Ranger
The Ranger (レンジャー, Renjā) is a recurring, nature-themed vocation in the Dragon Quest series. Eschewing the typical Robin Hood designs seen in other games, DQ rangers are modeled after the inhabitants of the great Steppes such as the Mongolians and American Indians.
Characteristics
The Ranger's statistics vary from game to game, though there is a consistent focus on evasiveness and providing party support. In Dragon Quest VI, the Ranger increases Agility, Wisdom, and gives the party an increased chance to flee from battle at higher ranks, though it decreases several other attributes as well. In Dragon Quest IX, the Ranger is most Deft of all vocations, and serves as a physically oriented jack-of-all-trades by providing buffs, healing, and above-average damage output even from the back row. Though the vocation's only high stat is deftness, their tool-set is broad enough to cover a wide variety of circumstances while providing relief for the party's main healer, and also inflict tremendous damage through the powerful Wolf Whistle skill. Dragon Quest X slightly modifies the Ranger from IX, giving it access to the lightening element via a high-voltage arrow skill.
Thematically, the Ranger's focus on avoiding combat through silently navigating the field and dungeons without detection, having a greater chance to flee from foes, dodging attacks through the use of smoke techniques such as Mist Me, and the ability to summon animals to aid in battle makes them closer to the typical Ninja seen in RPGs more so than the usual forest-dwelling sniper present in other games.
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
A character requires mastery of the Merchant, Thief and Monster Master vocations to become a Ranger. Becoming a Ranger allows a character to flee battle more easily at higher ranks. Note that vocation flee rates stack with base encounter flee rates; I.E. being at rank 1 does not cut the base chance in half.
Vocation trait
| Rank | Flee Rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1/8 |
| 2 | 1/8 |
| 3 | 3/8 |
| 4 | 3/8 |
| 5 | 5/8 |
| 6 | 5/8 |
| 7 | 5/8 |
| 8 | 8/8 |
Stat Changes
| Statistics | Change |
| Battles to Master | 199 |
| Strength | -10% |
| Agility | +20% |
| Resilience | -20% |
| Wisdom | +10% |
| Max HP | -10% |
| Max MP | +20% |
| Trait | Increased chance of fleeing the enemy |
| Mastery Bonus | +20 Agility |
- In the SFC and DS versions of 'VI', the Ranger's MP is reduced by 30%
Abilities
| Level | Title | Learns | Battles Needed | Target | Info | MP |
| 1 | Woodcutter | Holy Protection | 1 | Party | Generates a holy aura that keeps weaker monsters away. | 4 |
| 2 | Trailblazer | Venom Mist | 20 | One group | Envenomates a group of enemies. | 0 |
| 3 | Gatherer | Safe Passage | 50 | Party | Travel with impunity across terrain that would otherwise cause harm. | 2 |
| 4 | Trapper | Stomp | 80 | All enemies | Creates a violent vibration that shakes up enemies. | 0 |
| 5 | Tracker | Dazzleflash | 110 | Enemy group | Blinds the enemy with a bright flash of light. | 0 |
| 6 | Stalker | Defending Champion | 140 | Self | Greatly reduces the damage inflicted by physical attacks. | 0 |
| 7 | Predator | Pyre o' Fire | 170 | One enemy | A pillar of flame that singes the enemy. | 0 |
| 8 | King of the Hunt | Backdraft | 200 | Self | Whips up a tailwind that reflects an enemy breath attack. | 0 |
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
The Ranger vocation does not appear at all in either version of Dragon Quest VII; due to a localization error, the Armamentalist vocation was dubbed the Ranger in the PSX script.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
The Hero must finish the quest Ranger Changer to unlock this vocation. By talking to a person at the base of the Heights of Loneliness, the player can accept a quest which involves poisoning Hocus Chimeras and then letting them die by poison, nothing else. After doing this 3 times, the ranger vocation is unlocked.
Rangers have the unique skillset Ruggedness, and can also use skill points to learn Axe, Bow, Boomerang, and Fisticuffs skills. Their Coup-de-Grace is "Brownie Boost," which increases attack, defense, and applies Insulate.
Stats
| Attribute | Starting Stats | Maximum Stats |
| Level | 1 | 99 |
| HP | 31 | 510 |
| MP | 14 | 229 |
| Strength | 18 | 305 |
| Agility | 16 | 264 |
| Resilience | 14 | 241 |
| Magical Might | 0 | 0 |
| Magical Mending | 12 | 200 |
| Deftness | 30 | 500 |
| Charm | 4 | 61 |
Ruggedness
| Accolade | Required points | Name | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | 4 | Soothe Sayer | Calms an enraged enemy |
| Happy Camper | 10 | Natural Deftness +10 | Permanently adds 10 to deftness |
| Outdoorsman/woman | 16 | Mercy | Gives a weakened enemy a chance to escape |
| Forest Dweller | 22 | Natural Agility +20 | Permanently adds 20 to agility |
| Wild Child | 32 | Vanish | Hides party on field; reduces user's chance of being attacked |
| Survivalist | 42 | Natural Resilience +20 | Permanently adds 20 to resilience |
| Bushcraftsman/woman | 55 | Mist Me | Summons fog that thwarts enemy attacks |
| Talented tracker | 68 | Natural Deftness +30 | Permanently adds 30 to deftness |
| Pathfinder | 82 | Wolf Whistle | Summons two wolves to attack enemy |
| King/Queen of the Jungle | 100 | Natural Deftness +60 | Permanently adds 60 to deftness |
Spells
| Name | Level | MP | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe Passage | 3 | 2 | Travel with impunity across harmful terrain. |
| Squelch | 4 | 2 | Cures a single ally of the effects of poison. |
| Evac | 7 | 3 | Exit instantly from dungeons, caves, and towers. |
| Heal | 10 | 2 | Restores at least 30 HP to a single ally. |
| Insulate | 12 | 4 | Protects a party member from breath-based attacks. |
| Tingle | 16 | 2 | Cures all party members of the effects of paralysis. |
| Cock-a-doodle-doo | 18 | 2 | Awakens any sleeping party members. |
| Midheal | 22 | 4 | Restores at least 75 HP to a single ally. |
| Zing | 24 | 8 | Resurrects a fallen ally, but sometimes fails. |
| Insulatle | 26 | 8 | Protects the whole party from breath-based attacks. |
| Moreheal | 34 | 8 | Restores at least 165 HP to a single ally. |
Revocation Award
Dragon Quest X
Rangers were added to the game in the version 1.1 update. The stat spread and abilities are similar to the previous game, and the class has the highest deftness by far once again. The biggest difference between IX and X for the ranger is that the tenth game gives them access to Rubblerouser, Boulderbringer, Mountainmover and Ridgeraiser as their sole offensive spells.
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Dragon Quest Walk
The ranger vocation was added to the game in the January update. Unlocking it requires that a player reach level 50 in the thief and martial artist vocations, the latter of which due to the monster master not being present in the game. The vocation's weapon choices are Boomerangs, Claws, Knives, and Whips
Trivia
- The rank accolades for the Japanese version of VI are taken from the Super Sentai series of tokusatsu television programs, rather than any bushcraft or survivalist terms. They are:
- White ranger (シロレンジャー)
- Yellow ranger (キレンジャー)
- Red ranger (アカレンジャー)
- Blue ranger (アオレンジャー)
- Black ranger (クロレンジャー)
- Power ranger (パワーレンジャー)
- Mega ranger (メガレンジャー)
- King ranger (キングレンジャー)
- Due to their natural deftness and the alterations done to stealing mechanics in Dragon Quest IX, a Ranger will typically be better at robbing monsters than a Thief if no stat boosting items are equipped.
