Joe Majewski

Dragon Quest IX List of Accolades | DQIX Hints & Tips

In Dragon Quest IX, Accolades are awarded upon meeting certain criterion, such as playing the game for a certain amount of time, unlocking certain abilities, or defeating a certain number of monsters. They are more or less used for bragging rights, and a way for you to see how much you have progressed through the game. There is an extensive list of accolades available in DQIX; see how many you can get!

Grotto Accolades

Celestial Sentry – Awarded to the hero on the occasion of his/her victory over various renowned denizens of the depths. I assume that this accolade requires that you defeat each of the 12 grotto bosses at least once.
Heralded Hero / Heralded Heroine – Defeat a grotto boss of level 25 or above.
Superhero / Superheroine – Defeat a grotto boss of level 50 or above.
Heavenly Hero / Heavenly Heroine – Defeat a boss of level 75 or above.
Legendary Hero / Legendary Heroine – Defeat a grotto boss of level 99.
Spelunker – Clear a grotto of level 25 or above.
Spunky Spelunker – Clear a grotto of level 50 or above.
Spelunking Specialist – Clear a grotto of level 75 or above.
Supreme Spelunker – Clear a grotto of level 99 or above.
Cave Dweller – Complete your 10th grotto.
Cave Craver – Complete your 50th grotto.
From Cradle to Cave – Complete your 100th grotto.
Stalag Mighty – Complete your 500th grotto.
Caving Lunatic – Complete your 1,000th grotto.

Quest Completion

Service Provider – Complete 20 quests.
Helping Hand – Complete 50 quests.
Selfless Soul – Complete 100 quests.
Fairy Godfather / Fairy Godmother – Complete 150 quests.
Father Questmas / Mother Questmas – Complete the final quest.

Party Tricks

Expressionist – Learn and use all party tricks at least once.

Alchenomicon

Commis Chef – Create 10% of all recipes.
Chef De Partie – Create 25% of all recipes.
Sous Chef – Create 50% of all recipes.
Chef D’Alchimie – Create 75% of all recipes.
Creme De La Creme – Create all Alchemy recipes.
Amateur Alchemist – Create 50 recipes.
Enthusiastic Alchemist – Create 100 recipes.
Avid Alchemist – Create 250 recipes.
Alchemaniac – Create 500 recipes.
Alcheholic – Create 1,000 recipes.
Krak Pot Crackpot – Create 2,000 recipes.

Hours of Gameplay

Seasoned Traveller – Play for 100 hours.
Sightseer – Play for 250 hours.
Wayfarer – Play for 500 hours.
Globetrotter – Play for 750 hours.
Wanderluster – Play for 1,000 hours.
Constant Companions – Play 100 hours in multiplayer.
Firm Friends – Play 250 hours in multiplayer.
Best Buddies – Play 500 hours in multiplayer.
Oldest and Goldest – Play 750 hours in multiplayer.
Friends to the End – Play 1,000 hours in multiplayer.

Battle Victories

Victor / Victoria – Clear 100 battles.
On-Fire Fighter – Clear 500 battles.
Winning Streaker – Clear 1,000 battles.
Win-A-Lot Prime – Clear 5,000 battles.
Winvincible – Clear 10,000 battles.

Accolades Earned

Name Dropper – Earn 10 Accolades.
Glory Hunter – Earn 50 Accolades.
Man of Many Names / Woman of Many Names – Earn 100 Accolades.
Titled Peer – Earn 200 Accolades.
Titan of Titles – Earn 300 Accolades.

Holiday Packages

Cold Caller – Successful sale of 50 holiday packages.
Deal Closer – Successful sale of 100 holiday packages.
Salesperson of the Week – Successful sale of 300 holiday packages.
Top Seller – Successful sale of 500 holiday packages.
Celestial Salesperson – Successful sale of 1,000 holiday packages.

Bestiary Completion

Huntsman / Huntswoman – Defeat 10% of all enemies.
Hunter Gatherer – Defeat 25% of all enemies.
Top Tracker – Defeat 50% of all enemies.
Head Hunter – Defeat 75% of all enemies.
Big Game Hunter – Defeat 100% of all enemies.

Item Collection

Itemiser – Find 50% of all known items.
King of Cellectors / Queen of Collectors – Find all known items.

Wardrobe

Follower of Fashion – Find 10% of all equipment.
Clothes Horse – Find 25% of all equipment.
Trendspotter – Find 50% of all equipment.
Trendsetter – Find 75% of all equipment.
Fashionista – Find all equipment items.

Resurrection

Regular Churchgoer – Get revived 10 times.
Coffin Dodger – Get revived 50 times.
Dauntless Deadbeat – Get revived 100 times.

Bank Deposit

White Sticker Saver – Save 100,000 Gold in the bank.
Blue Sticker Saver – Save 500,000 Gold in the bank.
Red Sticker Saver – Save 1,000,000 Gold in the bank.
Silver Sticker Saver – Save 5,000,000 Gold in the bank.
Gold Sticker Saver – Save 10,000,000 Gold in the bank.

Random Titles

Herbalist – Purchase 100 medicinal herbs.
Happy-Go-Lucky – View Battle Records while your battle count is 222/333/444, etc…
Birthday Boy / Birthday Girl – Play the game on your birthday.

Level Up

Field Marshal – Get level 99 warrior.
Archdeacon – Get level 99 priest.
Grand Wizard – Get level 99 mage.
Grandmaster – Get level 99 martial artist.
Bandit King / Bandit Queen – Get level 99 thief.
Bard of High Regard – Get level 99 minstrel.
Gladius Maximus – Get level 99 gladiator.
Caster Blaster – Get level 99 armamentalist.
Knight Banneret – Get level 99 paladin.
Eco Warrior – Get level 99 ranger.
Mahatma – Get level 99 sage.
Superstar – Get level 99 luminary.

Revocate

- Each class has it’s own accolade for revocating ten times, which is the act of converting a level 99 character back to level 1, maintaining all abilities learned. This is useful because it allows you to gather even more skill points, and is necessary if you want the best stats possible. These are very time-consuming accolades to earn, and even receiving one of them is a true testament of your commitment to Dragon Quest IX.

Skills

- If you haven’t noticed, you receive an accolade every time your main character learns a new ability or trait by spending skill points. There are hundreds of accolades you can earn this way and it would be pointless for me to list them all.

Saving the World

- There’s a multitude of accolades that can be earned upon completing the game. The exact requirements for each of them are unknown, as the descriptions are vague. Additionally, it is impossible to receive all of the accolades in this category, as many of them contradict each other. For example, one such accolade is awarded for completing the game “rather quickly”, while another for beating the game “rather slowly”. Once you beat the game, see which accolades you earn, and that will be all you will get unless you want to play the game through a second time.

Fashion & Dress-Up

- There are dozens of accolades that can be earned by equiping certain gear. It would take me a lot of time to list these additional accolades, so I will hold off on that for now. If this article receives a lot of views and / or feedback, I may change my mind and update the list. I imagine that many players will earn them without even trying, which is always the most rewarding of all.

Special thanks to the Brady Games strategy guide, which provided me with a lot of the information here. I was very surprised when I found out how many accolades there actually are. When I earned the accolade for 100 hours of playtime, I never imagined that that was just the first in that category. I am slowly approaching the 250 hour milestone, which will place one more accolade under my belt.

I hope this guide was helpful to the many completionists. I also recommend the Brady Games strategy guide which provides in-depth bestiary information, quest information, equipment lists without spoiling anything too major.

How to Find the Lost Pet Lizard “Drak” in the Mirage Mahal in Dragon Quest IX | DQIX Hints & Tips

Warning: This post contains minor spoilers!

Once you reach the town of Gleeba in Dragon Quest IX, located in the Djust Desert, you will find a large mansion known as the Mirage Mahal.  By now you should be quite familiar with the process of obtaining fyggs: (1) Find the next town, (2) talk to an NPC that triggers a cutscene, (3) discover the problem that needs attention, and then (4) go through the dungeon and defeat the boss to make things better. It’s no different in the wonderful town of Gleeba, which is home to fygg number five.

Instead of giving a step by step walkthrough on how to proceed with the storyline for this town, I am just going to inform you about one particular event that I believe many people may have problems with.

After talking to a few NPCs, you will soon learn that Queen Voluptua’s pet lizard, which goes by the name of Drak, is missing. You also learn that clapping will alert the lizard to come out of hiding, so make sure you assign the Clap action to one of your party tricks. For some reason, I was led to believe that the lizard was inside the Mirage Mahal mansion. I can’t recall exactly what the NPCs told me, but I was certain that it would be in the castle. Either I misunderstood their request, or they do in fact tell you to look in the mansion. Whatever the case, the lizard is NOT in the mansion.

Exit the Mirage Mahal, and walk around to the west side of the building. The camera will pan out, giving you an aerial view of the area, which is a good indicator that something may be hiding nearby. Once you clap, the lizard will come out of hiding and starting running around frantically. Grab the lizard, curse at it a few times if it took you more than 15 minutes to find, and return it to the Queen. Voila!

I hope this article was of assistance, as I clapped in every room of the mansion before checking outside and realizing where it was.

Happy leveling! (Isn’t this game great?)

Dragon Quest IX Treasure Map Breakdown & Formulas | DQIX Hints & Tips

Getting a Treasure Map & Locating it’s Grotto

Dragon Quest IX has become a global phenomenon, even making it into the Guinness Book of World Records. DQIX is HUGE. With a dozen different vocations (character classes), over 200 unique quests, over 600 alchemy recipes, over 1,000 pieces of equipment, along with hundreds of Accolades, this game is undeniably big.

On top of all that, there are a seemingly infinite number of items known as Treasure Maps, and that is what this article is all about. The Treasure Map game mechanic is what keeps players busy with the game even after beating the final boss. There’s enough content bundled within just this feature of the game alone to keep gamers busy for hundreds and hundreds of hours; literally.

Unless you are lucky enough to receive a Treasure Map via Tag Mode, you will have to wait until you are around 30 hours into the story of the game before you come across an NPC with a quest that rewards you with your very first map. Of course, it’s very easy to overlook this quest and continue with the story, in which case you might not get your first map for a very long time. Nonetheless, right outside the town of Zere Rocks, not to be confused with Zere, is an NPC on the broken stairwell with a quest that rewards you with your very first Treasure Map.

Upon receiving your very first map, a new option will appear at the bottom of the Items menu called Treasure Maps. Selecting this option will open up an entirely new menu, where the bottom screen lists the Treasure Maps that you’ve currently collected whilst the top screen shows the location of the currently selected map. Additionally, the top screen will also list some data about the selected map, such as who discovered the map, who conquered the map, and the three treasures (and their drop rates) that can be “plundered” within each grotto.

The map shown on the top screen will be a close-up view of a region in the game. There will be a large red `X` at the grotto’s location. When you find the location of the red `X`, an exclamation point will appear above your head. Examining the area will cause a cave to rise out of the ground, where it will permanently reside. You can now enter the grotto and fight your way to the boss. This is the fun part.

How the Dungeons Work

Each Treasure Map has a level, which ranges from 1 to 99. Lower level dungeons, as expected, have easier enemies, less floors, and easier boss fights. The gear and items found in a level 1 map are also not going to be as good as the gear or items you’d find in a level 99 map; of course, this is probably obvious information and goes without saying.

Here’s some important information about grottos; I apologize for the following information being jumbled together:

Each grotto will have between 2 and 16 floors, not including the boss floor. There are a total of 12 unique bosses that you can potentially encounter. There are 12 ranks of enemy difficulty that you will find on each floor of the grotto. Every five floors that you complete will cause the monsters’ rank to increase by 1. Thus, the most difficult of dungeons will have enemies begin with a rank of 9, but by the time you reach the sixteenth floor, they will be rank 12. The treasure chests that you find in the dungeons have items that correspond to the enemies rank.

Breaking Down the Names of Treasure Maps

What have you noticed about the naming of your Treasure Maps? They all follow the same pattern. For example, I have a map called Granite Tunnel of Bliss. The game breaks it down like this:

Prefix + Type of Environment + Suffix

In order of difficulty, here is the full list of prefixes:

There are five environments in DQIX: (1) Cave, (2) Ruins, (3) Ice, (4) Water, and (5) Fire. This gets a bit more complicated though. The game has several different themes that it uses to describe the environment, and these themes determine how many floors will be in the dungeon.

Here’s a list of themes along with their floors:

The suffix simply refers to the boss you will encounter on the final floor of the grotto:

Here is a list of the bosses that you may encounter while “Treasure Mapping“:

I know that’s a lot of information to take in at once, but if you’ve completed a Treasure Map in the past, then it will all make sense for you, and this will perhaps become a useful tool in determining what to expect upon receiving a new treasure map. There’s one last thing I’d like to go over.

Determining the Level of Your Next Treasure Map

Dragon Quest IX uses a unique equation to determine the level of your next treasure map, and it is actually fairly simple. Let’s break it down. The equation is as follows (all variables refer to the current map that you’ve just completed):

Level of New Treasure Map = ((Number of Floors – 2) * 3) + ((Base Monster Rank – 1) * 3) + ((Boss Number – 1) * 3) + (Random Number From -5 to 5)

The formula is not all that complex, but you can see how it’s possible for your new map to have a lower level than your old map; that’s just downright bad luck. The only difficulty you will have in determining the next level is finding out the base monster rank.

Keep completing your maps that have the most floors and the hardest bosses and you will have the best chance in receiving a high leveled map. In some cases, high leveled maps are just too darn difficult to beat. I am in that boat; I repeat low level dungeons because I am not yet strong enough to beat any of the more difficult dungeons.

Looking at the charts above, you will notice that the base monster rank usually has a range of just two or three, so the only way to know for sure is to look online for other resources that have that information. I wish I could point you in the right direction, but either way you should be able to calculate the new map’s level with a fairly decent accuracy.

One more thing I’d like to address. Don’t forget that if you lose in battle, half of your gold gets taken away, so always remember to put all your gold in the bank before attempting any Treasure Map.

I hope this information has helped you in any way. If you have any questions or comments, please oh please fill out the form below. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions related to this article, or Dragon Quest IX in general.

Happy leveling, fellow DQIX fans. This game is addictive, isn’t it?

What is the Happy Go Lucky Accolade in Dragon Quest IX? | DQIX Hints & Tips

I’m willing to bet that nine out of ten gamers don’t realize how they got this unique Accolade until they look it up on Google, or whatever other resource it is that they use to look up gaming information.

With that said, the Happy-Go-Lucky Accolade in Dragon Quest IX will most certainly come to you as a surprise, and it’s always a great feeling as a gamer to achieve something that was unexpected; this rule doesn’t change in DQIX.

Most Accolades come with descriptions that clearly define the reasoning behind how it was achieved, but the description for Happy Go Lucky makes no indication of it’s requirements at all. Seriously:

Presented to [Player's Name] on the occasion of (his/her) being touched by the lucky stick.

What!? Are you kidding me? Do I even want to know what they mean by “the lucky stick“? Unless I’m missing out on some figure of speech that is not so widely known, I think this might simply be a joke from the game designers. Er… maybe joke isn’t the appropriate term, but perhaps it was meant to be a funny description for a secret Accolade that they didn’t expect many people to achieve.

Nonetheless, I came upon it, and I do, in fact, have the valuable information that I’m sure you came here seeking. So how is this “Happy-Go-Lucky” Accolade achieved? Simple. To get this special achievement, all you have to do is view the Battle Records menu. You know, the menu with the dark-skinned, witty faerie that likes to babble on about random story-related incidents, going by the name of Stella.

The catch is, you must view the Battle Records menu while your Battle Victories statistic (located on the top screen) is a number made up of like digits. For example, 1111, 2222, 777, and 999 are all valid Battle Record counts to trigger the unlocking of this Accolade.

Since I tend to spend a lot of time viewing the Battle Records menu, the odds of me obtaining this Accolade were very high. I like to know the percentage of equipment pieces I’ve collected, the percentage of monsters that I’ve fought, and I like viewing various information about the accomplishments that I’ve made in Dragon Quest IX.

This being one of my favorite games of all time, it’s no wonder why I’ve been writing so many blog posts about such a masterpiece lately. Happy leveling, fellow DQIX fans!

Dragon Quest IX Quest #23 “Research Assistant” | DQIX Hints & Tips

Upon giving Earnan (the historian in Stornway Castle) some magic water for the “Don’t Cry Over Spilt Ink” quest, he will award you with a seed of magic. He will not give you his next quest until you leave the room and re-enter.

Quest number 23, Research Assistant, is Earnan’s next quest. He humbly requests that you bring him an ancient manuscript that he believes is hidden somewhere in the castle. When I took on this quest, I was led to believe that it was in one of the bookshelves, but that is not the case at all.

In order to find the item required for this quest, you’ve gotta be either (a) lucky or (b) very observant. Nonetheless, I’m here to tell you where it can be found.

Remember the treasure room that you gained access to upon dealing with the Wight Night. That’s your destination. In case you’ve forgotten where it’s located, here’s how to get there. Once inside Stornway Castle, head straight ahead and up the staircase that is guarded by two NPCs. From there, you will be in the room with Princess Simona, the King and his wife. Head north all the way to the top of the room where you will see two staircases, both of which lead to the same place. Head up either one of them, and then go through the door leading outside. Head east to the northeastern tower, and alas, you have arrived.

Once inside the treasure room, go to the chest in the far back and examine it. Voila, you have now found a “crumpled piece of paper”, which is required in order to proceed with the quest.

You know what you gotta do; head back downstairs to Earnan and speak with him. Unfortunately, you aren’t finished yet. The paper was apparently so crumpled that Earnan couldn’t read it. He requests that you bring him three more magic waters to help decipher the writing.

Do what you gotta do to retrieve three more magic waters, and Earnan will award you with three seeds of sorcery. Good deal, I suppose. That’s one less quest left to complete, so give yourself a pat on the back before continuing on with your massive adventure in Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies.