Sick of grinding for hours just to grow one single level? Worried about not being able to afford all the hottest gear? Tired of being under-prepared in fights and losing out to bad luck? Feel like you’ve hit a wall?
We’ve all been there. Confused, lost, helpless, like a child drowning in a river. It seems like progress is impossible in a world of dead-ends and closed doors. Trapped in the daily grind forever.
If this is you, then I’m about to change your life.
*SPOILERS AHEAD* This trick is ONLY for those privy to Dragon Quest VIII late-game information. Open the door at your own risk! *SPOILERS AHEAD*
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Priests HATE it! They see heroes taking advantage of this method and it boils their blood. They ENJOY seeing adventurers stumble into their churches in poor health, just to sell their services. The good news is that you don’t have to be weak anymore. It’s the secret they don’t want you to know. I’m about to tell you how to gain levels and earn gold FAST without spending hours battling monsters. First, I need to make sure you’re ready. You will need the Godbird’s Soulstone, a 3DS version of the game, and either the Executioner ability (Axe skill) with Yangus, or Lightning Thrust (Spear skill) with the hero. Got both? You’re extra ready.
This is where we will begin our training. After you get the ability to fly, you gain access to high areas that have special enemies. Two in particular we are looking for, the Liquid Metal Slime (found at night) and the Gold Golem (found during the day). The reason I have picked this place on the bottom of the southern continent is simply because it has a big enough open area to manipulate enemies.
Let’s first hunt some Liquid Metal Slimes. These give 10,000 EXP per kill, which is more than 20 times the EXP of the strongest roaming monsters in the game.
Come ‘ere you! Unique to the 3DS version of Dragon Quest VIII is this absolute gamechanger; enemies appearing visibly on the world map. Instead of blindly walking around, just hoping to find the enemy you want in a random encounter, you can now HUNT them! With good movement, you can make every SINGLE fight here against a Liquid Metal Slime. There are key spots on top of the hill here where Liquid Metal Slimes will spawn every time, and you can even rotate the camera to respawn them, as the game will refresh what’s on the screen. Once they appear, all you have to do is chase them down.
When the battle starts, they will most certainly flee the majority of the time. The good thing about this place however, is they appear in swarms. If you find a group of 6 then you’ll usually get 2 to stay around on average for a round of hits, more if you’re lucky. You can easily beat the odds of LMS fleeing just by re-engaging in battle quickly. The key is hitting hard and fast. With Yangus using Executioner every turn you are bound to hit some just by getting into enough fights, I’d say my hit rate has been just under 50%. You will get 0 EXP in some battles, but just look at the payoff when it works.
Cor Blimey! That’s an entire level in just one battle, and about 120 regular battles worth of experience. This is an extreme case of good luck where I killed 3 Liquid Metal Slimes with the Double Bubble active. This bubble will double your EXP and Gold for 10 battles. I made sure all 10 of my battles were with Liquid Metal Slimes, and the payoff was huge. The bubble can be obtained by completing 10 photo quests for Cameron Obscura, or from the Daily Item Download if you are lucky. This high flying-only area is absolutely the best place to use it. If you kill even 1 Liquid Metal Slime in your 10 battles, it’s 20,000 EXP. I killed about 12-15 and gained multiple levels. If every enemy flees, then the bubble does not expend a usage so it’s perfect for LMS hunting.
Other useful moves against Liquid Metal Slimes include Metal Slash with the hero or Angelo, multishot with Angelo (for me, this hits most of the time and sometimes does 3 damage) and Fan Dango with Red (can also hit multiple times). A unique thing about Red is she often outspeeds the Liquid Metal Slimes too, which guarantees you a chance before they flee. She is also good to have in the party for grinding because one of her skills will randomly get you an extra 300-1800 Gold after a battle.
So that’s by far the best way to get EXP in the game, but what about Gold?
You won’t believe the net worth of Gold Golems. They are the richest enemies in the game providing roughly 300 gold per kill. That means if you find a group of 3 then you’ve almost made 1000 Gold, enough to buy some decent enough equipment to survive with. A dozen or so battles and you can buy some of the best equipment in the game from Tryan Gully. You can also use the Double Bubble here in the daytime, but I find it a waste since these battles are so easy. By the time you get the ability to fly to these areas, you should be able to one-hit KO them with at least one party member. Gold Golems are very weak and never flee. You are guaranteed a steady stream of gold just by chasing these brickheads down. Doubling EXP instead will take you to higher highs, but it all ultimately depends on what you need.
The beauty of all this is that both Liquid Metal Slimes and Gold Golems are in the same areas. If you just naturally fight them and watch time pass, you’ll be rich and experienced in the same grinding session. You could say this is cheesing the game, but chasing down key enemies is far more engaging than mindlessly grinding everything you see. It makes the 3DS version feel so different and a lot more fun when you have a bit of control over what you find. If you get sick of the desert continent, you can fly to other mountaintops such as the forest for a change of scenery. Make sure you have enough wiggle-room to avoid the regular enemies here though.
So now you’ve got all the EXP and Gold you want, and you’re still looking for that extra edge in battle? Time to send in your monsters!
If you want a helping hand from these handsome fellows, make sure you’ve beaten the Monster Arena up to Rank E. If you beat Rank B, you get to send TWO teams of Monsters! Templars, Priests and Soldiers all condemn Monsters because they don’t want you to know their battle secrets. It’s basically free damage in any fight when you hit the “Call Team” ability. Why wouldn’t you send them in? When recruiting your monsters for this purpose, you want hard hitters instead of strategic ones, since they only spend 4 turns in the battle.
Another tool that’s too hot to handle is the Alchemy Pot. Some of the best items can’t be bought, but concocted. The Uber Miracle Sword can be made fairly easily if you have a Miracle Sword, for example. Even stronger ones if you explore the game world thoroughly. The library of the dead has some good books.
Now you have all the information you need to save the world. If you can’t do it within 30 days, then the Goddess will strike you down and find a new hero. Haha! Good luck!
Pietriots 