Eh, I'd dispute those two to some degree.

Just wait and see for youself.

It just depends. Not everyone plays the entire game revolving their stats and characters entirely around a single end game bonus dungeon. I can see why some people might but I imagine most wouldn't.

It's not even that. Hard to explain without spoiling, though.

Ok, is the game seriously this chock full of twists, turns, character losses, etc that even some einherjar help would contain spoilers?

And Alicia and Rufus aren't safe either? Goddamn, I don't want to get stuck in a situation where characters I leveled up and equipped good stuff vanish, leaving me hanging.

BTW, thanks Badass, the armory secret item thing worked.

That was my point really is Alicia and Rufus are always in your team, don't worry about "wasting" stuff on them because they are perfectly safe to do whatever you want to. It's debatable if it's worth it, since there are other good characters at the end of the game but if you don't want to save everything for those characters you can use them on those two without them actually going to waste. A lot of people make the game a lot harder on themselves by saving all of the stat boosts (einherjars) for the end game but I got through the game without any trouble at all by sending them up at random intervals (and still beat the bonus dungeon just fine) so do whatever you want, really. Keep in mind that leveling up barely enhances stats and that boosters are at least 5x better.

That's what I'm disagreeing with. Rufus is there for most of the game (he's gone for a short while late into it), but he's not really all that good. Archers tend to drop off in usefulness the further you get in. I'm not saying any more, particularly about Alicia.

I recommend waiting until you have the characters that make you say "S/he is in my party for good". Then use them.

I don't send the Einherjar up at all. You can't ever get them back if you do, and some of them are novelties. Falx, for example, is the only Einherjar to have battle dialogue with a story-related character.

Eh, that's your opinion. Phyress was the best character in my party (archer!) and I never broke a sweat thanks to her ridiculous attack power. Not sure why it would matter that you'll never get them back when you send 'em up either, since a good deal of the einherjar were worthless anyway and were better spent making other characters more powerful. (natural stat gain in this game was pretty weak)

Oh well... opinions, opinions.

Well, mages drop off worse than archers, but their spells are kind of important and they can become useful again when they have access to Pale Flare and Phantom Destruction. What ends up happening for me is one light swordsman, one heavy swordsman, a mage, and a unique weapon user.

This talk of it is making me want to play through it again.

I've been wanting to replay it for awhile actually but I don't have anywhere near the free time I used to. And lol, I can see my playstyle is quite a bit different anyway, since my team consisted of two archers, one light swordsman (Alicia), and until I got who I really wanted (special weapon user also) one heavy swordsman.

Half my team was carried by archery and I never really felt they dropped off -- not like mages ended up doing especially. Just goes to show you could probably have any combination and do fine really.

My party consisted of 1 archer 1 heavy swordsman(Celes?) Alicia and Leone. The game is something of a huggggge grind even with the experience pig law. Grew bored of it and dropped the game about 5-6 months ago.

I never had to stop and grind a single time in the game. People put too much emphasis sometimes on leveling rather than trying out different skill combinations and using weaker gear with extra effects (sometimes that weapon that's almost half as strong could outdo the damage anyway if it's specialized for "X" monster type!). The only time I ever had to "Grind" was at the very end for the bonus content because I was training up an entirely new team.

I dropped this game after being stuck in the first dungeon without knowing where to go. Is it worth picking up again, or should I just focus on DQ8 instead? ;)

If you can't get through the first dungeon, then you probably don't have a grasp of the gameplay mechanics yet. Wait until you do, and then decide if it's worth it.

I'll give it a go :tpg:
I just remember running back and forth around that dungeon, between places I've already visited.

You know, there is a nice automap at your disposal, that might come in handy when you lost your tracks.

Hmh, I just loaded up my old save, and it seems I wasn't stuck in that dungeon. Seems like I defeated the boss in that dungeon and then saved right after it, in the very end of the dungeon.

Like Cyrus said, the map is your friend. It'd be impossible to get through some of the dungeons without it.

Sorry to bump an old thread
I seem to have made a mistake of getting the Dog's Ring. I managed to get all four items needed from the dog in villnore, however i sold them in villnoire instead of Crell Monferaigne. I have attempted to feed the dog again but it won't give me anymore items (and I saved by accident) any solutions or I am missing out on this one on this play through?

Pretty sure that if you lose or miss out on the items, you're out of luck.