Overview: Human Vocations

Learn how Dragon Quest VII's Vocation system works! Discover how to unlock, level up, and master Human Vocations to gain powerful abilities.

Alright, let's talk about Vocations in Dragon Quest VII! Think of them as job classes that you can switch between to give your characters new skills and abilities. You won't be able to start changing jobs until you've finished the main story in Alltrades Abbey, which happens in the past. Once you're done with that, you can chat with the main person at the abbey to swap vocations for anyone in your party.

There are two main types: Human Vocations and Monster Vocations. Monster Vocations are a bit more complex and we'll cover them separately. For now, let's focus on the Human ones. The main thing to know is that all vocations level up by winning battles against monsters.

Now, here's a crucial detail: there are hidden level caps in the game world. If your character's regular level is at or above this cap, they won't earn any Vocation experience. For example, the Western Cave near Alltrades Abbey in the past has a level cap of 20. This is a great spot to grind for Vocation levels if your characters are below that. Don't stress too much about these caps, though, as many areas later in the game have a cap of 99, meaning you can pretty much grind vocation levels there indefinitely.

Every Vocation has a maximum level of 8, which is shown as stars. When you see eight yellow stars next to a Vocation in the Attributes menu, that means you've mastered it! Vocations don't affect the stats you gain from leveling up or from using Seeds. The only stats that change are the ones you see when you're actually using that specific Vocation.

Here's a key difference between Vocation types: any spells or abilities you learn from the Beginner Human Classes will stick with your character no matter what other Vocation you switch to. However, spells and abilities learned from Intermediate and Advanced Human Classes are tied to that specific Vocation. If you switch to a different class, you'll lose access to those advanced skills.