Dragon Quest

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 24:  Stowaway Party Member


The medal academy was as optimistic as ever despite Erdrea's depressed economy and post-apocalyptic landscape.  I found a Pastword that I missed inside the school for the Neverglade in the Altar of the Heavenly Bride (Dragon Quest 5).  The prize for 25 stamps was an academy uniform, and Maxime Médaille promised crafting recipes for 30.  Rab equipped the Grand Master's Garb which gave him much-needed Agility besides bonuses for physical stats.


Sylvando was riding his gaudy peacock stage towards Phnom Nomh while wearing his peacock costume, and jumped down from it to greet FREEGAN.  Sylvando put one of the lesser peacock outfits on FREEGAN and made him smile and wave his way to the tourist city.  One thing that is certain to be missing in the 2D retro version is Sylvando's flamboyance!


A lisping dragon called Avarith stole most of the treasures and people from Phnom Nonh, and took them to the Promontory Cave.  I visited this place earlier in the game, although it had almost nothing there at the time.  Avarith was a difficult battle because she silenced everyone at the beginning of the fight, which lasted for a while.  Abilities were still useful, so FREEGAN struck with Gigaslash and Rab threw open the Pearly Gates.  Hendrik was actually the least effective character, unexpectedly for a fight where spells were often banned.  Avarith also had high Defence, and the only way for Hendrik to deal any damage was to use the inaccurate Hatchet Man for its critical hits.


Sylvando sometimes breathed fire for minor damage as a guest character, but he was more useful slapping victims of Kasnooze awake.  When the original silence wore off, Avarith sometimes cast Fizzle to try to renew it.  Quadraslash functioned like an inferior Gigaslash that cost more MP, so I went back to Gigaslash as soon as I tested that move.  Kasizz was the main attack to worry about since it hit the whole party for up to 126.  If Rab had the chance to cast spells (not often), he tried Multiheal.  Dirge of Dundrasil, a sleep-inducing Pep Power for Rab, was completely useless.  Rab's Right as Rain regenerated some HP for the party during the time of silence, and a 114 strength Pearly Gates struck down Avarith.


Hendrik learned Moreheal at Level 37, and Sylvando was inspired to reconcile with his father Don Rodrigo after seeing a Phnom Nonh boy make up with his dad, who pretended not to care about him in order to protect him from Avarith. 


Back in Puerto Valor, Sylvando was afraid to see Don Rodrigo.  Sylvando was originally a knight-in-training called Norberto, but left his father after seeing how much the circus suited him.  Sylvando sashayed into his old house wearing the peacock costume, and the stern Don Rodrigo criticized him. . .for not yet fulfilling his oath to make the whole world smile.  Sylvando left the rest of his troupe with Don Rodrigo as he vowed to defeat Mordegon, since no one could be happy with the Dark One still alive.


When Sylvando rejoined the party, FREEGAN got the Salty Stallion and Horse Hailer back.  Sylvando's outfit was called the Mardi Garb, and it came with a high Charm bonus to benefit Hustle Dance.  Opening his Charm +40 panel got a "Surprise!" 10 skill point rebate.  He learned the special Showmanship power Pink Pirouette, an all-target Ability that dealt damage and inflicted confusion.  Pink Pirouette was not worth the skill point cost.  Sylvando's unique abilities in general are either useless (Pink Pirouette), or are enough to justify his place on the  team (Hustle Dance).


Sailing to the Strand activated a scene where the party heard someone below decks.  It was a stowaway who was eating their food. . .who was really Erik.  Erik remembered his name, but not much more, and he apologized for his theft.  Sylvando was amused:  "He's lost his memories and gained some manners!  I wish Veronica were here to see this-she'd die!"  All of Erik's skill points were refunded because he had absolutely no skill trees available.  Guess who sat on the bench?


Going out to the open ocean was a waste.  Sniflheim was blocked off by a rock if the map was correct, and Tentacular the boss was now a regular enemy.  Tentacular was much easier to defeat than before with moves like Gigaslash, Parallax, and Pearly Gates, but it still took a while, and the experience reward was only 2700.


Insula Algarum's bridge was still out, so I couldn't get the Pastword there.  Vampire Succubats almost wiped out the team when I was trying to run away, since they often enthralled them or cast strong Zammle.  Before going to the next destination of Warrior's Rest Inn, I completed the next Tickington quests.


Imperial Pantry of Parthenia in Altar of the Chosen was the most annoying segment of Dragon Quest 11 yet.  It combined the worst fears of retro RPG players:  Pokemon sliding puzzles and high random encounter rates!  Crack-Billed Platypunks and Foo Dogs were easy to kill with even regular attacks, but Cheater Cheetahs were a pain with their high HP and all-target warcry attacks, and usually had to be taken out with Abilities like Gigaslash and Pearly Gates.    Other enemies were weak Stump Grumps and Heedoovoodoos that summoned Toxic Zombies as backup. 


It took several trips through the dungeon to both figure out the route, and make sure the party had enough MP for the boss fight.  On the lower floor, King Slimes and Grim Keepers were common foes.  A treasure chest was a Cannibox just to rub it in.  The boss itself was a Flamethrower, and the party used their standard Abilities:  Pearly Gates, Parallax, and Gigaslash.  Sylvando cast Oomphle on the physical attackers, and FREEGAN eventually switched to Falcon Slash to take advantage.  Flamethrower's best move was Inferno, which burned the party for 68-97 damage.  After Oomphle, Sylvando cast Swoosh for supplemental damage.  Parallax dealt the final blow for 390 damage.


The cave cooled off instantly when Flamethrower was dead, and Alena could continue her mission.  The Neverglade in the Altar of the Heavenly Bride was much less challenging in comparison.  Although it seemed like a forest maze, I easily found the boss flower Dazey and challenged it to a fight.  Dazey was vulnerable to paralysis, which Parallax happened to inflict as a side effect.  A Solar Flair for 397 uprooted Dazey and the Dragon Quest 5 mission was complete.


Detours to Tickington weren't a waste because they had leveled the party to 39-40.  While stopping in Gondolia, one grifter tried to sell the armor of "Signor Hendrik" for 52,000, claiming it was worth 100,000 gold and that he was offering a deal.  Hendrik made no comment.


FREEGAN was briefly unconscious after Alizarin attacked the Salty Stallion, and dreamed of the shapeshifting Seer, i.e. "Healijah" from Erik's quest.  She revived FREEGAN, and he saw glowing writing in the sea that translated as "Put courage in your heart. . .And lightning in your hand. . .".  Warrior's Rest Inn in the Zwaardsrust region was the next stop because of the rumors that everyone who stayed there shared the same dream.
 


Achievements (Bold means it has a green name bar in the game instead of the default blue)

Creature Crusher:  Defeat 1500 monsters
Outdoorsperson:  Camp 50 times
Soldier of Smile:  Meet Sylvando after Yggdrasil crashes
Amateur Dramatician:  Activate 10 skill points for Sylvando
Stacks for a Rainy Century:  Put 100,000 gold in the bank
Hot Pepper:  Use Pep Powers 50 times


EDIT:  Forgot to mention the one use Erik had in this part.  He was the lone survivor of the escape from the Vampire Succubats on Insula Algarum, allowing the team to warp back to town and resurrect the other characters.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 25:  Mediocre Dragon Quest Protagonist Magic


FREEGAN backtracked to Phnom Nonh in search of an Extra Mural to forge a Zombie Slayer.  Unfortunately, it turned out the Extra Mural was only available in the shop!  So it's not just shops that are banned in this challenge, but certain recipes as well.  The trip wasn't entirely wasted since the ruins had a Grubby Bandage necessary to make a Demon Whip +1 for Sylvando.  Gathering an Enchanted Stone on Mt. Pang Lai let FREEGAN make a King Axe +2 for Hendrik.


The dream everyone shared at the Warrior's Rest Inn was of a tortured knight who would "gladly accept eternal damnation just to go back to that day".  Rab recognized his armor as a Dundrasil model, and suggested revisiting the Dundrasil Castle ruins.  Along the way, the party murdered a Vicious Green Dragon to avenge their defeat by a regular Green Dragon in Dundrasil much earlier in the game.


A new staircase to Dundrasil Castle-Dungeons led to the Restless Knight, who mistook the party for monsters.  His Big Banga slam crashed into the party for 72-109 damage, and his "cursed ball of pure malice" decreased max HP.  Rab had the cure for that:  Benediction.  Unleashing "the power of darkness" like an evil Gigaslash hit everyone for 87-104.  FREEGAN usually attacked with Gigaslash, while Hendrik attacked with Parallax.  Hendrik had to be revived with Rab's Zing Stick.  Rab and FREEGAN cast Solar Flair together for 424 damage, but the final blow was a Falcon Slash for 61+57. 


Defeating Restless Knight sent FREEGAN to a black void, where the spirit of Eleanor reawakened his Luminary powers to counter the lion monster Gloomnivore.  Earlier, FREEGAN had reenacted the day of Dundrasil's fall, seeing Irwin help Jade and Eleanor to escape.  Irwin unwittingly let "King Carnelian" know they were out of the city, despite seeing Mordegon beginning to possess him.


FREEGAN spent much of the fight against Gloomnivore either asleep from the boss's physical attack, or dead.  Sylvando healed the team with Hustle Dance, sped them up with Acceleratle, or cast Oomphle on Hendrik or FREEGAN.  Rab revived with Zing Stick, threw open the Pearly Gates to attack, or cast Multiheal if the situation was desperate.  Hendrik's Parallax was the main source of damage.  Gloomnivore either breathed miasma on everyone for up to 114 damage, or cast Kazam for 138.  Its moves lowered Magical Mending, making healing less effective.  Gloomnivore didn't resist paralysis completely, and a lucky Parallax roll rendered it helpless to the fatal 113+107 Falcon Slash.


Irwin was allowed to go to heaven with Eleanor once Gloomnivore was dead.  Doesn't this contradict Grand Master Pang's statement that souls remain in the Void after the fall of Yggdrasil until they fade away?  Anyway, now that FREEGAN got his powers back, I tinkered with his skill trees.  Turns out you can get away with deleting the Swords tree prerequisites once you have at least one panel of Swordmastery.  That means you can have Gigaslash and Falcon Slash without having to waste points on moves like Flame Slash.


The Luminary spells themselves were disappointing.  Zapple was no stronger than Gigaslash, cost more MP, and only hit a group instead of all foes.  Fullheal was another option, but where was the Omniheal that earlier Dragon Quest heroes had?  So I took the passive stat boosts from Luminary and put the rest into Swordmastery, including Gigaslash's upgrade Gigagash.  (Greatsword does have its own Giga moves, but I was mistaken that one of those was Gigagash in an earlier post.  Editing Realms Beyond posts is a pain when the website assumes you pressed the space bar 50,000 times when changing text!)


I also reset Sylvando's skills and tested Wyrm Whip on an enemy when he was Pepped Up.  It only dealt 39+39+40 damage, when I was hoping for something more like Jessica's Twin Dragon Lash from Dragon Quest 8.  I reloaded the save and put his skill points into Litheness and Showmanship.  Sylvando is better off as a healer and support character instead of an attacker. 


The next stop will be Octagonia, which might return Jade to the party. 



Achievements


Knight of the Living Dread:  Defeat Gloomnivore and save Irwin's soul

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 26:  Killing Two Spectral Sentinels for the Price of One Post


FREEGAN failed to forge a Drasilian Helm to anything above basic level, not that it was an improvement on his Hermes Hat anyway.  Octagonia now had a statue of Booga at its entrance, and the arena was replaced with a monster managed casino.  This was one of the funnier parts of the game, since one of the 100 token slots paid out constantly to make it look like the player was "lucky", and all the prizes other than the mandatory Love Potion were useless items marked with ? symbols in the menu:  Cypress Stick, Medicinal Herb, and Horse Manure.  The one consolation was a Pastword for Briscoletti's Mansion in Altar of the Heavenly Bride.


A possessed Jinxed Jade challenged the party to a fight, no matter how many times Hendrik insisted that she act like a proper princess.  Sexy Beam sent a heart at FREEGAN for 188, and Femme Fatale sent hearts at the whole party for around 109 and restored some of Jade's HP.  Rab tried Sap to lower her Defence, opened Pearly Gates, and used Multiheal when necessary.  Hendrik attacked with Parallax, while Sylvando usually healed with Hustle Dance.  FREEGAN's Gigagash knocked out Rab when he was charmed, since all-target moves struck afflicted party members as well as enemies.  One Parallax was the final blow that sent Jade out of the ring and forced the team to fight Booga immediately afterwards.


With the team worn down, they failed to beat Booga.  His "seductive dance" often made party members "boogie" instead of fight, charm was another problem, and Giga Drain Magic slowly sapped everyone's MP.  Kafrizz fireballs scorched for 149 damage when he decided to attack directly.  Booga was also resistant to physical attacks that weren't powered up by Sap or Oomphle.  Still, the team fought for a long time and even tried Hendrik's Pep Power to raise FREEGAN and Hendrik's Attack while lowering their defense.  Booga sent Erik crashing to the ground after a 161 Kafrizz cast.


For Take 2, I prepared by forging two Protective Pendants +3 to ward off "mesmerise" for FREEGAN and Sylvando, and had Rab equip a Papillon Pendant to try to avoid Giga MP Drain.  What made the difference this time, however, was that the party was in good shape since they didn't have to fight Jade again.  The party's revenge came in the best possible form:  the Hit Parade of Sylvando and FREEGAN's circus troupe!  Booga took a total of 257 damage from many hits of around 15-30 damage, and the Green Orb returned to the side of light.


Jade could now use Re-Vamp to make the Hare-Raising Suit boost her stats, which she used to clobber Booga in a cutscene.  She gave Lorelei's Harp to FREEGAN to allow him to revisit Sniflheim through the light column in the northwest.  All the monster casino tokens disappeared, and a real casino came to Octagonia when its monster residents changed back into humans.  Everyone looked like they were having much more fun when they were monsters, especially the dancing devils!


In Briscoletti's Mansion, everyone had been cursed to look like Briscoletti.  It was easy to tell who was Nera and who was Deborah based on their reactions.  Deborah's response:  "Of all the people to turn into, I had to turn into Papa!  Now none of my clothes fit or anything!"  As for Nera:  "I love Papa very much, of course, but not quite enough to want to look like him".  One man said the monster responsible for the curse was "heading to some abbey or other to start a new life".  Of course, this was Alltrades Abbey in Altar of Reverie, and the boss was a Pilferpithecus monkey demon.


Pilferpithecus should have been a Spectral Sentinel considering how tough its fight was.  Jade began the fight with Re-Vamp, then struck with Multithrust.  Pilferpithecus could attack for 122, put the team to sleep with Kasnooze, or cast Kaboom for up to 220s damage to the whole party.  And like other bosses, it acted twice per round.  FREEGAN tried Gigagash, then Falcon Slash when Oomphle was in effect.  Rab and Sylvando were both on healing duty.  Rab revived FREEGAN with Zing Stick, only for Sylvando to pass out shortly afterwards.  A final Gigagash for 241 damage destroyed Pilferpithecus, and the curse on Briscoletti's Mansion was lifted.  The reward was a Gold Bar after a "wedding rehearsal" sequence where FREEGAN picked Sylvando as his partner.


At Level 42 at sea, Erik learned Mountainmover, perhaps the last upgrade for the "earth sigil" spell.  Alizarin launched a surprise attack just before the Sniflheim light column, and the team was unprepared.  It wasn't worth bothering with most physical attacks (Gigaslash and Gigagash seem to function differently), though Hendrik made a valiant effort with critical Hatchet Man attacks.  Alizarin hit the team with a strong regular attack, launched fireballs at them, decreased their Agility with Deceleratle, lowered all their defenses with a "crimson mist" from his Orb, and cast Maelstrom on everyone for around 135 damage.


On Take 2, I came up with a better plan.  Erik held many MP restoration items to use between Mountainmover casts, because FREEGAN's expensive Gigagash was the best attack.  Sylvando healed with Hustle Dance as usual, while Rab sometimes cast Kazam due to Alizarin's vulnerability to spells.  Sometimes characters defended while the "crimson mist" was active, but Rab often had to cast Moreheal on somebody instead.  Rab and FREEGAN used 0 Zone together as a Pep Power for a few free Gigagash casts, which also let Erik fill up Sylvando's MP with an item.  The last Gigagash zapped Alizarin for 526 and won the Red Orb for the Level 40-42 party.  Erik had contributed so much to the team in this fight, and didn't get to enjoy the experience points after a 429 Pepped Up regular attack killed him!


Everyone in Sniflheim seemed to be staying indoors, and Erik was nervous.  Maybe the quest to regain his skill trees will begin here? 


Achievements

Beating the House:  Defeat Booga
Cash Rich:  Have 30,000 coins on your person
Bigger Fish to Fry:  Defeat Alizarin

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 27:  Queen Midas


The reason everyone in Sniflheim knew Erik was because he was an orphan raised by the local Viking raiders.  Sniflheim's residents now feared Gold Fever, a plague that turned them into gold statues to be carried off by Gyldygga's golden monsters.  The party first had to kill a Gyldenbritches (Restless Armour) and two Gyldenaut (Chasmounaut) enemies, and their "default" palettes are mentioned in parentheses.  Another battle with a Gyldenbritches and more Gyldenauts ensued after the first fight.


Although FREEGAN and friends saved Sniflheim from a raid, the monsters carried off Erik, although he hadn't been turned into gold.  Yet another fight with Gyldenbritches and Gyldenauts occurred in the Viking Hideout, as the Vikings themselves were victims of the curse.  A Yggdrasil branch gave the party flashbacks about Erik's past as a slave to the Vikings along with his sister Mia.  Erik unwittingly gave Mia a cursed necklace for her birthday after a raid.  She enjoyed the Midas touch for a while, only to turn herself into gold when she failed to take the necklace off.  Erik never forgave himself for this mistake.


North of the Viking Hideout was a golden castle called Gyldenhal.  This dungeon must have taken inspiration from the golden mansion in Final Fantasy 3.  Gold Golems, Gyldenauts, Gold-Plated Puppets, and Penny Pincher mimic slot machines were common enemies here.  The slot machines that weren't secretly Penny Pinchers gave FREEGAN some Casino Tokens (not the fake ones from Octagonia!), just for the one loophole in a No Shopping run.  Penny Pinchers themselves spun the slot machine and either healed or cast "hellfire" for 100-157 damage to the whole team.


One section of Gyldenhal leading to some slot machines was only available via crashing through the floor while riding a Gold Golem.  I'll have to return later since my characters were too low on MP at that time to fight any more Penny Pinchers.  FREEGAN forged a regular Fenrir Fang knife for Erik because he didn't have enough Focus points to craft one that was any better.


Gyldygga was actually Mia, and she talked to the Level 40-42 party in her human form long enough to explain her backstory.  Mordegon freed her from being a gold statue in exchange for serving him as a Spectral Sentinel, and she wanted revenge on both Erik and the Vikings.  Gyldygga assumed a horned monster form for her boss fight, and FREEGAN led with his usual attack Gigagash.  Sylvando cast Oomphle on Jade, only for her to die to Gyldygga's random hit attack "slices and dices".  Rab's Zing Stick was essential in this battle for reviving Jade and FREEGAN.  When Gyldygga used her Orb, multiple characters turned into gold and lost a few turns.


Jade tried out Re-Vamp to buff her stats before attacking with Multithrust.  Gyldygga increased her own Attack with Oomphle and wiped out FREEGAN for 442 (more than his max HP) with Rake n Break.  Sylvando healed with Hustle Dance much of the time.  Gigagash and Pearly Gates helped to kill the monsters like Gyldenauts that the boss sometimes summoned.  Jade actually managed to survive a Rake n Break from a Pepped Up Gyldygga, and retaliated with a Whacky Sack Pep Power along with Rab for 294 damage.  Erik and Hendrik entered the ring when other characters were worn out, and Erik contributed with Scorched Earth.  Hendrik didn't accomplish much with Parallax due to Hyldygga's high Defence.  Rab + FREEGAN joined forces for a Solar Flair, and it was a 297 power Gigagash that ended the battle.


Erik jumped into the gold aura, causing Mia to cry and say she didn't need any gold.  The tear destroyed the cursed necklace and returned everything to normal, and Mia stayed in Sniflheim to recover.  Erik's skill trees were expanded.  He learned Attack Power When Wielding +30 for Knives, increased his status ailment rate with Nastier Knives, and enhanced his Half-Inch chance with Sticky Fingers.  Erik handed FREEGAN the Yellow Orb, and it was time to head to Arboria.


But there is one new Tickington quest available:  Rose's room in the Altar of the Chosen (i.e. Dragon Quest 4). 



Achievements


Rough Rider:  Send 20 enemies flying while riding a mount
Sibling Revivalry:  Defeat Gyldygga

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 27:  Final Fantasy 5 Story Parallels


Sir Roseguardin in Altar of the Chosen was a Restless Armour palette swap and boss.  A critical hit killed Rab quickly, and Sir Roseguardin summoned a Chillanodon as backup.  The party's main attacks were Gigagash, Multithrust, and Parallax as usual.  Parallax was particularly helpful due to its paralysis effect, but it was Multithrust from Jade that struck down Sir Roseguardin.  The real quest after beating the boss was to retrieve a Revelatree in the "forest where the faeries live", or Neverglade in the Altar of the Heavenly Bride.  Searching for it took a while because it was a drop from a random encounter, not a fixed location on the map like I thought.  The reward was a Tempest Shield for FREEGAN.


The next mandatory boss was the Auroral Serpent, a Chinese dragon that Erdwin had imprisoned in the previous cycle. Auroral Serpent had many tricks to defeat the party on their first attempt.  Its shout could stun someone for a few rounds, and its "burning breath" could paralyze.  "Black breath" was its standard all-target attack for 98-121, and if Auroral Serpent was feeling cruel that turn it could slam everyone for 265-279 when Pepped Up.  There was no way the Level 42-43 team could withstand this, so it was time to level up in the Sniflheim and Gyldenhall regions.  Even regular enemies were deadly, such as the fast Killing Machines that took multiple actions before the party could move.


On Take 2, the party was Level 44-46.  Sylvando cast Oomphle on Hendrik to power up his Parallax, but the fight didn't begin auspiciously.  FREEGAN and Rab were paralyzed, and Sylvando was startled.  The slam move now only hit for 243 at most, and the healers recovered in time to restore the party's HP.  Auroral Serpent inflicted paralysis, but wasn't immune to it, and Parallax bought some essential turns for the heroes.  Jade entered the ring to Re-Vamp, and her enhanced Multithrusts poked for 4 hits of 106-112.  Erik got a lucky roll once with Sleeper Hit, but died like the others.  Only Jade and Hendrik survived the Auroral Serpent, and they had run out of MP.  Hendrik's 69 power regular attack ended the fight.


Serena's music destroyed Auroral Serpent before the dragon could kill the party in a cutscene.  Veronica wasn't there with her, and revisiting Arboria and getting a flashback from Veronica's staff revealed why.  Veronica sacrificed herself to teleport the other party members to safety during the fall of Yggdrasil!  Like Krile in Final Fantasy 5, Serena inherited abilities from Veronica.  These included all of her spells and the Vim skill tree.  "Serenica" from Erdwin's party was foreshadowing, as was a cutscene where Veronica wondered if Serena would outlive her.


Serena was due for a skill point reset.  Doing this was worth the gold cost:  the dualcast chance passive bonus Enchanting Echo cost 65 skill points, far more than anything in the other characters' trees.  A Pastword in Luminary's Landing gave access to the Roamer Encampment from Altar of the Forgotten Past.  Unlike much of Dragon Quest 7, I actually remember the nomadic Roamers who convinced Keifer to leave the party.  Veronica's last gift to the party was Calamus Flute, which was actually a "fishing rod" for the flying whale Cetacea.


I tried exploring Erdrea's skies for a bit, only to realize most of the locations were either closed off for now, or required a "jail key" to get their treasures.  One place that may tie in with the Tickington quests is the Lost Land, home of many Tockles and a giant tower.  Not all the time spent flying was wasted, as FREEGAN forged a Sacrosanct Staff +3 for Serena from a recipe book in Lost Land.  This gave her +59 Magical Might, +22 Magical Mending, and 14% MP Absorption from regular attacks.


An alien kid in Havens Above calling itself a Watcher was the last of its kind, and spoke in ALL CAPS.  Once, the Watchers had observed Erdrea from above, but Mordegon had killed most of them.  They'll resurrect once the Luminary saves the world.  The Watcher gave FREEGAN a Guiding Light, which gave him glimpses of Erdwin's quest to forge the Sword of Light.  The next destinations are Hotto's volcano, Gallopolis, and another sky island called the Battlefield.




Achievements

Virtuoso Vanquisher:  Win 700 battles
The Loveliest Catch:  Fly on Cetacea

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 28:  The Best Motivation for Beating a Boss is to Avoid Repeating a Block Puzzle


The Battleground was a series of caves in the sky linked by a spiral staircase.  Besides crafting recipes, Pandora's Boxes liked to hide in treasure chests.  They could cast the instant death spell Kathwack, known as Defeat in older translations.  Kathwack isn't quite as unfair in Dragon Quest 11 since you have 7 characters total, but still annoying.


Monsters here were too strong for this party to make it to the campfire save point, so they retreated and started looking around Erdrea for Silkblossoms to make new armor.  Along the way, they collected some Mellow Vera for a fighter in Octagonia to get more crafting recipes.  One Magic Key door that I missed in the Dundrasil Region contained 3 Mini Medals, enough for the next bonus of crafting recipes from the medal academy.  FREEGAN made a Crown of Dundrasil for Rab, and an Empress's Robe for Serena.  Jade inherited Serena's old Princess's Robe +2. 

  
In Roamer Encampment in Altar of the Forgotten Past, Kiefer had already married Lala and left the Dragon Quest 7 party.  Lala was sick, and the only cure was in the Rainbow Mines.  Kiefer hadn't returned, so the party had to rescue him from annoying puzzles.  FREEGAN had to match colored stones to make them disappear, and the final floor with Kiefer took a few tries.  Obstructicus the enhanced Living Statue served as the boss, and its stomp trampled the whole party from 166-208.  Like other bosses, Obstructicus could act twice per round.  Sometimes it clobbered someone with its fists, and FREEGAN died this way.  Everyone had perished by the end except for Jade and Hendrik, and a Parallax was the finisher for 213.  I was relieved at not having to do that pushing puzzle again!  The reward for the quest was Yggdrasil Dew, a rare healing item.


I knew I needed to power level the team for them to have a chance in the next few areas, so I spent a while killing monsters in the Snaerfelt.  Jade learned Crushed Ice, a cold version of Multithrust.  Serena learned the guaranteed revival spell Kazing at Level 45, and Erik learned Critical Claim, a guaranteed critical attack for an exorbitant 64 MP.  When the team was Level 45-48, I thought it was time to return to the Battleground.  The party reached the campsite so they could Zoom there again, but the door to the end of the dungeon was blocked by a "jail key" lock.


At this time I wondered if I was supposed to visit Gallopolis first.  That seemed to be the case when a cutscene played showing Erdwin's Lantern low in the sky, about to crash into the desert city.  FREEGAN will have to talk to the Sultan about this.  No word of the cowardly Prince Faris since the fall of Yggdrasil at all yet, which is weird because his subplot was the reason Sylvando joined the party.


   

Achievements (Bold achievements have a green name bar instead of the typical blue)

Guest Star:  Stay at an inn 50 times.
Questward Ho!:  Complete 10 side quests
Gold Miner:  Collect a total of 300,000 gold throughout the game
Exterminator:  Kill 2000 monsters
As Young as You Feel:  Activate 20 skill panels for Rab

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 29:  Metal. . .Muddy Hands?


Prince Faris was no longer a coward, but he was still cocky in public.  He took a scholar with him to read the runes on Erdwin's Lantern.  A monster that looked like pure darkness slashed Erdwin's Lantern in the sky and destroyed it, which Faris took to be an omen of salvation rather than doom.  The sultan of Gallopolis gave FREEGAN the Forging Hammer, and Rab read enough of the runes to come up with the clue "Calasmos".


Hotto's volcano monster Tatsunaga returned and was now demanding human sacrifices.  Two children in a bear suit named Atsuo and Atsuko tried to scare the party away from Mount Huji, but soon fell out of their costume.  They were trying to prevent their mother from being the next sacrifice, and the party agreed to help.  A Pastword in their hideout led to Cannock Castle in the Altar of the Legendary Line.


Mount Huji-Secret Entrance turned out to be one of the best power leveling spots in the game.  Monsters like Slick Slimes and Lava Lamplings were vulnerable to Rab and Serena's Kacrack spell.  I actually fled from the first encounter with Hardy Hands because they cast instant kill Whack, sometimes called for backup, and had abnormally high Defence.  Little did I know that this was the next tier of metal monster that granted over 30,000 experience!  I've never seen any metal monster outside of the Slime family in previous Dragon Quest games.


The Prince of Cannock reenacted his repeated journeys from Dragon Quest 2 just to frustrate the hero of Dragon Quest 11.  Cannock at first looked in the Roamer Camp, where FREEGAN was told Cannock had next gone to Imperial Pantry of Parthenia.  There, FREEGAN had to fight many random encounters before meeting Alena again, who said Cannock had left for Whealbrook, a town from Dragon Quest 5 which I didn't have access to.  The Roamer Camp at night had a quest for a Golden Mane to repair their instrument, the Torban of Truth.


Tatsunaga attacked the party in Hotto, when the party was at Levels 46-49.  Tatsunaga really hated Rab for some reason and kept killing him over and over.  FREEGAN attacked with Gigagash and Jade struck with Crushed Ice.  Besides regular attacks with a critical hit rate, Tatsunaga shot three fireballs at once.  A Gigagash for 359 was the last blow that sent Tatsunaga flying back to Mt. Huji.


At Mt. Huji, FREEGAN rode a Visor Kaiser horned beast to break down boulders to get to treasure chests, none of which had better equipment than what the party already wielded.  Tatsunaga the wolf-dragon became much more powerful in Round 2.  He used the same attacks from before and a war cry that could damage the whole party and sometimes stun a character.  That wasn't the worst part:  Tatsunaga attacked 3 times per turn!  Any slow character (Rab) that Tatsunaga concentrated on was kaput.  Wonder if this boss would actually be easier in the 2D version, since turn order in Tickington is based on "rounds" of combat, rather than each character's actions occurring independently.



At Levels 52-55, the party returned to Tatsunaga. . .and everyone was crushed into powder as before.  They held out a little longer, however, and tried new tricks like FREEGAN's Kazap for 550s damage, and Erik's Divide + Critical Claim that could strike for 3 critical hits at once.  Back to the grind!


Achievements


Prize Fighter:  Activate 20 skill panels for Jade
Burgeoning Bandit:  Activate 20 skill panels for Erik
Proficient Performer:  Activate 20 skill panels for Sylvando
Noble Knight:  Activate 20 skill panels for Hendrik

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 30:  Missing Obvious Clues?


Power leveling in Mt. Huji continued until Serena and FREEGAN learned Kafrizz, and Rab learned Kazing.  By the time they returned to Tatsunaga, everyone was at Levels 55-57.  Jade powered up with Re-Vamp and struck with Crushed Ice, and Serena sped the team up with Acceleratle.  FREEGAN cast Kazap until he ran out of MP.  Jade died once to a 342 critical and had to Re-Vamp again.  Erik took FREEGAN's place and tried to Divide, but he died often enough that he had to resort to regular Critical Claims. 


Sylvando provided supplemental healing and cast Oomphle, though this didn't do anything for Critical Claim.  Maybe criticals ignore Attack buffs, like in Pokemon Red?  Hendrik was the last resort, and did respectable damage with Parallax with Oomphle active.  He still suffered from being slow.  Rab cast Kacrack for 318 and sent Tatsunaga crashing to the ground.  Once the wolf-dragon was defeated, Ryu's curse was lifted and he could go to the afterlife.  Maybe Miko should have given him a different name!


Miko's maid in Hotto gave FREEGAN the Crucible Key needed to reach the forge in the Mt. Huji crater.  But they still couldn't forge the Sword of Light without the ore from the Battleground, and that was blocked off by a "jail key" door. 


The team acquired a Pastword for Baramos's Castle in the Altar of Salvation, and the Quester's Rest in the Altar of the Starry Skies.  More importantly, FREEGAN forged a Demon's Bane +3 and Platinum Mail +3 for himself.  The Demon's Bane was a Greatsword too good to pass up; FREEGAN's Attack grew from 274 to 363!  To accommodate his new weapon type, FREEGAN had to forget his Sword abilities and replace them with Gigasmash and Gigacrash.  Testing Gigacrash on a Gigantes outside of Hotto dealt 645 damage, about 200 more than Gigagash.  The one disadvantage for Gigacrash is that it only hits a group instead of all foes.


Erik inherited the King's Coat and Mercury's Bandana, while Rab got the Prince's Pea Coat +2.  In a No Shopping challenge, sometimes the party has to settle for hand-me-downs.  As for the missing key, I surrendered and looked up its location online since there were no clues in the game that I found.  Apparently I'd missed it in Havens Above!
 


Achievements

Probationary Luminary:  Activate 20 skill panels for the Luminary
Tasunaga Terminator:  Defeat Tatsunaga

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 31:  Tickington Detour


Turns out I wasn't a dummy when I failed to find the Ultimate Key in Havens Above:  it's restricted to the postgame and therefore useless for the Draconian Quests.  FREEGAN did find the Pastword for the Pillar of Pegasus in the Altar of Reverie, so the trip wasn't wasted.


Back in the Battleground, I realized that the locked door wasn't the way to the ore.  Instead, FREEGAN had to slide down a rope, then follow the spiral staircase up a few stories.  Like in any cheap fantasy setting, the ore turned out to be "orichalcum".  There was no boss guarding it at all.


FREEGAN forged the Sword of Light in Mt. Huji, only to find out it was a one-handed weapon.  Hendrik inherited the Demonslayer +3, and both characters readjusted their skill trees.  They went to the Pillar of Pegasus, and found out that killing a random Hot Dog enemy yielded the Golden Mane needed for the last Altar of the Forgotten Past mission.  The reward for that was Elevating Shoes, which granted experience per step.  Serena was the lowest level character on the team at 55, so she received them.  A statue of a hooded hero appeared behind the Altar of the Forgotten Past book.


Back in the Pillar of Pegasus, I realized that one of FREEGAN's previously neglected Luminary abilities would be useful there.  Holy Protection prevents weaker encounters from appearing, similarly to Repel in Pokemon.  In the 3D world of Erdrea, FREEGAN could just dash past monsters on land.  But in Tickington, FREEGAN could save the team a lot of MP by keeping monsters away with this spell.


FREEGAN had to kill two bosses in a row to complete Pillar of Pegasus.  The first was a dark gray Grampogriff, who cast Bounce to reflect spells.  FREEGAN electrocuted himself once with Kazap when he tried casting it on the first turn.  Bounce couldn't send Gigagash back as it was a Sword attack rather than magic.  Jade Re-Vamped and poked with Crushed Ice as usual.  Rab tried Insulatle just in case there were breath attacks, but Grampogriff preferred "war cries" to finish off FREEGAN, regular attacks, and "envenomating" Jade.  Rab revived FREEGAN with Kazing and Sapped the boss's Defence, and Serena cast Oomphle on Jade.  This paid off when each hit of Crushed Ice connected for 215-223 and killed Grampogriff.


Erik took Jade's place against Nagasus since she was low on MP.  Rab set up Insulatle, which may have helped against its Malevolent Miasma.  It hit everyone for 70s-80s and decreased Magical Might and Magical Mendiing.  Erik's Divide + Critical Claim wounded Nagasus for 902.  Serena died to a regular attack, though Rab resurrected her with Kazing.  Hendrik replaced FREEGAN once he ran out of MP for Kazap, and tried out A Cut Above for 6 hits of 79-111.  A final Critical Claim destroyed Nagasus for 924 damage.  Hendrik claimed the reward of the Mighty Armlet to increase his Attack.


In the Quester's Rest, Erinn believed herself unworthy of the Inny reward, and Patty suggested bringing a book about how to be a king.  Monarchy isn't the same thing as inn management, but Dragon Quest logic is not our logic.  Patty's hint was that the book was "someplace where they really take the whole knightly, chivalric thing seriously".  The only place I can think of is the ruined castle of Heliodor.


If Tickington is officially part of the Dragon Quest series, then the "Earth" world of Dragon Quest 3 was NOT destroyed to bring light to Alefgard.  In fact, the Baramos's Castle sequence was a sequel to Dragon Quest 3, where a villain named Necrogoldolier was trying to resurrect Baramos.  FREEGAN used Holy Protection to work his way through the maze of staircases.  Necrogondolier's main techniques were Kazam and sending lightning out from his staff against the whole party for 112-137.  He could also cast Moreheal on himself.  The party used similar tactics to the Tower of Pegasus bosses, and an 899 power Critical Claim put Necrogondolier to rest.


Most of the valuable treasures in these Tickington dungeons were stat seeds.  Some party members, like Jade and Sylvando, gained a level as well, so taking a trip to previous Dragon Quest games was worth the time.  The party should now be ready for the Fortress of Fear in the sky, which may be the final dungeon.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Dragon Quest 11 No Shopping Part 32:  Generic Evil Castle


At the Altar of Salvation, there was a "new" area:  Baramos's Castle-Later On.  Baramos had resurrected for real, in spite of the party's preventative measures in the previous Baramos's Castle quest.  Baramos easily overpowered my team with casts of Kaboom, "blazing fire" breath, Kafuddle confusion, and making individual party members lose turns.  Even Multiheal couldn't save them.


Indignus guarded the gate of the Fortress of Fear, a standard villain castle in the sky with a dark purple sky.  Baramos at least had more style.  Serena tried Acceleratle and Rab tried Sap to begin the battle.  Indignus was a sword boss with a random (?) multihit "series of slashes", and powerful regular attacks.  These moves combined killed Jade.  When Indignus "swiftly stabbed" Serena and later Jade, he knocked them down and made her lose turns.  What followed was one of the rare occasions when FREEGAN cast Omniheal to restore everyone's HP.  At 64 MP per use, Omniheal was for emergencies only.  Indignus's Gigathrow attacked everyone and paralyzed FREEGAN.  Jade attacked with Crushed Ice and FREEGAN cast Kazap.


Stat buffing during the Indignus battle was risky since he could use the Blue Orb to nullify these moves.  This sort of technique is a Dragon Quest tradition for late game bosses, called "wave of ice" (PS2 version of DQ8) or Disruptive Wave.  Erik couldn't set up Divide + Critical Claim because he died, and later Jade fell as well.  Rab was eventually paralyzed, and he died and was later revived.  Hendrik's A Cut Above for a total of 646 damage was the key to victory when Serena powered him up with Oomphle.  Kazing and Multiheal were essential to keeping the party alive.


The party received the Blue Orb upon defeating Indignus, and barged into the Fortress of Fear proper.  Most of the enemies here were palette swaps and not worth describing in detail.  However, one of these foes happened to be the Metal King Slime, and killing one of them was worth around 70,000 experience!  Too bad they tended to run away before even Erik the thief could act.  Mt. Huji might still be a better place to power level for now since the Hardy Hands are slower and aren't as timid.


Serena learned Kaboom at Level 57, which would be her standard all-target spell.  Stuipid Mordegon  kept all the recipes for equipment that would be used to defeat him inside treasure chests in his castle.  FREEGAN forged a General's Jacket +3 for Hendrik, reworked the Liquid Metal Jacket from a chest to +3 for Erik, made a Goddess's Tiara for Serena, a Liquid Metal Spear + Warrior Princess's Dress +3 + Warrior Princess's Headdress +2 for Jade, and a Liquid Metal Armour +3 for Sylvando.  Giving up the Mardi Garb cost Sylvando a lot of Charm that he wanted for his Hustle Dance healing, though.


(Forging weapons is much more difficult than armor in Dragon Quest 11.  The bars you need to fill up for armor are often in a square pattern that's perfect for Kaquadrabash.  Weapon bars are usually in vertical lines, and there isn't a multi-target forge move for vertical lines yet, so it's easy to run out of Focus points.)


The party gained some experience by fighting the Token Taker slot machine mimics.  Some of the slot machines were real and gave FREEGAN some casino tokens.  Currently everyone is at Levels 57-59.  Fortress of Fear has a gimmick to make repeated trips less tedious.  Ascending each floor of the tower makes FREEGAN use his Luminary powers to break an evil sigil and crystal barriers around it.  You can then ride a dragon rider enemy to any floor you've already been to.


Sylvando is the weakest member of the team right now.  He has the Woosh line of spells, but doesn't have the Magical Might of Serena.  Hustle Dance is useful healing for the midgame, but falls behind Rab and Serena's Multiheal towards the end.  Most other Litheness and Showmanship Abilities are weak gimmicks.  Sylvando can equip Knives and Swords, but his skill trees for those weapons aren't as extensive as Erik or FREEGAN's.  I guess he's supposed to specialize in Whips, since that's the only unique niche he has.  At least Sylvando can serve as a backup Oomphle and Acceleratle caster.  Maybe I'm missing some trick that makes him better.


Achievements


Highly Liquid:  Carry 50,000 gold on your person.  (One treasure chest had exactly this much money!)