Dragon Quest VIII Skillsets?

Question

If tl;dr, skip to the bottom. Thanks for any advice.

I recently got the remake/port of this game on Android. I haven't really played it yet, save for starting it up to make sure it would run on my device, but I loved the original version.

Back then, I used, what I guess you would call the standard skillsets for the characters: Swords/Spears for the Hero, Axes/Scythes for Yangus, Whip/Sex Appeal for Jessica, and Bows/Charisma for Angelo. This was pretty much what I did every time. This time, I'm wanting to do it differently.

I'm thinking Boomerangs for the Hero, Fisticuffs for Yangus, Staves for Jessica, and Sword for Angelo. I keep reading that Boomerangs are awful, but I'm kind of tired of just using the usual stuff. I don't know about any of the others, because there is a lot of mixed feelings about them, so I'm not sure what to believe.

Anyway, would these choices be viable? I don't mind having to do a bit of extra grinding, or having to change my usual playstyle in order to use these, but are there going to be any points that would normally be easy that would become super hard as a result of this? Would I still be able to beat the main game, and the post game with this setup?

Tl;dr?
I want to use Boomerangs for the Hero, Fisticuffs for Yangus, Staves for Jessica, and Swords for Angelo. I don't want to just use the usual setups. Would the game be exponentially harder with this setup? Could I still do everything, even if it takes a bit more effort?

Thomas S · Accepted Answer

I wouldn't say exponentially harder, but it will be more challenging, particularly during boss fights.

The boomerang's damage is based off of hitting multiple targets at once, so the individual hits are not very intense.  About 18 points and Power Throw is the best the boomerang has to offer.  Boomerang's are awesome in the early game, but then good ones stop showing up until the end game, where the are lots of bosses and better group-killing options all around.

Fisticuffs is also a less than a phenomenal skill for bosses.  It does great in random encounters and map exploration, but again it's just missing something against bosses.  It works well on Jessica and Angelo in the end game, when they won't be using the "attack" command much, but the Hero and Yangus have better options.  That being said, between Hero and Yargus, Fisticuffs works much better on Yargus, particularly in the beginning.

Staves are not a bad choice for Jessica, as they increase her maximum MP.  If anything, the whip is her weak weapon skill, because once you get Twin Lashings, everything else is downhill.  That being said, Twin Lashings is awesome.  About 31 points is the sweet spot for Jessica and Staves, unless it is her only weapon.

Angelo works fine with swords.  Again it isn't his best option (which would be bows) but there are worse.

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Dragon Quest VIII Skillsets?

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