DQIX RTA FAQ

Dragon Quest IX FAQ

FIRST: Fair warning during the DQIX grind - runs may die and the stream might cut early or switch to other runs.

Q. What are the fastest times?
A. https://www.speedrun.com/dq9

Q. There's no videos for most of these?
A. Yeah. Many runs are well documented but don't have videos. They are fairly old times as well. But for a RPG of this length and how challenging it can be, I do think the fastest time really should have a video.

Q. What are you playing on?
A. Original US release of Nintendo DS with a capture card mod.

Q. Why the Japanese version?
A. It is a much faster, cleaner version of the game. Not only is the text faster, but the game lags WAY less on the original Japanese version compared to the English version. It's night and day, really. However, the 2 sidequests for classes actually are different and a little slower in Japanese, but the mechanics of the game are not different per version. Also, I'm interested in competing for a fastest time for a Japanese main series Dragon Quest run.

If I play the NA version, it may be for fun or for trying to improve my old time with the newer route implementation, but the main goals are around the J version.

Q. How does your route compare to other runs?
A. There's a few extra metal slime fights in my current route that involve fighting a few more fights than other charts. Depending on how runs go, some of these may be cut. However, part of my route is to more efficiently farm metal slimes than before, and there are many benefits to having a few more levels/skill points in some segments. Also, some skill point routing is different, but most of the core battle strategy for DQIX is figured out and consistent among most runs (for now).

Q. What classes do you use in this run?
A. The Hero starts as a Minstrel, and three Mages are created for maximum damage on early bosses. Not only are spell-based characters efficient on money, their magic can perform combo damage which stacks up very well.

After Leviathan, class switching begins. The general concept in this part of the game is to switch to level 1 classes to grind to ~mid teens to get skill points. Specifically, the interim grind for skill points is NOT done with the classes for final party, to maximize skill points obtained.

After enough skill points, the final party is:
Hero: Armamentalist - Primarily chosen for good equipment, access to Sap, and higher AGL than Battlemaster. Some extra HP & AGL from Thief skill points. Main role every battle is to use "Egg On" to boost tension of Battlemaster
2nd: Battlemaster (aka Gladiator) - Main damage dealer. Primarily uses Tension up, Double Up (+Atk/-Def in-battle ability from Battlemaster line), and then Battlemaster skills to deal damage
3rd: Armamentalist - Primary role is to cast Fources for enemy weaknesses on Gladiator. Also has access to Sap and equip Shields
4th: Warrior - Primary role is beefy tank. Resilience (defensive power) is very high, and is usually either using "Whipping Boy" to cover damage on Battlemaster, or set to auto-AI for healing via Superior Medicines.

This is the core strategy for most fights throughout the game. Armamentalist and Warrior having access to Shields is invaluable, and all classes in the final party uses Swords, which is ideal for metal slime grinding via Metal Slash.

Q. Why do you customize characters? Wouldn't it be faster to mash A?
A. It would be faster. But if you menu fast it's not that much slower. Also it's all about style.

Q. What are the manipulations in this game?
A. There's two kinds of manipulations. Really, they're only used for metal slime hunting.
	A Table - This influences which enemies spawn on the map. Simply by getting a specific item (the map from the sidequest outside
	of Rock Town (Zere Rocks)) and opening the map menu, a RNG value is set to the same thing every time. This is used to have metal
	slime formations appear on the map. It's a very simple manipulation, you literally just open a menu.
	B Table (aka Hoimi Table) - This influences enemies appear in battle. Without this manip, metal slimes can show up with other
	enemies, and it can be very dangerous. If they appear alone though, it's usually not dangerous. This table is both hard to keep
	track of during the run, and can be slow to make changes to the table.

Q. Why is B Table designated on the leaderboard?
A. Using the B Table is significant enough of a process that runs deserve to be marked as such. It is using an outside tool to track placement, which is up for interpretation as to if it should be allowed. What's important is that runs are marked using them.

Q. What is B Table?
A. B Table (aka Hoimi Table) refers to a tracking mechanism used to track one of the three main RNG values in the game. It advances when using Hoimi (Heal) spell, in addition to many other actions (using Herbs, some things in battle). It was very commonly used for farming drops from chests in grottos for casual play, but it has applications to speedrunning as well.

Q. Why is A Table not tracked on the leaderboard then?
A. Because A Table does not use outside tracking (no outside tools). It's wholly contained within the game, and is a very simple setup.

Q. Are you using B Table?
A. No, because the fastest time right now does not use it, and it is more classic Japanese RTA rules to not use outside tracking tools (or glitches in most cases). It's kind of a pain to maintain too, but some runs will just die due to not using it. The general idea is that runs are riskier without it, but the runs that make it through will be faster, because you spend less time setting up/tracking your values. New developments that allow for frame windows of getting preemptives using A Table have somewhat obsoleted B Table methods, as well.

Q. Are DS firmware clock manipulations relevant to this run?
A. No.