Dragon Quest VIII

[The Anarchy Angel]

Finally got my hands on a copy and started playing and I felt like my head had exploded, why on earth is this thing so hard?! Honestly, I was level 10 and the stupid Merman still almost crushed me! But I've gotten over it now and I'm happily trolling around the world ~25-28 and I'm not doing too badly (in my eyes). But I have the major problem of Jessica, she will not stay alive longer than about three assults and it gets tedious, waiting for Zing to work. I've spent all of my money on defensive gear and still she dies *hits self* any gear I should look out for (bunny suit has less defence than what I've got now - some kind of magical cape).
To the point, what level were you when you took on Dhoulmagus/Evil Jessica/Evil Dog? And about how many hours were you up to? Everything appreciated blah blah blah

[Roto13]

Level grinding is pretty necessary in DQ VIII.

[Vivisteiner]

I didnt level grind to much. Strategy is very important.

When I fought Dhoulmagus, I cant remember exactly what level I was, but Angelo was less than level 30. I beat him without the multiheal ability. If you want to make the battle much easier, learn the multiheal ability for Angelo (at level 30)

For Jessica, put her last in the order. She should be rarely attacked and put someone like Yangus first. What I did was Yangus, Hero, Angelo, Jessica.

Also, frequently use Kabuffs and acceleratle, unless if the enemy often uses 'Wave of ice'. Oomph is good too.

Bassically, If you die, dont bother training up too much. To make it fun, fiddle around with strategies etc. Having said that, sometimes it is necessary to train.

Monster teams can really help too.

[Crossblades]

Level grinding is pretty necessary in DQ VIII.

It's necessary in any DQ game in general

[JKTrix]

Miracle Sword was my saviour in that Dhoulmagus battle. I had Angelo buffing probably every other turn, sometimes Jessica buffed or nuked. If I was Miracle Swording with Hero, I was probably building tension with Yangus. The one turn Yangus did his tension'd attack, I built tension with Hero.

I can't remember if I had multiheal at that point. One of the first things I'd been doing in boss battles...is bring out my Pokemon team! They take some hits, deal out a pretty decent amount, and take 3 turns worth of it before the main squad comes back.

In most cases I've had, raising the tension once isn't much/any better than just attacking normally twice. Though I guess if you use it with magic, you can get just about 2 turns worth of casting damage with just one use of the MP. I think my playtime is upwards of 50 hours, and I've only gotten High Tension twice with Hero. I haven't done it very often, but I know I've tried to do it more than twice. And that damage is huge.

At the end of the battle, everyone else was dead but the Hero...who was still miracle-swording away. He was being healed just a little bit less than he was taking damage, and I guess I wore out Dhoulmagus before he did me.

I can't remember how far after that I am--I have beaten Jessica and the dog. I know I can (Spoiler maybe? Probly not.) fly now as well. The flight music is gorgeous, probably my favourite Dragon Quest piece and one of my favourite game themes in general.

[Captain Maxx Power]

I wish I could play this game more but due to the graphical style I get a rather intense headache after about half an hour of playing :(

[McLovin']

It was a hard game in my opinion...

I completely forgot everything about the game play after half a year.

[Sain Cai]

Well it also depends on what you have for skill allocations. Did you invest in Sword, axe, bow, etc?

This can severly dictate what you can do in battle.