Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Classes, Ranked

The Gadabout, otherwise known as a Jester, is a joke of a class. The male version looks like a rather creepy clown while the female version is – in true Dragon Quest fashion – dressed in a bunny suit. They do not excel in any particular stat.

It will follow player instructions most of the time, but every so often, they’ll ignore you to goof off. More likely than not, this will cause the Gadabout to miss a turn, but sometimes, they’ll deal massive damage or make enemies – and even players – lose a turn. They also suffer from some bad stat growths, making for poor characters to build up into another class.

Speaking of, the Gadabout is the only class that can become a Sage without the Words of Wisdom item. As you’ll see below, the Sage is one of the best classes in the game. That said, their poor stat growth makes them a bad choice to change to a Sage late into the game. They certainly make for great challenge runs, though.

9. Merchant

Unlike the Gadabout, the Merchant has its role in Dragon Quest 3. Namely, the Merchant is great for earning lots and lots of gold coins. They don’t excel in any particular stat.

Equipment isn’t cheap in the land of dragons and their quests, especially if you have a Warrior – or multiple – on your team that you want to keep equipped with the best gear. The Merchant makes it easy to keep your entire party outfitted with top-rate stuff at the expense of damage or utility in combat, as they’re rather weak in that regard.

Unfortunately for the Merchant, you could just grind monsters endlessly to get the gold you need for the items you want.

8. Thief

The Thief isn’t as bad off as the Gadabout and Merchant in combat as they have great Agility, but they don’t compare well to other classes in terms of combat utility.

A Thief’s utility comes in three forms. First, outside of combat, they have abilities like Nose for Treasure that tell you how many treasure chests are left in a dungeon and Padfoot, which will decrease the random battle encounter rate. Second, they will steal items from enemies defeated in combat, meaning you can stock up and grind for useful items that’ll make the more difficult dungeons a breeze.

None of this is necessary. However, their high Agility makes them a great class to change a Priest or Sage into late in the game, giving a character with plenty of amazing spells the ability to act first in combat. In short, Thieves have utility but they’re mostly a vehicle for other classes.

7. Martial Artist

The Martial Artist is a great class with high Strength and Agility with very little requirements when it comes to gear, making it a great companion to a Warrior-focused party.

At the same time, the Martial Artist is incredibly fragile and takes a long time to get going. You’ll find your Martial Artist turning into a little coffin more often than you’d like if you’re not careful; that said, they become rather potent in the endgame when you have high level Priest and Mage spells to keep them alive.

They’re a great choice to change your squishier classes into after completing most of the story, as the buff to Strength and Agility with the utility of spells is a potent combination, but they’re harder to recommend starting the game with.

6. Monster Wrangler

The newest class introduced in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is no slouch, but it takes quite a while to get rolling. That said, it has decent stats to keep itself in the fight regardless.

Much like hunting Mini Medals, to unlock abilities with the Monster Wrangler will require you to search every nook and cranny of the towns and the overworld, which now house hidden little areas with items and monsters in abundance. As a result, the Monster Wrangler takes a while to reach its potential, making it a good class to change one of your others (such as a Warrior) into much later in the adventure.

That said, skills like Call of the Wild completely wreck bosses in the early game, and running two Monster Wranglers turns the first third of the game into an easy mode.

5. Mage

The Mage is one of the most potent classes in the game with the highest-damaging spells available; that said, they also are the squishiest class, making them difficult to manage unless you have the right party setup.

A Mage’s strength comes from its ice and fire spells alongside buff spells like Oomph that increase the attack of your heavy hitting Warriors, Martial Artists, and the Hero, making them far more than glass cannons. They’re great choices to eventually change into a Sage, which will grant you some more defensive magic spells, but incredibly difficult to keep alive early on in the adventure.

If you go with a Mage in your party, don’t be afraid to defend often as a single ill-timed attack will take out their incredibly shallow health pool.

Related: Every Dragon Quest Game, Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Warrior

The Warrior is an amazing tank and damage dealer that should be slotted near the front of your party to take the most hits possible. Few are the monsters that can take it down quickly, especially with a Priest as backup.

At the same time, keeping them equipped with the best gear will require a large amount of grinding or a Merchant in your party – even more-so if you’re running one of the best party makeups in the game with two of them.

They’re great options to class change into late in the game as well, making the likes of Monster Wranglers and Martial Artists more useful, as they can equip pretty much every non-magical weapon in the game.

3. Priest

The Priest is simply a must, especially if you’re playing through Dragon Quest III on the Draconian Mode difficulty, in the early and late-game as they’re the only class that can revive dead party members outside of the Hero.

They come equipped with decent wind damage spells and a variety of buffs that raise Agility or cure status ailments. Furthermore, they’re not nearly as squishy as the Mage class and can pack a decent enough wallop when simply attacking with a melee weapon like the Holy Lance.

Finally, they’re the best option to make into a Sage as they retain a lot of their powerful defensive spells while adding tons of offensive magic.

2. Hero

There’s a reason why you can’t change your protagonist’s class in Dragon Quest III – it’s simply too good.

The Hero class doesn’t quite excel in physical or magic damage but gets close. With both fire and lightning spells, they can hit a lot of enemy weaknesses, and those come paired with a handful of support spells that heal and even Zing – a 50% chance to revive a fallen ally.

Though they can’t change classes to create some truly broken builds, they can equip some uniquely powerful weapons that make them an extremely potent class.

1. Sage

The Sage is simply the best class because changing any of the above into it or out of it will net a ton of benefits, as it comes paired with an insane amount of powerful damaging and support spells. For that reason, it’s restricted to two as it requires the Words of Wisdom item to unlock – unless you’re running a Gadabout.

There really isn’t much more to say – during your quest to defeat Baramos and beyond, you’ll likely have two Sages cycle through your party as no other class compares.

And those are all the classes in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, ranked.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is available on November 14, 2024, on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.