Vocations are the absolute core of combat in jobs in Final Fantasy or Octopath Traveler (although Dragon Quest got there first), a vocation determines all of a character's stats, as well as everything they can do in battle. Most of them are named and modeled after common fantasy RPG tropes, like Warrior, Priest, Sage, and Mage.

Choosing a vocation is everything in DQ3 - since the player often creates their entire party from scratch, having the right kinds and combinations of abilities in the party is crucial to success. That said, some vocations are just empirically better than others, and some are better off avoided entirely. Here's how every Vocation in Dragon Quest 3's remake compares.

Gadabout Is Useless (Until It's Not)

One Way To Get A Sage

Gadabout is a class of clowns - personality-wise, think Sylvando from Dragon Quest XI. Ability-wise, though, DQ3's take on Gadabouts is the weakest class in the game. Gadabouts don't do much of anything, with only one spell in their arsenal, and will often spend entire turns goofing off, which actually prevents the player from selecting their action for the round.

Gadabouts aren't completely useless, however. They do have a high luck stat, which means they sometimes avoid spells that might devastate the rest of the party. They can come in clutch by resurrecting or healing everyone else - that is, if they actually listen. Once a Gadabout hits level 20, they can automatically take on the Sage class without having to find the Words of Wisdom. This is one of the best classes in the game, able to access both offensive and defensive spells, and well worth having in any party. However, there are better ways to make a sage.

Merchant Has Its Niche, But Not Much Else

Cash Rules Everything Around Me

The Merchant's role is highly specific: their job is to manage all things money. As such, with a character of the Merchant vocation in the party, you'll receive more gold from every battle. Merchants can also appraise items at no additional cost, which can save the player a few gold. They can dig for items in dungeons, but doing so has a low rate of return. Merchants can also use Service Call to summon item shops, which is useful - but unfortunately, this ability only works outside dungeons.

You can change classes at any time by visiting Alltrades Abbey.

Unfortunately, Merchants are far weaker than almost any other class in battle, which means they spend most of their time as dead weight. It's good to have one around in case you need to grind for a little extra cash, or don't want to waste money on an appraisal. But other classes do the whole item hoarding thing much better.

Thief Is Good For Hoarding Items

But Not Much Else

As is traditional for RPG classes of its type, DQ3's Thief prioritizes speed over damage, which is mainly to its detriment here. Naturally, Thieves have a high agility stat, which means they'll avoid a lot more of the attacks that come their way. They're self-sufficient and fairly easy to keep alive, but their attack damage is tragically low, which makes them basically useless from an offensive point of view.

The Thief's unique ability allows them to steal items at random from vanquished enemies. The drop rate increases as they level up. This can occasionally return something useful (mainly in the mid-late game), but will also net you a lot of useless junk. More often, though, Thieves will get you a whole lot of nothing. There's some value in bringing them along to grind for useful items in certain areas, but they're unlikely to ever become a staple of your DQ3 party.

Monster Wrangler Gets A Slow Start

DQ3's Newest Vocation

Based on the gameplay of the Dragon Quest Monsters subseries (and Dragon Quest 5 before it), the Monster Wrangler doesn't exactly do any fighting themselves, instead summoning a menagerie of monsters to do their bidding. Unlike other classes, the Monster Wrangler doesn't rely on experience points and levels to learn new abilities; instead, their skills are based entirely on the monsters they capture. As a result, their mileage may vary depending on which enemies they encounter when.

You can also use friendly monsters in the Monster Arena mini-game.

Unfortunately, that means that making a Monster Wrangler requires quite a bit of grinding to get the best possible allies on their side. When they get there, they can be really effective, but it takes a while before they reach full strength, and you'll have to make a concentrated effort to keep their rotating roster of monsters on pace with the enemies you encounter.

Martial Artist Balances Offense & Defense

Fists Of Fury

Martial Artists are equivalent to what most RPGs call monks: high-powered warriors who specialize in close-quarters combat. Their starting HP, strength, and agility are all high, making them both heavy attackers and staunch defenders. DQ3's Martial Artists are a little different, though, in that they don't exclusively use unarmed attacks or simple weapons; they can actually employ almost any weapon type found throughout the game, from swords and spears to clubs and claws.

Honestly, the worst thing that you can say about Martial Artists is that they're a little boring to play. They never learn any spells or abilities, so all they can ever do is attack and defend - but they do that incredibly well. As a result, you can never really go wrong with a Martial Artist on your side in battle, as long as everyone else in the party has a more interesting Vocation to back them up.

Warrior Is Exactly What You Expect

Brute Strength

It doesn't get any more generically fantasy RPG than DQ3's Warrior class. Warriors wield swords, daggers, clubs, whips, axes and hammers in battle - in essence, every kind of melee weapon you can imagine. They boast high strength and high HP, even higher than Martial Artists in the first category. They're known for their brute strength and resilience in the face of adversity, and can deal a lot of damage when paired with the right characters.

That said, attacking and defending is all a Warrior can do - like Martial Artists, they never learn magic or any special abilities to set them apart from the other classes. That's perfectly fine, but again, it does tend to make this class a little boring to pay in the long run. Still, it's always good to have a resident Warrior on standby, especially when it comes to boss battles and long, grueling dungeons.

Mages Are DQ3's Best Damage Dealers

Strategic Spellcasting

Naturally, Mage is DQ3's resident caster class. Although low on strength, agility, and HP, Mages have access to an expansive spell list. These are primarily (but not exclusively) offensive skills, ranging from the single-target Frizz to the earth-shattering Kaboom. Later on, they do learn some defensive spells, like Bounce and Sheen. However, Mages are mainly damage dealers, and can excel in that role with the proper protection from ive allies. Their only setback is MP, which strictly limits how many spells they can cast.

It's effectively necessary to keep a Mage in your party at almost all times, mainly because of their access to multi-target spells and powerful damaging abilities. A well-trained Mage may prove your party's primary damage dealer, with everyone else coming in to clean up the remnants after their Kaboom spells devastate an entire enemy team. Just that their otherwise low stats mean they can only reach their full potential paired with a character - for example, something like a Priest.

You Need A Priest

In Your DQ3 Party, That Is

However you slice it, you'd be hard-pressed to beat Dragon Quest 3 without a Priest. Priests are the go-to healing and class, with access to spells like the creatively-named Heal and Acceleratle. They can also debuff enemies with spells like Dazzle, Sap, and Snooze. Much as Mages eventually gain some abilities, Priests also gain some offensive spells as they level up, like the wind spell Swoosh, the insta-kill Thwack, and the self-sacrifice Kamikazee, but they remain primarily healers.

One way or another, it's best to have a decent Priest on standby. Whether they're buffing your melee attackers or just keeping everyone else alive, the Priest's healing abilities are necessary throughout the game, as much when exploring the overworld as when fighting a massive megaboss. Ironically, their own stats, including HP and agility, are pretty poor, but their own healing skills should be more than enough to keep them alive.

Sages Are Great, But Hard To Come By

Learning The Words Of Wisdom

Ever wish you could combine a Mage and a Priest, creating a powerful caster with access to both potent healing spells and dynamic damage skills? That'd be the Sage, one of Dragon Quest 3's best Vocations - but also one of its hardest to come by. Sages can access all but a handful of spells, and can serve as both and DPS, effectively replacing both a Mage and a Priest in your party. They have high HP and Luck, which allows them to survive even powerful multi-target enemy blasts.

The only downside to Sages is that they're very hard to get on your team. There are effectively two ways to recruit a Sage character: one is to train a Gadabout up to level 20 (difficult, tedious, and wasteful), and the other is to find the Words of Wisdom item within the Tower of Transcendence, an optional dungeon north of Alltrades Abbey. The latter method is far better for two reasons. The first is that characters can carry over some learned abilities when they become a Sage, allowing you to further expand the Sage's already expansive spellbook. The second is that it spares you the annoyance of traveling with a Gadabout.

Hero Is The Best Class In DQ3

Exclusive To The Protagonist

Hero is a versatile Vocation that's only available to a single character: the game's protagonist. It's primarily a physical attack class using swords, knives, clubs, and boomerangs, all of which it uses well. But the Hero can also learn a pretty respectable menu of spells that damage their enemies and protect their allies. Their spell list isn't quite as impressive as the Sage's, but it has a similar range of functions, plus a couple of unique utility spells like Evac and Zoom that can transport the party from dungeon to overworld, or from overworld to town.

The only negative thing about the Hero class is that it can only be applied to the protagonist - you can't have a party full of Heroes. With access to the best weapons and gear, the widest variety of abilities, and great stats across the board, Hero is the best Vocation in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - thankfully, you'll always have one in your party.