Dragon Quest IX: Legacy Boss Hunter - Murdaw - Part 2

Well, welcome to the long-awaited second part of my Murdaw article related to the Legacy Boss Hunter series of Dragon Quest IX articles! If you haven't read the first part of this article, you can check it out by clicking on any part of this sentence. This article is going to touch upon Murdaw in his level 16 incarnation, what extra attacks he gains, and how his drops change as he reaches that level. Afterward, I'm going to list the party setup I used to beat up Murdaw at this level.

So, let's get started, shall we?

From level 1 to level 16, Murdaw gains a total of three new attacks. In order, they are:

Level 5 - C-C-Cold Breath: This chilling attack deals from 150-300 damage (based on resistances) to the whole party. My party takes around 180 damage or so from this breath attack.

Level 10 - Disruptive Wave: This ability removes all magical effects from your party except (curiously enough) Dazzle. So, if he uses Dazzleflash and then Disruptive Wave, you'll be blinded and without every magical effect you had stacked on your party up to that point in time of the battle. (This can also work in your favor if he lowers your Defense with Kasap and then uses Disruptive Wave, but that rarely happens.)

Level 15 - Hellfire: This scorching breath attack does about twice as much as his blazing breath, which translates to about 140-280 damage or so. My party takes around 150 damage from that breath attack.

Also, much like anyone who levels up, Murdaw's attack and defense parameters are higher than in his level 1 incarnation.

So, here's my party setup so you can see what I use to defeat Murdaw:

Winter - Level 76 Minstrel

571 HP

177 MP

318 Attack - Falcon Blade

429 Defense - Mirror Armor

315 Agility

Pyro - Level 79 Warrior

709 HP

69 MP

513 Attack - Uber Falcon Blade

640 Defense - Gigant Armor

93 Agility

Windia - Level 68 Paladin

592 HP

123 MP

471 Attack - Friendly Fan

528 Defense - Catroptic Armor

61 Agility

Terra - Level 67 Sage

423 HP

547 MP

260 Attack - Scepter of Gitt

283 Defense - Tropotoga

261 Agility

At levels 1 to 3 Murdaw drops the following:

• Mini Medal (100%)
• Somnia Boots (20%)
• Yellow Orb (5%)

Upon reaching level 4, and until level 8, Murdaw's drop table looks like this:

• Mini Medal (100%)
  
• Somnia Boots (25%) - The only change in the drop table.
  
• Yellow Orb (5%)

Just when you thought Murdaw would be dropping Somnia Boots for the duration of his existence, well he changes it up at level 9. He will keep this particular drop table until he's ready to carry Dhoulmagus' Map at level 16.

• Mini Medal (100%) - Hah! You expected this to change didn't you?
• Somnia Clothes (15%)
• Yellow Orb (6%)

At level 16, the drop table looks just as above, except that Dhoulmagus' Map (10%) replaces the Somnia Clothes. From there on out, increases in Murdaw's level only improve the drop rate of Dhoulmagus' Map and the Yellow Orb. In other words, Murdaw's drop table doesn't change items after the level 16 switch.

Note: Keep in mind that this strategy works based on my party composition. If you have a different party composition then the following probably won't work for you.

With that said, this is more or less how a good Murdaw fight goes:

Turn 1: Minstrel Eggs On the Warrior. Warrior uses Double Up (attack boost at the cost of some defense). Paladin uses Reverse Cycle (reflect all breath attacks). Sage uses Kabuff (boosts the defense of all party members).

Assuming Murdaw doesn't use Dazzleflash or Disruptive Wave:

Turn 2: Minstrel Eggs On the Warrior. (Actually, barring a party member dying, that's all the Minstrel does. You only really need 3 party members to execute this strategy). Warrior uses Psyche Up (50 Tension). Paladin uses Forbearance (that's all this character does as long as Reverse Cycle is active). Sage uses Kaboomle if the party is relatively unhurt or Multiheal if the party is hurt.

Turn 3: Minstrel does the same as above. The Warrior uses Falcon Slash (around 3500 with 50 Tension and 5100 with 100 Tension). Paladin does same as above. Sage does same as above.

Essentially, this strategy can win the fight within five turns if Disruptive Wave is not used at all and Dazzleflash isn't used on turn one (after the first turn, the Paladin will take the hit and it doesn't matter since he/she isn't attacking anyways).

Of course, that's an utopic setup, as Murdaw tends to use Disruptive Wave nearly every turn, even at level 16, so what I do is just have the Warrior use Falcon Slash every turn past the second. It might make the battle take longer, but the damage is more guaranteed. Keep in mind that the above strategy does NO damage until turn 3, which is 6 Murdaw actions and a decent chance you might get Disrupted.

However, as long as you make sure you keep Reverse Cycle up and your Paladin protecting your party with Forbearance, you'll win eventually.

Well, that's about it for this second part of my Legacy Boss Hunter article pertaining to Murdaw. Now you have a general idea of the party setup you will need to beat Murdaw, and the tactics you can use to beat him as well!

If you have any questions, feedback or tips related to this boss, feel free to comment in the appropriate section. :)

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate