Class/Job Skill Lists
Welcome, aspiring heroes, to the comprehensive guide to mastering the Class/Job system in Dragon Quest VI! This system, unlocked after a pivotal point in your adventure, allows your characters to learn a vast array of spells and abilities, fundamentally shaping their combat roles and overall effectiveness. Understanding which skills each class offers and how to acquire them efficiently is crucial for conquering the challenges that lie ahead, especially as you approach areas like Murdaw's Keep and beyond.
Unlocking the Class System: Alltrades Abbey
Your journey into the world of classes begins at the revered Alltrades Abbey. This sacred institution, located in the Dream World, becomes accessible after you have defeated Murdaw. Once you've navigated the treacherous Isle of Murdaw and emerged victorious from Murdaw's Keep, return to the Dream World and seek out the Abbey. Speak to the High Priest there, and he will explain the intricacies of the class system, allowing your characters to begin their training.
How Classes Work
Each character can be assigned a class at Alltrades Abbey. While in a class, characters gain experience not through traditional combat experience points, but through a separate metric called "Battles Fought." The more battles a character participates in while assigned to a specific class, the more skill points they accumulate for that class. These skill points unlock new ranks within the class, granting access to powerful new spells and abilities.
- Battle Count: The number of battles required to advance a class rank varies. Early ranks are quick, while later ranks demand more dedication.
- No Level Cap: Unlike character levels, there's no level cap for class ranks. You can master every class if you have the patience!
- Class Mastery: Mastering a class (reaching its highest rank) often grants a permanent stat bonus or a unique ability that carries over even if you switch classes. This is vital for optimizing your party.
- Switching Classes: You can switch a character's class at any time by returning to Alltrades Abbey. There is no penalty for switching, and all learned skills are retained.
Basic Classes and Their Skills
These are the foundational classes available from the outset at Alltrades Abbey. It's recommended to have your primary damage dealers and healers start with these to build a solid foundation of essential skills.
Warrior
The Warrior class focuses on physical offense and defense. Ideal for characters like the Hero or Carver, it provides critical combat skills that boost damage output and survivability.
- Rank 1: War Cry (Intimidates enemies, potentially causing them to lose a turn)
- Rank 2: Focus Strength (Increases next physical attack's damage)
- Rank 3: Double-Edged Slash (Powerful attack that also damages the user)
- Rank 4: Falcon Slash (Two rapid attacks against a single enemy)
- Rank 5: Sword Dance (Four rapid attacks against a single enemy)
- Mastery Bonus: +10 Strength
Mage
Mages are the masters of offensive magic, specializing in devastating elemental spells. Milly and Ashlynn are natural fits for this class.
- Rank 1: Frizz (Small fire damage to one enemy)
- Rank 2: Sizz (Small fire damage to a group of enemies)
- Rank 3: Bang (Small explosion damage to all enemies)
- Rank 4: Crack (Small ice damage to one enemy)
- Rank 5: Boom (Medium explosion damage to all enemies)
- Mastery Bonus: +10 Wisdom
Priest
Priests are essential for party survival, offering healing and support spells. Healslime or Nevan excel in this role.
- Rank 1: Heal (Restores a small amount of HP to one ally)
- Rank 2: Snooze (Attempts to put enemies to sleep)
- Rank 3: Midheal (Restores a medium amount of HP to one ally)
- Rank 4: Fizzle (Attempts to seal enemy magic)
- Rank 5: Multiheal (Restores a medium amount of HP to all allies)
- Mastery Bonus: +10 Resilience
Martial Artist
Martial Artists focus on unarmed combat and agility, delivering critical hits and evading attacks. Carver or Ruff make excellent Martial Artists.
- Rank 1: Knuckle Sandwich (Strong physical attack)
- Rank 2: Leg Sweep (Attempts to trip enemies, causing them to lose a turn)
- Rank 3: Vacuum Slash (Wind-based attack to a group of enemies)
- Rank 4: Thin Air (Powerful wind-based attack to all enemies)
- Rank 5: Multifists (Four rapid attacks against random enemies)
- Mastery Bonus: +10 Agility
Advanced Classes and Their Prerequisites
Once you've mastered certain combinations of basic classes, more specialized and powerful advanced classes become available. These classes often combine the strengths of their prerequisites, offering versatile skill sets.
Gladiator
A formidable physical attacker, combining the raw power of a Warrior with the precision of a Martial Artist.
- Prerequisites: Mastered Warrior + Mastered Martial Artist
- Key Skills: Metal Slash (Deals fixed damage to Metal Slimes), Blade Boomerang (Attacks all enemies with a boomerang), Gigagash (Extremely powerful lightning attack)
- Mastery Bonus: +15 Strength
Sage
The ultimate magic user, blending offensive and healing spells.
- Prerequisites: Mastered Mage + Mastered Priest
- Key Skills: Kafrizzle (Massive fire damage to one enemy), Kaboom (Massive explosion damage to all enemies), Omniheal (Fully restores HP to all allies)
- Mastery Bonus: +15 Wisdom
Ranger
A versatile class with a focus on utility and support, drawing from various basic classes.
- Prerequisites: Mastered Thief + Mastered Monster Master + Mastered Merchant
- Key Skills: Whistle (Calls enemies for battle), Kamikazee (Sacrifices self to deal massive damage), Tiptoe (Reduces encounter rate)
- Mastery Bonus: +10 Agility, +10 Resilience
Hero
The pinnacle of all classes, available only to the Hero character (and eventually others after the Hero masters it). It grants access to the most powerful spells and abilities in the game.
- Prerequisites: Mastered Gladiator + Mastered Sage + Mastered Ranger + Mastered Luminary (for non-Hero characters)
- Key Skills: Gigaflash (Blinding light attack), Kazap (Massive lightning damage to one enemy), Magic Burst (Consumes all MP for massive damage to all enemies)
- Mastery Bonus: +20 to all stats
Monster Classes
Certain monsters, once recruited into your party, can also participate in the class system. They have their own unique set of monster-specific classes, often granting them powerful abilities that complement their natural strengths. For example, a Slime may have access to a "Slime" class that enhances its natural resistances and grants unique Slime-based abilities. Experiment with your monster companions at Alltrades Abbey to discover their potential!
- Recruiting Monsters: To recruit monsters, you'll need to defeat them in battle with a Monster Master in your active party. The chance of recruitment is random but increases with higher Monster Master ranks.
- Monster Master Class: The Monster Master basic class (prerequisite for Ranger) is crucial for recruiting and training monsters. Its skills often involve taming and commanding monsters.
Strategic Class Progression
Don't be afraid to experiment with different class combinations. A common strategy is to have your primary damage dealers (Hero, Carver) work towards Gladiator, while your main healers (Milly, Nevan, Healslime) aim for Sage. The Ranger class, while requiring more prerequisites, offers invaluable utility. Remember that mastering classes provides permanent bonuses, so even if a class's skills aren't immediately useful, its mastery bonus might be worth the effort in the long run.
Good luck, adventurers! May your class choices lead you to victory against the forces of evil!