Ranger

From Dragon Quest Wiki
A Wetling, Ogre, and Dwarf as rangers in Dragon Quest X

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

DQIX Ranger Male.png
DQIX Ranger Female.png

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[edit]

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[edit]

Name Description Required points Accolade
Soothe Sayer Calms an enraged enemy 4 Backpacker
Natural Deftness +10 Permanently adds 10 to deftness 10 Happy Camper
Mercy Gives a weakened enemy a chance to escape 16 Outdoorsman/woman
Natural Agility +20 Permanently adds 20 to agility 22 Forest Dweller
Vanish Hides party on field; reduces user's chance of being attacked 32 Wild Child
Natural Resilience +20 Permanently adds 20 to resilience 42 Survivalist
Mist Me Summons fog that thwarts enemy attacks 55 Bushcraftsman/woman
Natural Deftness +30 Permanently adds 30 to deftness 68 Talented tracker
Wolf Whistle Summons two wolves to attack enemy 82 Pathfinder
Natural Deftness +60 Permanently adds 60 to deftness 100 King/Queen of the Jungle

Spells[edit]

Name MP Level Target Description
Safe Passage 2 3 Party Travel with impunity across harmful terrain.
Squelch 2 4 One ally Cures a single ally of the effects of poison.
Evac 3 7 Party Exit instantly from dungeons, caves, and towers.
Heal 2 10 One ally Restores at least 30 HP to a single ally.
Insulate 4 12 One ally Protects a party member from breath-based attacks.
Tingle 2 16 Party Cures all party members of the effects of paralysis.
Cock-a-doodle-doo 2 18 Party Awakens any sleeping party members.
Midheal 4 22 One ally Restores at least 75 HP to a single ally.
Zing 8 24 One ally Resurrects a fallen ally, but sometimes fails.
Insulatle 8 26 Party Protects the whole party from breath-based attacks.
Moreheal 8 34 One ally Restores at least 165 HP to a single ally.

Revocation Award[edit]

Dragon Quest X[edit]

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 the Earth-element traps as their sole offensive spells.

NOTE:The parenthetical translations of the Japanese names are merely placeholders for convenience and are not to be taken as official Square Enix terms

Ruggedness[edit]

Japanese name English name Description MP Required
points
みのがす Mercy Spares weaker monsters who flee the battlefield. No experience points or gold is gained, but vamoosing monsters can still drop items. 2 2
全職業できようさ+20 Natural deftness +20 Permanently increases deftness by 20 in all vocations N/A 12
てなずける
(To tame, to win over, etc)
N/A Targeted monster fights on the party's behalf for one minute 0 22
全職業でみりょく+20 Natural charm +20 Permanently increases charm by 20 in all vocations N/A 34
メタルトラップ
(Metal trap)
N/A Sets a trap that prevents enemies from fleeing for 15 seconds
Works on all monsters, including Metal slimes
1 46
全職業できようさ+20 Natural deftness +20 Permanently increases deftness by 20 in all vocations
Total of +40
N/A 54
まもりのきり Mist me Clouds user in mist that voids breath skills for 120 seconds
This includes status ailment breath skills
5 68
全職業でかいふく魔力+20 Natural magical mending +20 Permanently increases magical mending by 20 in all vocations N/A 78
全職業できようさ+20 Natural deftness +20 Permanently increases deftness by 20 in all vocations
Total of +60
N/A 82
オオカミアタック Wolf whistle Summons a wolf to attack one enemy twice
Damage is (deftness x 0.18) +53.5, limit is 500 deftness for 175~185[1]
Ignores defence stat, but is effected by defending & defensive skills
6 100
先制攻撃率アップ
(Preemptive strike chance up)
N/A Raises the chance to get the drop on enemies N/A 110
きようさ+20 Natural deftness +30 Increases deftness by 30 while character is a ranger
Total of +90
N/A 120
あんこくのきり
(Mist of darkness, blackness, gloom, etc)
N/A A fog is produced that lowers the strength and attack spell resistance of all enemies in range by one stage
Affected enemies are also blinded
Duration is 120 seconds
4 130
ジバルンバ Kacraggle/Ridgeraiser Unlocks the Kacraggle/Ridgeraiser spell 16 140
フェンリルアタック
(Fenrir attack)
Ruff Rider Summons a white wolf to attack a random enemy four times
Damage is (deftness x 0.32) + 216[2]
Unaffected by Dazzle & blinding skills
Ignores defence stat, but is effected by defending & defensive skills
150
ケルベロスロンド
(Cerberus rondo)
N/A Summons the hound of Hades to attack one enemy three times, with a chance to Sap the target per strike
Damage based on deftness, cap of approximately 320 per strike at 700
Each strike ignores defence stat, but has a 50% chance to miss.
10 180
紅蓮蝶のきり(Mist of the crimson-lotus butterfly) N/A Produces a fog that raises the party's attack by two stages (40%)
Voids one enemy breath skill
8 200

Spells[edit]

Name MP Level Target Description
Evac 3 3 Party Exit instantly from dungeons, caves, and towers.
Heal 2 6 One ally Restores at least 30 HP
Cock-a-doodle-doo 2 10 One ally Cures Snooze
Crag/Rubblerouser 4 12 Proximity Sets a seal on the ground that will explode after a duration and hit nearby enemies for 18~24earth damage.
ザオ
(Zao)
5 15 One ally 50% chance to revive party member at 1 HP
Insulate 2 19 One ally Reduces breath damage by up to 40% for 120 seconds
Craggle/Boulderbringer 8 23 Proximity Sets a seal on the ground that will explode after a duration and hit nearby enemies for 52~68 earth damage.
Midheal 4 25 One ally Restores at least 80 HP
Dazzle 3 29 Proximity Blinds enemies, reducing accuracy
Zing 8 38 One ally 50% chance to revive party member at half HP
Insulatle 4 44 Party Reduces breath damage by up to 40% for 120 seconds
Moreheal 10 68 One ally Restores at least 164 HP
Kacrag/Mountainmover 16 69 Proximity Sets a seal on the ground that will explode after a duration and hit nearby enemies for 130~150 earth damage.
Oomphle 4 72 One ally Raises party member's attack by 40% for 120 seconds

Dragon Quest Walk[edit]

Rangers as they appear in Walk

The ranger vocation was added to the game in the January 2020 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[edit]

  • 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.

See also[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]