Skills (Dragon Quest IX)

Skills in Dragon Quest IX are awarded using a points based system that is tied to character level. As a character gains levels, they may apply a certain number of skill points toward class-specific skills. For full lists of each different skill type, see Lists of skills in Dragon Quest IX.

Earning Skill Points

For each character class, a total of 200 skill points can be earned by growing from level 1 to 99. These points are distributed in a bell curve over the span of levels.

Applying Skill Points

For each class, only a subset of skills are available to be improved using skill points. This means that strategy must be applied in order to maximize the capabilities of a character as they gain levels and change classes. Skill points must be applied wisely due to the fact that certain skills are only available to a small number of classes.

Classes/Skills Matrix

This table does not include skills which are available to only a single class or the Hero skills.

Class	Sword	Spear	Staff	Knife	Shield	Claw	Whip	Fan	Axe	Hammer	Fisticuffs	Wand	Bow	Boomerang
Warrior	X	X		X	X
Thief	X			X		X					X
Minstrel	X				X		X	X
Priest		X	X		X							X
Martial Artist			X			X		X			X
Mage				X	X		X					X
Gladiator	X								X	X	X
Armamentalist	X				X							X	X
Paladin		X			X					X		X
Ranger									X		X		X	X
Sage					X							X	X	X
Luminary					X		X	X						X

Maximizing Character Skills

It is impossible to fully maximize a single character's skills. Because each class has a class-specific skill, 100 of the 200 alotted class skill points must enhance that skill. The remaining 100 may be applied to any of the other skills available to each class. However, there are 14 multi-class skills and only 12 classes. This means that a minimum of 2 skill types cannot reach the max of 100 points for any single character.