Dragon Quest XI S difficulty: Boosted or Off?

[GhostBanana]

I'm 21 hours or so in on Switch and I've been playing with Harder Monsters turned on. I just got on the boat and my characters are level 18-17. I'm thinking about turning the Draconian setting off but I know I won't be able to turn it back on. Anyone here had to make the same choice? What difficulty settings did you use?

I'm enjoying the challenge and I feel success when I beat a tough boss but my party is getting wiped a lot, even in some random encounters. I'm using the forge a lot and everyone is min/maxed. Getting wiped is fine but I am crawling through the game and I know it's already a huge time sink on normal. But my concern is that if I turn Harder Monsters off the magic and battle system will just turn to mush and I won't engage with it at all and some of the fun will disappear. But then again, I have plenty of challenging games to play on PC and, like Tim Rogers says, DQ is easy. I'm torn.

I absolutely love the game but I wish they'd let you turn the difficulty on and off as you want if they aren't going to bother balancing it themselves. It's so restrictive.

 

[Lelouch0612]

You still will get challenging battles later in the game, even if the Draconian modifiers are desactivated.

However, random battles will be more easy for sure.

 

[NioA]

The harder monster modifier restore the difficulty to the same level of any other Dragon Quest, so that. If it's too hard you can always tone it down, but you can't the opposite.

 

[Duffking]

Normal. I turned on Draconian monsters at the suggestion of others and frankly, I hated it. The game is very easy early on, true, but with tougher monsters I found it an enormous slog where sometimes an encounter with general enemies would just wipe the party before I got more than 1 turn in and send me back half an hour. It was just annoying, and frankly kind of boring. I wish there had been something in between. But once you get far enough in the battles are about the right level of challenge anyway.

 

[Kuro]

The game is way too piss easy without mutliple drac settings. It also makes you use the most out of the battle system and makes the game much more satisfying.

I would go with harder monsters, no equipment from shops, and a couple other settings I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

[Deleted member 2752]

One of my favourite things about this game was how chill it is about everything. So I say to stick with normal, unless you need a challenge for whatever reason.

 

[julia crawford]

I played on normal, i controlled only the MC and let AI control the other characters. But i rolled back manual control to everyone in boss fights or harder fights in general. I still found it fun.

Generally combat in DQXI was about being as efficient as possible and not really about challenge. Since the game has no scoring on how well you perform, it's fun to be chill with combat.

 

[Nilou]

I played the base game on normal when it first launched on PS4, loved it but found the game to be way too easy for 95% of it. When the S version first released with the switch I tried out draconian monsters and honestly I had a lot more fun with the game battles wise with the harder monsters than without. Felt like I was playing DQ8 on PS2 again with how challenging large parts of that game is especially early on or other classic DQ games. Plan to get the S version on PS4 one day and will definitely be enabling harder monsters again.

 

[Strings]

Stronger monsters is ace. Platinumed the game twice, first time via the Japanese release that didn't have them as an option, and then the English release that did. Loved both run-throughs, but it's too easy without them enabled.

 

[Izanagi89]

I kept it on. You'll run into numerous roadblocks as some of the bosses are crazy difficult with it on but it makes the crafting and leveling up system more satisfying.

 

[Paper Cheese]

Genuinely depends how you want to engage with the game, if you're happy for tough fights to be limited to boss encounters, then just play on normal. DQXI excels in its worldbuilding and side stories, and it's a great chill handheld game I've found, so I'd recommend just chilling with a nice cup of tea and just enjoying it on normal difficulty, leave the hard fights for other games where combat is more of the focus.

 

[Joedev]

Played with it off and just avoided battles as much as possible (would generally fight each enemy once in each new area). I thought that made for the most optimal playthrough. No grinding was required, but bosses were still a challenge.

 

[TeenageFBI]

Harder enemies is good at the start but I really don't like how it works once you start fighting the later bosses that attack three times in one turn. A quirk of the new turn system means that It's entirely possible for an enemy to take two turns (six attacks) in a row. I've gone from 4 party members at 100% HP to a party wipe before I had a chance to recover.

Yes, you can mitigate this with buffs and debuffs but debuff success rate is far from certain and you often won't know what you should even prepare for unless you've already fought the boss.

 

[OrakioRob]

I'm not that far ahead in the game (just met Sylvando), but I started with Draconian modifiers and hated it. Not that it was hard, but up to now I'm finding the combat in DQXI pretty boring, so making battles longer only made matters worse.

 

[Tiamant]

As someone who recently tried the franchise for the first time: it's a mediocre experience either way. What do you prefer, a piss easy game or a frustrating experience?

 

[MikeE21286]

The game is extremely easy IMO on normal difficulty. I wish I would have played with harder monsters. But I'm already 65 hours in...

 

[Skulldead]

Harder Monsters make the game very fun to play, without it the game is cakewalk. It really feel a little above normal DQ difficulty with this mode + no XP when monster is too weak.

 

[Brazil]

Draconian Quest is literally what makes Dragon Quest XI a joy to play.

Might at well just watch the game on YouTube otherwise.

 

[kiaaa]

Harder monsters made even normal battles tedious so I turned it off after 4-6 hours. Up to you if you want that, though.

 

[werezompire]

everyone is min/maxed.

Click to shrink...

They probably aren't if you're finding it too hard with Harder Monsters.

I played through the main game (not post-game) twice with Harder Monsters, No XP if overleveled, and No Shops and I discovered that the second time through was drastically easier because I understood the systems better & I used more optimal skill point allocation. Sometimes a different skill + equipment setup is all you need to turn a difficult battle into a relatively easy one.

The first time I tried the game was on an import before they had added the Harder Monsters option and I found the game fairly boring, it was so easy. But with some draconian settings up, it's my favorite game in the series.

 

[Shiny Man]

I definitely recommend the stronger enemies modifier, it makes the game reasonably challenging without being unfair. Without it it's just a bore.

Skip all the other modifiers tho, they're mostly handicaps anyway.

 

[Deleted member 37928]

I wish there was a separate modifier for regular monsters and bosses, because the difference between them is rather huge. Some of the later bosses will kill your enjoyment just by how unfair they are. They get multiple hits, several status effects with high chance and they have a lot of health. There's also some scenarios where multiple bosses will show up with rather short intervals. What it means is that you'll have to grind a lot to even keep up so expect to put WAY more time into the game.

 

[His Majesty]

Game is still relatively easy with harder monsters but at least some of the boss battles require some strategy. I would recommend turning that on.

 

[Jhey Cyphre]

Finally picked this game up myself. It's neat that there are lots of difficulty modifiers. I'm thinking harder monsters, less EXP from weaker mobs... Those good options for a first time playthrough?

 

[Pat_DC]

Stronger enemies for me. I'd have fallen off the game much earlier without it.
Kept me more engaged and made the opening of the game a lot more interesting.
Meant I needed to really make the most of items, armour and crafting.

 

[crazillo]

I just completed the main game recently. Play with stronger enemies on. You have to strategize very well, use buffs/rebuffs and use the forging. It's great even though I did curse at some of these later bosses, I am glad I left it on all the time. For the kraken, make sure to talk to the old lady on the cliff with the canon. And be decently leveled and geared up. Check out the skill tree tips on neoseeker, too.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I played the entire game with Harder Monsters and it was amazing.

 

[Jobbs]

I love Dragon Quest 11 (and DQ in general -- I've been a super fan since DQ8 came out on the PS2).

There is one major flaw with the game, though, and that is the balance. For me, at least, there is seemingly no ideal balance. I played the original base game on PS4 for about 35 hours and got kind of bored because it was so ludicrously easy. Later I got 11s when that came out and started over with hard mode turned on and played another 40 hours. I've yet to finish it. I think I'm stuck on a boss (haven't played in a while).

I can't overstate how easy the game is on normal (at least in the first 35 hours or so). For the most part, you could, if you wanted, set every party member to be AI controlled and still win every battle in the game (this may not be 100% true on certain later bosses, but generally speaking it's true). It's just that easy. Regular enemy encounters are so easy and die so fast that they become tedious. Bosses rarely provide much pushback either.

The problem now is that draconian mode with harder monsters goes too far the other way. It's *very* hard. I enjoy the regular enemy encounters providing some resistance and occasionally threatening my party, but the bosses can be absolute assholes, often requiring lots of grinding to have any chance against. I'm fine with grinding to a point but some of these bosses can become quite absurd in how much damage and CC they can put out in one turn.

In any case, I think harder monsters is probably the better way to play overall for anyone who enjoys optimizing their characters and thinking about strategy, because normal mode won't really require you to do those things. I've always felt like challenging combat that pushed back and occasionally stumped you is kind of a core part of the JRPG experience -- having some motivation to engage with all the systems and optimize your characters and give it your all. If the game is overly easy then you don't have any incentive or reward for optimization and the whole thing falls apart a bit.

 

[GhostBanana]

Finally picked this game up myself. It's neat that there are lots of difficulty modifiers. I'm thinking harder monsters, less EXP from weaker mobs... Those good options for a first time playthrough?

Click to shrink...

There doesn't seem to be a happy medium, though lots of people here say harder monsters is the way to go. I played the first 25 hours with harder monsters but it requires you to min/max and find all the hidden gear. I found it really frustrating and personally like how chill the game is on normal so I turned off harder monsters. This makes the random encounters/fights with normal enemies VERY easy but some of the bosses are still difficult. I'm playing the game for the relaxed vibes, the story and exploring different towns and seeing the monsters. If that's what you're looking for I think normal is the way to go.

 

[FinFunnels]

I played through the entire game on Normal and, while I enjoyed the game, the battles were far too easy and I regretted not using any of the modifiers. I'll definitely do so if I ever replay the game.

 

[thezboson]

I started with them on and eventually turned them off. It is just too much of an RNG grind. Will replay with stronger monsters at some point though.

 

[Segaswirl]

I'm currently playing through the game on normal now, around 90 hours in and...

Spoiler: Spoilers

Got sent packing in the Trial of the Luminary by the two bosses. I was around level 55 when I tried it. Now i'm just going around doing the side quests I missed before trying it again at a higher level

I'd say normal is fine depending on how good you are at JRPG's. I'm not. The game in general has been quite chill for me but I have hit walls a couple of times already.

 

[crazillo]

I do agree that Stronger Monsters CAN be frustrating, and I think it comes down to the randomness involved in DQ turn-based battles. You can't see which characters turn it is next, so there is always the chance of that healing spell coming in just too late after a devasting three-combo from the boss. Also, bosses sometimes decide to go at one char in particular with multiple attacks, hit with a desperate attack in a bad moment or put almost your whole party into gold or some other weird state.

Still, your save spot usually is only a few steps away (mostly, not always!) and the boss battles were so laughably easy on normal that I had no fun even engaging with the battle mechanics deeply there. When your set-up works on stronger monsters, e.g. getting all the buffs and debuffs in place in the beginning of the battle, and then seeing someone like Erik outleash up to thousdans points of damage, it's damn satisfying.

 

[Listai]

Stronger enemies for sure - I found the game challenging but never punishing. Needing to be careful during certain random encounters gave the game an added element of tension that isn't usually there in DQ.

 

[eXistor]

Normal all the way, I don't play jrpg's for the challenge.

 

[ITBEATS]

I've really liked the Stronger Monsters Draconian, but I'm currently at the Octagonia boss and finding it very frustrating. Group debuffs and the resurrection spell misses more often than not – I'm not having fun currently.

I've been loving it so far and made me engage with the systems more, so really want to push through. Does anyone have any tips?

Is there ever a point where normal enemies provide a challenge on normal settings?

 

[Dezzy]

I'd say normal just because the game is so long, and you'll fight a ton of battles. It might start to get tiring.

 

[Starlatine]

Normal is just mind-numbingly boring. There's no challenge whatsoever till the end game, which you only reach if you really enjoy the game anyway - so why make 90% of it trivial just to get there "faster"?

First time i played the game i played without the modifiers and i dropped the game. Took a lot of convincing from a friend for me to return, this time using the harder monsters and no grinding modifiers, and the game was so much more enjoyable to me. Enough to take to the end this time.

 

[RossC]

Can I use this to ask how much further I have to go after the end of Act II? Got a save right after all of that and trying to decide whether to leave it there or go for the rest of it.

I know there's crazy stuff like get everyone to max level and do some crazy trial type things, but i'd just like to finish whatever story stuff comes up in Act III

 

[Ocean]

DQXI for me was about a chill experience with charming characters and locales. The battle system wasn't interesting, but battles were easy enough that it didn't feel like an important part of the game. If I tuned up the difficulty, I'd have to deal with what I feel is the game's worst aspect even more, so I don't think it's worth it.

The game is too easy, and that's OK.

 

[GhostBanana]

DQXI for me was about a chill experience with charming characters and locales. The battle system wasn't interesting, but battles were easy enough that it didn't feel like an important part of the game. If I tuned up the difficulty, I'd have to deal with what I feel is the game's worst aspect even more, so I don't think it's worth it.

The game is too easy, and that's OK.

Click to shrink...

100% agree.

 

[Starlatine]

DQXI for me was about a chill experience with charming characters and locales. The battle system wasn't interesting, but battles were easy enough that it didn't feel like an important part of the game. If I tuned up the difficulty, I'd have to deal with what I feel is the game's worst aspect even more, so I don't think it's worth it.

The game is too easy, and that's OK.

Click to shrink...

I don't see how battles not being useless make the charming characters and locales less charming

Without the modifiers most of the mechanics of the game are pointless. There's no need to use the forge, there's no need to care for equipment, there's no need to think about your skill tree or who gets to use seeds, there's no need to gather money, one could have the same or "better" experience by watching youtube videos of the cutscenes with battles edited out

 

[Ocean]

I don't see how battles not being useless make the charming characters and locales less charming

Without the modifiers most of the mechanics of the game are pointless. There's no need to use the forge, there's no need to care for equipment, there's no need to think about your skill tree or who gets to use seeds, there's no need to gather money, one could have the same or "better" experience by watching youtube videos of the cutscenes with battles edited out

Click to shrink...

Asking for harder battles in a Dragon Age game feels to me like asking for louder music in a bar. It sounds like a good idea for somebody who's going to the bar for the purpose of listening to music, but for somebody who's there to hang out and talk to a buddy, it's downright counterproductive. Instead of sending me off to Youtube ("if you wanna talk, why'd you meet at a bar instead of a park bench??"), or me asking why on earth you'd pick a DQ game for a fun combat experience, let's just accept that people enjoy different aspects of the same activity.

Long, hard battles don't make characters or locales less charming. They just take away time I could have been spending on something I personally found more enjoyable, like exploring a town or clearing some side quests, playing around with different outfits etc. I guess it comes down to doing things for different reasons. I use the forge and look for cool equipment and stuff because I have fun doing it. Do I ABSOLUTELY NEED IT to clear the next challenge? No, the next challenge will be piss-easy and I'll get through it with or without any upgrades. But I'll upgrade and explore anyways, just for the sake of doing it.

Luckily the devs recognize that different folks enjoy the game in different ways, so the options are there for everybody to design their own good time.

 

[crazillo]

Options are always good, what DQ XI really lacks is making 'normal' not an 'easy mode' while Draconian is honestly very hard indeed. The game could do with some middleground.

 

[Jhey Cyphre]

There doesn't seem to be a happy medium, though lots of people here say harder monsters is the way to go. I played the first 25 hours with harder monsters but it requires you to min/max and find all the hidden gear. I found it really frustrating and personally like how chill the game is on normal so I turned off harder monsters. This makes the random encounters/fights with normal enemies VERY easy but some of the bosses are still difficult. I'm playing the game for the relaxed vibes, the story and exploring different towns and seeing the monsters. If that's what you're looking for I think normal is the way to go.

Click to shrink...

Thanks.

My biggest issue with every single DQ game I have played is how mind numbingly easy they are.

 

[Pancracio17]

Asking for harder battles in a Dragon Age game feels to me like asking for louder music in a bar. It sounds like a good idea for somebody who's going to the bar for the purpose of listening to music, but for somebody who's there to hang out and talk to a buddy, it's downright counterproductive. Instead of sending me off to Youtube ("if you wanna talk, why'd you meet at a bar instead of a park bench??"), or me asking why on earth you'd pick a DQ game for a fun combat experience, let's just accept that people enjoy different aspects of the same activity.

Long, hard battles don't make characters or locales less charming. They just take away time I could have been spending on something I personally found more enjoyable, like exploring a town or clearing some side quests, playing around with different outfits etc. I guess it comes down to doing things for different reasons. I use the forge and look for cool equipment and stuff because I have fun doing it. Do I ABSOLUTELY NEED IT to clear the next challenge? No, the next challenge will be piss-easy and I'll get through it with or without any upgrades. But I'll upgrade and explore anyways, just for the sake of doing it.

Luckily the devs recognize that different folks enjoy the game in different ways, so the options are there for everybody to design their own good time.

Click to shrink...

Right. The combat system is barely serviceable, it feels like its archaic not because its good but because thats just how it is. If anything im already having a bit of a hard time because my party is so underleveled as a consequence of me skipping battles and refusing to grind, turning on harder monsters would make the game less enjoyable.

 

[Derkon]

Harder monsters for sure. Surprised Normal is winning tbh.

 

[Deleted member 91227]

Normal. RPGs with turn based combat are always normal or easy mode for me as I actively dislike turn based combat (especially menu-driven) and am just playing for the story, characters, atmosphere, questing etc.

 

[BubblegumNemesis]

The game is already so long that I don't think I could handle harder difficulties. Just the sheer time investment would be huge.

 

[Dosmo]

The game is really long, so I feel you're better off adjusting the difficultly by staying underleveled. Depends on how much time you want to spend with it.