Dragon Quest

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 5 Human Only:  Why Couldn't More Boss Fights Be Like Ladja?

A lot of cutscenes occurred as Madason and company went to Faerie Lea.  A time loop began once Madason went to the past and took an orb of light from himself.  Turns out Bishop Ladja destroyed a fake orb instead of the real one!

Talon Tower was the next dungeon after Zenithia rose back into the sky.  The layout was unusual because I had to start at the top and go to the basement.  Many of the enemies were dragons, but I ran from most of the encounters because I was getting a bit tired of the game.  Slon the Rook was in the basement, and fought like a generic physical boss.

Bishop Ladja was much more interesting.  He could cast Kafrizzle, breathe fire, reflect magic, and use strong melee attacks.  He also had a lot of HP, forcing me to use tactics for a change.  Sancho and Parry cast Kabuff to raise the party's defense.  Parry followed that up with Insulatle to protect the party from Ladja's fire.  Oomph from Madchen raised Madason, Sancho, and Parry's physical attack power.  Late in the fight, I remembered Madchen could cast Kasap to debuff Ladja's defenses.  I should have thought of that earlier!  Sancho's damage went from being pathetic to being strong enough to finish off the boss!  Even joke characters can be useful with debuff spells.

If the rest of the game were like the Ladja fight, it would be the best Dragon Quest.  Unfortunately, DQ5's story is stronger than its gameplay because of the relative lack of fun boss battles.

Madason found his best weapon, the Dragon Staff.  I gave the Metal King Sword to Parry, because somehow a weapon bought in a casino is better than the legendary plot weapon.    

I then tried fighting Bjorn the Behemoose again. . .and still failed.  That lightning attack combined with his Buff spells make him hard to handle.


Stats and Equipment

Madason Level 28

HP:  243
MP:  135
Strength:  117
Agility:  77
Resilience:  37
Wisdom:  57
Luck:  58
Attack:  242
Defense:  167

Weapon:  Dragon Staff
Armor:  Flame Armor
Shield:  Tempest Shield
Head:  Iron Mask
Accessory:  Circle of Fire


Sancho Level 27

HP:  304
MP:  43
Strength:  102
Agility:  38
Resilience:  25
Wisdom:  31
Luck:  48
Attack:  132
Defense:  135

Weapon:  Sledgehammer
Armor:  Spiked Armor
Shield:  Tempest Shield
Hat:  Top Hat


Parry Level 24

HP:  199
MP:  88
Strength:  88
Agility:  150
Resilience:  39
Wisdom:  58
Luck:  45
Attack:  128
Defense:  224

Weapon:  Metal King Sword
Armor:  Sacred Armor
Shield:  Zenithian Shield
Head:  Zenithian Helm
Accessory:  Meteorite Bracer


Madchen Level 23

HP:  200
MP:  100
Strength:  45
Agility:  102
Resilience:  60
Wisdom:  79
Luck:  78
Attack:  85
Defense:  133

Weapon:  Staff of Antimagic
Armor:  Flowing Dress
Shield:  Scale Shield
Head:  Fur Hood

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 5 Human Only:  Statues Can't Level Grind

Bjorn the Behemoose was finally defeated once I changed tactics.  Using the Zenithian Sword as an item to dispel his Buff made a major difference.  (The Zenithian Sword had the same effect in DQ4.)  The all-target lightning attack was still difficult to deal with.


Crocodilopolis was the only place left to go.  Madason was enslaved there at the end of the childhood arc, so he recognized some of the tunnels.  A cyclops named Queen Ferz used a glamor charm to impersonate the hero's mother Mada, and then attacked when he saw through the ruse.

Queen Ferz was a typical physical boss, with some fire breath attacks.  The usual Kabuff, Kasap, Insulatle, and Oomph tactics won the fight easily.

King Korol, leader of the Nadiria cult, was at the bottom of the dungeon.  He was different from the typical boss.  For starters, he was immune to Kasap, and that alone made the fight take much longer.  He could also remove my buffs with a "disruptive wave" to make me waste several turns reapplying them.  A powerful ice attack could hit the whole party for major damage even with Insulatle active.  It took a couple of MP-restoring Elfin Elixirs to do it, but my team won.

Debora was free from the petrification curse, but she hadn't leveled up in 10 years!  Oh well, at least I found the Diamond Akillics to keep her from being irrelevant in the final dungeon.  Another party member with Oomph and Kasap could help too.  Sancho was sent back to the wagon, and it was time to make preparations for the endgame.

Stats and Equipment

Madason Level 30

HP:  261
MP:  149
Strength:  126
Agility:  81
Resilience:  40
Wisdom:  77
Luck:  64
Attack:  251
Defense:  190

Weapon:  Dragon Staff
Armor:  Sacred Armor
Shield:  Tempest Shield
Hat:  Thinking Cap
Accessory:  Circle of Fire


Parry Level 27

HP:  207
MP:  100
Strength:  96
Agility:  158
Resilience:  40
Wisdom:  62
Luck:  48
Attack:  226
Defense:  235

Weapon:  Metal King Sword
Armor:  Zenithian Armor
Shield:  Zenithian Shield
Head:  Zenithian Helm
Accessory:  Meteorite Bracer


Madchen Level 26

HP:  208
MP:  124
Strength:  47
Agility:  105
Resilience:  61
Wisdom:  89
Luck:  84
Attack:  87
Defense:  134


Weapon:  Staff of Antimagic
Armor:  Flowing Dress
Shield:  Scale Shield
Head:  Fur Hood


Debora Level 18

HP:  134  (Parry's Kazing may have to revive her a few times. . .)
MP:  66
Strength:  60
Agility:  70
Resilience:  62
Wisdom:  58
Luck:  80
Attack:  115
Defense:  137

Weapon:  Diamond Akillics
Armor:  Shimmering Dress
Head:  Wedding Veil
Accessory:  Circle of Water

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 5 Human Only:  Worst Accent Yet

With all three Circles (Fire, Water, Life), I could open the portal to Nadiria.  This led to a small world map, sort of like going to Faerie Lea.  The monsters here were much stronger.  The Snowbirds could cast instant death spells!  The party limped toward the final town, Precaria.  The inhabitants explained why humans lived in the world of evil:  they used to be monsters before Madason's mom Mada transformed them.  When I first entered Nadiria, Mada telepathically talked to Madason and gave him the Sage's Stone.  This infinite-use item healed the entire party!  

After a maze of mountains, the party went to Mt. Zugzwang.  This was the final dungeon.  Most of it was hallways full of random encounters, but there were puzzle rooms too.  One area had a movement tile puzzle similar to Pokemon (e.g. Liza and Tate's in Hoenn).  Another involved platforms that had to be activated in a certain order.  Smart players figure these things out on their own.  Smarter players look on GameFAQs and move on because they're sick of this game!    

Bishop Ladja challenged me to one final battle after killing Mada.  He was similar to the previous battle, except with higher stats and Kasap immunity.  It was a long fight, but melee attacks and buffs worked as usual.

EDIT:  Ladja had a paralysis breath attack too.  It hit Parry on both the first failed attempt and the second successful one.  Paralysis in DQ 5 is similar to Petrify in Final Fantasy, except it wears off after many many turns.  Equipping all my characters with Elfin Charm accessories reduced the likelihood of status ailments, and helped a lot in the Ladja fight.


Grandmaster Nimzo spoke in the only accent worse than Sancho's.  His dialogue was English written with Cyrillic letters, and his text boxes scrolled slowly.  (Think "little money" in Final Fantasy Tactics.)  The first phase of the fight was simple.  Nimzo used ice breath and physical attacks for the most part.  Sometimes, he summoned Nadirian monsters as backup.  These minions were easily defeated, and so was Nimzo's first form.


The demon form was a war of attrition.  It could dispel my buffs, breathe fire, cast Kaboom and Kafrizzle, and cast Kasap.  Nimzo Part 2 had so much health that Parry and Sancho ran out of magic, leading to a slow death.

I then looked at GameFAQs to find out if I was underleveled.  Turns out you're supposed to be around level 40, and my party was in the low 30s at best.  DQ 5 is not a suitable game for low level runs!    

Oh well!  Time to grind and hope Liquid Metal Slimes show up. . .


EDIT:  I forgot to mention that Debora was a disappointment.  She had low health combined with weak attacks.  Sancho performed much better.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 5 Human Only:  Who Needs Grinding?

Last night, I thought about what to do after losing to Grandmaster Nimzo.  The conventional wisdom on GameFAQs recommended having a party ranging from the high 30s to low 40s level range.  Yes, this was in the Human Only guide.  Then I realized I had a ton of casino tokens left over from a big win at the slot machines right before buying the Metal King Sword.  Fortuna's casino also sold Elfin Elixirs, a consumable item that restored one character's MP completely.  Yggdrasil Leaves that offered guaranteed revivals were available too.

After stuffing everyone's inventories, I went back through Mt. Zugzwang and reached Nimzo again.  The first form of the fight went as easily as before.  Nimzo form 1 didn't even get unique boss music!  Mt. Zugzwang didn't have special music either, come to think of it.

Nimzo 2 was tough more because of his high HP and defenses rather than his raw attack power.  Sure, he could act up to 2 times per round, but Sancho's Kabuffs blunted his physical blows and Parry's Insulatle cooled his Kabooms and Kafrizzles down.  Once, I forgot to cast Insulatle and had to revive Parry and Madchen. 

Madchen spent most of the fight using the Sage's Stone to heal everyone for 0 MP.  When she had an opening, Madchen cast Oomph to boost the other characters' melee attacks.  She never bothered casting attack spells, partly because keeping the other characters alive was more important, and partly because Nimzo often cast Bounce to reflect magic.


For a seemingly mediocre character, Sancho was invaluable.  He once survived a critical hit physical attack followed by a Kaboom on the same turn.  Kabuff prevented Nimzo from taking advantage of Kasap, and his Elfin Elixir stock made sure Parry could heal or buff as needed.  Sometimes he attacked, and while he didn't do much damage, it was still worthwhile to do so.  His Spiked Armor dealt recoil damage to Nimzo whenever he was hit by a melee attack.



Parry made sure to keep up Insulatle, but also had to cast Fullheal on occasion.  Kazing was used to revive fallen allies.  Parry's sword dealt reasonable damage too.


Madason spent most of his turns whacking Nimzo with his staff.  He dealt more damage than any other character, which was important considering Nimzo could "meditate" to heal himself.   But it was Parry that scored the final blow.  It was appropriate that the prophesied hero killed the demon lord!  
 
With appropriate tactics, you don't always have to grind in RPGs to win.  Madason was 9 levels below the Human Only FAQ's recommendation, and several of my characters also had weaker equipment than the examples given.  Gringham Whip on Madchen?  That costs 250,000 casino tokens!     There was no way I was going to do that!  That's why you shouldn't follow GameFAQs to the letter, even if the site is quite helpful. 


Final Stats and Equipment

Madason Level 32

HP:  274
MP:  158
Strength:  131
Agility:  84
Resilience:  41
Wisdom:  64
Luck:  68
Attack:  258
Defense:  211

Weapon:  Dragon Staff
Armor:  Sacred Armor
Shield:  Tempest Shield
Head:  Sun Crown
Accessory:  Elfin Charm


Parry Level 29

HP:  212
MP:  109
Strength:  101
Agility:  162
Resilience:  41
Wisdom:  65
Luck:  50
Attack:  231
Defense:  236

Weapon:  Metal King Sword
Armor:  Zenithian Armor
Shield:  Zenithian Shield
Head:  Zenithian Helm
Accessory1:  Meteorite Bracer
Accessory2:  Elfin Charm


Madchen Level 30

HP:  219
MP:  157
Strength:  50
Agility:  110
Resilience:  63
Wisdom:  103
Luck:  92
Attack:  110
Defense:  136


Weapon:  Stolos' Staff
Armor:  Flowing Dress
Shield:  Scale Shield
Head:  Fur Hood
Accessory:  Elfin Charm


Sancho Level 32

HP:  348
MP:  55
Strength:  116
Agility:  40
Resilience:  28
Wisdom:  32
Luck:  62
Attack:  176
Defense:  138

Weapon:  War Hammer
Armor:  Spiked Armor
Shield:  Tempest Shield
Hat:  Top Hat
Accessory:  Elfin Charm




Platinum Stereotype Award:  Sancho.  Here's a sample line of dialogue:  "When I leave thees castle weeth señor Pancraz eso long ago, you were just a leetle bebé."  I normally only hand out Golden Stereotype Awards, but Sancho's accent is so abysmal, I had to give him a special prize.


Gratuitous Symbolism Award:  The chess motif.  King Korol, Bishop Ladja, Grandmaster Nimzo, Slon the Rook, Kon the Knight (who's even a horse. . .) are the major villains.  The final dungeon is Mt. Zugzwang.  Enough said.


Most Surprisingly Useful Character:  Sancho.  Kabuff, high HP, and mediocre physical attacks came in handy near the end.


Most Disappointing Character:  Debora.  For all the hype the potential wives receive, you don't see them for most of the game.  They have weak equipment and come underleveled late in the game.


Most One-Dimensional Major Character:  Bianca.  All she ever talks about in the 2nd and 3rd generations is the time she hunted ghosts with Madason in the 1st generation.


Most Dramatically Improved Character:  Madchen.  She was almost useless when I first got her, but Oomph, Kasap, and high Agility Sage Stone usage redeemed her by the end of the game.


Most Overrated Equipment:  Zenithian Sword.  A sword you win through gambling is better than the legendary blade that Pancraz went through great effort to acquire.


Worst Section of the Game:  Mt. Magmageddon.  Human Only playthroughs are solo runs at this point, and I had to grind for hours in both combat and the casino for Madason to stand a chance.  The monsters were tough, and some had paralysis.


Least Sympathetic Character Who's Supposed to be Sympathetic:  Rodrigo Briscoletti.  He offers Nera as a prize to whoever can retrieve the Circles of Fire and Water.  No, he doesn't bother getting Nera's consent for this.  He's the guy who sends Madason to Mt. Magmageddon too.  Rodrigo Briscoletti also has a bad Italian accent, but nobody's accent is as bad as Sancho's.  (Except for maybe Nimzo.)  At least he gave me some useful equipment, like the Zenithian Shield and the Flowing Dress.    


Zeromus Award:  Grandmaster Nimzo.  It's not like the game never mentions him, but Bishop Ladja is the real antagonist.  Nimzo mostly waits for you to beat him up at the end.


Golbez Award:  Bishop Ladja.  He's the one who enslaves Madason, kills his parents, and later petrifies him and his wife.  He's not the final boss, and he doesn't even get his own boss music.

  
Silent Protagonist Who Should Talk:  Madason.  The supporting cast has to do all the character development.  DQ5 is not a game that should have a silent protagonist, especially since the story is more character driven than the rest of the DQ series.


Overall, the game was decent, but could have used some more bosses.  If you want to try out DQ5, use monsters.  That's the main gameplay gimmick, and your party will have more variety than my stupid variant.

My next RPG variant won't be a DQ game, but it will involve another game with plenty of bad written accents. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 1:  We're Sending Our Mini Medals Down the Well


Dragon Quest 3 has a Switch port on the Eshop, so I bought it today with some money left over on a gift card.  If you can overlook the questionable graphics, it's fun!  Both the Switch and mobile versions are based on the Super Famicom remake if online information is correct.


Balanced parties are never my favorite way to play RPGs.  Even though the place where you make party members suggests making a Warrior, Mage, and Priest, and the king says going solo would mean falling in battle like the Hero's father Ortega.


HERMAN the Hero had to go through a personality test to determine his stat growth before the game began.  The astrological sign was Virgo, but the questions were more interesting:


“Do you find adventure to be more of a chore than a pleasure?”-NO
 
“Do you find that you spend more money on weapons than on armour?”-YES
 
“Would you favour a cheaper, yet more distant hostelry over a nearer, yet more costly establishment?”-YES
 
“Do you often find your head so full of thoughts that you are unable to sleep?”-YES
 
“Do you dream often?”-NO
 
“Do you prefer spells and sorcery to swords and sweat?”-YES
 
“Do you often wonder how magical it might be to soar unaided through the skies?”-YES
 
“Do you envy the freedom of the birds?”-YES
 
“If you could be reborn, would it be as a prince or a princess?”-NO
 
“Do you find yourself unable to refuse the requests of others?”-YES
 
“Do you often drift off on flights of fancy?”-YES
 
“Were you to be granted a single wish, could you name it without a moment’s hesitation?”-NO
 
“Do you often dwell on days gone by?”-YES
 
“Do you believe the world to be filled more with sadness than with joy?”-YES
 


The mysterious voice did not approve of my answers:


“You are the type of person who believes that things never go their way. . .that they are cursed to suffer bad luck forever. . .”
 
“You blame your lack of enthusiasm and your inaction on others. . .”
 
“But in truth, it is your own indolence that is to blame. . .You must learn to be more positive, more active, more. . .alive. . .”



Ouch!  During the final test of character, HERMAN pushed a boulder back to a man who promised a reward for doing so, rather than exiting the woods immediately.  Hardly the behavior of a "Lazybones" personality!  This trait gave severe penalties to Agility and Wisdom, hurting his turn order and magical capabilities, but mildly increased other stats.


The king of Aliahan provided 50 gold and some "basic equipment", certainly not enough to outfit a party of 4 adventurers.  At least HERMAN started with a Copper Sword, unlike his Dragon Quest 1 descendant.  At the tavern, I made 3 Thieves named PROUDHON, ESME, and FABIANA.  ESME and FABIANA were named after Mary Worth comic strip characters who stole the hearts of the stupid male characters, and naming a Thief after the origin of the remark "Property is theft" was impossible to resist.  All used 5 Seeds of Strength since they were melee fighters.


Thieves are not in the original NES game.  Don't expect them to perform like the Final Fantasy 1 Thieves, because they're actually good in Dragon Quest 3.  Thieves have a chance of randomly "stealing" an item at the end of battle based on their level, and can use whips and boomerangs to strike multiple enemies.  Quite useful for a game where you can sometimes expect to fight 5 monsters at once in random battles!  And they come with several utility spells like Padfoot to reduce the random encounter rate.  The main disadvantage of this variant will likely be the lack of Priest/Sage healing, rather than the Thieves being weak.


ESME and PROUDHON received the Meathead personality, mainly a boost to Strength and reduction for Wisdom and Luck.  FABIANA was easily the best out of the three Thieves with an Idealist personality that only had a major penalty to Luck.  (Though it may have been that her raw stats were better even without personality.)


All 3 Thieves bought a Cypress Stick because they couldn't equip anything better at the moment, or afford it either.  This was enough to get through Aliahan island, Promontory Passage cave, and Dreamer's Tower that could be reached from the cave.


Slimes and Stark Ravens were easy gold and experience when the Thieves jumped them with their high Agility.  Bunicorns weren't much harder, though Antnibblers sometimes licked the Hero for about 4 damage.   Batterflies sometimes cast Dazzle to try to reduce the party's accuracy, but this tended to fail.  Toadys looked like they could poison the team, but this never happened.  A sole Prestidigitator wizard was killed before it could act.  The Thieves sometimes stole basic healing items like an antidote herb, or a Chimaera Wing to warp back to town.



At the top of Dreamer's Tower was an old man.  I healed everyone with herbs and transferred them to each character's inventory, preparing for a boss fight as the thief in the Aliahan castle dungeon hinted at.  But no, he was friendly and simply gave HERMAN the Thief's Key.  HERMAN and friends walked to the northwest corner of the island to Reeve, where they unlocked doors and ransacked the village.  They received a Wrecking Ball from one old man behind a locked door.  This was a misnomer as the item was a bomb.  At the shop, FABIANA and ESME bought Chain Sickles to use as weapons, but PROUDHON didn't miss out in the end.


Giving 5 Mini Medals to the guy at the bottom of the Aliahan well got PROUDHON a Thorn Whip, the first multi-target weapon.  The Wrecking Ball detonated and opened the way to the Path of Promise teleporter, which would probably go to a new continent.  Along the way, the party found a couple of personality-altering books like Diary of a Hardman and a Girl's Own Annual, but these would only generate the Meathead and Tomboy traits, so they were not useful.  (Reading material in Dragon Quest 3 must be much better than Earth books if the prose has dramatic effects like that!)





HERMAN the Level 5 Hero, Lazybones
 
HP:  45
MP:  8
Strength:  25
Agility:  8
Resilience:  23
Wisdom:  4
Luck:  9
 
Attack:  37
Defense:  18
 
Weapon:  Copper Sword
Armor:  Wayfarer’s Clothes
Head:  Hardwood Headwear
 

FABIANA the Level 7 Thief, Idealist
 
HP:  34
MP:  32
Strength:  34
Agility:  39
Resilience:  17
Wisdom:  16
Luck:  15
 
Attack:  50
Defense:  23
 
Weapon:  Chain Sickle
Armor:  Plain Clothes
 


PROUDHON the Level 7 Thief, Meathead
 
HP:  28
MP:  30
Strength:  28
Agility:  30
Resilience:  14
Wisdom:  15
Luck:  17
 
Attack:  46
Defense:  23
 
Weapon:  Thorn Whip
Armor:  Wayfarer’s Clothes
 


ESME the Level 7 Thief, Meathead
 
HP:  26
MP:  26
Strength:  27
Agility:  37
Resilience:  13
Wisdom:  13
Luck:  18
 
Attack:  43
Defense:  22
 
Weapon:  Chain Sickle
Armor:  Plain Clothes

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 2:  In Which I Mention RPGs That Ripped Off This Game


Just before the teleporter in the Path of Promise, HERMAN and friends found a world map that looked suspiciously like Earth, with the exception of Aliahan's continent between Australia and South America.  The Golden Sun series in the early 2000s would reuse this idea for its setting of Weyard.  And the 2nd generation Pokemon games would recycle the "secret endgame world map that comes from an earlier installment" twist. Dragon Quest 3 came out a few months after Final Fantasy 1 in Japan if Wikipedia is to be believed, so you can't really accuse either game of copying each other's customizable party mechanics.  I wonder if the Pokemon "nature" system starting in Ruby/Sapphire is based on Dragon Quest 3 personalities in the remakes.



After that digression, it's time to return to the playthrough.  One ambush involving 2 Batterflies, 2 Antgobblers, and 2 Spiked Hares gave the party a hard time with Dazzle impairing their accuracy, and sleep preventing them from attacking until they were hit.  Dragon Quest 3 so far is what I'd call a "marathon" RPG, where the enemies are supposed to wear you down over the course of longer dungeons, as opposed to basing most of the difficulty on boss fights.  Phantasy Star 1 and 2 are other games of its type.  Once all the battles were done, the party warped to southern "Italy" near the city-state of Romaria. 


A monster arena was available if HERMAN wanted to gamble, but this wasn't worth it now.  A Restless Heart artifact granted +10 Resilience, but what the game didn't mention was that it changed its wearer's personality to Plugger, which gave bonuses to Strength and Resilience growth, with penalties to Agility, Wisdom, and Luck. 


According to the Dragon Quest Wiki, apparently Plugger is a possible Hero personality, but requires pushing 6-20 boulders to the old man in the final test of character.  And here I thought it was a binary "push 1 boulder to old man or refuse outright" decision. . .


FABIANA found a Leather Hat, a nice item considering I wasn't buying any of the overpriced armor.  I was surprised to learn that in Romaria, I had to talk to the king to save my game, instead of a priest like in later Dragon Quest entries.  The king claimed that the bandit Robbin 'Ood stole his crown, and that he would appreciate it if I retrieved it.  Other people in Romaria said that the town of Khoryr (Kiev?) was to the north, and Skyfell Tower was to the west.  They hinted that monsters to the east of Romaria would be too tough to handle.  It was a nice feeling to take notes on what to do next for a change, as opposed to always chasing a quest marker.  Another thing I jotted down was that I should return to the Romaria castle later once new keys were acquired.


Experimenting with a book called The Eureka Moment briefly turned FABIANA into a Genius, before I reset to keep the item for later.  When I came home, I had to look up what Genius does.  It increases Wisdom and Agility growth at the expense of Resilience and Luck.  My Thieves need Strength, Resilience, and Agility more than other stats.  Another book called Would I Lie to You? gives the Slippery Devil personality, whose only drastic bonus seems to be Wisdom with no major downsides.


Enemies in this "Europe" region included Toxic Toads and Killerpillars.  Toxic Toads didn't poison the group despite their name, but the Killerpillars cast Kabuff to increase their Defense, and hit for around 12 damage in melee.  These fights were mostly easy with physical attacks, aside from the Crabids at first because of their high Defense.  HERMAN cast Frizz occasionally, but this was not worth the MP, probably due to his personality.


Around "Spain", an NPC said that the entrance to Portoga was blocked by a Magic Key lock, but he wouldn't tell me where it was, saying something to the effect that I needed to find it myself to be worthy.


Khoryv's residents mentioned a village where everyone was asleep due a fairy curse.  New weapons cost 1000 gold, so it was off to grind.  This wasn't nearly as bad as it might have been in the NES version because the remakes are more generous with experience and money.  Even the treasure chests give more according to the Dragon Quest Wiki.  The Thieves wanted Chain Whips, a strong group-hitting attack even with the penalty to every target after the first hit.  More levels were welcome too because the Restless Armours could strike for about 17 damage with their swords.  


Norvik's (Stockholm?  Helsinki?) inhabitants may have been frozen in time, but they still had treasure to loot, including a Leather Kilt for HERMAN.  The party quickly moved on to the Underground Lake cave in "Norway" to fight monsters and steal the treasure.  An Iron Lance boosted HERMAN's Attack, but this was almost irrelevant in most battles since the Thieves were so much faster.  It's rare to play an RPG where the main character lags behind in levels and feels like deadweight compared to the rest of the cast!  Morphean Mushrooms were a dangerous enemy when they got the chance to put the party to sleep, not that this happened often because of the team's quick whipping.  One priest inside the cave said there was a place that promoted "well-being", and this proved true on a lower depth with a healing spot.


HERMAN learned Zoom at Level 8, allowing him to warp to any town he had been at the cost of 1 MP.  In case his puddle of MP was drained, the Thieves stole enough Chimaera Wings from enemies to prevent the possibility of being stranded until dying.  Drac the Vlad vampire bats were sometimes worrisome when they cast Crack, an ice spell that hit a single character for 20. 


Other treasures were a Leather Dress for Esme, and a Gold Rosary, which boosted HERMAN's Defense by 4 and unwittingly turned him into a Daydreamer (+Agility, Wisdom, mild - to Strength, Resilience).  Although I didn't know this at the time, it made for a better stat growths than Lazybones!  The most important item, however, was a Dreamstone at the bottom.  A note near it from a fairy princess named Aniseed told the story of how she and her human lover drowned themselves because the fairy queen prohibited them from staying together in life.  Because even fantasy Earth needs a version of Romeo and Juliet. . .


The fairy queen relented when she learned the truth, and gave the party Wakey Dust to revive Norvik.  The human lover's father had become an old man in the fairy village begging for the queen to change her mind, and his mother believed he was still alive.  And the game would make nothing more of this subplot than that.


Stopping by in Norvik yielded a Boomerang for HERMAN and a The Saddest Story Ever Told personality book that I didn't play with at the time.  The Boomerang was weaker than the Iron Lance, but much more useful because it hit all enemies on the screen instead of a single target or a group.  HERMAN learned Sizz at Level 10, which I thought to be a waste of MP and never used.  Only HERMAN could Heal with magic, so all of his mana was reserved for either that spell or Zoom.  Before tackling the final dungeon in this area, Skyfell Tower in "France", the party stored 2000 gold in the Aliahan bank in case of a Game Over.  Skyfell Tower's encounters were similar to those around Khoryv, and with the extra levels gained from fighting in "Norway", most of the fights were over in a round or 2.


Robbin 'Ood and his 3 palette swapped Restless Armours Robbin 'Oodlums were the first proper boss fight in the game.  They didn't have any tricks apart from hitting hard with physical attacks.  Chain Whips functioned the same as single target weapons here because each Robbin 'Oodlum counted as its own group for some reason, though HERMAN's Boomerang sliced as effectively as always.  When the 3 minions fell, Robbin 'Ood put up a respectable fight.  Medicinal Herbs and HERMAN's Heal spell were often needed to survive, while the Thieves that had nothing else to do attacked.  By the end of the battle, HERMAN was out of MP and a Chimaera Wing took the team back to Romaria when they got the crown and jumped off the tower.


Giving the crown back to Romaria's king turned HERMAN into the king briefly.  He was forced to remain in town for his own safety as the residents flattered him, until he went to the monster arena and found the king there enjoying his life post-abdication.  Talking to the king restored the status quo ante and allowed the Thief team to move forward.  The main hint for where to go next was when someone said a Magic Key was probably in Asham to the east of Romaria.  


This Thief run so far is quite different from NES playthroughs other people have written.  Whips are much more useful here because of their remake group attack properties, and Thieves are really the only class who would want them apart from maybe the Hero.  The other whip jobs are the physically-weak Mage and the unreliable Gadabout ("Goof-off").  Any whip other than the Thorn Whip is also remake-exclusives.  Boomerangs are another remake weapon class, though Merchants can use them as well as the whip jobs.
          



Stats and Equipment


HERMAN the Level 10 Hero, Daydreamer


HP:  68
MP:  14
Strength:  41
Agility:  20
Resilience:  34
Wisdom:  7
Luck:  11
 
Attack:  67
Defense:  44
 
Weapon:  Iron Lance
Armor:  Leather Kilt
Head:  Hardwood Headwear
Accessory:  Gold Rosary


FABIANA the Level 12 Thief, Idealist


HP:  66
MP:  49
Strength:  45
Agility:  63
Resilience:  34
Wisdom:  25
Luck:  24
 
Attack:  72
Defense:  37
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Plain Clothes
Head:  Leather Hat


PROUDHON the Level 12 Thief, Meathead


HP:  59
MP:  45
Strength:  48
Agility:  45
Resilience:  28
Wisdom:  23
Luck:  26
 
Attack:  75
Defense:  39
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Boxer Shorts
Shield:  Bronze Shield


ESME the Level 12 Thief, Plugger


HP:  62
MP:  42
Strength:  42
Agility:  55
Resilience:  41
Wisdom:  21
Luck:  29
 
Attack:  69
Defense:  42
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Leather Dress
Accessory:  Restless Heart

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 3:  Pyramid Magic


HERMAN and the 3 Thieves walked east from Romaria towards Asham, Dragon Quest 3's version of medieval Baghdad.  Someone on the development team was not fond of the Abbasids, since all the merchants charged exorbitant prices!  One example was the Chimaera Wing, which cost 25 gold each in Aliahan.  Its starting Asham rate?  300 gold!     Granted, HERMAN could haggle the merchant down to 50, but it was still a ripoff.  Who were the real thieves in this game, anyway?


Notable monsters in the "Arabian Peninsula" and the "Sahara" included Vampire Cats, who could cast Fizzle to inflict silence on multiple party members, and Crabber Dabba Doos, who should have instantly killed the party with their Flintstones pun alone.  Instead, these crabs had robust Defense and could raise it with Kabuff to the point where they could become practically immune to melee.  This was when HERMAN's Sizz spell became essential.  So much for my prediction of it being useless! 


Occasionally, the party fled from Crabber Dabber Doo encounters when HERMAN ran out of MP, or he whiffed the spell one too many times.  It's almost as if the game expected me to use a balanced party instead of 3 purely physical companions!     Another characteristic of Dragon Quest that's uncommon in traditional Japanese RPGs:  direct damage spells missing their targets.  Dragon Quest 4 DS did that too.  


A man in a house in the southeastern "Sahel" told the party to look for the Magic Key in a pyramid near an oasis in the "Sahara".  "Egypt" happened to be near where "Timbuktu" would be instead of eastern "Africa".  Its monarch provided a save point, and defied the "vain queen" cliche by commenting on how beauty is fleeting, in spite of her subjects' flattery.  Neither Asham nor this town had any equipment worth purchasing for now, given the Thieves' equipment limitations.


Hints in town prevented some nasty surprises in the first few trips to the pyramid.  Magic was useless in the basement if the party fell into a hole.  Supposedly at one point HERMAN is supposed to press the buttons on the east and west only, since the others are cursed, but I haven't gotten there yet.

 
Canniboxes concealed as treasure chests were the deadliest enemies in the playthrough.  One killed HERMAN at full HP on the first round, and the 3 Thieves whipped it to death and returned to town to revive their leader for 130 gold.  The next Cannibox mauled FABIANA and ESME, leaving the two men alive to finish the battle.


A hidden staircase was poorly concealed by a glowing spot, but its locked door couldn't be opened yet.  Encounters that didn't involve Canniboxes were simple, usually against unremarkable Mummies and Mummy Boys.  The party prepared for one pyramid excursion by stocking up on Medicinal Herbs, which were still useful outside of combat because each character had low max HP.


More pyramid magic will be featured in the next post, and not the obscure Sega Genesis puzzle games.


Stats and Equipment


HERMAN the Level 12 Hero, Genius


HP:  76
MP:  20
Strength:  46
Agility:  23
Resilience:  38
Wisdom:  10
Luck:  15
 
Attack:  65
Defense:  41
 
Weapon:  Boomerang
Armor:  Leather Kilt
Head:  Hardwood Headwear


FABIANA the Level 14 Thief, Idealist


HP:  80
MP:  58
Strength:  52
Agility:  69
Resilience:  41
Wisdom:  29
Luck:  28
 
Attack:  79
Defense:  40
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Plain Clothes
Head:  Leather Hat


PROUDHON the Level 14 Thief, Meathead


HP:  69
MP:  49
Strength:  53
Agility:  53
Resilience:  35
Wisdom:  25
Luck:  29
 
Attack:  80
Defense:  43
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Boxer Shorts
Shield:  Bronze Shield


ESME the Level 14 Thief, Plugger


HP:  77
MP:  50
Strength:  48
Agility:  63
Resilience:  49
Wisdom:  26
Luck:  34
 
Attack:  75
Defense:  46
 
Weapon:  Chain Whip
Armor:  Leather Dress
Accessory:  Restless Heart



HERMAN became a Genius with The Eureka Moment book because he was the only combat wizard of the group.  He would gladly have traded his max MP with one of the Thieves, whose sole MP spell was to tell what level of a building or dungeon the party was on!  (You can tell this game was made before widespread Internet use. . .)  The Hero still has a slower experience gain than the Thief, probably because the main character can't reclass at Level 20 like generic units. 


If Strategy Wiki is to be believed, the Merchant gains levels faster than any other class, with 27807 experience needed for Level 20.  The Hero lags behind with 41141 experience required, though at least it's not the Fighter with 45805, or the Sage with 53543.  (The Sage is an advanced class, though, so it still has half its 1-20 level stats from Gadabout or Mage/Priest to work with.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 4:  What Would an Egypt Dungeon be Without a Curse?


Looting the pyramid's treasure chests resulted in another close call with a Cannibox, whose 107 damage melee made the two surviving thieves carry HERMAN and ESME's coffins around.  It took some time for me to figure out the puzzle at the top, since the "buttons" the NPC talked about were invisible.  I was supposed to go to the end of the alcove and press A to pull up the prompt to activate the switches.  The Magic Key was in a treasure chest on the top floor.


The party got some gold from one chest out of a collection behind a Magic Key door after being warned that they were cursed.  I thought this was the Golden Claws area, so the party left, returned to town, then came back to the pyramid and opened another Magic Key door in the basement.  Oops!  That sarcophagus was the true location of the Golden Claws.  Everyone who's played this game is probably laughing at me right now.


For those unacquainted with Dragon Quest 3, the Golden Claws inside the pyramid are an infamous trap.  Picking them up activates a curse that forces random encounters every 1-2 steps until you leave the dungeon.  If you manage to return to town, you can sell the weapon for thousands of gold.  The NES version is different in that the Golden Claws curse is still active outside of the dungeon, but the reward is 11,250 gold instead of 6000.  The Dragon Quest Wiki suggests:  "Although it is accessible when the party first visits the pyramid, it is unlikely that the heroes have the strength to retrieve it and escape without dying until later in the game".



Then again, the developers didn't expect a player to ransack the pyramid with 3 fast whip-wielding Thieves and excessive amounts of Medicinal Herbs in the bag, rendering the antimagic effect in the basement irrelevant.  Or helpful, considering that Shades and Overtoads sometimes wasted their turns trying to cast attack spells or Snooze.  Most of the enemies were the usual melee fighter Mummies or Mummy Boys.  The encounter rate curse was a blessing to the party when the Thieves rose to Level 15, and had a gold total of 6000 BEFORE selling the Golden Claws.  This challenge proved that buying armor in a Thief playthrough was for suckers, at least in the early game.



In the Mini Medal well in Aliahan, FABIANA received the Garter accessory that changed her personality to Vamp, a personality with no negative effects and positive growths in every stat.  ("Vamp" is an accurate description of the Mary Worth character she's based on too.) 


Getting the Magic Key was a good excuse to Zoom to various towns and pillage their castles.  Aliahan had a Rune Staff, coins, stat seeds, and a Mighty Armlet.  The problem with the Mighty Armlet was that it would change its wielder's personality to Paragon, which provides 140% Strength with 70% Agility, 80% Wisdom, and 70% Luck.  Why must so much equipment in this game mess with stat growths?
 

Plundering "Egypt" castle required walking around the map until nightfall, when the guards would fall asleep.  FABIANA got a Silk Robe armor, and the rest got coins, a Ruby Wristband, and a Golden Tiara that would change personality to Princess (high bonus to Luck, modest bonus to Wisdom, penalties to Agility and Resilience).  Entering the queen's room made her give the group a Prayer Ring to restore MP when used.


The next stop was Portoga, or "Portugal", if it were located in southeastern "Spain".  The overworld enemies were the same as in other parts of "Europe", including Morphean Mushrooms.  This was odd to me because you'd think the programmers would make you fight harder enemies for a Magic Key restricted region.  Or maybe they were trying to make the encounter tables feel more like a sensible fantasy world rather than a video game mechanic.


Much of the Egyptian gold was spent on 4 Spiked Steel Whips in Portoga.  Treasure chests on a damage floor in the castle had a Staff of Antimagic to cast Fizzle, a Seed of Resilience, and a Tough Guy Tattoo to increase Attack and change personality to Thug (Strength bonus, penalty to every other stat).


The king gave a Royal Missive to bring back pepper from the East.  A princess or noblewoman wondered why anyone would want to go there, because she thought they were "barbarians" and "savages".  Or maybe she was just prejudiced.  One twist was that the minister saved the game instead of the king, whom he called "currently indisposed" for some reason.  That minister's going to be evil, isn't he?
 


Stats and Equipment


HERMAN the Level 13 Hero, Genius


HP:  86
MP:  28
Strength:  48
Agility:  28
Resilience:  42
Wisdom:  14
Luck:  18
 
Attack:  88
Defense:  44
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Leather Kilt
Head:  Hardwood Headwear


FABIANA the Level 15 Thief, Vamp


HP:  94
MP:  58
Strength:  56
Agility:  76
Resilience:  47
Wisdom:  29
Luck:  29
 
Attack:  96
Defense:  63
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Silk Robe
Head:  Leather Hat
Accessory:  Garter



PROUDHON the Level 15 Thief, Meathead


HP:  79
MP:  53
Strength:  56
Agility:  56
Resilience:  39
Wisdom:  26
Luck:  31
 
Attack:  96
Defense:  45
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Boxer Shorts
Shield:  Bronze Shield


ESME the Level 15 Thief, Plugger


HP:  86
MP:  55
Strength:  52
Agility:  67
Resilience:  54
Wisdom:  28
Luck:  36
 
Attack:  92
Defense:  48
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Leather Dress
Accessory:  Restless Heart


EDIT:  The Golden Claws curse is still active if you return to the pyramid after selling them.  This prevented me from getting more chests in one area.  If you're doing the Golden Claw challenge, save it for last!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 5:  Spice Trade


Nordy the dwarf blocked the exit in the cave between western and eastern "Asia", and only the Royal Missive used from the inventory convinced him to let the party through.


One portal to the north (Persia?) was inaccessible without a "jail key" or whatever that item is called.  So the team proceeded east, killing the once formidable Crabber Dabber Doos with 2 physical attacks.  Character progression through levels and weapons had so far been dramatic in Dragon Quest 3.  PROUDHON swiped a Cloak of Evasion from one random encounter, which allowed HERMAN to dodge some melee hits.


HERMAN arrived in "Delhi", aka Baharata, complete with residents who said "Namaste", and learned the town had the black pepper the king of Portoga wanted.  The problem was that the shopkeeper's granddaughter Tanaya had been kidnapped!  Her boyfriend Gopal charged toward the bandits' hideout, but he was no Bollywood hero, and could not defeat dozens of criminals effortlessly.  


The programmers probably intended for the player to retrieve the Golden Claws after shopping in Baharata, because the MP-consuming Somatic Staff was a weapon for magic classes designed to circumvent the antimagic areas. . .like the pyramid's basement.


Instead of defeating the kidnappers right away, HERMAN and the Thieves took a detour to Alltrades Abbey in "Tibet".  With its location and architecture in mind, the original name Dharma Temple makes much more sense here than the cathedral named Alltrades Abbey in later games like Dragon Quest 9.  No reclassing would be performed in this playthrough, but it was nice to have another location to warp to and loot.  To give you some idea of how the level progression works, the Thieves were at Level 16 when they reached Alltrades Abbey in a game where Level 20 is required to reclass.  So unless you've been grinding for a long time, or perhaps using an all-Merchant party, you can't reclass as soon as you find this place.


Metal Slimes started appearing in the "China" region.  The first one fled, but Team Thief would later kill a few and earn over 2000 experience per battle, much more than the roughly 100s range from other fights. 



To the north of Alltrades Abbey lay the Tower of Transcendence, home of the Words of Wisdom item that was required to turn a non-Gadabout character into a Sage.  (The old "Book of Satori" fit the Buddhist enlightenment theme of the "Dharma Temple" better than the new translation.)  Team Thief didn't bother to collect that, but they got lost for a while in the maze of staircases and teleporters.  And they fell off a rope several times because of the pixel-perfect amount of space available to climb onto it.  HERMAN found coins, a Seed of Wisdom, a Mini Medal, and a Silver Tiara before leaving.  Ram Raiders were the most dangerous enemies in this region because their Sizz spell singed the whole party, while Whackanapes and Beakons might as well have been free experience and gold.


HERMAN had to flee when he saw Shell Slimes who were almost immune to physical attacks and fire spells.  A village in "Russia" roughly equivalent to Vladivostok had Ortega's Helm for our Hero, since they were very fond of his father, whom they called "Peredvizhnik".  Does this word mean something like "nettle" or "sandgrouse", the supposed origins of the name Ortega?


"Japan" was unavailable because of the lack of the "jail key", so it was back to the Kidnapper's Cave to the north of Baharata.  It was easy to get lost here because of the almost identical rooms, but one NPC said going south and entering a locked door would lead to the bandits.  Gopal and Tanaya were locked in a cell that HERMAN opened by pulling a lever.  The first boss battle here, if it could be called that, was against a group of 4 Robbin' Hurdles, another Restless Armour palette swap.  (You can tell this is still an NES game at heart. . .)  HERMAN tried to be fancy and cast Snooze, but this only sent one enemy to the Kingdom of Lunesta.  The rest lashed them with whips, and the fight was over in two rounds.


I mistakenly thought this was the end of the dungeon, and cast Evac to return to Baharata and get the Black Pepper.  Gopal and Tanaya weren't there.  Oops!     I had to go back through the Kidnapper's Cave to discover that Robbin' 'Ood was the boss of the kidnappers.  He challenged Team Thief with the help of two Robbin' Hurdles in a group.  Snooze was useless against Robbin' 'Ood, as expected.  The Robbin' Hurdles assisted their leader by casting Kasap to debuff the party's Defense before dying.  Once the minions were killed, the battle became a "damage race" with physical attacks.  Heal and Medicinal Herbs prevented any member of HERMAN's team from falling.


Gopal and Tanaya inherited the shop from her grandfather, and Gopal gave the Black Pepper to HERMAN for free as thanks for rescuing them.  The king of Portoga kept his word and gave HERMAN a ship in exchange for the spice.  No boss fight with the minister or anything. 


Where will Team Thief sail first?  "England"?  "South America"?  "Australia?"  Or some other place?  Find out in the next post.




Stats and Equipment


HERMAN the Level 16 Hero, Genius


HP:  96
MP:  39
Strength:  60
Agility:  41
Resilience:  49
Wisdom:  26
Luck:  32
 
Attack:  100
Defense:  73
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Cloak of Evasion
Head:  Hardwood Headwear


FABIANA the Level 18 Thief, Vamp


HP:  111
MP:  68
Strength:  64
Agility:  98
Resilience:  57
Wisdom:  34
Luck:  42
 
Attack:  104
Defense:  74
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Silk Robe
Head:  Leather Hat
Accessory:  Garter



PROUDHON the Level 18 Thief, Meathead


HP:  94
MP:  56
Strength:  65
Agility:  71
Resilience:  50
Wisdom:  29
Luck:  39
 
Attack:  105
Defense:  52
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Boxer Shorts
Shield:  Bronze Shield


ESME the Level 18 Thief, Plugger


HP:  115
MP:  66
Strength:  59
Agility:  84
Resilience:  69
Wisdom:  33
Luck:  41
 
Attack:  99
Defense:  57
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Leather Dress
Accessory:  Restless Heart

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 3 Hero and Thieves Party Part 6:  Aimless Sailing


On a whim, HERMAN and the Thieves traveled to "Antarctica", only to accidentally find out that this was where they were supposed to go.  Ramia's egg lay in a shrine here, and could only hatch when all the Orbs were found.


A teleporter shrine that led to Wayfarer's Chapel, Olivia's Promontory, and Romarian Outpost existed in "Canada", but was useless without the jail key at each destination.  Fifer's Spire in "California" showed how far the party had come when HERMAN managed to survive a Cannibox attack!  This seemed to be an optional dungeon, but dropping down onto some treasure chests from above led to an Echo Flute, which could be used to find Orbs.


While slaughtering random enemies in "Central America", the Thieves ascended to Level 20.  The Heedoo Voodoos in this part of the world could cast Midheal on monsters and call for help, while the Battering Ram had sleep breath.


PROUDHON had to stay behind in Aliahan for a short time to make room for TALOON the Merchant, who was needed to found "New York" for an Orb quest.  No encounters appeared along the way because of Padfoot reducing the random battle rate, so the variant was preserved.


Persistence was a village in "North America" along the "Mississippi River" region where the residents spoke of a Bottomless Pot that could be used on the shallows to the northwest.  That is if HERMAN was to believe Ed the talking horse.  (A Mr. Ed reference sounds dated even for an NES game.)  One person feared a "warlock" in "Greenland", making me wonder if Persistence was supposed to be based on Puritans. 


"Australia" had the town of Lanson and a cave in the "Outback" which I couldn't reach from the town, although it looked like it should have been.  I had to look up information online that told me I needed to return later in the game.  Lanson appeared earlier than Persistence in the Zoom list, hinting that the player was supposed to go there before visiting "North America".  Lanson was still relevant then because its shop sold a temporary invisibility item called the Fading Jenny.  A Slime living in Lanson suggested using it in a place called Edina.


"Argentina" featured a hideout of friendly pirates.  They gave an "ill-omened object" from a ghost ship to the "Greenland" hermit, and the captain mentioned an island named Lozamii to the southwest of "South America".  The "Amazon" region was inaccessible due to shoals.  The "Greenland" hermit was harmless, contrary to the claims of the Persistence resident.  He wanted the Mod Rod from the king of Manoza, and recommended using a teleporter with the Ultimate Key (i.e. the "jail key" I've mentioned) to get there.


One "Russian" castle was surrounded by mountains, so the party went to a house to the southeast instead.  A cat told them that searching between the 4 nearby mountains would be good.  This was true when a Yggdrasil Leaf, a rare resurrection item, was found there.  Enemies in "Siberia" included Ursa Majors who could swipe for around 44 damage to HERMAN, and Crone Ranger witches who cast Sizzle for 26-33 fire damage to the party.


Wyrtles in the sea near "Africa" were unusually hard for Team Thief because of their high Defense and chance to dodge Sizz.  A volcano in the "Great Rift Valley" looked interesting, but couldn't be entered on foot.  Theddon, the equivalent of "Cape Town", was destroyed during the day, but was prosperous at night when the Night Light item found there was used.  Their dialect was Ye Olde English.  The inhabitants knew Baramos the Archfiend lived in the Necrogond, and the volcano was the gate.


Supposedly an item named Mountaincleaver was required for the Necrogond, and the only hint was that a person named Simão had it.  The tilde above the A sounds Portuguese to me, so Simão probably lives in Portoga.


The Brits in Edina were too snooty to let HERMAN and the Thieves in their castle:  "Bumpkins, boors and yokels, turn ye, and begone from this place!"  A Fading Jenny was enough to sneak by him.  The castle residents were dismissive, though not as hostile as their gate guard.  Princess Margot wondered if HERMAN had any stories about the Great Unwashed.  (Was their favorite author Bulwer-Lytton?)  Pushing 3 boulders onto switches opened a secret passage to the Bottomless Pot.  The king let Team Thief have it, in spite of their "provincial" manners.  Appropriately, he had a Smart Suit, a Party Dress, and a Primm's Primer book in his room.


Yayoi was hiding in a pot in Jipang ("Japan") to avoid being sacrificed to Orochi.  Golden Sun:  The Lost Age would reuse this kind of plot in its Japan equivalent Izumo.  Sure, it's a reference to Japanese mythology, but I think Camelot was copying Dragon Quest 3 specifically.  Queen Pimiko refused to give any help to foreigners.


Ed wasn't quite correct when he told HERMAN where to use the Bottomless Pot.  What he needed to do was sail north of "Siberia" and "Alaska" and use the item on the group of rocks, rather than go to a shallow point due west like what the horse suggested.  The Ultimate Key was in a chest in the shrine's entrance once it rose from the depths.  It was a good time to take a break before opening half the doors in the World of Light.
   
 
Stats and Equipment


HERMAN the Level 21 Hero, Genius


HP:  129
MP:  87
Strength:  78
Agility:  52
Resilience:  65
Wisdom:  42
Luck:  45
 
Attack:  118
Defense:  91
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Cloak of Evasion
Head:  Ortega's Helm
Shield:  Scale Shield



FABIANA the Level 22 Thief, Vamp


HP:  147
MP:  85
Strength:  77
Agility:  129
Resilience:  72
Wisdom:  42
Luck:  57
 
Attack:  117
Defense:  89
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Silk Robe
Head:  Leather Hat
Accessory:  Garter



PROUDHON the Level 22 Thief, Meathead


HP:  130
MP:  68
Strength:  83
Agility:  87
Resilience:  63
Wisdom:  34
Luck:  48
 
Attack:  123
Defense:  60
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Boxer Shorts
Shield:  Bronze Shield


ESME the Level 22 Thief, Plugger


HP:  167
MP:  77
Strength:  69
Agility:  102
Resilience:  94
Wisdom:  38
Luck:  49
 
Attack:  109
Defense:  66
 
Weapon:  Spiked Steel Whip
Armor:  Leather Dress
Accessory:  Restless Heart



Team Thief hasn't had any new weapons in shops for a while.  Good thing the Spiked Steel Whips are enough for now.