If you want to play as a magic user in Dragon’s Crown, you only have a couple choices. If you want to play as a hybrid class, you’re also limited, but if you want to steam roll through a mountain of enemies as a big bad damage-dealing class, you have three solid options. Among them, the Dwarf is arguably the most worthwhile. All of the classes in the game are fun and offer a good amount of strategy and play style varieties, but the Dwarf throws explosive barrels. You can’t beat that.
Read Prima’s Dragon’s Crown Beginner’s Tips for even more strategies.
Class Tips: Fighter, Elf, Sorceress, Dwarf, Wizard
STATS BREAKDOWN
Strength: S
As one of the three damage-dealing classes, the Dwarf has one of the best strength rankings alongside the Fighter class. With the best possible ranking comes massive damage from his physical attacks. Of course, he’s the only combatant to wield two weapons by default, so it only makes sense that he packs a punch when you get in his way.
Constitution: S
The Dwarf is almost always on the front lines, taking down enemies left and right. While he doesn’t have a shield and full armor like the Fighter, he still has very good defense and the highest constitution rank out of any class in the game. In addition to his already high physical defense, he has the ability to pump up, which increases his defense even more. He may not be able to protect his allies like the Fighter can, but he certainly knows how to protect himself.
Intelligence: E
While the Elf offers a nice balance between physical attacks and magic attacks, the Dwarf is very one-sided. Magic doesn’t mean much to him, so it makes sense that his intelligence rank is the lowest in the game. He would rather throw an explosive barrel in your direction instead of worrying about casting a spell to shoot fire at you. Thankfully, his lack of magic attack skills does not hinder him from destroying all that block his path.
Magic Resistance: D
Even though the Dwarf has the best physical defense in the game, you’ll have to be careful when you’re up against magic-based enemies. He has one of the worst magic resistance rankings, which means magic attacks will inflict a considerable amount of damage if he’s hit. Make note of the magical enemies and stay on top of them to take them down as quickly as possible. However, if you have trouble in certain dungeons, be sure to have a few health potions at the ready.
Dexterity: C
Unfortunately for the Dwarf, he has the lowest dexterity rank out of all the classes. This means that you can’t count on getting the most damage out of your weapons. When you’re deciding which weapon to equip, you’ll need to take into account the lowest damage figure because the damage you get from your weapons will vary quite a bit. You won’t have as much freedom in weapon choice as some of the other classes, but you’ll pack a mighty punch.
Luck: B
What the Dwarf lacks in dexterity he partially makes up for in luck. His luck stat isn’t the best in the game, but it’s still relatively high. This means that he’ll have a decent chance at landing a critical hit for additional damage. Since he already inflicts considerable damage, if you land a few critical hits, you’ll take down enemies in no time.
BASIC GAMEPLAY
When you first begin your journey as a Dwarf, you won’t have a lot to work with. You should pump up (hold Square) as often as possible to enhance your defense, but beyond that you’ll attack like normal with one exception: you can throw enemies. At any point during an attack string, you can press Forward and Square to pick up an enemy. Press Square one more time and you’ll hurl them in the direction you’re facing. Not only does this inflict damage to the enemy, it also hurts enemies in the way of your toss. The Dwarf can pick up most enemies, but there are a few exceptions.
Once you get into some of the Dwarf’s skills, you’ll add quite a bit to his arsenal of attacks. These attacks include the ability to throw explosive barrels and bombs, and even add a fire element to all of the Dwarf’s attacks. With these skills leveled up to their maximum, the Dwarf changes from a formidable combatant to a deadly assassin. He can inflict a considerable amount of damage in very little time when you start combining some of his better skills.
The various skills you can obtain as the Dwarf are what make him a unique combatant. He doesn’t have much in the way of useful support skills, so your only duty in a party is to inflict as much damage as possible. You should try out almost all of the Dwarf’s skills in the early levels so you can make your own decision on which ones you prefer to use. Many of them are useful, so it’s just a matter of how you wish to play.
In a party situation, it’s best to give the Dwarf at least one other melee class. The Fighter is generally the class of choice because he’s able to protect the entire party in a crunch. With a Dwarf and Fighter side-by-side, you can add in almost any other class and you’ve got a great party. A Sorceress or Wizard can come in handy for their magic abilities, not to mention the support spells a Sorceress offers. However, an Elf attacking from the back lines can also add some nice long-range support.
SKILL FOCUS
Power Bomb
Throws are an essential part of the Dwarf’s play style. You should at least obtain the Power Bomb skill to add a shockwave attack to each throw. You don’t have to level it up right away, but once you have the shockwave, it can help against large groups of enemies. As you level up the Power Bomb skill it increases the Dwarf’s damage output, so once you’ve obtained some of the other skills, make sure to level this one to the maximum.
Frenzy
Frenzy is a good skill to have because it basically gives the Dwarf another go-to attack to mix in with his enemy throwing skills. Like the Power Bomb, obtain the skill early on, then focus on leveling it up once you determine exactly how you want to play the Dwarf. He has quite a few skills, and having access to all of them as early as possible is important. It helps you learn exactly how you want to fit each skill into your play style.
Bomb Satchel
The Bomb Satchel is a good skill to have because it allows the Dwarf to carry and throw bombs. The only minor downfall is that it takes up an inventory slot. However, in addition to causing widespread damage to a group of enemies, some dungeons have hidden areas that are only accessible if you bomb the entrance. Instead of worrying about taking down nearby enemies that drop bombs, you can set your own bombs allowing for easy access to the hidden areas.
Fire Barrel
The Fire Barrel skill allows the Dwarf to throw an exploding barrel of flames at enemies. As with the Dwarf’s other skills, this works very well against groups of enemies. In addition, use the Powder Mastery skill to increase the explosive damage of the Fire Barrel skill. The two go hand-in-hand and should be leveled up together for best results.
Magma Infusion
While the Magma Infusion skill uses up an inventory slot, it adds damage to all of the Dwarf’s attacks by giving them fire properties. You can already dish out considerable damage without the addition of the Magma Infusion skill, so if you don’t have a lot of inventory space, you can hold off on this skill. However, as you get deeper into the game, this is a good skill to have to maximize your damage output.
Rock Skin
One of the Dwarf’s unique abilities is his pump up defense boost. If you find yourself with low health more often than not, this is a good skill to level up. Each time you level up Rock Skin, it increases the defensive boost of your pump up ability. If you’re not having an issue with low HP, this is still a good skill to have, but it can wait until virtually everything else has been leveled up. It’s always a good idea to pump up before each new section of a dungeon and it’s especially useful before a boss battle.
Trinket Maniac
The Trinket Maniac skill is another asset that isn’t quite as important if you’re a skilled player. Not only is there a general skill that works in the exact same way, but with Rock Skin, you won’t get a lot out of Trinket Maniac. It’s not bad to obtain early on, but don’t worry about leveling it up until you’ve taken care of more important skills.
Published: Aug 7, 2013 08:36 pm