Is that a slime? A dracky? A killing machine?! Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is absolutely crawling with monsters, but your party of three is only a few special moves away from smashing them to smithereens! That is, of course, only if you’re strong enough…

Powering up is the only way forward when literal swarms stand between you and your next leg of adventure. So here are a few tips from the App Store Editors on how to keep on keeping on, especially if this is your very first run.

Playing the main story earns you Adventurer Rank experience, and ranking up unlocks features such as Change Vocation to help your character get stronger, faster. So focus on getting through as much of the main story as you can early on for smoother sailing later.

The foundation of powering up your characters is gaining battle experience and levelling up. And one classic way to rack up experience in the Dragon Quest series is by defeating metal monsters in the Metal Slime Quest and Liquid Metal Slime Quest.

To take on metal monster quests, you need a Metal Ticket. You’ll come across it in a number of ways, including as an Adventurer Rank Up Reward, an Event Reward or from the Swap Shop.

Weapons and armour are a big part of your characters’ strength too, and they can be upgraded with items like Weapon Ore and Armour Ore. Unlock Adventurer Rank 4 to access the Weapon Ore Quest and Armour Ore Quest – then earn ores as Clear Rewards based on your Clearance Rank.

Level 30 is usually the sweet spot when levelling up a weapon, since that’s when stats such as Attack and Magical Might rise significantly when a preferred weapon is equipped.

There are five Standard Vocations to choose from here: Warrior, Martial Artist, Thief, Mage and Priest. Vocation Change unlocks at Adventurer Rank 7, but we recommend levelling up a single vocation early on.

That’s because Advanced Vocations are unlocked when you raise two specific Standard Vocations to level 50. For instance, Paladin, an ironclad holy knight, becomes available when you raise both Warrior and Priest to level 50.

Similarly, the support-savvy Sage becomes an option once you reach level 50 in both Mage and Priest. Reaching an Advanced Vocation makes it far easier to progress in your adventure, so make sure to plan ahead with that in mind!

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