Dragon Quest IX: VUST - Mage's Spellcraft

VUST stands for Vocation Unique Skill Tree, and is a series of Dragon Quest IX articles I will be creating as time passes for each of the vocations. This is the fifth article of the series, and will detail the Mage's skill tree, Spellcraft.

Spellcraft allows the aspiring magic damage dealer to inflict more punishment with his or her spells. As you advance in this skill tree, you will get Magical Might boosts, both in the form of natural stat boosts and in the form of abilities that temporarily boost this stat.

Read on as I dissect this skill tree! :D

I am going to list the perks you get for leveling up this skill tree. The format will be:

Skill points required. Skill name here MP Cost (if applicable)

Description/Thoughts

Read on, Mages of the world! ;)

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8. Wizard Ward 5 MP

Spellcraft starts out with a decent ability. What it does is reduce the damage you suffer from spells. I say this is only decent as Sages and Paladins get Magic Barrier, which is a spell that grants this bonus to ALL of your party members at the same time. With that said, this is good to use in a pinch against a spellcaster.

16. Natural Magical Might +20

As Mages level up, one of the things they get the most of is Magical Might. Spellcraft just accentuates this fact, making your Mage one lean, mean, spelling machine. Not much else to say; stat boosts are just awesome.

26. Spooky Aura 6 MP

This is another decent ability that is outshined by a spell learnable as a Sage (Divine Intervention). What this one does is reduce an enemy's resistance to your spells so they suffer more damage (basically the opposite of what Wizard Ward does). This one trumps Wizard Ward due to the fact that bosses tend to work solo, so you don't need the mass effect of Divine Intervention in that case. That is, if the boss doesn't resist your Spooky Aura (oh the irony. :P)

38. Natural Maximum MP +10

It's another stat boost. :P

10 MP may not seem like much, and in fact it isn't, but you know what they say about every little thing and how they count when you add them up. ;)

Besides, your magical damage dealer should be using a Wand, so this contributes to that MP goodness (he/she IS using a Wand, right? RIGHT? :P).

46. Focus Pocus 3 MP

This is a very fun ability, much more so than the other two we've received in this tree up to now. This one grants natural MP regeneration for a few turns, meaning you get between 1 and 5 MP per turn. It may not sound like much, until you find out that it stacks with the Auto MP Regen for using a Wand, in which case it becomes 2 to 10 MP per turn (although I mostly see 6 and 7). This is usually used in longer fights and if you're out of MP restoring items.

54. Critical Spell Rate Up

This one is pretty self-explanatory. You may have seen by now how sometimes someone casts a spell and it'll say: "<suchandsuch>'s spell goes haywire!" for offensive spells or "<suchandsuch>'s spell gets a serious boost!" for healing spells. Well, that is what is called a critical cast. Unlike critical hits which ignore defense, critical casts double the effect of the spell (which is what you'd normally expect a critical to do based on standard RPG conventions; but DQ is unique in how it works with critical hits. :P).

Essentially, anything that improves the chances of that working is just gold, so take it and cherish it! :D

68. Channel Anger 5 MP

This ability is awesome incarnate. When used in combat, it gives your Magical Might a big boost for several turns. During those several turns, I pity whoever you're blasting with your spells. (Especially given the fact that Mages get so much Magical Might).

Always try to keep this active, unless you get hit with Disruptive Wave and the current combat situation asks for something else.

78. Natural Magical Might +60

After getting Channel Anger a mere 10 skill points ago, which improves your Magical Might during combat, Spellcraft decides to throw you another Magical Might boost; this one being three times stronger than the one you got near the start of this skill tree. Go blast some baddies for me!

88. Natural Maximum MP +20

Two stat boosts in a row! This one gives you 20 MP, which is a fair share better than the measly 10 you got back at the 38 mark. The more MP you have, the more times you can cast your wicked spells of ultimate destruction, so cast on!

100. Natural Magical Might +100

I have to assume that Square Enix has a sense of humor. I mean, three consecutive stat boosts?!

It may even irk you, until you realize how much Magical Might you're getting, and how much you got as a result of taking 100 skill points in Spellcraft. I'll even do the math, since I really want to show you:

20+60+100 = 180

So, a Mage with no points in Spellcraft has 180 less Magical Might than a Mage with 100 points in Spellcraft (assuming an identical level and no other modifiers). That is a serious boost. :o

You also got 30 MP, but seriously, that doesn't compare with the ridiculous Magical Might now, does it? :P

Well, that's about it for my fifth article in the VUST series! I hope you enjoyed it, and I really hope it motivates you to improve this skill tree. :P

Feel free to comment on the Mage vocation in the comments section. If you're a fan of maximum DPT (damage per turn) with magic, then this skill tree is pretty much a must-have.

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

-Winterfate