if what you want to put together doesn't match a valid recipe the items aren't used up. Instead, they stay in your inventory and you can just try again with a slightly different set of ingredients.

I've got a recipe but all it gives me are the ingredient list and the name. How do I know if the item will be any good?

That's right, you only get to see the picture and the description for each item once you've made it – but you can check some of the item's effects by pressing the L or R Button to hide the recipe. And you'd do well to check the list of icons to the recipe's right to see if your party members can make use of the item you're about to alchemise...

How do I find a specific alchemy ingredient?

Some items for alchemy can be bought outright from shops: for flowers head to Bloomingdale, for weapons and armour take a Zoom tour round the world. Others are found on the ground (where they will respawn over time) or dropped by baddies (if you're lucky). If you need a reminder of where to find a certain ingredient check the Item List (within Battle Records in the menu) which will tell you the area that you originally foraged the item from or the baddies who habitually drop it. If there's nothing on the Item List then keep playing - you'll find it sooner or later.

Any other tips?

• Hoard everything you find, if you're thinking of selling your old stuff why not go kill some monsters instead? You'll soon have a big chunk o' change and more experience to boot. You already knew that the Gold Golems in the valley south of Gleeba yield 500 gold coins a pop, right?
• Check your Alchenomicon regularly to see if there's anything new you can make – keep on top of recipes you want to try and ingredients you're on the lookout for.
• Before you alchemise away your hard won ingredients make sure you check your inventory. If you're in it for the upgrades there's no point in duplicating kit you already have enough of or making stuff that's clearly less powerful than what you already have.
• Hold off from trying to complete your Alchenomicon early in the game; ingredients which seem rare at first will become less of a challenge to get hold of as the story progresses, making this much easier if you wait a bit.
• Use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to check the DQVC: this is a super shop accessed by talking to Sellma, the lady in green behind the counter at the Quester's Rest Inn at Stornway. The stock changes every day and there are often rare alchemy ingredients for sale.
• You can't alchemise anything that you have equipped so head to the Equip screen to take off things before you fuse them using Krak Pot.
• Don't forget that you can check your Alchenomicon at all times by pressing "SELECT" and selecting the option from the menu. This can be useful if you've found a faraway shop and are wondering if you could use a Valkyrie Sword or would be better off splashing out on a Spangled Dress...
• A Thief in your party who learned the Half-Inch ability can use this move in battle to try and nick an item off one of your opponents. It's a risky move because it often fails, but it might pay off!
• Buy or forage a massive pile of Medicinal Herbs and alchemise them in pairs to get Strong Medicines, then alchemise Strong Medicines two by two into Special Medicines. Cheap, quick and clever!
• Slime-based kit is well worth making, especially in the early to mid stages of the story where the ingredients aren't too hard to come by. Not only do you look super cool, but the bonuses to your guys are considerable.

Remember, hoard those items, look everywhere and check your Alchenomicon regularly. Have fun!