Dragon Quest 5 in the DL

[SnowFire]

Quick addendum to my thoughts, since most seem to be leaning toward ranking Sancho.  If Sancho's ranked it's no great tragedy, of course, but I think that ranking him is like ranking Shoon in Suikoden V.  Which did happen, but I also think was a mistake.  Both have early plot and late plot, which is good...  but by the time you get them endgame, they're kinda seriously outclassed.  Yet they also both translate rather decently to the DL, both being good Middles.  The combination of meh in-game + rarely seriously used + actually decent in the DL strikes me as not great.  Plus, FF3DS hasn't drawn *that* well.  Obviously I'm still in favor of ranking DQV but when dealing with a low-drawing game, Sancho just doesn't seem like he should make the cut.

[Dhyerwolf]

Sancho is guaranteed though? A large part of Shoon problem is that he's obscure to get? Sancho is also somewhat interesting while Shoon was a less varying of 3 other S5ers.

[Cmdr_King]

Yeah, Sancho joins automatically at the start of Part 3 along with Parry and Madchen.  In fact, it's the first time in the game you can have a full party of humans >.>

[SnowFire]

Shoon's required as well.  In fact I think you even *have* to use him in Stormfist (and by "have to" this means for 99% of people "stick in your back 4 characters since we don't have access to a blacksmith and the game has, in its wisdom, given us a Shoon with a crappy weapon.  At least for the attack on Stormfist late game.).  You're not ever required to use Sancho, and if you do take him along for fun I imagine he also chills in the back rank of the party a lot.

[hinode]

The difference between DQ5 and Suiko5 is the former has a pretty small cast of characters (monsters not named Saber have no plot and thus don't count) whereas the latter has a rather large one. Sancho stands out for actually having both a personality and an enduring presence in the plot - there just aren't that many people who do that in the game. Suikoden 5 actually has a worthwhile plot and lots of developed characters, so it takes more to stand out.

[alanna82]

Sancho is also the only person who has Whistle, so I know some people level him up just for that ability. Whistle helps while trying to catch monsters since it calls a battle. I usually kept him in my wagon just for that ability.

[Meeplelard]

Wait, DQ5DS gave Sancho a SKILLSET?!?!?!

BLASPHEMY!!!!!!

Edit: For the record, yes, I intend on playing DQ5DS EVENTUALLY, I just don't know when that will be! *is backlogged as is*

[hinode]

Some additional thoughts I have on this, now that I've played the DS version:

-I'm pretty firmly inclined against ranking Prince Harry now. Back in the original version he stood out for being literally the only person in the entire cast with a discernable personality and/or character development. Other people actually have a personality now, and with more interesting party chats than he does. Combined with the gameplay strikes against him (temp who isn't around for long, pretty bland as a dueller) that feels like a definate no to me.

-On the other hand I'm much more open to Slime Knight as a ranking idea now. Four party member slots meant that it got used all the way through the end of the game, instead of getting shelved for the kids for every dungeon where the wagon was unavailable in gen 3 (i.e. almost of them). It... well, if you were to make FE-style character tiers for DQ5 (i.e. based on utility through the game and not just endgame stats), Goku With a Turban would clearly have the top tier to himself, for being around the entire game and being useful throughout as a fighter+healer. I would then put Slime Knight on the second tier, all by itself. Nobody else in the game even approaches its combination of availability (most of gen 2 + all of gen 3), ease of recruiting, and utility maintained through that entire duration. Being a clear #2 PC goes a long ways towards counterarguing the generic and personality-less issues.

-Ladja is the only boss that merits any serious consideration. I wouldn't oppose ranking him, but I do have a few qualms right now. Not only did much of his plot come from the remake, but he also got a second fight, so versionsplit is a more relevant factor for him than it is for anyone else save Debora. Still thinking about this and open to arguements.

[OblivionKnight]

Based on the SNES version...

I'd rank Hero, Bianca, Borongo, Flora, Your Son, Your Daughter, Sancho, Pipin, Bella, Papas, Harry, Mildrath, Gema, Jahmi/Jami/Centaursus/Centares, Ivol, Gonz, Buorn, Ramada.  Also, Esturk FW >_>

Anyway...I think at a bare minimum, Hero, Bianca, Borongo, Your Son, Your Daughter, Sancho.  Obviously, that is the smallest ranking, and minimizes it significantly.  

For permanent PCs...Pipin is very minimal and boring, so you could skip him.  Flora...you don't get a chance to see unless you pick her, which is 50% (Bianca you get to probably at least level 20-25 or so, so you have an idea of what she does).  

As for temps, Harry and Papas are strong ranks, plot-important, present, etc.  Bella is...relatively ok to keep unranked, I think, but she's still memorable enough and has plot importance.

Bosses...Mildrath is the final lord of darkness, but does nothing until the end (unlike Necrosaro).  Gema *SPOILERS* Kills Papas, so he has some plot relevance.  Ivol is the leader of the religious fanatics supporting Mildrath.  Jahmi/Jami/Centaursus/Centares *SPOILERS* turns Hero and chosen wife to stone, and helps with what Gema did.  Gonz helped Gema...and that's about it.  Buorn is a major boss with some plot, particularly with Flora.  Ramada is a high priest, but nothing else really.  At a minimum...Gema, Ivol, Mildrath, probably?  

Don't support monsters myself, or at least, ranking just one monster over the others.  It doesn't help I didn't get a Slime Knight until late generation 2, and already had King Healers, Curers, etc. as back-up healers.  Rank Slime!?