Weapons aren’t exactly split into nice and even categories in Dragon Quest 3 Remake. While most weapons can be roughly assigned to certain Jobs, there are simply too many that break the rules to make it a steadfast rule you can follow.
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Add to that the rather unique targeting rules the games uses in combat, and you’ve got a whole extra layer to deal with. Plenty of weapons can manipulate the targeting rules as well, so it can all be a bit much to follow. We’ll explain all of that, and get you acquainted with some of the unique ways that some of the weapons work.
Every Type Of Weapon And Which Jobs Can Equip Them
While weapons do break the rules quite a bit, there is still a general way of organising them. Weapons are restricted by certain Jobs so everyone won’t be able to equip all of them. For the vast majority of weapons, they work the same no matter who has them equipped. A Warrior with a sword will hit an enemy the same way the Hero would.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each weapon category and, in general, which Jobs can equip which.
|
Weapon |
Who Can Equip |
|---|---|
|
Staves |
Mage, Priest, and Sage as weapons. Anyone as an item. |
|
Whips |
Hero, Gadabout, Thief, Sage, Monster Wrangler. |
|
Boomerangs |
Hero, Mage, Merchant, Gadabout, Thief, Monster Wrangler |
|
Daggers |
Mage, Thief, Monster Wrangler |
|
Fist Weapons |
Martial Artist, Thief, Monster Wrangler |
|
Swords |
Variable. Most Jobs can use standard swords, while more complex swords are restricted to the Hero and Warrior. |
|
Axes and Hammers |
Warrior. |
|
Lances |
Priests, Sages, Monster Wrangler |
|
Abacus |
Merchant. |
In total, there are around nine approximate weapon categories. Some weapons don’t strictly fit a wider category, like the Morning Star, so they’ve been excluded. This is a general grouping, with plenty of exceptions.
Mind you, your in-game item bag is limitless, so you can just bring every weapon you own with you everywhere. Just make sure you actually have good weapons for each of the members of your party before setting off into a new, difficult area.
Weapons With Unique Effects
Weapons That Can Be used As Items
Where the more unique aspects of Dragon Quest 3’s combat shine is in how, even within their categories, each weapon feels unique. While certain other weapons also have this, like the Orochi’s Sword, the majority of weapons that can be used as items are Staves.
Every Staff you acquire will have a description mentioning the power it has when used as an item. To utilise this power, you must have it in a character’s personal inventory so that they can activate it as an item in combat. They do not need it equipped as a weapon, meaning even non-magic users can take advantage of the power.
The special effect of Staves can also be activated by characters whose spells have been sealed, making them a great back-up option.
Mages can equip Staves to increase their physical attack power, though this does not automatically activate the special ability of the weapon. It must still be used from the inventory. The same applies to non-stave weapons with this effect, like Orochi’s Sword.
Weapons With Enemy-Specific Effects
Certain weapons are also powerful when used against specific enemies. These weapons are rare enough, but can be incredibly helpful in certain scenarios. The attack value of a weapon only makes up part of your attack power, with your Strength stat doing some heavy lifting. Try not to sell these unique weapons as the damage boost they offer might come in handy.
These weapons, like the Zombiesbane sword, deal extra damage to the described enemy. These are always helpful to have on hand.
Weapons With Unique Targeting Rules
In Dragon Quest 3, you can’t choose the exact enemy you want to hit most of the time. If multiple enemies are grouped together, then you can target the whole group, but not the exact enemy within it. The same applies to you, however, with enemies only able to target one character at a time unless they use a group attack.
There are a few ways of circumventing this, however. Spells like Crackle and Sizzle target every enemy in a group, and Bang hits every enemy in the encounter, not just those in a specific group. There are certain weapons that allow you to emulate this as well.
Weapons with a unique effect when used as an item typically target a whole group. Whips, meanwhile, will hit every enemy in a group. Boomerangs are some of the most powerful of all. They will attack every single enemy in the encounter like the spell Bang does.
Boomerang always hits from left to right, and does dwindling damage on each further enemy it hits. Keep this in mind when planning around your targeting.
With the amount of versatility these weapons provide, you’ll always want to have one handy. Make sure to keep collecting Mini Medals if you want to get an Edged Boomerang early on!
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