Dragon Quest IX: VUST - Warrior's Courage

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 (so this will be a twelve part series).This is the fourth article in the series, and details the Warrior VUST, Courage.

The Warrior skill tree improves a character's Resilience, Strength and HP, preparing him or her for a tank or damage dealer role. The abilities gained through this skill tree complement one or the other as well, as you will see below.

Read on, intrepid Warriors! ;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

Warriors, your time has come! :)

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8. Whipping Boy 0 MP

Courage starts out with an ability. This ability in particular, besides having a funny name, allows the character to cover an ally of his/her choice. I still use this ability during tough boss fights, in spite of the fact that Forbearance (from the Virtue skill tree) trumps it. Your tank isn't always going to be able to do his/her thing, so that's when you bring in the off-tank to protect your healer. The Warrior makes a more than adequate off-tank.

16. Natural Strength +10

Whereas the first perk of the Courage tree made our Warrior a better tank, this stat boost is going straight to the muscles, as it were. Extra strength results in extra damage, which makes the Warrior a harder hitter. Remember: Stat boosts = Good. :D

28. Whistle 0 MP

This is a pretty quirky ability with very concrete effects. It is one of the few abilities that can also be used out of battle, and has a different effect depending where it is used as well. If you Whistle outside of battle, you will summon a monster to battle (no more running around chasing monsters!) If you Whistle inside of battle however, your target will become enraged and will attack only the Warrior (mass attacks still hit the whole party though). If you ever need to relieve pressure off of the rest of your party, now you know what to use.

40. Natural Resilience +20

It's a stat boost! :o

Not to mention, this is the second straight perk that benefits the Warrior's role as a tank. Where's the love for the damage dealer Warrior anyway? :P

Extra resilience will give you more defense. Enough said. :)

48. Body Slam 0 MP

Well, I don't really have much to say about this ability as I've rarely used it. I've limited myself to attempting it on Baramos and, either it doesn't affect bosses or, it has a high fail chance. If anyone can figure out what uses this skill has, let me know!

56. Natural Strength +30

So, a while back we had two tanking related perks in a row. Now we have two damage dealing perks in a row, so all's well that ends well. :)

70. Morale Masher 3 MP

Here's a situational, but useful attack ability: In essence, you deal damage to your opponent. The bonus is that, if your opponent has any Tension stored up, he/she/it loses one level of said Tension. This is perfect for those annoying Bosses that spam Tension, although I could argue that Disruptive Wave is more effective at removing Tension (while costing more than Morale Masher, to be fair).

80. Natural Resilience +40

Double the goodness of the Resilience boost you got exactly 40 skill points ago. Pass Go, collect $200. ;)

(Yes, I recycled a reference from another VUST hub. Hate me later if you wish, I'm not done writing this yet. :P)

90. Natural Maximum HP +60

This is a first in this series of articles. You probably noticed that you just got two straight stat boosts in a row. Not to mention, they both benefit your tanking role. Then again, more HP is good for any class, so no complaining here.

100. Attack Attacker 4 MP

The Warrior's ultimate skill is moderately underwhelming, if you'll allow me to say so. It does get credit for the following: On top of dealing damage, it lowers the victim's attack a little as well. It's nearly impossible to find abilities or spells in this game that have the effect of lowering attack, so this is a much-needed ability. Still, while you could argue that it makes tanking easier (less attack = less damage), aren't you still forsaking a turn of tanking just to use this? :P

With that said, it's pretty brutal if you're using the Warrior as a damage dealer and not a tank.

There you have it! I've just finished up my fourth VUST article. If you compare this skill tree to the Gladiator skill tree, you'll notice that the Warrior focuses more on defense than the Gladiator does, but does less damage as a result. With that said, if you want a tank that can dish out damage as well, the Warrior is it! :D

Feel free to comment on the Warrior vocation in the comments section. As I've mentioned previously, I love tanks, so it should be no surprise that I enjoy the contents of this skill tree. :P

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

-Winterfate