General Strategy & Tips

Dragon Quest is 95% grinding. You'll spend most of your time fighting the same enemies over and over, building levels until you're strong enough to push into the next area. That's the loop. Understanding combat mechanics and efficient leveling makes the difference between a smooth run and a tedious slog.

Combat

Enemies attack the moment you step outside. Every fight gives you four options: Fight, Run, Spell, or Item. Pick Fight to swing your weapon. The damage you deal depends on your Strength plus your weapon's attack power, minus the enemy's defense. Simple math, but it adds up.

After you act, the enemy gets a turn. Then you go again. Repeat until something dies.

When to run. Don't wait until you're one hit from death. Stronger enemies are faster; they'll cut off your escape. If a fight looks bad, run early. Failed escape attempts waste your turn and leave you vulnerable.

Some enemies can't be escaped at all. Metal Slimes, for instance. But you won't want to run from those anyway.

Experience and Gold

Every kill rewards experience points and gold. Tougher enemies give more of both. Experience accumulates until you hit the threshold for the next level; then your stats jump up automatically. Talk to King Lorik to see how many points you need for the next level.

Leveling up increases your Strength, Agility, max HP, and max MP. At certain levels you'll also learn a new spell. There's no choice involved here — you get what you get at the level you get it.

Gold goes fast. Inns cost money. Herbs cost money. Better equipment costs a lot of money. Prioritize gear upgrades over stockpiling items; even a small attack boost lets you kill enemies faster, which means more gold per hour. The math works out.

Spells

You learn ten spells total, spread across levels 3 to 19. Most are useful. Heal (level 3) keeps you alive. Hurt (level 4) deals 8-12 damage regardless of enemy defense — solid against high-armor targets. Sleep (level 7) trivializes many fights if it lands.

Radiant (level 9) lights up caves. Without it, you're stumbling in the dark burning through Torches. Outside (level 12) warps you out of dungeons instantly. Return (level 13) teleports you back to Tantegel Castle from anywhere on the world map. These save hours of backtracking.

Healmore (level 17) restores 85-100 HP. Hurtmore (level 19) deals 50-65 damage. By the time you learn these, you'll need them.

Managing HP

Your HP bar is everything. When it hits zero, you die. The screen flashes orange when you're low — that's your warning. Don't ignore it.

Healing options:

• Inns — Full HP and MP restoration. Costs gold, but it's the most efficient option when you're near a town.
• Herbs — Restore 20-35 HP. Carry several at all times. Use them mid-dungeon when you can't reach an inn.
• Heal spell — Costs 4 MP, restores 10-17 HP. Worse than Herbs early on, but MP regenerates free at inns.
• The old man in Tantegel — Restores your MP for free. Useful if you're low on gold but have HP to spare.

Death isn't permanent. If you die, King Lorik revives you at Tantegel Castle. You keep your experience and items but lose half your gold. Painful, but not a reset. Still, dying wastes time. Don't push your luck.

Exploration

Alefgard is bigger than it looks. Mountains block your path. Water cuts off entire regions. You'll need to loop around, backtrack, and eventually find a boat to reach distant shores.

Bridges mean danger. Every time you cross a bridge, enemies get tougher. If you're struggling on one side, don't cross yet. Grind until the fights feel manageable, then push forward. There's no shame in retreating to easier areas.

Towns and castles have hidden areas. Walk along the outer walls — you can often squeeze behind buildings to find chests and NPCs you'd otherwise miss. The game doesn't tell you this. Now you know.

Saving

Only King Lorik can save your game. That means trekking back to Tantegel Castle every time you want to record your progress. Annoying, but that's how it works.

Save after every level up. Save after finding a key item. Save before attempting a dungeon you haven't cleared before. If you die, you'll lose half your gold — but more importantly, you'll lose time. Frequent saves prevent that.

Once you learn Return (level 13), saving becomes trivial. Cast it, talk to the king, done. Until then, plan your trips carefully.

Levels Table

Here's every level, the experience required, and which spell you learn (if any). Max level is 30.