Dragon Quest VII is out for the Nintendo 3DS and brings the classic PlayStation game back for on-the-go play.
However, if this is your first foray into Dragon Quest VII (or the franchise in general) you may want some pointers on how to defeat monsters and bosses as you travel to the past and back. Luckily, we compiled this simple Battle Guide for Dragon Quest VII, so you can understand how battles work and what exactly those stats mean.
Let’s begin with the basics of battling in Dragon Quest VII.
BASICS
First off, there are number of ways you can get thrown into a battle with some monsters. The first and most common way is by encountering them in the overworld. You can see them as you walk around and when they spot you they will chase you.
If you’re cunning enough, you can avoid monsters to get to your destination but in the narrow corridors of a dungeon it will be more difficult.
Monsters can appear from chests and other canisters and leap at you. You will immediately be thrust into a battle.
And finally, boss battles will put you against a tough opponent and will be accompanied by a cut scene. You will then enter a battle after the dialogue finishes.
When you are in battle, you’ll have a few options. The first is to attack, which will have your character use their weapon and strike the selected foe. Magic allows for a character with magical skills to use their magic to attack, heal or change the stats of your party or a monster.
The effectiveness of your attacks depends on certain stats. Turn order also depends on a particular stat, which we will get into later.
You can also use items to do various things such as heal, augment abilities and cure ailments. There are also certain tactics you can employ so you won’t have to worry about them in battle. For example, you can have one character focus on healing the party and that’s all they will do.
Characters can also defend, which will let them take less damage from attacks.
You can also try and flee the battle. There’s no set way to determine how successful you will be in fleeing, but keep these two things in mind. The higher the level of your characters are, the easier it is to flee, and if you have more characters in your party than the opposing monsters, you can leave.
If you’ve decided to stay and battle, you will have to target which monster to attack. If you’re opposing four monsters and two are the same species and next to each other, they will be grouped together. So when you target them it will target the group, but which one you attack is random. The good news is if you target the group with everyone in your party, once the first is attacked they will all attack the same monster until it is defeated.
STATS
Every character in your party has their own stats that help in battle. And you’ll notice as you fight that certain characters excel at certain aspects of battling and it has to do with their stats.
Here’s a rundown of each stat and what they affect.
Strength
Your STR and weapon power makes up your attack power. If you rely on attack
skills, the higher your STR is, the better.
Agility
This is the stat that determines turn order in Dragon Quest VII battles. The higher your AGL, the sooner you’ll be able to attack monsters. The key to battles is to be aware of turn orders, especially knowing when your healers have a turn.
You don’t want your healers being the last to take an action when you need a quick heal. Defence
DEF is a character's basic defense. This and the defense points of equipment
make a character's defense. When monsters physically strike you, your DEF is what determines how much damage you take.
Wisdom
Wisdom determines how strong your magic skills are. Similar to the Strength stat, a higher Wisdom on a character who has natural base Wisdom stat can lead to devastating attacks.
Resilience
The Resilience stat is your defense against other magical skills. If your opponent uses a lot of magic, a character with a high Resilience stat will tank them nicely.
Style
Style seems to have no influence to battles, but it plays an important role in the
WRF contest to win the APR Award.
Maximum Hit Points
Max HP is a no-brainer. The higher your HP the more hits you can take in battle. Those with low HP you will have to keep an eye on in battle.
Maximum Mana Points
Maximum Mana Points determines how many spells you can cast in battle. Think of it as a Stamina stat where every spell takes up a portion of your Mana. Like the HP stat, this is not replenished after battle and only an item or sleeping at the hotel will fill it back to 100 percent.
WEAPONS
Weapons are very important in Dragon Quest VII . You can purchase them in every town or find them in chests or in the drawers of a household.
Each weapon increases or decreases certain stats so be sure to check before equipping them. Some weapons even come with a special effect that can help you in battle.
VOCATIONS
Vocation is the name for a Class in Dragon Quest VII . After a certain point in the game, you will be able to switch the Class of a character giving them access to new skills. Certain Vocations excel at certain aspects of battle so check how they affect your stats before changing.
Some Vocations can even mix with one another to create an even stronger Vocation. We’ll go more in-depth with Vocations in another guide, but how class changes affect battle is fairly obvious.
