Dragon Quest IX: Legacy Boss Hunter - Baramos - Part 2

Welcome to the second part of my Legacy Boss Hunter series! I had expected to be writing about Murdaw by now, but apparently Baramos won't cough up the map until he's AT LEAST Level 16. So, I figured, why not write up about how Baramos changes once he hits Level 8?

Thus, that's what this second part of the Baramos mini-series will be about. You will read how he has gotten stronger, but not before I mention HOW you make him stronger. ;)

Go read the first part by clicking any part of this sentence if you haven't done so already!

Legacy Bosses separate themselves from the rest of the bosses you can fight in the game due to the fact that you can level them up. At the end of a Legacy Boss battle (assuming you win of course), the boss will get back up and ask you for the experience it'd normally give you. For a level 1 Baramos, this is 59,600 experience. If you're beating Baramos quickly enough, I recommend you level him up. As you'll quickly find out, the drop-rate of Legacy Boss items depends on their level. Some items drop more frequently, while others don't even drop until a certain level (such as the Murdaw Map; this beauty won't drop until Baramos is at least level 16, as I mentioned in the introduction). In the case of Aliahan Boots (which at level 1 drop at a 20% rate), they drop at a 25% rate once Baramos is Level 8 or higher.

Now, here comes the negative part of leveling up a Legacy Boss: It gets stronger. I'm sure you didn't see that coming. ;P

Seriously though, Legacy Bosses get extra Attack and Defense as they gain levels (much like your characters do as well) and learn new abilities at certain milestones (Baramos learns Disruptive Wave upon reaching Level 8). This makes them harder to beat, but they do give more experience and gold as well though, so it's a necessary trade-off.

My current party setup is the following:

Level 55 Minstrel

392 HP

110 MP (+30 MP from Spirit Bracer)

267 Attack

320 Defense

239 Agility

Level 56 Warrior

501 HP

50 MP

397 Attack

560 Defense

75 Agility

Level 51 Paladin

464 HP

94 MP

413 Attack

489 Defense

49 Agility

Level 50 Sage

314 HP

365 MP (+100 MP from Wands)

197 Attack

224 Defense

226 Agility

Baramos is currently doing around 74 damage with a physical attack to my Warrior. So, as you can tell, he has gotten much stronger as compared to the last time I wrote about him as a measly Level 1. Besides that fact, he is essentially the same boss as before, except that now he has Disruptive Wave. As a result of that extra ability, I've had to change up my turn set-up drastically. You may be wondering why I would do such a thing? Well:

• According to playtesting I've done myself, Forbearance does NOT protect your other party members from Disruptive Wave. Perhaps the game designers anticipated the use of this strategy? :P
• Baramos still criticals. As a matter of fact, his criticals now do from 370-390 damage instead of 350-370 damage, so you need your tank protecting the rest of your party more than ever.
• My Warrior, at 50 Tension, Doubled Up, and equipped with a Falcon Blade, does about 2400-2600 damage by using Falcon Slash (600-650 damage per hit; 4 hits). This takes 2 turns. Baramos can withstand two of them and usually dies on the third assault. So, my old strategy of getting Baramos to suicide on his own spells and breath attacks is less needed now.
• Thanks to Disruptive Wave, you want to finish the battle as soon as possible. Reverse Cycle lasts about 5-6 turns, so hurry it up!

So, this is how an average Baramos run at Level 8 plays out for me. It takes around seven turns:

Turn 1: Minstrel uses Egg On on the Warrior. The Warrior uses Double Up. The Paladin uses Reverse Cycle (make sure you have a Fan equipped!) and the Sage uses Magic Barrier (reduces spell damage)

That first turn can play out in many different ways. If Baramos comes out swinging at my Sage with a critical, she has a "block or die" moment (with a 10.5% chance to block, so it's not too pretty usually). Otherwise, the defensive setup is already done as I equip my Paladin with Mirror Armor and disregard the Magic Mirror ability (I let her take magic punishment, as Magic Barrier will reduce the damage of that).

Turn 2: Minstrel uses Egg On on the Warrior. The Warrior Psyches Up. The Paladin uses Forbearance. The Sage uses Multiheal (if Baramos used mass attacks and did serious damage) or Magic Barrier a second time (if Baramos did not).

From this point on, the Paladin will be tanking all of the damage that would normally affect my party members, so they can concentrate on maximizing my damage output per turn. I just have my Sage heal my Paladin if need be.

Turn 3: Minstrel uses Egg On the Warrior (33% success chance due to Warrior being at 50 Tension already). Warrior uses Falcon Slash (~2500 damage at 50 Tension, ~3250 damage at 100 Tension). Paladin uses Forbearance. Sage uses Kazam (170-200 damage) or Moreheal on the Paladin if needed.

The rest of the battle plays out in the same manner until Baramos bites the dust. If Baramos decides to use Disruptive Wave, I act as if the battle has just started and play out turn 1 again (with the possible exception of using Multiheal instead of Magic Barrier with the Sage if needed).

That's about it for the second part of this article. I hope it helps you beat Baramos as his power grows from all of that juicy experience you've been feeding him. ;)

Feel free to emulate my strategy and/or write up your own strategy for beating Baramos in the comment section!

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate