Dragon Quest IV: Tips, Cheats, and Strategies

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is a role-playing game (RPG) from Square-Enix. In this game, you take command over a large party of characters spread across different storylines in order to beat up an evil entity threatening the world. Gamezebo’s walkthrough will provide you with some tips and hints that will help you slay dragons efficiently and gracefully.

Prepare for some level grinding – Dragon Quest games hail from the old school of RPGs, when level grinding was necessary for assured victory. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is no exception. In fact, starting new chapters forces you to start fresh with a new team of recruits. Settle in for some random battles.
Fight outside towns until you earn enough gold to buy the best weapons and armor in the local shop – A good rule for getting stronger involves fighting close to a town until you’ve earned enough gold to buy the strongest weapons and armor in that town.
If you die, you lose half your gold but retain all your experience and items – Don’t close the game in disgust if you lose to a strong enemy. You’re instantly warped back to the Church (or your last save point) with half your gold gone, but with all your garnered experience points and items intact.
Cast debuff spells on bosses – Bosses in Dragon Quest IVare tough nuts to crack. However, some bosses are vulnerable to debuff spells like Sap and Decelerate. If the spell doesn’t have an effect on the boss, the battle text will let you know. It’s always worth a try, though.

Distribute seeds according to characters’ classes and stats – As you journey, you’ll find stat-boosting seeds here and there. Use these seeds according to characters’ classes to get the most out of them. Ragnar, a soldier, should receive Strength seeds. Torneko, a merchant, should receive Luck seeds. Alena, a martial artist, does well with Speed seeds. And so on.
All characters earn experience points during battle, except when the wagon is not present – By the fifth chapter of Dragon Quest IV, you’ll have command over multiple characters even though only four are allowed to fight at once. However, characters stashed in your wagon will still earn experience points from each battle. But if the wagon isn’t present on-screen – as tends to happen in some dungeons – your backup characters won’t earn experience.
Some weapons and armor can be used in battle as items – When you receive a new piece of armor or a new weapon, check its description in the Items menu. Sometimes they can be used to cast spells. The Cautery sword, for instance, casts Sizz when used as an item.
Items stored in your bag carry over into new chapters – You lose all your gold when you start a new chapter, but the items in your bag remain. When you’ve beefed up your characters in one chapter, try buying some expensive weapons and armor and then storing them so that they’ll carry over. The characters in the new chapter can wear the equipment for a head start, or sell them for gold.

Break open pots and barrels, and check drawers too – Do like Link and bash open people’s possessions. Rummage through their drawers and closets, too. You’ll often find items, and even weapons and armor.
When Torneko leads, enemies drop more items – Torneko is a merchant, which means enemies drop more loot when he leads. Put him on point for some easy money.
Never go on a journey without antidotal herbs or the Squelch spell – Getting hit with the poison status is a huge hassle, as you lose hit points for every step you take outside of battle. Even a mighty warrior can dwindle away to nothing for want of a cheap antidotal herb or a Squelch spell, which can be disastrous if you’re stuck deep in a dungeon.
Don’t forget Healie – Healie is hidden in a cave located near the middle of Ragnar’s quest. Find him and recruit him. He can heal Ragnar, making him invaluable for the difficult tower portion of the quest. Healie moves automatically; his actions can’t be controlled by the player.

Nadia Oxford

In the early aughts, Nadia fell into writing with the grace of a brain-dead bison stumbling into a chasm. Over the years, she's written for Nerve, GamePro, 1UP.com, USGamer, Pocket Gamer, Just Labs Magazine, and many other sites and magazines of fine repute. She's currently About.com's Guide to the Nintendo 3DS at ds.about.com.