One of my favorite parts of Dragon Quest X is that it can be played completely solo, even though it's technically an MMO. This doesn't mean that you have to go on the journey alone, however. Dragon Quest X implements a system which allows you to hire AI party members to journey with you across the world of Astoltia. So even if you don't have irl friends who play the game, you can still hire AI party members and play through the content yourself.

The game gives you three default party members to start with, but you'll soon outgrow them and need better ones if you want to get through all of the content.

In this post, we'll go over how to unlock this mechanic and how to use it.

Step One – Find Quest #31 at Any Tavern

Once you play through the prologue and the first little starting area of whatever tribe you chose, you can visit the first major town on that tribe's island. Make a point of going to the tavern first (it's the Mug with Beer Foam on the map). The taverns will also have a similar symbol above their doors, and usually a sign nearby, too. It looks like this:

There are at least two NPCs in each tavern. One gives you Quest #31 to unlock these party mechanics, and (depending where you are in the story) the other gives you quest #34, which allows you to change jobs (I'm working on explaining that in a future post).

Step Two – Go to Rakkaran

To complete this quest, you'll need to go to the casino island. Talk to the NPC at the train station and go to the island that's in the bottom-middle of the map. It's one of two islands with a white icon by its name. Make sure it's the one in the bottom-middle, and NOT the one in the top-middle. If you're using Google Translate, then it translates the island's name as Rakkaran.

Step Three – Buy the Golden Birdie

Head inside the big building with the golden lamp on top. There's a female NPC inside who sells the item we're looking for. She's a human with a turquoise hat on, and she's standing next to one of those “roughneck” NPCs with the yellow bull masks. The item is 210 G, and it should be the only item that costs that much. It looks like this:

For some reason, Google Translate kept giving me weird names for this item, so I'm not sure what it's really called. It's a golden birdie, though, and the NPC at the tavern really wants it. So, now it's time to leave Rakkaran and take this golden birdie back to the tavern.

Step Four – Hiring AI Party Members

Buy the item and take it back to the tavern. Give it to the NPC to complete the quest. You'll now have access to party members!

To hire them yourself, click this top option. If you want to go with a recommend party, then click the third option. There's pros and cons of using either one, but I usually searched for party members myself.

If you go with that first option, that'll open up this next menu, but don't worry. It's pretty easy to navigate.

You alter search conditions as needed up at the top. Once you're down, click this bottom option here. You'll see all sorts of prospective party members to choose from.

And remember, you can recruit them for up to 168 hours (real-time, not game-time). Be sure to take the time to see their stats, what moves they have, and all that. You'll want a balanced party. Sometimes the pickings are a little slim, but there's always enough variety to get you through the main story content.