Proper MP management is always key in any entry in the Dragon Quest series. Even with all of its tweaks and changes over the original, MP management continues to be an extremely important element of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, one that you should master to graduate from being a series newbie to a true pro.
If you're having trouble with it, however, you can follow these tips to become a master MP manager, and ultimately have more fun with the game right from the very beginning.
Table of contents
Don't Go Overboard and Learn When to Take the Reins Back
This is self-explanatory, but if you like using the "Fight Wisely" Tactics option to let the AI handle regular enemies, you will want to have a slightly more hands-on approach to prevent your characters from wasting MPs needlessly. This combat option is centered on the principle of taking out enemies efficiently, meaning that it will often use spells and skills that target groups even if every enemy can be defeated by a single regular attack.
As such, whenever you feel you can take out the remaining enemies with regular attacks, take back control of your characters by pressing the Triangle/Y/X button to bring up the Tactics menu. If you don't want to enter commands yourself, you can select "Don't Use MP." This way, your party will finish off the enemies without using skills, saving your precious MPs for when you need them most.
Take Advantage of Reimagined New Mechanics
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined makes MP management way more manageable than in the original PlayStation release or other modern remakes like Dragon Quest I & II and III HD-2D with some new mechanics:
- No Random Encounters: Dragon Quest VII Reimagined no longer features random encounters, except when traveling on your ship. This makes it way easier to manage MP while inside dungeons, as you can pick your fights and easily avoid enemies if you feel your resources are stretched thin.
- The Zoom Strategy: Even if you want to fight every enemy you encounter before a dungeon's main boss, you can use the lack of random encounters to your advantage. Your protagonist learns the spell Zoom right from the beginning of the game, which you can use to easily warp out of a dungeon for free, rest at an inn, and quickly return to where you left off by avoiding on-screen enemies.
- Angel Statues: If completing multiple runs of the same dungeon doesn't appeal to you, simply fight until you reach the location right ahead of the boss fight. In here, you will find an Angel Statue representing not only a save point, but also free HP and MP restoration which will put you in the best condition for the fight ahead!
Glowing Spots, Closets and Drawers Are Your Best Friends
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined features MP restoration items such as the Single Phial which can be used to restore MP in a bind. Unlike other entries in the series, however, the remake is really generous with these items; they can be found quite often by checking out glowing spots on the world map or by opening closets and drawers and breaking barrels and vases.
As such, the beginner's tip of thoroughly exploring each location is central to MP management as well. You are probably never going to use these items to restore MP on the field with much better strategies available, but in an intense battle against a Boss or a Vicious enemy, these items can really make a difference.
Equipping The "Little Devil Heart"
The Dagon Quest VII remake introduces deep changes to the Monster Hearts system, turning them into accessories that grant passive skills. One of these, the Little Devil Heart, plays a rather important role for MP management that can seriously help you tide the turn of a boss battle going terribly wrong.
The Little Devil Heart grants a character "the mental alertness to always know when it's time to pop a single phial," meaning that they will use a Single Phial in your inventory automatically when their MP gets low without wasting a turn! However, as the threshold for using a Single Phial is a little high (50% MP), you risk wasting too many of them if you have characters equip it during regular enemy encounters.
Thankfully, the new save points provide unexpected help for using the heart properly. Once you arrive at one of the Angel Statues inside a dungeon, equip it to any character reliant on MP to deal damage or support the party for the boss battle ahead without having to worry about running out of MP!
In my 50+ hours playthrough, this strategy proved to be excellent time and time again, allowing my Maribel to focus on slinging spells without having to worry about MPs before getting access to the ever-useful Magic Drain skill from the Mage Vocation, so I highly recommend you use the Little Devil Heart this way to have an easier time during boss battles as soon as you get it.
This concludes the guide. For more help, visit our Dragon Quest VII Reimagined Complete Walkthrough and Guides Hub.
NOTE: Guide based on a 50+ hours playthrough in the 1.0 Steam version. Screenshots captured from the same version.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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