Dragon Quest 7‘s vocation system stands as one of the most expansive class frameworks in the entire series, offering players dozens of potential career paths for their party members. With so many options available, determining the optimal vocations for each character can feel overwhelming.
While the beauty of Dragon Quest 7 lies in its flexibility – allowing players to customize their party however they wish – certain vocations complement specific characters better than others based on their natural stat growth and role within the party. Add Moonlighting, and you’ve got a whole mess of options on your hands.
Best Basic Vocations For Every Character
Basic vocations form the foundation of your characters’ development and provide essential skills that remain useful throughout the entire game. These classes are immediately accessible and teach fundamental abilities, and can be useful as Moonlighting options even in the lategame!
|
Character |
Vocation |
Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
|
Hero |
Martial Artist / Warrior Mage |
The Hero is a jack of all trades in DQ7, and can thrive with pretty much any vocation (though putting him in a support vocation is a waste of his talents). He thrives quickly as a Martial Artist or Warrior thanks to their powerful physical attacks. Warrior would be tankier, but you won’t need a tank to begin with – by the time you need someone tanky, you can use Moonlighting to progress in that vocation and unlock new vocations. He can also do really well with Mage, but this is probably better suited to when you either have Moonlighting unlocked or you have other party members in physical vocations to make up for the difference. You’ll also probably benefit from getting him levelled up in Priest, but mostly as a prerequisite for Paladin. |
|
Maribel |
Mage / Priest |
As the mage of the group, Maribel should be in magical classes and not really experimenting much from there. She really just excels here, and can easily pump out some of the highest damage numbers in the game with the best spells. |
|
Ruff |
Shepherd / Thief / Sailor |
With his speed, Ruff is very good at being an offensive support character. Shepherd is more supportive, while Thief is more offensive, but both are useful in many situations. Sailor is also a good pick for Ruff, giving him some physical power while also supporting the general idea that he’s a support character. He’s not a total powerhouse, but Sailor is fantastic for clearing up random battles against large groups. |
|
Aishe |
Troubadour |
Aishe’s default class is like Dancer, but a bit better, so Troubadour is the basic pick that makes the most sense here. |
|
Mervyn |
Warrior |
Mervyn is the quintessential tanky physical character, so buffing his stats and skill list with what Warrior offers is a great idea. |
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Intermediate vocations unlock after mastering specific basic classes, offering more specialised roles and powerful abilities. These vocations define your party’s strategic identity and combat approach.
|
Character |
Vocation |
Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
|
Hero |
Armamentalist |
Thanks to his balanced stat spread, combining physical and magical might with the Armamentalist’s skillset is a wonderful choice for the Hero. Gladiator also makes a decent fallback, if needed. |
|
Maribel |
Sage |
Sage is a fantastic pick for Maribel, combining the best aspects of the Mage and Priest vocations. It allows her to be offensive and supportive, while also giving her a free slot (via Moonlighting) to train up other vocations if you’re aiming for Druid, or focus on offence or defence by picking Mage or Priest as a secondary. |
|
Ruff |
Monster Master / Pirate |
Monster Master fits Ruff’s stats as well as his entire character. It’s a flexible and slightly risky (at times) vocation, but is capable of really great stuff. Pirate is easily accessible for a Ruff with experience in Thief and Sailor, and is a great way to boost his physical offence. |
|
Aishe |
Luminary |
Aishe is a good support character, and Luminary is a good support vocation. It’s got a hefty unlock condition (three mastered Basic vocations), but it’s well-worth the investment. Getting access to Oomph alone is worth it. |
|
Mervyn |
Paladin |
Mervyn’s starting vocation is well-picked – a supportive tank is perfect for him. As a secondary, though, he really appreciates Gladiator for the extra offence. |
Best Advanced Vocations For Every Character
Advanced vocations represent the pinnacle of class progression, requiring mastery of multiple intermediate vocations. These elite classes combine the best aspects of their prerequisites, and can form the underpinning of your entire strategy for a character.
|
Character |
Vocation |
Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
|
Hero |
Hero |
It’s all in the name! The Hero is the character who has the best reasons to experiment lots with his vocations, which leads him to mastering more than other characters, making this quite an easy unlock for him. It has a whole host of very useful skills that will make great use of his fantastic stats (especially if you feed him lots and lots of seeds). |
|
Maribel |
Druid |
The magical vocation for Maribel? Groundbreaking. Jokes aside, this is an obvious fit for Maribel, but be wary of the temptation to just put her in this vocation and leave it at that – Druid is powerful, but expensive, you may want to back it up with Mage to have access to more basic spells. |
|
Ruff |
Hero |
If you really want Ruff in an Advanced vocation, Hero is a good fit for Ruff. He has a decent-enough stat spread to make things work. |
|
Aishe |
Druid |
Aishe is another character who doesn’t need an Advanced vocation, but if you’ve leaned into her dancer vibes and supportive orientation upon recruitment for the rest of the game, Druid has some powerful options for her. |
|
Mervyn |
Champion |
Champion provides some incredible offensive options for Mervyn, perfect for the times where his support skills aren’t needed. |
Best Endgame Builds For Each Character
This is where we found the absolute best success for each character during my playthrough. It isn’t intensely optimised for the most difficult fights in the game, but it carried me through the last few boss fights of the game on Normal difficulty without much worry at all.
|
Character |
Vocations |
Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
|
Hero |
Hero / Armamentalist |
This is the perfect combination of physical and magical might, turning the Hero into an offensive powerhouse with powerful options for basically any fight in the game. |
|
Maribel |
Sage / Mage |
Combining magical might with just enough support options to make her a wonderful addition to any party, this is wonderful for Maribel. Sap is one of the best support spells in the game, and Mage’s Let Loose providing guaranteed critical hits can be a total game changer. |
|
Ruff |
Monster Master / Pirate |
This combination turns Ruff into an offensive powerhouse with great options for most battles. |
|
Aishe |
Luminary / Druid |
This combination makes Aishe an extremely good support character who can also hold her own once the set-up is complete. Her damage output is great, and Pass the Torch (which gives her turn to another character) is a great tool to have for any endgame party. She’s also this party’s source of Omniheal, one of the most clutch spells in the game. |
|
Mervyn |
Champion / Paladin |
There’s little to explain with this choice. It goes all-in with defensive physicality and healing support, making Mervyn a fantastic tool to bring to the toughest, longest fights. |
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