Martial Artist

A fighter well versed in hand-to-hand techniques that turn hands and feet into lethal weapons. --Description from Dragon Quest VII

The Martial Artist (formerly Fighter) is a class in the Dragon Quest series. Practitioners of the way of the fist possess high Agility, Strength, and Resilience, but low magical capability.

Characteristics

Martial artists have a great amount of speed, agility, and strength. They can deal devastating amounts of damage from a single strike, and can be equipped with a variety of weapons. However, if equipped with any weapon other than a claw in DQIII, a M.A.'s abilities will actually decrease as his or her attack power will lower considerably.

Critical hits

A pugilist has a higher chance of scoring a critical hit on an enemy than other vocations, with their ratio being dependent on their level instead of staying at a fixed ¹⁄₆₄ chance throughout the game. In all versions of III the formula is LvL/256, capping at 64. For VI and VII the formula is dependent on the character's rank in the vocation, capping at ¹⁄₈ when the vocation is mastered. Critical hits utilize a character's Deftness in IX, with martial artists receiving no special treatment other than a high aptitude for the stat.

Dragon Quest III

NES version

Attribute	Starting Stats	Maximum Stats
Level	1	99
HP	12	432
MP	0	0
Strength	15	255
Agility	10	255
Resilience	5	216
Wisdom	4	73
Luck	1	218

Starting equipment

• Clothes

Dragon Quest VI

Martial Artist is one of the basic classes available. It is one of the prerequisites for the Gladiator vocation (along with Warrior), and for the Paladin vocation (along with Priest).

As mentioned above, M.A.'s get higher critical hit rates as their vocation rank rises:

Rank	Critical Hit Rate
1	1/256
2	1/256
3	1/64
4	1/48
5	1/32
6	1/24
7	1/16
8	1/8

Stat Changes

Statistics	Change
Battles to Master	200
Agility	+15%
Defence	-10%
Max MP	-50%
Trait	Increased critical hit rate

Abilities

Level	Title	Learns	Battles Needed	Target	Info	MP
1	White Belt	Leg Sweep	1	One Enemy	A martial arts technique that knocks foes to the ground.	0
2	Yellow Belt	Roundhouse Kick	16	One group	A circular kick that pummels a single group of enemies.	0
3	Green Belt	Wind Sickles	32	One Enemy	Sends a whirlwind of sickles pirouetting into the enemy.	0
4	Brown Belt	Dodgy Dance	60	Self	Fancy footwork that prepares the performer to take evasive maneuvers.	0
5	Black Belt	Knuckle Sandwich	90	One Enemy	A powerfully focused and damaging bare-fisted strike.	0
6	Instructor	Pressure Pointer	125	One enemy	Targets a vital spot to take down an enemy instantly.	0
7	Dojo Master	Heave-Ho	158	One enemy	Ejects enemy from battle	0
8	Fist of Fate	Multifists	200	Variable	A vicious four-hit strike on a random enemy.	0

Dragon Quest VII

Martial artist is one of the basic classes available at Alltrades Abbey. It is a prerequisite for the Gladiator and Paladin vocations, which in turn are necessary for the Champion advanced vocation.

The critical hit rate has been changed slightly from VI, but the cap is still 1/8th.

Rank	Critical Hit Rate
1	1/64
2	1/64
3	1/64
4	1/32
5	1/16
6	1/16
7	25/256
8	1/8

Stat Changes

Statistics	Change
Battles to Master	160
Strength	Null
Agility	+15%
Resilience	-10%
Wisdom	-20%
Style	Null
Max HP	Null
Max MP	-50%

PS1 Abilities

Level	Title	Learns	Battles Needed	Target	Info	MP
1	Beginner	Nothing	0
2	Novice	Leg Sweep	16	One Enemy	Trips an enemy, preventing it from attacking the next turn	0
3	Grappler	Flying Knee	32	One Enemy	Performs a jump kick with low damage but higher accuracy	0
4	Black Belt	Roundhouse Kick	50	One Group	Attacks one group of enemies with decreasing damage	0
5	Assassin	Heave-Ho	70	One Enemy	Banishes a single enemy from battle. (Works like Poof)	0
6	Ninja	War Cry	105	All enemies	If successful, will prevent all enemies from attacking the next turn	0
7	Sensei	Knuckle Sandwich	130	One Enemy	Does 50 Percent more damage than a regular attack	0
8	Master	Wind Sickles	160	One Enemy	A wind based attack that becomes stronger the higher the level gained	0

3DS Abilities

Level	Title	Learns	Battles Needed	Target	Info	MP
1	White Belt	Nothing	0
2	Yellow Belt	Leg Sweep	8	One Enemy	Trips an enemy, preventing it from attacking the next turn	0
3	Green Belt	Flying Knee	16	One Enemy	Performs a jump kick with low damage but higher accuracy	0
4	Brown Belt	Roundhouse Kick	24	One Group	Attacks one group of enemies with decreasing damage	0
5	Black Belt	Heave-Ho	33	One Enemy	Banishes a single enemy from battle. (Works like Poof)	0
6	Instructor	Pressure Pointer	43	One enemy	Has the chance of killing a single enemy; if it fails, it inflicts 50% melee damage instead	0
7	Dojo Master	Knuckle Sandwich	53	One Enemy	Does 50 Percent more damage than a regular attack	2
8	Fist of Fate	Wind Sickles	65	One Enemy	A wind based attack that becomes stronger the higher the level gained	0

Hybrid Abilities

Hybrid	Learns	Target	Info	MP
Dancer	Jock Dance	One Group	Attacks one group of enemies with decreasing damage	0
Jester	Retaliate	Self	Returns any attack against the caster back to the enemy	0
Mage	Fire Air	All Enemies	Does ~10HP in fire damage	0
Mariner	Big Trip	One Enemy	Damages the enemy and prevents them from acting the next turn	0
Shepherd	Ram Attack	Self/One Enemy	Reduces self and one enemy to 20% HP	0
Thief	K.O. Punch	One Enemy	Has the chance of killing a single enemy	0

Usefulness

The M.A.'s skill Wind Sickles is worth learning as it grows in strength the higher the level. In terms of development, the M.A. is required in order to become a Gladiator and Paladin. The great thing about Martial Artists is that these two classes combine to make a Godhand. The Godhand is worth investing some time and battles in getting if the player is looking to go to the bonus dungeons.

The M.A.'s hybrid skills are not very exciting except for Jock Dance. However, Roundhouse does the same thing and it doesn't require changing into a Dancer to do so.

Dragon Quest IX

The Martial Artist (Monk) vocation is available at the start of the game and has the unique skill set "Focus". Martial Artists can also use skill points to learn Fan, Staff, Claw, and Fisticuffs skills. Their Coup-de-Grace is "Roaring Tirade," which terrorizes all enemies and raises tension by one level. As mentioned above, a Martial Artist is no more likely to land a critical hit than a character with the same Deftness stat.

Stats

Attribute	Starting Stats	Maximum Stats
Level	1	99
HP	24	540
MP	2	38
Strength	18	399
Agility	23	500
Resilience	11	245
Magical Might	0	0
Magical Mending	0	0
Deftness	11	255
Charm	5	120

Focus

Accolades	Required points	Name	Effects
Energiser	4	Warcry	Intimidates a group of enemies.
Surpriser	10	Natural Agility +10	Increases agility by 10
Chastiser	16	Psyche Up	Increases tension by one level
Galvaniser	22	Natural Strength +10	Increases strength by 10
Pressuriser	32	Mens Sana	Removes negative status effects
Equaliser	42	Natural Max HP +30	Increases maximum HP by 30
Agoniser	55	Mind Over Matter	Protects against breath attack
Terroriser	68	Natural Agility +30	Increases agility by 30
Pulveriser	90	Meditation	Restores at least 80 HP
Atomiser	100	Natural Agility +60	Increases agility by 60

Revocation Award

• Mercury Prize

Trivia

• The male martial artist from Dragon Quest III has made cameo appearances as an NPC in other games in the series, including VII and VIII.

Notable Martial Artists

• Alena
• Carver
• Morrie is said to be an evolved mix of one and a Minstrel in the 3DS version of VIII

Gallery

• 

  Dragon Quest III

• 

  Male and female martial artists

• 

  Dragon Quest III martial artist

• 

  Being munched on by a Cannibox.