MAJOR SPOILERS: Should any Cursed Gear be used?

[jmac2007]

MAJOR SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT GAME SPOILED!!!!!!!!!!


So, over the course of the game you collect a lot of gear that is powerful but has a drawback / curse. A sword for example that deals a ton of damage but also hurts does the damage back at you.

I played through the entire game on normal difficulty (will try draconion next) but have yet to play through the post game content and have not 100%ed the game either yet.

I am wondering what vocations are best suited for which cursed gear if any?

Attempting to run the gauntlet again in the final dungeon against all the "boss rush" while my team is wearing cursed gear seems like a fun challenge at least.

[The_Box]

In my experience, there really is almost no reason to use any of the cursed gear. Even if it has good stats, the drawbacks are often severe enough that it's totally offset. Plus there's plenty of good gear throughout that works just fine.

[VertVentus]

Sword of Ruin (Attack +135, +13% critical rate, 25% chance of self paralysis / Hero, Warrior) = Bad.
Double-Edged Sword (Attack +148, 25% recoil damage / Hero, Warrior) = Bad.
Golden Claws (Attack +62, encounter every step in Pyramid's basement / Martial Artist) = Fine, but MA that early is bad for their lack of AoE whips/boomerangs.
Shield of Shame (Defense +60, reflects 50% damage taken on ally / Hero, Warrior, Merchant, Thief, Wrangler) = Bad.
Hapless Helm (Defense +69, turns Luck to 0 / Hero, Warrior, Wrangler) = Extremely bad since you'll lower your physical damage variance to 0.8 ~ 0.9, have 0% critical rate, and nerf your ailment resistance.
Mask of Implacability (Defense +255, confusion while worn / Everyone) = Good for a solo playthrough, otherwise bad.
Hate Mail (Defense +110, 75%? magic resistance, 38% chance of self paralysis / Hero, Warrior) = Bad.
Ten Ton Toupee (Defense +18, Mule personality) = Bad.
Cower Ring (Agility +12, Wimp personality) = Bad.

So as stated above, almost no reason.

[Koby]

I haven't seen any Cursed Gear that I'd want to use given all the drawbacks despite any stat benefits. Better off using lower stat gear without the curse in pretty much every scenario.

[atmasabr]

In the NES version I ran a guy with both Hate Mail and Sword of Ruin. I ended up using him as my status caster. But in the GBA version that wouldn't work, you'd freeze even when using spells.

The thing about most cursed gear is that there's usually something almost as good out there that isn't cursed. If Hate Mail lets you cast spells without freezing, it's a winner. But it probably doesn't, which means it's only really there to make you a better tank, but Warriors want to act as well.

Maybe if you combine the Ten Ton Toupee with the ability to remove it at will, but then you can't fight Metal enemies or bosses.

Sword of Ruin would be passable if, what, Headsman's Axe? wasn't in the game. You should still give it a spin just to see those mighty numbers fly up once.

[atmasabr]

Recently had a Double Edged Sword drop right before I took a trip to the Necrogond.

Wait, 148 Attack??? That's the highest I've ever seen in any version of the weapon. That's out of this world. I'm using it.

Wild Side + Sap
Oomph
Double Edge Slash

The result is spectacular. I've never seen damage levels this high in Dragon Quest.

Against randoms? I hate it. The biggest problem with cursed weapons is you can't switch to whips and boomerangs mid-battle. Only out of them (and I don't have Sheen yet, or Service Call). Interestingly, you don't get recoil damage if Pressure Pointer or Assassin Stab work. Which is good, because Pressure Pointer does low damage anyway.

[deadbeef]

double edged slash with double edged sword you are a madman

[atmasabr]

Originally posted by deadbeef:

double edged slash with double edged sword you are a madman

With Oomph and two Saps in effect.

I feel like Misty from the anime calling on Staryu, "Hyah!"

It only deals 30% recoil damage when you combine the two. It's 160 recoil damage, my health went red down to 100 hit points OH NO.

Now that I can romp around the Necrogond, I'm gonna give Stark Raven something to really caw about.

......
Um, yeah, that was a 1 hit kill XD

[zebulous_newt]

So if you have gadabouts, or former gadabouts, sobering slap will cure sleep, confused, and paralyzed.
Eggon stacks with oomph, it really is impressive.
So get a couple of gadabouts if you are going to have a cursed run.

I kind of wonder if sobering slap can cure the confusion from mask of implacability. Sure you would have to slap the wearer at the start of each battle, but it seems a small price to pay.
For the paralyzing equipment:
Sobering slap should deal with all of that paralysis. Sure you will lose a few turns but set the slapper to fight wisely. I am just not sure if the slapper should be faster or slower than the cursed guy with paralysis.

[Lucas the Thief]

Mask of implacability if you are doing solo hero run

[atmasabr]

Originally posted by atmasabr:

If Hate Mail lets you cast spells without freezing, it's a winner.

Okay, Hate Mail lets you cast spells without freezing in this version. (So does Sword of Ruin but that kinda defeats the point of it.) Not physical attack abilities, though.

Sword of Ruin would be passable if, what, Headsman's Axe? wasn't in the game.

So, in this version Sheen and Benediction remove cursed equipment without breaking them. This makes the rarer items much, much more viable options than in the NES and GBA versions so that they're not such extreme commitments anymore. Hero can use the Sword of Ruin to have a role in Liquid Metal Slime hunting.

Originally posted by zebulous_newt:

I kind of wonder if sobering slap can cure the confusion from mask of implacability. Sure you would have to slap the wearer at the start of each battle, but it seems a small price to pay.
For the paralyzing equipment:
Sobering slap should deal with all of that paralysis. Sure you will lose a few turns but set the slapper to fight wisely. I am just not sure if the slapper should be faster or slower than the cursed guy with paralysis.

Sobering Slap doesn't cure confusion from the Mask of Implacability. Nor is the character wearing it controllable when solo. The mask was designed to frustrate solo runs in the NES versions (though a solo run in the NES is almost impossible without one) and it does much the same in this version, too.

The freezing from the other two items isn't paralysis, it's a one-turn skip when you try to perform an action, not a paralysis status effect.

[hopefuldeath]

Apparently since the only classes that can equip the cursed equipment is the Hero and Warrior, the game is programmed so that only Hero and Warrior abilities are affected by the curse. If you learn the Martial Artist abilities and then change to a Warrior, you can actually use all the Martial Artist skills with the cursed equipment and the curse will never trigger. Same goes for things like Summon Army and Pile On.

I guess Multi-fists finally found something it can call an advantage over Sword Dance