Like so many other JRPGs, Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age features a long list of party members who each have their own stories, personalities, and combat roles. And while players don't get to fully customize these roles, they can invest in different skills and weapon types to make each character more effective in different ways.

The trouble is that skill points are a limited resource, and the best skills are all hidden under panels that won't reveal themselves until the player buys four adjacent panels. On top of that, each character's full skill tree doesn't unlock until later in the game. So what's the best way to optimize each character, and which combination is the most dangerous? Read on to find out.

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Battle Basics

• Each party member in Dragon Quest 11 can change their equipped weapon during combat, and that includes swapping out weapons in the equipment bag. Doing this doesn't cost a turn, and so players are free to use strategies that include multiple weapon types.
• Some abilities need the character to have a certain weapon equipped to work, but other abilities and spells will work no matter which tree they're in. For instance, Jade can use her Fisticuffs abilities no matter what kind of weapon she's using, and when a character unlocks Duel Wielding it applies to every one-handed weapon that character can use.
• Characters Pep Up after they take several turns, but the Pep state ends after they take another six to eight turns. If players want to preserve a character's Pep state for a Pep Power, they can swap the character into the backup party to stop them from taking turns. This even works during combat: just hit the "Tactics" button to change the party lineup.
• Unlike many other RPGs, the Hero doesn't have to be in the active party.

Skill Secrets

• Every character can use at least two types of weapon, but not every weapon has two or more wielders. Only Erik can use boomerangs, only Serena can use regular wands, and only the eighth party member can use axes.
• The game has an ultimate weapon for each category, but only one of each exists. This means it's useful to have each character focus on a different type of weapon.
• Weapon abilities that strike a group of enemies a specific number of times will all hit the same enemy if they're alone. This makes these abilities very effective against bosses and other powerful monsters.
• Dragon Quest 11 features a new option at save points called Rectification. Rectification can be pricey, but it lets the player reset a character's skill points and invest them into different skills.
• Each character has a "Surprise" skill panel that will give them a bonus 10 skill points when activated. These points will stick around even after a Rectification. The panels are:

The Hero

The Hero can use one-handed swords and two-handed greatswords. He also has a Swordmastery skill tree that applies to both weapon types and a Luminary tree that offers stat boost, spells, and other abilities.

• The Hero is one of two characters who can equip greatshields, which tend to have a better block chance and defense than regular shields. While he can unlock Dual Wielding in the Swords tree, greatshields (and his access to heavy armor) can make him very effective as a defensive character.
• The Hero is also one of two characters who can equip greatswords. Greatswords have a parry chance that replaces a shield's block chance, and they deal more damage than swords. However, all the Hero's unique weapons are one-handed swords.
• The Hero is the only character who can learn the Zap family of spells, and he can only learn them by spending points on the left side of the Luminary tree. Zap is an expensive spell, but it's much more powerful than the Sizz family of spells he gets for free.
• Poof is useless. Not only does it barely work, Poofed enemies don't provide XP, gold, or items.
• Holy Protection is less useful than in previous Dragon Quest games. Since enemies are visible in the field, players can avoid them without magical help. However, the spell can still be useful while on the ship or while in 2D mode.
• On the right side of the Luminary tree is Fullheal and Omniheal. The Hero isn't the only character to get these spells, but they can help in a pinch.
• Metal Slash lets the hero deal 2 damage to metal slimes instead of 1 or 0, but the best way to defeat metal slimes is with abilities that trigger critical hits. As such, Metal Slash is best avoided.
• Miracle Slash is a fairly useful early ability that heals the Hero when he attacks.
• The Hero has five unique and powerful attack abilities: two for each sword type and one that works with both. However, this ultimate attack is expensive in both MP and skill points (144, and that's just counting the adjacent panels). Instead, players may prefer to use the Quadraslash ability unlocked by the plot and the relatively inexpensive Sword Dance.

Erik

Erik gets three weapon options: swords, knives, and boomerangs. His unique skill tree is Guile, which gives him extra Deftness, Agility, and one of the most useful abilities in the game.

• Erik is the only character who can get Dual Wielding and who can't use shields. On top of that, all three of his weapons are one-handed, which means players should prioritize getting this skill.
• It's generally true that status effects aren't very effective on enemies in JRPGs. However, in Dragon Quest 11 most enemies (including plenty of bosses!) are susceptible to poison, sleep, or both, and Erik can apply these statuses using the Knife abilities Sleeper Hit and Cobra Strike. He can then end the status early but deal six times his normal damage by using the abilities Persecutter and Victimiser.
• Under Erik's top-left hidden panel is the ability Divide. This ability lets him take his next turn three times instead of once, which is still a net gain after spending a turn on Divide. However, the best use of this ability is to combine it with Persecutter or Victimiser. This effectively lets Erik attack 18 times with one action.
• Erik's Half-Inch has bad odds of stealing anything, but it's necessary to get Divide.
• Assassin's Stab has a chance of instant death, but it doesn't work on bosses. Still, the attack does normal damage regardless, and it's relatively cheap, so it's worth getting.
• In Dragon Quest 11, boomerangs hit every enemy on the field but deal less damage after each hit. Erik can get more damage by duel wielding and by getting abilities like Twomerang and Double Down. These abilities are the best way for Erik to deal damage to large groups without spending a lot of MP on his trap spells.

Veronica

Veronica is the combat mage of the group. She can wield heavy wands and whips, both of which are two-handed weapons, and her special tree is called Vim. Vim gives Veronica more Magical Might, more MP, and resistance to elemental damage types.

• Whips can hit groups of enemies, and like boomerangs they do less damage after each hit. As the combat mage Veronica has plenty of ways to damage groups of enemies, but her whip skills let her inflict status effects at the same time. Also, Twin Dragon Lash and Wyrm Whip are relatively cheap ways to deal a lot of damage to a single target.
• Veronica's Heavy Wand tree can give her big bonuses to Magical Might and MP, plus she can recover a lot of MP by attacking with a wand. This tree also gives her access to Zing Stick, an ability that lets her resurrect a fallen party member so long as she's holding a heavy wand.
• Veronica gets most of her spells for free, but two of her best damage spells, Kafrizzle and Kaboomle, must be unlocked in the Vim tree.

Serena

Serena is the healer mage. Her weapons of choice are the one-handed wand and the two-handed spear, and her unique tree is Harpistry. Harpistry gives Serena several Hymns that protect the party from elemental damage, and it gives her more MP and more Magical Mending.

• The Hymns are only useful against certain bosses, and only when players know what kind of elements they like to attack with.
• Serena can get Dual Wielding from the Wands tree, but she can only dual-wield wands. Light wands can absorb MP the same as heavy wands, but the off-hand wand will do less damage and absorb less MP. The defense and block chance of a shield are overall more useful.
• Other Wand skills are more useful. Like Veronica, Serena gets boosted stats while holding a wand, plus Grace of the Goddess gives her a free resurrection (a good spell for the party healer). She can also get Divine Restitution, a spell that damages a group of enemies with the Light element and gives Serena regeneration.
• Serena's spear skills are surprisingly useful. Thunder Thrust is a critical hit when it connects, making it an essential skill when farming metal slimes. She can also get Crushed Ice, a four-hit attack that devastates single targets.
• Another reason to invest in both the Spear and Wand trees is Kaswooshle, which is the hidden skill between the two trees. Kaswooshle is Serena's ultimate wind attack.

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Sylvando

Sylvando is less focused on weapons and more on special abilities and pure charm. He can use swords, knives, and whips, and he has three unique skill trees. The first two are Litheness and Showmanship, and the last one to unlock is Chivalry. Litheness mostly provides stat boosts, Showmanship has several special abilities Sylvando can use with any weapon, and Chivalry gives him some defensive abilities.

• Sylvando is the third character who gets Dual Wielding. He can use heavy armor but only light shields, and so he doesn't lose as much as the Hero does when dual wielding.
• Sylvando's Sword, Knife, and Whip trees are shorter versions of the Hero's, Erik's, and Veronica's. He doesn't get many unique weapon abilities, but he does get Miracle Slash, Persecutter and Victimiser, and Wyrm Whip.
• Sobering Slap is a good early pick. The ability removes four turn-skipping status effects from any one ally.
• Sylvando's best abilities come from the Showmanship tree. Pink Pirouette damages all enemies with a chance to confuse, and Gold Rush does a significant amount of damage at the cost of 1000 gold. This ability is expensive at first, but later in the game gold is much cheaper than MP. Finally, Hustle Dance is an early way to heal the whole party in one turn.
• Whipping Boy gives Sylvando the chance to be a defensive character, but it's not very useful since he can only protect one other party member for a single turn.
• Ladies First is a more useful Chivalry ability since it gives Veronica, Serena, or Jade a free turn. However, they have to be in the active party.

Jade

Jade uses spears, claws, and her bare fists to fight. This means she's the only character to get the Fisticuffs skill tree, and her special tree is called Allure. This tree gives Jade extra Charm and several suggestive abilities. In fact, Jade has more Charm than any other character, and in this game Charm is a passive chance to force an enemy to waste a turn.

• Jade is the only character who doesn't get any spells, and so she has to rely on her special abilities. This makes Fisticuffs and Allure especially valuable.
• In other Dragon Quest games, characters can only use Fisticuffs abilities while unarmed. However, Jade can have any weapon equipped and still use these abilities.
• Jade doesn't get Dual Wielding, but claw weapons automatically hit twice.
• Jade can use claws to steal HP, and her Crone Claw ability can also steal MP. With Hardclaw she can attack a single target three times, even if they're in a group.
• Jade's Spear tree is better than Serena's. Jade gets Lightning Thrust, an upgrade to Thunder Thrust, plus she gets Crushed Ice and Lightning Storm, an electric attack against a group.
• For Fisticuffs Jade can get a five-hit healing strike called Miracle Moon, and the early ability Harvest Moon does extra damage to flying enemies regardless of their type.
• Jade can apply status effects with her Allure abilities. Sexy Beam and Femme Fatale are especially useful.

Rab

Rab's weapons are heavy wands and claws. He's a Sage in Dragon Quest terms, which means he uses both healing and harmful spells. He's also the only character who can use the Zam family of darkness spells. His unique skill tree is called Enlightenment, and it mostly gives him extra stat boosts.

• When using claws, Rab can absorb both health and MP. He also gets a boost to dodge and critical hit chances. He shares many abilities with Jade, but he also gets the five-hit combo Wild Animaul and the light-element Hand of God.
• Rab gets the same abilities from the Heavy Wand tree as Veronica, including Zing Stick. He can also get a boost to both Magical Mending and Magical Might while wielding one.
• Aside from stat boosts, Enlightenment gives Rab abilities like M-Pathy, which gives some of his MP to another party member. Since Rab has more MP than any other character, this is a good bargain. He can also get Right as Rain, which applies regeneration to all party members, and his two ultimate damage spells Kacrackle and Kazammle.

Eight

The eighth (spoilers) party member also has six skill trees. He can use swords and greatswords, but he's the only character to get skill trees for axes and shields. His personal skill tree is Heroism, which is joined later by Fraternity. Heroism gives Eight several powerful attack abilities, and Fraternity adds several defensive abilities.

• Eight can get Dual Wielding, which applies to both swords and axes. However, like the Hero he's more useful with a higher defense.
• Thanks to his Shield tree, his Fraternity abilities, his access to Buff and Kabuff spells, and his access to heavy armor and greatshields, Eight is the best defender in the party.
• Eight's unique sword skill is Gyrfalcon Slash, which attacks four times instead of twice. However, his ultimate Heroism ability is A Cut Above, which attacks a single enemy six times and works with any weapon.
• Eight's axe abilities include Helm Splitter and Scrap Mettle, both of which deal damage and have a chance of Sapping the opponent's defense.
• Hatchet Man is another ability that can trigger a critical hit, making Eight essential during metal slime hunts.
• Unlike Sylvando's Whipping Boy, Eight's Forbearance can intercept every attack for a round.
• Eight can also get Kazing from the Fraternity tree.

In Summary

For players who prefer specific advice over general strategies, here's the short version:

• Have the Hero focus on Swords and Zap spells, then get Sword Dance (the hidden panel straight up from the center).
• Have Erik go straight for Dual Wielding, get Divide from the top-left hidden panel, then get more Boomerang and Knife skills.
• Veronica should gather Heavy Wand and Vim skills, including Zing Stick from the upper-right hidden panel.
• Get Thunder Thrust for Serena but otherwise focus on Wand skills. Don't bother with Dual Wielding.
• Start unlocking Showmanship skills for Sylvando as soon as possible. Get Dual Wielding and then focus on Knife skills.
• Jade is good with either a spear or claws, but her first skills should be from Fisticuffs and Allure. Grab at least Thunder Thrust for metal slime farming.
• Rab should get Enlightenment skills first, then Heavy Wand skills to boost his spellcasting.
• Eight works best with an axe and a shield. Hatchet Man is essential, and the best way to the Heroism tree is through the Shield skills.

As far as the lineup goes, the Hero is good for absorbing damage and one spot should always be filled with Serena or Rab. Other than that, any combination can work.

Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age is available now on 3DS, PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.

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