Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Version History

v1.0 12/10/25: Initial Release

About

This guide in not a comprehensive walkthrough of the game, but is instead intended to guide the player towards earning the achievements in the main set and all 3 subsets as well as point the player to some useful information found outside of RetroAchievements.

Achievement Set Statistics

Set	Base	Lv 99 Legacy Lunacy	Item Inquisitor	Accolade Acquirer
Number of Achievements	161	13	272	429
Points	1,567	1,300	893	1,456
Difficulty	4/10	6/10	3/10	7/10
Time to Mastery	75-200 Hours	100-400 Hours	50-200 Hours	1000+ Hours
Most Difficult Achievement	Experience the All-Seeing Eye	Legacy of Nokturnus	Platinum King Jewel	Creme de la Creme (or any Max Revocation)

Warning

Before some notes, I want to give you all a huge warning. Some sites linked for other useful resources may also have links to a save editor for this game.

Do not use it.

If you are suspected or found to be using it, you may be untracked or banned for breaking Rule 5 of the Global Leaderboard and Achievement Hunting Rules.

Notes Before Beginning - Please Read All

Dragon Quest IX is the first mainline DQ game to include DLC. This was distributed via Wifi connection to the DQVC. As this cannot be connected to anymore, you will either need to use one of the saves provided by BlendedSea on the forum or send them your save file after beating the Final Boss to have the DLC unlocked for you.
Missables: There are 13 missable achievements in the base set and 1 missable in the Item Inquisitor subset. The base game missables are the 12 boss challenges, and getting all 307 bestiary scans. The scans are only missable due to the 5 DLC bosses; main game bosses, while they cannot be re-fought, do not need to be scanned as the second page of their bestiary is automatically unlocked. The Item Inquisitor missable can only be missed if you do not open all 5 chests in The Observatory before returning to Angel Falls at the very start of the game (there is a hidden door just south of the portal that only opens after offering the Benevolessence to the Great World Tree).

2a. While not marked as missable, only one of the Completion Records Accolades can be earned per save file. It is highly recommended to make a copy of your save prior to beating the final boss if you want to get more than 1.
There are 26 Accolades for beating the final boss under different conditions (such as under 12 hours, or having completed 60+ quests). It is possible to complete all of these in one playthrough by splitting your save before the final boss. The most difficult part of doing this is beating the final boss in under 12 hours having <250 battle victories, but it is not impossible. I would highly recommend just playing through the game while getting everything aside from these on your first playthrough and saving these specifically for a second.
The main game portion of DQIX follows about the same as other Dragon Quest games. But, the post-game follows more similarly to an MMORPG. You will be grinding. A lot. This will be spent gaining levels, getting specific drops, and finding new Treasure Maps.
There are tons of treasure maps, but they are not procedurally generated. Each map is pre-programmed and will be selected when you obtain a new one. This means, with the name, level, and location of the grotto, you can determine the exact grotto you have found. This can save you time going through grottos you know they will not contain anything useful for you.
GameFAQs has many, many wonderful guides for this game. I've included one in the Useful Tools section below, but there are comprehensive guides for every part of this game with a few exceptions. The other tools below are ones that you will not find on GameFAQs that I've found to be incredibly helpful while plaything through the game.
Two achievements in the Accolade Acquirer subset are locked to playing as the Male Hero and one is locked behind the Female Hero. Both sexes have a unique Accolade for wearing equipment with high chic stat (Distinguished Gentleman and Society Lady. Carver's Cosplay can only be obtained by a Male Hero even considering the Wear-With-All Award (which normally allows characters to wear clothing of the opposite sex). The game actually has a text box that comes up for this saying "Sorry, but even the Wear-With-All Award won't let you get away with this one" as Carver's Vest would be overly revealing on a Female character.

Useful Tools

Metal Slime/Medley/Liquid Metal Manipulations (Note: all of them require having the map Granite Tunnel of Woe from completing Quest 15 at the bottom of the first page of Treasure Maps):
Grotto Search (Find all the details about your particular Grotto)
Grotto Hex Code Finder (Find where on the world map your Grotto is located)
Grotto Mechanics Guide
Hoimi Table Explanation and Calculator
Blue Chest Timer
Completion Records Accolade Order
Legacy Boss Guide

General Overview

The achievements within each set can be broken into the following types:

Base Game

Story Progression: None Winged Angel through Guardian of the Protectorate
Missable Boss Challenges: More Like Hexagone through Off My Chair, Jester. The King Sits There
Vocations: Goodbye, Minstrel through Luminary
Battles: Winning Streaker through Platinum King Jewel
Collections: Quarter Item Hoarder through Chef d'Alchimie
Quests: Pick Me Up a Panacea through Father(or)Mother Questmas
Proficiency: Lord of the Sword(or)Sworderella through King(or)Queen of the Jungle
Level 50: A Worlds Anger through A Worlds Star
Optional Bosses: [DLC] Yore For It Now! through [DLC] Nokturnus
Treasure: Stornway Treasury through The Secret Shop

Lv 99 Legacy Lunacy

No way to split this up any further. Just one achievement per legacy boss

Bosses: Legacy of Dragonlord through Legacy of Rhapthorne

Item Inquisitor

Normal Monsters: Slime through Mimic
Grotto Monsters: King Cureslime through Seavern
Grotto Bosses: Equinox through Greygnarl
Treasure Chests: Treasure Hunter - Residential through Treasure Hunter - Post Game

Accolade Acquirer

Grottos: Celestial Sentinel through Caving Lunatic
Quests: Service Provider through Father Questmas / Mother Questmas
Party Tricks: Expressionist
Alchemy: Commis Chef through Krak Pot Crackpot
Playtime: Seasoned Traveller through Wanderluster
Battles: Victor through Winvincible
Accolades: Name Dropper through Titan of Titles
Bestiary: Huntsman / Huntswoman through Big Game Hunter
Items: Itemiser and King / Queen of Collectors
Wardrobe: Follower of Fashion through Fashionista
Deaths: Regular Churchgoer through Dauntless Deadbeat
Bank Money: White Sticker Saver through Gold Sticker Saver
Special: Herbalist through Birthday Boy / Girl
Lv 99: Field Marshal through Superstar
Max Revocations: Ceaseless Swordsman / Ceaseless Swordswoman through Limitless Luminary
Style: Laid-Back Lad / Lady through Society Lady
Weapons and Skills: Swordsman / Swordswoman through King / Queen of the Jungle and Sonic Boomeranger through Wannabe
DQ I-VIII Cosplay: Heir / Heriess of Heroes through Trodain Royal Guard and Bonnie Burland Boy through Well-Bred Bride
DQ IX Cosplay: Stella Artiste through Fadiator and Everyday Knight through Regular Ranger
Completion Records: Light-Speed Champion through Storied Saviour

Base Game

Sections of the Game

The base story of Dragon Quest IX can be divided into 5 parts: 1. Start through Coffinwell, 2. Alltrades Abbey through Bloomingdale, 3. Gleeba through Upover, 4. The Gortress through the Realm of the Mighty, and 5. Post-Game (there are no story specific achievements at this point).

Story Progression

Just play through the game! You'll get them all as you save both the Protectorate and the Observatory. The list includes which bosses have missable achievements (see the next section for what they are and some tips).

Achievement	Description	Has Missable Achievement?
None Winged Angel (3)	Help the citizens of Angel Falls, and begin your true journey
Hexagoon (5)	Defeat Hexagoon	Yes
Wight Knight	Has no achievement, but has a boss challenge	Yes
Morag (5)	Defeat Morag, returning peace to a fellow Knight
The Ragin' Contagion (5)	Defeat the Ragin' Contagion, cleansing the curse over Coffinwell	Yes
Master of Nu'un (5)	Defeat Master of Nu'un, allowing the world to change vocations once again	Yes
Lleviathan (5)	Defeat Lleviathan, ending the efforts of greed	Yes
Garth Goyle (5)	Defeat Garth Goyle, protector of an old Home
Tyrantula (5)	Defeat Tyrantula, bringing final happiness to Marionette	Yes
Setting Sail (5)	Set sail from Bloomingdale
Grand Lizzier (5)	Defeat Grand Lizzier, returning a pet to its' former self	Yes
Larstastnaras (5)	Defeat Larstastnaras, ridding Batsureg of a foul demon	Yes
Dreadmaster (5)	Defeat Dreadmaster, rescuing the captured Swinedimple students	Yes
The Guardian of Wormwood (5)	Learn from Serena about the Guardian of Wormwood
Gadrongo (5)	Defeat Gadrongo, gaining passage over Wormwood Canyon
Greygnarl (5)	Defeat Greygnarl, proving your strength to the Dragon	Yes
Goreham-Hogg (5)	Defeat Goreham-Hogg, releasing the slaves from Gortress	Yes
Hootingham-Gore (5)	Defeat Hootingham-Gore, gaining access to Gittingham Palace
Goresby-Purrvis (5)	Defeat Goresby-Purrvis, gaining access to the Kings' Chamber
King Godwyn (10)	Defeat King Godwyn, putting an end to a corrupt empire	Yes
Guardian of the Protectorate (25)	Defeat the Final Boss

Boss Challenges

Many of the bosses have individual challenges to complete during the fight

Achievement	Description	Strategy
More Like Hexagone (10)	Defeat Hexagoon with nothing equipped	Just level up a little more than you normally would. Skill points don't matter at this point; you won't get enough to learn any relevant skills.
I Need a Hero (10)	Defeat the Wight Knight using only the Hero	Like the first achievement, you'll need to over level. Ragged Reapers and Boppin' Badgers outside of Zere are the best at this point. The best weapon to be using is the Soldier's Sword from the Stornway shop with at least 7 Skill Points in Swords to get +10 Attack and armor from the shop in Zere.
The Doctors are in the House (10)	Defeat the Ragin' Contagion with 3 Priests in your party	After Patty takes over Stornway Inn and before you fight the Wight Knight, you can add additional party members of any Vocation you like. Create 3 new ones that are Priests. You'll want to level to at least 12-14. Your hero using swords can accomplish this fairly easily fighting a few metal slimes. Feel free to create new party members or swap back to old ones after the boss but before returning to the Starflight Express; you'll be able to change Vocations after the next boss.
Master of Nothing (10)	Defeat Master of Nu'un without having a party member die	With at least one Priest in the party, this shouldn't be much trouble. Having a Mage to cast Sap should make short work of him.
Something's Fishy (10)	Defeat Lleviathan using only the basic Attack command.	Preparation is key here. Completing Quest 103 in B1 of Alltrades Abbey will unlock the Gladiator Vocation. Changing everyone to a Gladiator, leveling to around 13, and getting everyone to 16 points in Guts makes this fairly easy.
Bug Crusher (10)	Defeat Tyrantula while no party member has a weapon equipped	Having no weapon equipped means Fisticuffs work incredibly well here. Even if you change Vocations away from one that can put points in it, you still get the bonuses, so having a Priest is still a good idea. Tyrantula can cause a part member to lose a turn, so having a second member with herbs (or 2 Priests) is highly recommended.
Strength in Numbers (10)	Defeat Grand Lizzier with a combined party level of 75 or less.	The level cap only applies to your party's current Vocations. Having access to 9-10 of the 12 now, you shouldn't have any problem grinding up a second (or third, or eighth...) to a good level. Grand Lizzier is a Dragon type, so the Sword's Dragon Slash is a great choice to demolish them.
Lesser Demon (10)	Defeat Larstastnaras without having a party member die	Not a difficult boss fight. She mostly uses melee attacks and sets up Magic Barrier. Mages will not be doing much damage, but they can still buff the party. As usual, a Priest is incredibly useful for good healing. Just heal a little earlier than usual and you'll be fine.
School is in Session (10)	Defeat Dreadmaster as only the Hero while wearing the Swinedimples Blazer	The best class for this is Paladin, learning Magic Barrier at level 28. Dreadmaster will use both melee and magic attacks; Magic Barrier will reflect the magic ones and you can use Buff to minimize the melee damage and Heal to, well, heal.
Stoneskin (10)	Defeat Greygnarl while the Hero is a Paladin, wearing no armour (accessory OK)	For clarity, the Hero can only be using 1) a weapon, and 2) an accessory; nothing else can be equipped. Other party members have no restrictions, so the main worry here is just keeping the Hero alive and doing damage. A Priest or just a bunch of Superior/Special Medicines should be enough for healing. Dragon Slash on the remaining party members should make short work.
Jailbreak (10)	Defeat Goreham-Hogg using only the Hero	This is probably the most difficult challenge as you are expected to have a full party of decent level at this point. All of his attacks are physical, so Buffing yourself will be useful. The most difficult attack is his crit, which happens fairly often. If you are willing to put in the time, leveling up a party member's shield skill to 100, completing Quest 88 (Main Floor of Swindimples, second room on the left), and holding the "Secrets of the Shield" item will prevent all crits.
Off My Chair, Jester. The King Sits There (10)	Defeat King Godwyn (both forms) without having a party member die	Nothing much to worry about for the first phase. In the second phase, he is going to be hitting harder and setting up both Buff and Magic Barrier. Use Oomph, increase your Tension, or increase your crit chance to break through.

Vocations

Don't forget to change someone into the class after unlocking it.

Icon	Achievement	Strategy
	Goodbye, Minstrel (2)	After Beating the Master of Nu'un, return to Alltrades Abbey and change your Vocation by talking to Jack of Alltrades.
	Armamentalist (5)	Complete Quest 109 (First Floor of Alltrades Abbey by the stairs going down). Have whoever is going to get the killing blows learn Wizard Ward by putting 8 Skill Points into Spellcraft. They are allowed change Vocations away from mage to something with a little more power (Warrior). You can even do this with all 4 characters if you want.
	Gladiator (5)	Complete Quest 103 (B1F of Alltrades Abbey). Most easily done by Angel Falls. Have one character stop the Slimes from running (Snooze, War Cry, etc.), and have everyone else raise Tension until one of them hits 100 and can hit with Dragon Slash.
	Ranger (5)	Complete Quest 112 (entrance to the Heights of Loneliness). Equip a Dagger on anyone who can use one and use the Toxic Dagger Skill (3 Skill Points) on Hocus Chimaeras in the Heights of Loneliness. Feel free to soften them up with other attacks, but poison damage must be what kills them.
	Paladin (5)	Complete Quest 106 (roof of the Mirage Mahal). Return 2 party members to Patty so you only have 2 of them. Have them each use Whipping Boy (8 Skill Points in Courage) on the other and this should be done in no time.
	Sage (5)	Complete Quest 115 (F2 of Gittingham Palace in the bookcase). The earliest you can complete this is in the Realm of the Mighty (unless you grind for a Rank 7 Grotto). Great Trolls have 768 health, and only the last hit needs to be with Frizz (only Mages learn the spell).
	Luminary (10)	Complete Quest 118 (Dance Hall in Gleeba, Post-game only). Moai Minstrals only appear in Rank 8 Caves and Water type Grottos (so start grinding those Grottos!), and they have 518 health, but they can cast Kamikazee. Keep one locked down, whittle down its health then get the kill with Hot Lock.

Battles

Nothing much to say about these. Metal Slimes are rare enemies, but the first 3 can be manipulated to spawn. The Metal King Slimes and Platinum King Jewels are more easily found in Grottos (Rank 10 Caves/Rank 9 Volcano, and Rank 12 (Max) Ruins/Rank 12 Ice respectively).

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Winning Streaker (10)	Won a total of 1000 battles
	Metal Slime (5)	Defeat a Metal Slime in the Quarantomb
	Metal Medley (5)	Defeat a Metal Medley in The Bad Cave (B1)
	Liquid Metal Slime (5)	Defeat a Liquid Metal Slime in The Bowhole (B2)
	Metal King Slime (5)	Defeat a Metal King Slime (Tower of Nod or Grottoes)
	Platinum King Jewel (5)	Defeat a Platinum King Jewel (Grottoes)

Collections

With these, if there are only achievements going to 3/4 of the total number, the final one for all of them is included in the Accolade Earner Subset; many of these unlock Accolades themselves!

Items

Icon	Achievement	Description
	[Quarter Item Hoarder (3)	Collect a total of 56 unique items
	Itemiser (5)	Collect a total of 112 unique items
	Three Quarter Item Hoarder (10)	Collect a total of 168 unique items

Defeating Monsters

Enemies in the Bestiary are in the following order: 1) enemies found in the main game (generally in the order found), 2) Cannibox and Mimic, 3) Enemies in Grottos (in the order of Caves, Ruins, Ice, Volcano, Water from lowest Rank to highest), 4) Main Game bosses, 5) DLC Quest Bosses, 6) Grotto Bosses, 7) Legacy Bosses (generally in the order they are available; not in difficulty order).

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Hunter Gatherer (3)	Defeat a total of 76 unique monsters
	Top Tracker (5)	Defeat a total of 153 unique monsters
	Head Hunter (10)	Defeat a total of 230 unique monsters
	Head Hunter (10)	Defeat a total of 307 unique monsters

Besiary Scans

Bestiary scans are unlocked when you use the Skill Eye for Trouble (Thief Acquisitiveness, 68 points). The achievement for obtaining all of the scans is the only missable in the set other than the boss challenges because of the 5 DLC bosses. Those bosses cannot be refought and must be scanned in their fights. The main game bosses will automatically have the scans done after you beat them; you do not need to scan them as you are playing through.

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Look Deep Into Your Heart (3)	Have a total of 76 bestiary scan entries unlocked.
	Search Your Mind (5)	Have a total of 153 bestiary scan entries unlocked.
	Learn What You Can (10)	Have a total of 230 bestiary scan entries unlocked.
	Experience the All-Seeing Eye (50)	Have all 307 bestiary scan entries unlocked. (Missable)

Equipment

Getting 3/4s of the equipment for the base game set is not that difficult. Between the weapons, armor, and accessories, there are so many options on what you can skip out on.

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Clothes Horse (5)	Collect a total of 236 unique pieces of equipment
	Trendspotter (10)	Collect a total of 472 unique pieces of equipment
	Trendsetter (25)	Collect a total of 708 unique pieces of equipment

Alchemy

Like Equipment, there are many options to skip if you are not going for the full completion Accolade. Recipes can be found from reading books across the world or completing certain quests (or in an online guide such as this).

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Chef de Partie (3)	Created 113 unique Alchemy recipes
	Sous Chef (5)	Created 226 unique Alchemy recipes
	Chef d'Alchimie (10)	Created 339 unique Alchemy recipes

Quests

Quest guides online (such as this one) should be able to help you with in depth strategies for completing these, so I'll just be including the location and base goal for each here. Each Vocation requires level 15 for the first Quest and level 40 for the second; any party member can meet this requirement. Not listed directly in the achievements but very useful are the Skill Quests that require 30 Skills points and then 100 Skill points and are all located somewhere in Swindimples Academy.

Achievement	Description	Location	Strategy
Pick Me Up a Panacea (3)	Complete Quest 004, learning the basics of Alchemy	Center of Stornway	Bring him a Panacea (he teaches the recipe).
Collapsus's Call (5)	Complete Quest 015, obtaining your first Treasure Map	Just before Zere Rocks	Bring Collapsus a Special Medicine.
Follow That Fish! (5)	Complete Quest 039, the rematch with Lleviathan	South East house in Port Llaffan	Learn to summon the Lleviathan and beat the more difficult boss fight.
Critical Appraisal (5)	Complete Quest 091, the first Warrior Job quest	South Wyrmwood Creek	Kill 2 monsters with Critical Hits while they are enraged.
Dragon Warrior (10)	Complete Quest 092, the second Warrior Job quest		Kill 10 Mandrake Marauders (Magmaroo/Grottos) while they are enraged.
Protective Priest (5)	Complete Quest 093, the first Priest Job quest	Wormwood Creek well	Guard to protect against attacks (any number of battles).
The Brink of Life (10)	Complete Quest 094, the second Priest Job quest		Bring allies back from critical health (orange) using Midheal 20 times (overworld poison makes this a breeze).
Frizz for Faerie (5)	Complete Quest 095, the first Mage Job quest	Sleep at Alltrades Abbey	Equip the Faerie Staff and kill 10 enemies with Frizz.
Just A Dream (10)	Complete Quest 096, the second Mage Job quest		Kill 10 Wight Priests with melee attacks with the wand equipped (get to 100 in Wands then swap to any Vocation).
Don't Be Afraid (5)	Complete Quest 097, the first Martial Artist Job quest	Front door of Alltrades Abbey	Use War Cry and kill Scarewolves while they are frightened 5 times.
The Student Becomes the Master (10)	Complete Quest 098, the second Martial Artist Job quest		Defeat 3 Golems with Critical Hits.
Nabbin' Treasure (5)	Complete Quest 099, the first Thief Job quest	Pub in Dourbridge	Seal a Tycoon's Trove from a hunter Mech.
Arsene Lupin (10)	Complete Quest 100, the second Thief Job quest		Steal a Lunar Diamond from a Sorcerer.
And This Is to Go Even Further Beyond! (5)	Complete Quest 101, the first Minstrel Job quest	Basement of Alltrades Abbey	Egg On party members to Super High Tension (100) 5 times.
Laughing Stock (10)	Complete Quest 102, the second Minstrel Job quest		Get Critical Hits with Pratfall 2 times. (Any monster will do, so choose a weak one.)
Glad to Be of Service (5)	Complete Quest 104, the first Gladiator Job quest	Small island south-east of Swindimples	Kill 10 Drackals with Double Up in effect.
This Pain is Nothing (10)	Complete Quest 105, the second Gladiator Job quest		Kill 3 Green Dragons with Double-Edged Slash.
Pincushion Paladin (5)	Complete Quest 107, the first Paladin Job quest	Roof of the Mirage Mahal	Defeat 3 Infernal Armours while using Pincushion.
My Knight in Shining Armour (10)	Complete Quest 108, the second Paladin Job quest		Use H-Pathy to bring 5 people back from 1HP (use the overworld poison).
Fource Your Way (10)	Complete Quest 110, the first Armamentalist Job quest	F1 of Alltrades Abbey	Kill 10 White Tigertaurs using 2 Saps, Fire Fource, and a Normal Attack.
Use the Fource (25)	Complete Quest 111, the second Armamentalist Job quest		Kill 5 specific monsters with 5 specific Fources active.
Rage Against the Beast (5)	Complete Quest 113, the first Ranger Job quest	Entrance to the Heights of Loneliness	Use Sooth Sayer to calm 20 enraged monsters.
Robin Hood (10)	Complete Quest 114, the second Ranger Job quest		Kill 5 Drakularges on the first turn of battle.
A Page From Your Book (5)	Complete Quest 116, the first Sage Job quest	Bookcase on F2 of Gittingham Palace	Kill an Equinox with Bang (Grotto boss with 1800 HP).
Zammie Whammie (10)	Complete Quest 117, the second Sage Job quest		Kill Atlas with Zam (Grotto boss with 6500 HP).
A Stars Signature (5)	Complete Quest 119, the first Luminary Job quest	Dancing Hall in Gleeba	Score a Critical Hit with Autograph.
You Get What You Deserve (10)	Complete Quest 120, the second Luminary Job quest		Use Extreme Makeover, then Eyes on Me (must enrage), then kill 10 Moai Minstrels.
Service Provider (3)	Completed a total of 20 quests
Helping Hand (5)	Completed a total of 50 quests
Selfless Soul (10)	Completed a total of 100 quests
Father(or)Mother Questmas (25)	Complete all 184 quests

Proficiency

Not much to say on these. You unlock them when any party member hits full 100 points in the skill. There are Accolades for the Hero hitting all of them, but, if you are going for all Accolades, that will easily happen before you are done.

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Lord of the Sword(or)Sworderella (10)	Reached full sword proficiency with any party member
	Lord(or)Lady of the Lance (10)	Reached full spear proficiency with any party member
	Know-It-All Knifer (10)	Reached full knife proficiency with any party member
	Wonder Wander (10)	Reached full wand proficiency with any party member
	Scourge of the Gods (10)	Reached full whip proficiency with any party member
	Chief of Staff (10)	Reached full staff proficiency with any party member
	Scratchmaster (10)	Reached full claw proficiency with any party member
	Leviafan (10)	Reached full fan proficiency with any party member
	Deforester (10)	Reached full axe proficiency with any party member
	Hammer of the Gods (10)	Reached full hammer proficiency with any party member
	Sonic Boomeranger (10)	Reached full boomerang proficiency with any party member
	Sagittarean (10)	Reached full bow proficiency with any party member
	Guardian Force (10)	Reached full shield proficiency with any party member
	Tenth Dan (10)	Reached full fisticuffs proficiency with any party member
	Peerlessly Fearless (10)	Reached all possible feats of courage with any party member
	Saint (10)	Reached an unshakeable faith with any party member
	Master Crafter (10)	Reached for attaining full command of spellcraft with any party member
	Atomiser (10)	Reached for fine-tuning your focus to its fully fledged form with any party member
	Bullion Billionaire (10)	Reached for advancing your acquisitiveness to the absolute extreme with any party member
	Flying Wallenda (10)	Reached by developing your litheness to the headiest heights with any party member
	Annihilator (10)	Reached the greatest possible extent of guts with any party member
	Star Marshal (10)	Reached a fource skill of ultimate effectiveness with any party member
	Out-of-Sight Knight (10)	Reached a state of valour that cannot be improved with any party member
	Polymath (10)	Reached the ultimate stage of enlightenment with any party member
	Phenomenon (10)	Reached a mysterious allure that cannot be outshone with any party member
	King(or)Queen of the Jungle (10)	Reached the rampant heights of ruggedness with any party member

Level 50

Level 50 isn't all that bad for each of the classes. If you are going for all Accolades, you'll need to hit level 99 with each of them 10 times with the Hero anyways. If you're just here for the main set though, Liquid Metal Slimes in the Bowhole will be the fastest unless you get some pretty good luck in finding a Metal King Slime Grotto relatively early on.

Icon	Achievement	Description
	A Worlds Anger (10)	Reach level 50 as a Warrior with any party member
	A Worlds Healer (10)	Reach level 50 as a Priest with any party member
	A Worlds Destroyer (10)	Reach level 50 as a Mage with any party member
	A Worlds Strength (10)	Reach level 50 as a Marital Artist with any party member
	A Worlds Guile (10)	Reach level 50 as a Thief with any party member
	A Worlds Ballad (10)	Reach level 50 as a Minstrel with any party member
	A Worlds Armour (10)	Reach level 50 as a Gladiator with any party member
	A Worlds Protector (10)	Reach level 50 as a Paladin with any party member
	A Worlds Blade (10)	Reach level 50 as a Armamentalist with any party member
	A Worlds Sniper (10)	Reach level 50 as a Ranger with any party member
	A Worlds Saviour (10)	Reach level 50 as a Sage with any party member
	A Worlds Star (10)	Reach level 50 as a Luminary with any party member

Optional Bosses

The optional bosses in Dragon Quest IX consist of 2 different parts: 1) the DLC Quest bosses, and 2) the Legacy bosses. In the table below, I've included how to unlock the bosses, but the strategy for fighting will vary greatly depending on what you've put Skill Points into and what your current Vocations are. All DLC bosses require the completion of post-game quest 39, so I will not be listing that requirement.

DLC Bosses

Achievement	Description	Requirements
[DLC] Yore For It Now! (10)	Defeat Yore underneath Stornway Castle	Quest 137 (Stornway throne room); requires 7 and 128 (Stornway well), 8 and 23 (Stornway library), 5 and 6 (Stornway NE Tower), 127 and 129 (Stornway throne room), 131, 133, and 135 (Stornway Church)
[DLC] Good Doggy... (10)	Defeat Rover in The Plumbed Depths	Quest 139 (Stornway Inn); requires 123 and 125 (Stornway Inn)
[DLC] Mysterious Monarch (10)	Defeat King Godfrey at an old kings' throne	Qeust 145 (Gittingham Palace); requires 46 (Coffinwell West house), 141 (Coffinwell lab), 143 (Quarantomb B1F)
[DLC] Get Jurass-Kicked (10)	Defeat Tyrannosaura Wrecks aboard the Starflight Express	Quest 150 (Starflight Express); requires 146-148 (Starflight Express), 149 (Bloomingdale center)
[DLC] Nod-Off to Sleep (10)	Defeat Nodoph at the top of Tower of Nod	Quest 162 (Tower of nod); requires 159 and 160 (Wormwood Creek Mayor), 161 (Bloomingdale Mayoress's house; not the mansion)

Legacy Bosses

Achievement	Description	Map Location
Baramos (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Baramos	Quest 62 (Isle north of Swindimples)
Murdaw (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Murdaw	Chance from Level 16+ Baramos
Dhoulmagus (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Dhoulmagus	Chance from Level 16+ Murdaw
Dragonlord (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Dragonlord	Chance from Greygnarl (Grotto boss)
Psaro (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Psaro	Chance from Level 16+ Dragonlord
Nimzo (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Nimzo	Chance from Level 16+ Psaro
[DLC] Malroth (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Malroth	Quest 151 (Cave at the west end of Bloomingdale's Continent)
[DLC] Estark (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Estark	Quest 152 (Isle north of Swindimples)
[DLC] Mortamor (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Mortamor	Quest 158 (Heights of Loneliness entrance)
[DLC] Zoma (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Zoma	Quest 167 (Bird on the isle north of Swindimples)
[DLC] Orgodemir (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Orgodemir	Quest 176 (Well on the plateau south of Batsureg)
[DLC] Rhapthorne (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Rhapthorne	Quest 179 (Cave on the plateau south of Upover)
[DLC] Nokturnus (25)	Defeat the legacy boss, Nokturnus	Quest 184 (Sheep by Quest 151)

Treasure

The first achievement is for opening the chests within Stornway's treasury after defeating Morag. The last is for opening up the Secret Shop in Dourbridge (enter through the back of the bridge by the Inn using the Ultimate Key). The other 10 are for turning in Mini Medals with Cap'n Max Meddlin in Dourbridge. You'll need to turn in a total of 80 Medals. If you need to grind for them, go for Legacy Bosses! Each one has a 100% chance on dropping one when you win.

Icon	Achievement	Description
	Stornway Treasury (2)	Obtain your well-deserved reward from King Schott
	Thief's Key (2)	Obtain your first reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Mercury's Bandana (2)	Obtain your second reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Bunny Suit (3)	Obtain your third reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Jolly Roger Jumper (3)	Obtain your fourth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Transparent Tights (5)	Obtain your fifth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Miracle Sword (5)	Obtain your sixth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Sacred Armour (5)	Obtain your seventh reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Meteorite Bracer (5)	Obtain your eighth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Rusty Helmet (10)	Obtain your ninth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	Dragon Robe (10)	Obtain your tenth reward from Cap'n Max Meddlin'
	The Secret Shop (2)	Find the Secret Shop

Lv 99 Legacy Lunacy

For this subset, your goal is to level up each of the 13 Legacy Bosses to level 99 and then beat them one more time. If you are going for the Accolade Earner subset as well, note that leveling the bosses past certain points will make it so they no longer drop certain equipment. Be certain you have the equipment you need before going too far on this.

I could write out strategies for all 13 of them, but the bosses have different stats as you level them up and will add or remove attacks to their move pools. The Legacy Boss guide linked above has everything you could possibly need in order to defeat these titans of the past.

Legacy Bosses

Icon	Achievement
	Legacy of Dragonlord (100)
	Legacy of Malroth (100)
	Legacy of Baramos (100)
	Legacy of Zoma (100)
	Legacy of Psaro (100)
	Legacy of Estark (100)
	Legacy of Nimzo (100)
	Legacy of Murdaw (100)
	Legacy of Mortamor (100)
	Legacy of Nokturnus (100)
	Legacy of Orgodemir (100)
	Legacy of Dhoulmagus (100)
	Legacy of Rhapthorne (100)

Item Inquisitor

Achievements are listed in the order that they appear in the Bestiary with the 4 additional treasure hunting ones at the end. Rather than listing out all of them with little to say on most, here are some tips for getting the enemy drops:

None of the enemies are ever permanently missable. The only missable achievement requires opening all chests in the Observatory at the very start of the game. There are 3 chests in the large outside area connected to F2 and F3, 1 chest in the south east door of F1, and 1 chest in the hidden door just south of the portal that only opens after offering the Benevolessence to the Great World Tree.
This subset does not include the main-game/DLC bosses nor the Legacy bosses. The first group will always drop their items while the second will change what items they can drop depending on their level.
Almost all chests can be found using the Nose for Treasure Skill. The only item required that cannot be found using this is a Bikini Top under a waterfall in the baths of Gleeba.
Normal and Grotto enemies drop the same items than can be stolen from them. If you equip the Honour Amoung Thieves (Thief Revocation Accessory), you double your chances of stealing both the common and rare item (slightly less than double the chance of a rare due to the game checking for the common first then checking for the rare). Many rates go down to 1/256, so it's best to wait until you can confidently kill these enemies very quickly.
Grotto boss drops can be manipulated using the Hoimi table. Just remember that both using Heal-type spells and killing reinforcements (most relevant for Shogum's King Cure Slime) will advance the table. It is best practice to stop advancing well before the table slot you want and then stall for extra Heal spells before defeating the boss.

Accolade Earner

To be safe, open the Battle Records after each of these that you complete (not relevant for the Accolades that are immediately given when earned such as for weapons and skills). As this is a ginormous undertaking, please, please, please make backup saves as you play.

I'm not going to list out each individual Accolade here (this GameFAQs guide is wonderful here), but below are tips for each of the subcategories of Accolades.

Grottos

Celestial Sentinel through Caving Lunatic

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Beating all Legacy Bosses
Beating a Grotto of level 99
Clearing 1000 Grottos

The most difficult/longest part of this group is clearing 1000 Grottos and should be saved for once all grinding other than battles have been completed. You will be completing Grottos for nearly everything else in this game, so why grind early when you'll gradually build up your clears completing everything else.

Quests

Service Provider through Father Questmas / Mother Questmas

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Completing all Quests

As you complete the main set, you will unlock all of these Accolades.

Party Tricks

Expressionist

Just find every Party Trick there is! Most are found through talking to people or completing quests.

Alchemy

Commis Chef through Krak Pot Crackpot

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Completing all Alchemy recipes
Alchemizing 2000 times

Don't worry about hitting 2000 total alchemy experiments until you have all recipes completed. Many of them require many prerequisite alchemy items to complete (anything using Agates of Evolution). For the Alchemiracles, just remember that you need both the Alchemiracle and non-Alchemiracle version of the equipment. If you get the non-Achemiracle version first, you can reset to the base version with a Reset Stone (found from Firn fiends and Stone guardians; 1/256 each). If you get the Achemiracle first, you must find another copy of the base version inside a Blue Chest.

Playtime

Seasoned Traveller through Wanderluster

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Playing this game for over 1000 hours!

And you'll need those 1000 hours to farm all the materials you need for Alchemy and to Revocate 10 times in each Vocation! One important note, you do not need to get the Accolades for Multiplayer time for this subset.

Battles

Victor through Winvincible

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Winning over 10,000 fights

Just keep playing the game. If you have everything else, you can do some of these fights while completing your 1000 Grottos. Otherwise, any easy fight will do.

Accolades

Name Dropper through Titan of Titles

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Earning 300 Accolades

I mean, this is what you are playing this subset for, right?

Note: After these but before the Bestiary are Accolades for Holiday Packages. We do not have access to this without multiplayer, so they are not included in the set.

Bestiary

Huntsman / Huntswoman through Big Game Hunter

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Defeating one of every monster

This should already be complete through the main set.

Items

Itemiser and King / Queen of Collectors

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Collecting at least one of every item

One of everything includes important items (that you will need for quests and get from quests) as well as Alchemy and other items. As you work through the quests and complete all Alchemy recipes, you should get everything here.

A full list of all items (in alphabetical order) can be found here.

Wardrobe

Follower of Fashion through Fashionista

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Collecting at least one of every equipment

As noted in the Fashionista description, some equipment are no longer available due to the discontinuation of DQVC and the achievement will unlock upon obtaining all non-DQVC equipment. Equipment is generally found through the following sources:

Shops
Grottos
Alchemy
Enemy Drops
Talking with Stornway Inn Guests

The most difficult part are the Alchemiracles (and there are 22 of them). Each of the chains starts as a 1% drop from an S ranked Blue Chest inside Grottos (See Grotto Search and Blue Chest Timer). After that, you need to use a total of 4 Agates of Evolution and 4 of a particular color of Orb. The Alchemiracle will happen when alchemizing into the third tier of equipment and is a 10% to 50% chance depending on your Hero's current stats. The annoying part, you need to obtain both the Alchamiracle and the non-Alchemiracle for full completion.

The full equipment list can be found here.

Deaths

Regular Churchgoer through Dauntless Deadbeat

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Dying 100 times

I mean, just run into a difficult enemy (or Legacy Boss) and do nothing until you die.

Bank Money

White Sticker Saver through Gold Sticker Saver

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Saving 10 million gold in the bank

If you really need to grind for this, you can buy all the materials to make Gold Mail (Silver Mail from Bloomingdale; Gold Ring and Gold Bracer from Port Llaffin) and then sell the Gold Mail for profit. Buying 99 of each at a time and making 99 Gold Mail will net you 32,670 gold each time.

Special

Herbalist through Birthday Boy / Girl

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Buying 100 Medicinal Herbs
Opening the Battle Records when your battle count is all the same number (such as 222 or 555 or 1111)
Playing the game on your birthday!

When you play on your birthday, don't forget to talk to each of the Stornway Inn visitors for some of their equipment!

Lv 99

Field Marshal through Superstar

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Hitting Lv 99 on each Vocation with your Hero

The next group makes this look like the easiest thing in the world.

Max Revocations

Ceaseless Swordsman / Ceaseless Swordswoman through Limitless Luminary

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Revocating each Vocation with your Hero 10 times

This means hitting Lv 99 on a Vocation, returning the Jack of Alltrades Abbey and resetting your level back down to 1... 10 times... for each of the 12 Vocations... You'll be grinding to Lv 99 a total of 120 times... I hope you've found a good Grotto with either increased Platinum King Jewel spawns or a floor with only Metal King Slimes!

Style

Laid-Back Lad / Lady through Society Lady

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Equipping your Hero with high style points

Each equipment in the game gives style points in 6 different categories. Your goal is to hit 250 points in each of the 6 categories (not at the same time). As both Male and Female have unique achievements for their high chic stat Accolades, you'll need to do this at least twice. I would recommend getting one on your first playthrough of the game and the second on your playthrough getting all of the Completion Records Accolades (you'll need to get 50%+ of the wardrobe and Alchemize at least 120 times anyways.

Weapons and Skills

Swordsman / Swordswoman through King / Queen of the Jungle and Sonic Boomeranger through Wannabe

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Putting 100 Skill Points into each Skill and Weapon with your Hero

As your grind for Revocations, you'll hit this quite easily. Each Lv 99 provides you with 300 points to spread between a total of 26 Skills/Weapons.

DQ I-VIII Cosplay

Heir / Heriess of Heroes through Trodain Royal Guard and Bonnie Burland Boy through Well-Bred Bride

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Equipping yourself to appear as the Heroes of other stories.

As there are 31 different cosplays you must complete, I would recommend looking for the list in the Accolades Guide. Most of them will be from the equipment given by the Stornway Inn guests and dropped from Legacy Bosses at various levels, but they may include less obvious equipment. Even though most of the equipment is sex locked, you may use the Wear-With-All Award (Minstral Revocation Item) to wear the clothes of the opposite sex (note: as mentioned at the start, Female Heroines cannot wear Carver's Vest and cannot unlock Punk-Haired Pugilist).

DQ IX Cosplay

Stella Artiste through Fadiator and Everyday Knight through Regular Ranger

For this set of Accolades, you will be:

Equipping yourself to appear as the Heroes (and NPCs) of this story.

There are only 13 cosplays for DQIX characters, but they are all very specific and not listed within the game itself. Like the other cosplays, I would recommend looking at the Accolades Guide.

Completion Records

Light-Speed Champion through Storied Saviour

Here's the most interesting Accolades. Only 1 of the 28* can be obtain on each playthrough of the game; the Accolade you receive is locked in when you beat the final boss, but you won't obtain it until you reunite with Stella after beating Quest 39. But, the system can be manipulated. By making a copy of your save file before beating the final boss, you can revert back and fulfill different requirements to get a different Accolade. Huge, huge thanks to Biendeo on the subset forum who provided a flowchart of how you can obtain all 28 Accolades by doing this. In plain English, follow the flowchart from top to bottom following the dark lines and making sure not to follow the dotted lines (which would make you skip over certain Accolades. Below I've included a list of all requirements at the start to unlock all 28 from the same base save.

Under 12 Hours
<250 Battles
0 Wipeouts
<90,000 Gold between party and bank
<38% Wardrobe
<75% Bestiary
<120 Alchemy uses
<60 Accolades
<30 Grottos Complete
<60 Quests Complete

After fulfilling all of these, you can make these successive changes between each final boss win to unlock the other Accolades. To note, changing one requirement will usually not unlock you an Accolade based on that changed requirement. For example, step 2 is to complete the game in 19-27 hours, but this will actually unlock the <250 battle Accolade as it has a higher priority than 19-27 hours; then finishing with >=250 battles earns the 19-27 hours Accolade. Also, try to stick close to the lower bound of your new requirements; you may need the wiggle room.

12-19 Hours
19-27 Hours
250-1000 Battles
27-76 Hours
1-15 Wipeouts
Repeat 4 times with different Vocation and Level Combinations (see Biendeo's comment)
76-152 Hours
1000-1499 Battles
16-23 Wipeouts
90,000+ Gold
38-49% Wardrobe complete
24+ Wipeouts
75%+ Bestiary
120+ Alchemy uses
60+ Accolades
30+ Grottos complete
60+ Quests complete
50%+ Wardrobe
1500+ Battles
152-228 Hours
228+ Hours

*Note: Accolade guides also list the Recipe Researcher Accolade, but this has been determined to be impossible to obtain. It requires completing 30% of the Alchenomicon, but this would put the player at 135 uses of the Alchemy pot and they will earn the higher priority Completely Potty Accolade instead.

Special Thanks

I want to say thank you to BlendedSea for the wonderful sets and giving us all another reason to play this gem, Biendeo for the flowchart and finding the Default Accolades list (so I didn't have to create one myself for this guide), the GameFAQs writters, woodus.com, and yabd.org for having all the information under the sun for this game, and to everyone who has helped RetroAchievements become the amazing site for sharing our hobby that it is today.

If you reading this have any questions or suggestions on how to improve this guide for others, feel free to shoot me a DM on RA or on Discord (same name).

Thanks, and good luck!