Rab is a versatile character, as he has many thing going for him, but he fails to excel at any one of those things. He is basically a jack of all trades, and master of none. He has two types of weapons available to him, which are Claws and Heavy Wands. These are pretty much the exact opposite of one another, as one is physical in nature and the other is magical. He is the only cast that can use the Zam line of spells, and his high MP pool means he will be able to use a lot of spells. His versatility makes him great for boss fights, though, since he is able to buff your party, debuff enemies, heal and even deal some damage.

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Rab in Dragon Quest XI

Spells¶

Rab has a lot of spells at his disposal, from buffs, debuffs, damage dealers and even healing ones. A lot of his spells aren’t unique to him, so you are able to find them on other characters. For example, Multiheal is also on Serena, but Rab learns it five levels before she does. The Zam-line spells are unique to Rab and while they seem a little mediocre, they do seem to have a higher chance to critical than other spells. Combine those with something like Ring of Ruin, which Rab can actually learn, and those spells will be putting a hurting on enemies. Defuddle is another spell that is unique to Rab and can come in handy in emergencies, especially since confusion can be quite annoying to deal with in tense battles.

Insulate/Insulatle will come in handy much later on in the game, since breath attacks will become a lot more common. Of course, there are items that can be used that do the same thing, which can limit the usefulness of the spell itself. One thing that Rab is good for is healing outside of battles, since you might not be using him much during battles. Also, Pearly Gates is a great ability once he learns it, since it hits all enemies and does pretty good damage. The only problem with it is that it’s wind-elemental, so some enemies will resist it.

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Rab’s initial skill trees

Heavy Wands¶

As one of the two weapons for Rab, you’re not going to get a whole lot out of the skills here. Despite that, though, it might be best to stick to Heavy Wands in the first part of the game, as Claws don’t really have much value until that tree opens up later. The one really good skill in this tree is Zing Stick, which is better than normal Zing since it guarantees revival, plus Rab will have access to it pretty much right away upon him joining your party. The other thing regarding this tree is that Rab gets a lot of passives, like +60 to both Magical Might and Mending, as well as +60 to his MP. Once you get access to the better Claw tree, though, then this one isn’t really all too good.

Claws¶

During the first part of the game, Rab’s Claws tree is not that good, as the majority of his great skills with the weapon are not there yet. Hawkeye Claw isn’t bad, though, since it will always hit full on, but it lacks any power behind it. The only really good skill in the first part is Hardclaw, as it hits three times and you aren’t going to lose any critical hit chance over those three hits. This will remain as one of the better skills in the tree. Once the tree expands, you will want to focus on getting Rake ‘n’ Break, as it allows you to remove buffs that enemies cast on themselves; that’s the sole purpose of it. The other highlight is Wild Animaul, which hits five times, although each hit after the first will have a lesser chance for criticals. When not focused on a high crit chance, then Wild Animaul is your go-to, otherwise, stick with Hardclaw. All of the passives should be gotten at some point, too, as they all benefit Rab.

Enlightenment¶

The Enlightenment tree is probably something you likely don’t want to invest in much in the early goings of the game, as there isn’t really much there. The only really important skill you will want to get is Benediction, as there isn’t a lot of ways to cure Curse in Dragon Quest XI. Caster Sugar isn’t a bad skill, as it’s basically Oomph for magic spells, but it can only be used on Rab himself. It can be stacked twice, though, in case you want some extra punch to your offensive and healing spells. It isn’t until the tree expands that it becomes better, so you’re best to avoid it (besides Benediction), until then.

Once it does expand, you are going to have to make a choice, as some of the better abilities are quite expensive in skill points. Both Kacrackle and Kazammle are powerful spells, but you will need to spend a lot of skill points to get them, since they are locked panels and surrounded by other locked panels, not to mention one of the more expensive set of panels in the game that are permanent. The passives are also great once they open up, since Rab can get a lot of Agility, and you can get his Pep-related passives here, too. Clear Your Mind can remove enemy buffs, similar to the Claws’ Rake ‘n’ Break, so you have that option if you decide to ignore Claws. Infinite Wisdom is pretty much like Oomphle, but for magic, although it’s still only usable on Rab himself and not anyone else.

Character Build¶

As mentioned a few times, Rab is kind of like a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, since he doesn’t really excel at any one thing, unlike the other characters in the game. When you first get him, it’s best to ignore both Enlightenment and Claws, since you aren’t going to get much of anything from them, other than Benediction. That means the focus should be on Heavy Wands at first, until you progress enough in the main story to fully unlock the rest of his skill trees. Once you do, then you have a choice to make, as you can either go with Claws or go with Enlightenment. The latter will take a lot of skill points to fully develop, especially to the point you can grab both Kacrackle and Kazammle.

With Claws, while you may think you are going for a more physical build for Rab, you will probably want to focus more on critical hit chance. The three skills you want with Claws are Rake ‘n’ Break, Hardclaw, and Wild Animaul, plus you will also want the passives from this skill tree. The first skill allows you to remove buffs from enemies, which is always a plus in some of the harder battles, especially if you’re using Draconian settings. The other two abilities both hit multiple times, allowing for more chances to critically hit, although Wild Animaul has a lesser chance on hits past the first. When you level up high enough, you either have a choice between staying on Claws, or going back to Heavy Wands and focusing on Enlightenment.