Beginner Mistakes To Avoid In Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince

Highlights

• Get the best starting monster by answering Monty’s questions correctly: “No”, “Yes”, and “No” for Cruelcumber.
• Wait to grind until after unlocking fast travel and auto-battle options to save time.
• Focus on acquiring spells with Talent Points instead of prioritizing stats.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is unlike most of the games in the Dragon Quest franchise. The most basic series to liken it to would be Pokemon. Players start with a random monster based on text prompts, and then they can recruit any monster in battle that they choose. There’s even a tournament-based system that makes up a big chunk of the game’s main focus, just like how the Gym Badges are in the Pokemon series.

Those new to the Dragon Quest series may decide to jump in once they hear the Pokemon comparison, which is great. However, there’s a lot to learn when starting out in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. To save time and headaches, players should take note of the more common mistakes that can be made in the game and attempt to avoid them.

7 Not Getting Cruelcumber

Players Need To Answer Monty’s Questions Correctly

Monty is the elder of the village who recruits players to become Monster Wranglers. Like the Professors in the Pokemon series, Monty will bestow players with their first monster based on a series of questions. Players can get Platypunk, Mud Mannequin, Cruelcumber, or Fright Bulb, depending on their answers.

Of those choices, Cruelcumber is the best, as it can learn Whoosh, which is an offensive wind spell that will hit all enemies. To get Cruelcumber, players must answer Monty’s question with “No,” “Yes,” and then another “No.” Players can check abilities beforehand, which is why they may miss out on why Cruelcumber is so important early on.

6 Grinding Before Unlocking Auto-Battle

Just Follow Fizzy’s Quest

After Monty sets players up with a monster, he will hand the training reins over to another monster, Frizzy. Players have to follow Frizzy throughout the opening area, where it will teach them about a bunch of important features, like how to fight. Going through his tutorials won’t take too long, and players miss out on too many battles by doing so.

Completing the tutorial will unlock fast travel along with the fast-forward and auto-battle options once they reach the tournament in the next part of the main quest. It’s best to save grinding until after these features are unlocked, as doing so will literally save time, which is important in a turn-based RPG like Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

5 Weakening Monsters Like Pokemon

It’s A Different Game

The process of befriending monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is not explained overly well. Players may at first think they have to weaken a monster to get them to join, like in the Pokemon series. Lowering a monster’s HP and casting debuffs on them will certainly help.

However, a better way to recruit monsters is by having a beefy party. If players have a level or two above the area’s general monster level, then monsters will join the team quite quickly. So, the best way to get monsters is by grinding a little, getting strong monsters, and then basically intimidating monsters into joining.

4 Forgetting About The Second Party

It’s Not A Team Of Four; It’s A Team Of Eight

Two recent RPG exclusives on Switch, including this game, have unique party systems. The main party in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince will consist of four monsters. If all monsters faint, they can be replaced with the backup team of four. Players should not treat these other monsters as a mere backup team, though.

Players should always go into training as if the party will consist of eight members. They should be ready to move monsters around, too, if a boss is weak to certain spells. The other RPG worth mentioning is Super Mario RPG, which uses a similar feature and switches party members out upon death.

3 Putting Talent Points Into Stats

Talent Points Should Be Saved For Spells

Instead of monsters automatically learning abilities upon reaching certain levels like in the Pokemon series, monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince have Talent Trees. Every few levels they advance, they will gain Talent Points. Players can spend these points to get new abilities, like the aforementioned Whoosh spell or Heal, a must-have spell in any RPG.

Most monsters have a secondary Talent Tree, too, which can increase stats, but that’s about it. Since Talent Points are hard to come by, it’s best to focus on trying to get to the ultimate abilities for each monster as fast as possible, as opposed to prioritizing their stats.

2 Not Turning Off Talents

Players have a wealth of options when it comes to commanding monsters in battle. The attack command will cause everyone to go off orders based on the tactics menu. For example, players can set their Cruelcumber to attack without mercy while their Slime focuses on healing. Players can also choose what abilities monsters will use individually, like in standard turn-based setups, to avoid AI snafus.

Most may miss this in the menu, but players can delete abilities from the rotation in battle, or they can raise or lower their chances. This will make the auto-battle feature a lot more attractive if players know their monsters are going to waste precious MP on bad debuff abilities, like Weird Dance. Auto-battles are always great to have in an RPG.

1 Ignoring Online

Fizzy Holds The Key

There is a small online component to Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince that most may not even pay attention to. Some RPG players, even fans of Pokemon, may prefer to experience their adventure solo. While that’s completely fine, players should at least check out Fizzy’s options in the Rosehill Tower. In doing so, they can match up with players for live battles online, or they can take part in the Quickfire Contest.

This will use collected player data in automated tournaments. Wins will result in good prizes, but players can also gain play prizes for losing. They can turn these okay items into Gold, the currency of this RPG if they want as well. Gold can then be used in the specialty online shop, which refreshes once a day. Quickfire Contests can also be checked once a day, so players should make it a point to go back to Fizzy daily.