Martial Artist

From Dragon Quest Wiki
Fighter3male.png
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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 (武闘家, Butouka) 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[edit]

Martial artists have a great amount of 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 III, a Martial Artist's abilities will actually decrease as his or her Attack power will lower considerably. Compared to other vocations, Martial Artists have a very limited armor selection, particularly when it comes to shields and headwear. This can be a boon to the party's finances as unlike Warriors, it is not necessary to continuously upgrade the Martial Artist's equipment. Most of their armor consists of lightweight vests and other clothing designed for ease of movement.

Critical Hit[edit]

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 164 chance throughout the game. In all versions of III the formula is LvL/256, capping once the martial artist reaches level 64 (25%). For VI and VII the formula is dependent on the character's rank in the vocation, capping at 18 when the vocation is mastered. Critical hits utilize a character's Deftness in IX and subsequent titles, with martial artists receiving no special treatment other than a high aptitude for the stat.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation[edit]

Stats[edit]

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

Equipment[edit]

Dragon Quest III (All) 
Accessories Modifier(s)
Strength ring Strength+7
Tough guy tattoo Strength+8
Mighty armlet Strength+15
Doh-hican Defence+3
Garter Defence+3
Gold rosary Defence+4
Leg Warmers Defence+5
Ten ton toupee Defence+15
Cower ring Agility+7
Skull ring Agility+10
Agility ring Agility+`5
Mercury's bandana Agility+30
Meteorite bracer Agilityx2
Restless heart Resilience+10
Gold chain Resilience+10
Weightlifter's belt Resilience+15
Recovery ring Resilience+25
Care ring Wisdom+15
Scholar's specs Wisdom+15
Goddess ring Wisdom+33
Bunny tail Luck+8
Golden tiara Luck+13
Hen's tooth Luck+20
Sacred amulet Luck+30
Elevating shoes Luck+50
Dummy
Slime earrings
Ruby wristband
  • ♥ denotes female only equipment.

Starting equipment[edit]

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation[edit]

Th 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).

Vocation trait[edit]

As mentioned above, martial artists 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[edit]

Statistics Change
Battles to Master 200
Strength Null
Agility +15%
Resilience -10%
Wisdom Null
Style Null
Max HP Null
Max MP -50%
Trait Increased Critical Hit rate

Abilities[edit]

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: Fragments of the Forgotten Past[edit]

DQVII Martial Artist male.png
DQVII Martial Artist female.png

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.

Vocation trait[edit]

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[edit]

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

PS1 Abilities[edit]

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

3DS Abilities[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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 dungeon]]s.

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: Sentinels of the Starry Skies[edit]

DQIX Martial Artist Male.png
DQIX Martial Artist Female.png

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 Fans, Staves, Claws, and Fisticuff 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Dragon Quest X[edit]


Dragon Quest Walk[edit]

Status screen for a character changing from a warrior to a Martial Artist in Walk.

The Martial Artist is available to players from the beginning of the game, and allows them to equip Claws, Spears, and Whips.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

The Martial Artist from Dragon Quest III appears as a special costume for the Mii Brawler.

Notable Martial Artists[edit]

  • Alena's stats, equipment, and critical hits are derived from the vocation's depiction in III.
  • Carver's childhood dream was to become a Martial Artist of great renown, and he naturally learns several bare-handed abilities.
  • Morrie combines martial artist abilities with those of a Minstrel in the 3DS version of VIII.
  • Mjoll, a kind young Ogre woman who has been training as a Martial Artist from a young age.
  • Jade takes several abilities from the vocation's depiction in IX and X, and adds a sultry twist to more than a few.
  • Rab has the qualities of a Martial Artist, along with those of a Sage.
  • Maam, one of Dai's companions and a Disciple of Avan. She trains as a Martial Artist under the tutelage of Brokeena, the Holy Fist.

Trivia[edit]

  • 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.

See also[edit]

Gallery[edit]